Predator | 53

In case you have forgotten what this book is actually about:

-April visits her brother (Eric) in Rosewood
-she meets Shawn and Nikolaj

-she meets Viktor, who is running the town

-Viktor is a pureblood Lycan who is basically stronger than the average Lycan and is over 500 years old

-April gets bitten by a turned Lycan (a human that was turned by a wolf)
-she gets an infected wound and Nikolaj helps her
-only a pureblood Lycan can turn a human (for example Viktor)

-Natalya works for Viktor
-April learns that there are regular cage fights at the bar, where Lycans fight against each other
-Nikolaj fights there, too
-Charles arrived in Rosewood, he is another pureblood Lycan, he was the one who turned Eric
-someone is turning humans into Lycans

-turned Lycans can change whenever they want, but during full moon they have no control over their bodies and turn into a wolf against their will
-turned Lycans look more like a monster than a normal wolf

-the situation with the turned Lycans get out of control, they are killing humans
-Nik drops April off at her brothers place because his place isn't safe
-Nik leaves to take care of the Lycan problem

-Shawn gets April into his car, making her believe that he is taking her somewhere safe, but he brings her to the bar and keeps her chained in a cell

-he wants to kill Viktor and is using her as a bait
-Viktor wanted Shawn's girlfriend for himself and when he couldn't have her he forced her into a cage fight (more information to come in upcoming chapter)

Now, let's continue with the second last chapter!

April was tired, despite the dozen of times she fell asleep in the cell. She could barely move her arms anymore and the chains around her wrists were beginning to feel heavier with every second that was passing by.

She had drunk the whole bottle of water a few hours ago and had tossed the empty bottle against the wall. Now she was thirsty again and she wondered if Shawn's purpose was to make her feel miserable while she was down here in the cells.

She was being torn between wanting to being found, and hoping to be never found. Shawn made no secret that this was just a trap to get Nik and Eric killed. She just hoped that they would somehow find out that this was just a trap.

The cell was beginning to get colder and the thin blanket did nothing to prevent the shivers running down her body. She wasn't so sure how much longer she could endure being down in the cell.

She was scared, hungry, thirsty and cold.

The empty bottle of water laid next to her. How she wished she had been more careful with the amount of water she drank. But as soon as she tasted the first drop of water on her tongue, she found it impossible to stop drinking and before she even realized it, the bottle was empty and crushed between her hands.

April didn't count how many times she fell asleep. Not knowing if it was day or night, messed with her mind. She didn't even know how long she was down here. Days? Or just a couple of hours? To her, it surely felt like days.

Her whole body flinched when she heard a rat running through the cell, searching for food. She was too exhausted to feel disgust so she let her head fall against her knees and fell into another slumber.

The next time she opened her eyes, it was because she heard loud footsteps echoing through the hall. Heavy and frantic, running to the direction of her cell.

April fluttered her eyes open and looked directly into Nikolaj's eyes. But unlike the last time she had this seen him, this hallunication of Nik was covered in blood from head to toe. Even his face wasn't left free of blood and his body was shaking uncontrollably. He was breathing hard and rapidly.

She wasn't sure if her mind was trying to scare her with the face of the man she loved. This was truly fucked up. This version of Nikolaj was scary, but she wasn't afraid of him.

"Go away," she muttered to the hallucination and sank her head into her hands. She wanted him to vanish.

But he didn't vanish. Instead, she heard him tearing off the door of her cell with a guttural growl. April shrank back, startled at the loud noise and the way he threw the door away with such an aggressive manner that made her eyes widen in shock.

Her hallucination was going to turn crazy.

Nik hurried into her cell in long, quick steps. He took her wrist into his hand, eyes darkening as he saw the state she was in, and freed them from the handcuffs. Her wrists felt sore, but she was finally free. She craned her head and looked up at him. Slowly, it was dawning upon her that this might be real and not a hallucination at all.

Nik was here. He really found her and was going to get her out of this underground prison. April tried to stand up, but her knees buckled and she almost lost her balance. Nik wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her up in his arms. She felt too dizzy and exhausted to stand on her own feet.

April leaned her head against his chest as he brought her out of the cell. For a moment, she allowed herself to relax, glad that she had finally be found. Nikolaj tightened his arms around her and spoke soothing words into her ear.

But then she remembered Shawn's words. She almost forgot that this was all a trap to get Nik and the others to this place so that Shawn could kill them all.

"Nik... we need to hurry. I-I think this is a trap," she spoke with great difficulty. Her voice was barely above a whisper. Nik watched her for a few seconds and nodded. He started to walk faster.

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. Your are safe with me." Nik tried to assure her, but it didn't ease April's worries at all. It only made her worry more, because he didn't seem to take this situation as serious as he should.

Nick most probably thought that by finding her, it all was over, but is wasn't. Far from it.

"How.. how did you find me?" April asked and was surprised that her voice sounded so unfamiliar to her own ears.

A dark look crossed his face and he locked his jaw. "Natalya told me," he answered between gritted teeth.

"Natalya?" April asked confused. That surprised her. She didn't expect this answer. How did she know where April was? Did she knew she was missing or did she see Shawn in her car and put one and one together?

"Nick, it was .. it was Shawn. Shawn did this to me."

Speaking it out loud made it much more real that the person she considered a friend - that even Nik considered a friend - betrayed her so cruelly. Her eyes stung with unshed tears.

Nikolaj didn't look surprised by the revelation. If anything, he looked furios by hearing his name. Nikolaj's eyes darkened and he nodded. "I know. Natalya told me that, too."

That surprised April. She hoped Natalya wasn't hurt. Without her help, Nikolaj wouldn't have found her.

Once they were out of the bar, April took a deep and long breath of the fresh and crisp air. Down there in the cell it was too stuffy and she had felt like she was suffocating. She was too long down in the cell and missed the air.

It was dark by now. Only the street lanterns were brightening up the parking spaces. With narrowed eyes she noticed her brother on the road, a safe distance away from the bar. Along with her brother were Natalya, Charles and Viktor.

Only when they were closer to them, April saw with widened eyes that Shawn was on his knees in front of the group. He raised his head and looked at her with so much hatred that she cringed in Nikolaj's arms.

Right now, April was sure, he looked much worse than she did. It was obvious to see that he took a heavy beating, either from her brother, Charles, Viktor or probably all three of them. #

Charles held a bloodstained sword in his hand, probably to stain it further with Shawn's blood. It frightened her that she didn't feel pity at all when she stared at Shawn's thoroughly beaten face. The only thing that she felt while she looked at him was hatred and deep betrayal.

"April," her brother Eric called in relief and took her face in his hands. He placed a kiss on her forehead. "I was worried sick about you. I'm glad you are okay. I'm never letting you out of my eyes again."

"I'm alright," she said but it didn't even sound convincing to her own ears. "What about you? Are you alright?" She asked. His lip had been split open, probably from the fight with Shawn and his whole appearance looked rather disheveled comparing to his usual neat appearance.

"I'm okay. Don't worry about me." His eyes then traveled to Nikolaj's. "Bring her back to my flat. I'll meet you guys there once we are finished with him."

"No, I don't want to go. I want to stay here," April refused frowning.

She was scared to witness what they might do to Shawn, but what scared her even more was to leave her brother and worry about his wellbeing. Besides, Nikolaj was too hurt to carry her the whole way since April wasn't in the condition to drive and Nikolaj didn't know how to drive a car.

Nikolaj shook his head and Eric breathed tiredly.

"That's not an option, April," Eric said.

"Yeah, thats not an option, April," Shawn mocked. "I don't think you can handle what is about to happen here, sweetheart. Listen to your dumb brother and go home."

"Shut the fuck up," Eric snarled and punched him hard in the face.

"God, you all are a bunch of pathetic people." Shawn smiled and spat the blood out of his mouth. "A turned Lycan who feels powerful because he isn't human anymore, two pureblood Lycans who aren't even powerful enough to protect their own territory, a worthless Lycan girl who is too weak to protect herself, and then there is Viktors lapdog who fell in love with a human bitch."

"Watch your mouth," Nikolaj growled, his expression cloudy with anger.

"Or what?" Shawn taunted. "You going to kill me?"

"Do you even understand what a mess you caused, Shawn?" Eric demanded furiously. "God, you killed innocent humans. Humans! And then you kidnapped my sister and threw her into a cell? Why would you do that? I thought we are friends!"

"I'm sorry that I had to do this to your sister. I really am. I didn't want you or your sister to get hurt. You are my friend, Eric. The only one I have."

Eric scoffed humorlessly. "And you still hurt my sister and planned to kill me."

"That was a necessity."

"A necessity? Can you even hear yourself? You are talking a lot of bullshit."

"Am I? I think it's you who talks a lot of shit. Your are part of our world only for a few short years and yet you pretend to know everything about this town, about Viktor. Forgot what he did to Luise?" Shawn threw his head back and gave a humorless laugh. "Of course you forgot. Everyone forgot, like she was a no-one in this town. Son of a bitch fell in love with her and couldn't handle her rejection so he forced her into a cage fight with seven turned Lycans. But no one helped, no one cared, no one spoke about her ever again, like she never even existed. But god forbid someone kills a few irrelevant humans, then the whole town is in an uproar. That's so fucked up. But then again, you all follow Viktor with a wagging tail, so I shouldn't even expect more of you."

April's stomach churned painfully. Right, this all was happening because Viktor got Shawn's girlfriend killed. There was a strained silence around them. April glanced at Viktor. She didn't know what kind of expression she expected to see, but she certainly didn't think he would look so calm and unaffected by Shawn's words.

"What? You have nothing to say anymore? Does anyone of you even feel guilty at all? Or will you contin-"

Shawn couldn't end his sentence as Viktor clearly heard enough and didn't hesitate any longer to rip Shawn's head off his body. A scream escaped Natalya's mouth, horrified at the sight in front of her.

April's heart momentarily stopped beating. A scream rose up in her chest, but got stuck in her throat. Fear rushed through her body as she stared at Shawn's now lifeless eyes. His body slumped forward and fell roughly onto the ground.

"He talked too much," Viktor spoke in his accented voice when no one else did. He dropped Shawn's head to the ground like it was nothing but trash.

April averted her gaze. She couldn't look at his head that was randomly laying on the ground. She didn't know what she was feeling right now or if she was feeling anything right now. Breathing suddenly became difficult, she felt suffocated. April barely felt that her eyes were getting wet with tears.

This would traumatize her her whole life.

"Thank you, my dear friend. He was talking too much." Charles went to him and placed a hand on Viktors shoulder. "And now that we took care of the main problem, I'm going to have take care of you."

Before even Viktor could realize what was happening, Charles plunged the sword in Viktors heart. Viktors eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. He was too shocked to be able to form proper words.

Charles twisted the sword before he pulled it out and plunged it back into Viktor again, only deeper this time, until the blade of the sword went all through his body and peaked out of his chest.

Charles pulled the sword out one last time and kicked Viktors body to the ground. No one expected to witness Viktors death today. Judging by Nik's and Erics expression, this wasn't something they planned to do.

Everyone was too shocked to make a noise. It was only Natalya who was sobbing loudly and uncontrollably. Her whole body was shaking.

Charles shot her a harsh look that made her cringe and step back. "Shut up already. You are embarrassing yourself."

But that didn't make her stop. She sobbed and her whole body quivered as her eyes darted between Shawn's headless body and Viktors corpse. Even April weren't able to control her tears anymore as they silently rolled down her cheeks.

"I said shut up, stupid bitch," Charles roared and slapped her so hard across her face that she went flying to the ground. "Don't even dare to think that I even forgot you for a single second. I haven't started with you yet."

"Charles, stop!" Eric rushed to her and helped her back on her shaky feet. He put a protective arm around her. "Are you out of her mind?" He asked enraged.

"Get out of my way, Eric, or I might forget that you and I are friends. She knew the consequences when she agreed to help Shawn to kill all of us. And if she didn't, then it is not my problem that she is stupid."

What? April thought horrified. Natalya helped Shawn? She raised her eyes to look at Nikolaj. He wasn't looking at her, but at Natalya with deep betrayal in his eyes.

"Shawn used her. You can't punish her for something that wasn't her fault," Eric argued. He looked frightened, afraid of what he might do to Natalya.

"Don't even try to make her look like she is the victim. No one is buying that. It was her fault and you know it. Do you have an affair with that bitch? Is that it why you are protecting her, Eric?"

Eric shook his head. "You know that's not the reason. She didn't want this to happen and she probably didn't even know what she was doing."

"I-I'm sorry," Natalya stuttered as she tried to control her sobbing. She took a deep breath before she continued, "I'm so sorry this happened. Please, I wanted never anyone to hurt. Please, believe me. Shawn promised .. h-he promised to safe me of Viktor," she cried in broken english.

Eric put his arms around Natalya and tried to soothe her.

April's stomach churned. She felt bad for her. She knew that Viktor was treating her very badly beating her occasionally. He kept her in his mansion and treated her like a slave, isolated from the world, the same way he treated Nikolaj since the day he found him on the streets.

If April was in her situation and someone offered her a way out, the only way out, she would have agreed, too. Shawn knew how to make Natalya to do everything he wanted. He really did use her. The more she thought about it, the more she felt relieved that Shawn was dead now.

Natalya wasn't a vicious person. She wasn't the enemy. She was just a naive person, used as a pawn in Shawn's sick game. And even if she did a mistake - a huge one at that - she still didn't deserve to be punished, not if she had been mistreated her whole life.

Eric lifted his head and sneered at Nikolaj. "And you?" He suddenly spat. "Are you just going to stand over there and say nothing? Natalya is your friend too and you are doing nothing to defend her. Sometimes you really disgust me."

For the briefest of moment, Nikolaj looked guilty. But the guilt vanished quickly and a dark look crossed his face instead. April felt his body trembling with anger.

"It is her fault that your sister got hurt," Nikolaj spoke in a low, but threatening voice. "Don't forget that before putting someone who isn't your sister first. Before putting someone first who got your sister hurt."

Eric clenched his jaw and took a threatening step forward. "Oh? Now you suddenly care about my sister? After you left her alone and let Shawn kidnap her? It was your fault that Shawn got her, so don't you dare to assume that I wouldn't put my sister first. I always put her first," he snarled.

"That's enough," Charles angrily cut in. He was getting impatient with the childish behavior of the two. "Get Natalya out of my face and make sure to keep her away from me before I change her mind and rip her off limb by limb."

Natalya released a shaky breath. Neither she or Eric dared to argue. Eric wrapped an arm around Natalya and lead her towards the only car that was parked on the roadside. Before getting in, he turned around and looked at Charles.

"What about the bar?" He asked and nodded towards the bar.

"I think this part of Shawn's plan is the only one that actually makes sense. "Charles dug his hand into his pocked and took out a small black device. "Too bad he is already dead and won't witness it."

Before April could even think about asking what they were talking about, Charles pushed the button of the device and the whole bar exploded.

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It's been a while since I updated and I'm so sorry that I have been away for such a long time. I know it was unfair to leave for so many months without updating. I will be more active from now on. There is only one chapter left and after that I'm going to publish one or two new books. One of those two books will be The Forgotten Wolves which I have unpublished a while back. That being said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and aren't too angry with me. I will update the next chapter within the next two or three weeks. Thank you all for reading!