ECLIPSE
Rose covered the space between them and engulfed her in a hug. Despite her protruding belly that stood between them, Eclipse hugged her back harder.
"That is untrue," Rose gritted with conviction. "This is not because of you. There are far deeper politics in play that have absolutely nothing to do with you, my dear sister. Even before you were mated to him, the Alpha Prince was set to marry another."
She completely stilled. "What?"
"She's the daughter of the Alpha of Lupine pack. As you know, the Lupine Pack stands as the undefined number one in the West."
Her eyes widened, fists clenched by her sides. "So…?"
"So a grand wedding demands a grand gift." Rose said with a smile, lifting her fingers to caress her hair ever so tenderly. "We are simply that gift."
Hurt threatened to cripple her even as nails dug into her heart. Even then, she could still feel her bond to the monster downstairs. Then it dawned on her—forget escaping rejection, should she die that night, their bond would be severed just as cleanly.
Had this been his endgame all along? Must he go that far just to reject her? Why?
Like villains had any reason to act. Before that day, Malric NorthSteed's reputation was not exactly the best. The rumours painted him a tyrant, the gossip pamphlets sculptured him as a cold, unfeeling man. Hell, there was a popular saying that he would be the coldest NorthSteed to ever walk the earth, and yet, in that moment when the bond tugged her to him, she had forgotten everything.
She staggered, her vision blurring. But knowing it was not the time to chase her emotions, she stared squarely at Rose. "There's something you are not telling me." She pointed out grimly, "You raised me up, and I dare say I know you better than anyone, so I am sure you are hiding something from me."
Rose smiled—the saddest smile to ever exist. "Tonight, you must forget Malric NorthSteed and the North." she commanded coldly and dread filled Eclipse who shook her head in disbelief.
Rose wasn't done. "You will live the remainder of your life, happy and alive. I promised our mother on her dying bed, and our father too, so you must live on."
"NO!" Eclipse howled, "Tonight, I shall fight with you!" her voice broke like glass being scratched against jagged edges. "Whatever it is you're planning, Rose, don't do it to me." She choked out her desperate plea, reaching for her sister who had now turned her back to her.
Before Eclipse knew it, she was being forced down by Ronan and another strong hand. The Pack's healer stood before her, goblet in hand as she shook her head mournfully. And before she could make sense of what was happening, the older woman gripped her jaw and started to pour a strange liquid down her throat.
She thrashed to no avail, and her throat burned like it was caught on fire. But besides that, her wolf howled senselessly like it was being strangled to death. It felt like she had left her sanity behind and now taken on the identity of a madwoman.
In the background, hurried words traveled to her.
"Alpha, are you sure this will work? If her wolf still exists, the Alpha Prince will still hunt her."
"I have prepared for this day for the longest time. Tonight, her wolf will cease to exist."
The goblet's content was completely emptied in her stomach, and at the end, Eclipse could only cough violently as a feeling of weakness she had never known in her life hugged her.
She could not speak, could not even move, could not even look at her sister.
"Ronan Valour, listen to the last command of your Alpha!" Rose thundered.
She felt Ronan fall to his knees. "Ronan listens!"
There was a stretch of silence before Rose finally made her last command in a scratchy voice, hoarse from hurt. "Protect Eclipse."
Two words… but it was enough for Eclipse to finally understand the weight of the monster they were facing that night. But it was too late.
"Ronan will protect Miss Eclipse with his life!" Ronan carried her on his back, and she felt him tear into a run.
With tear-stained face, she tried to peer at her sister one last time, but even that sight was a blurry mess.
They entered inside what looked like a dark underground tunnel and it was a struggle to keep her consciousness that kept slipping away from her. She tried to fight against the darkness, but she failed. And with one lone tear rolling down her face, she succumbed to it.
—
When Eclipse came to, the first thing she noticed was the silence. While before she felt the raging bond of the pack link, now she felt nothing.
She felt strangely lighter. Like her soul had been ripped away from her and she was about an empty shell of bones and flesh. It wasn't until the strange silence grew that it dawned on her that she could no longer feel her wolf.
"You're still weak," Ronan's voice travelled to her, low and reassuring, "don't try to stand."
But she stood anyway, feeling for her wolf. Every attempt to heighten her senses failed. Even more so the attempt to shift. And the barbed wires that surrounded her heart in the form of the mate bond she had with Malric NorthSteed was gone as well.
She was…empty. Like she had been reset.
"You're now wolfless." Ronan announced without ceremony words she already knew. Yet the incredulity of it kept her rooted in disbelief.
She remembered the liquid content that had been forced down her throat."Rose… took my wolf?"
Ronan materialized before her, looking ragged although his features were set in silent rage. "That is the only way he will believe you are dead. That is the only way he would never find you."
Her heart picked up. Despite his explanation, something was amiss. Ronan was hiding something from her. They were all hiding something from her!
"Taking my wolf so easily is impossible!" She gritted, assaulted by more than just one kind of pain, "Even more so if you expect me to believe that she concocted this plan just tonight!"
"You're right, Mistress," Ronan spelt in a low voice filled with defeat, "the Alpha made contingency plans for a long time. She just didn't expect tonight."
Tears filled her eyes. "Take me back to her! No matter what has happened, I still need to hear her explanations!" She wailed, "I deserve to hear her explanation!" She screamed, the words bouncing off the walls in a deathly echo.
"They are dead, Miss. They are all dead."
"NO!"
"It's true, Miss."
"You're lying! Stop lying to me!"
But he wasn't. And she knew it. From the moment her vision turned blurry, she knew that was the last sight of Rose she would ever see.
Ronan swallowed, clenching his fists by his sides. "I shall take you to bid goodbye to them for one last time." He said with grim finality.
Something about the way he said that made her unable to utter a single word.
Three hours later, she had followed him out of a long winding tunnel that she was sure had been connected all the way to their pack. When the secret path had been erected and for what purpose was concerning, she brushed it off as official pack business that Rose must have thought her to be too young to know about.
Apparently, she had been out for hours and it was already way into the night of the next day. Without her wolf, their journey back to the mountain view of the Pack House was arduous. Not to mention that Ronan was keen on them keeping their identity a secret so they had to cover their faces in a bid to disguise themselves.
Yet what had she been expecting? A pack house that was whole and full? Bubbling with life the way it had been before she had gone for the ball.
Perhaps a part of her was hoping that Ronan would burst out laughing, telling her she had been a victim of the ultimate trickery; one of Rose's trickster's attempts to make sure she had an unforgettable birthday.
What she met though was a nightmare far scarier than what she had experienced the last night.
Their pack house was partially burnt down, and amongst the multiple corpses that were hanging off the haphazard building including her brother-in-law's head was that of Rose.