{15}

Maya's POV

"They call me Darkness."

Darkness? 

My eyes widened in horror, as I became increasingly confused. "No way..."

Aiden and my mum looked distressed by the situation, but too shocked. I had been told that my mother had killed him using her light gene, along with his demon father. 

I slowly made my way towards my mother, keeping a close eye on my mate's figure. "You said he died, you killed him." I said lowly, not understanding the situation. "Didn't you?" 

"We thought she did." Aiden said curtly, looking on edge. "We were almost sure he was dead, just like his father." 

Almost, huh?

A bitter cackle erupted from Lucio's body, a surge of anger had come over me. Seeing Lucio's body used as a host for this demon had my blood boiling, but I didn't know how to deal with the situation. 

Not yet, anyway. 

"Oh my father is never coming back, I can assure you." He spat out, before sighing heavily. "Elisia had banished him to the oblivion. Unfortunately, I'll never see the old man again. Oh well..."

But why is he alive?

As though he had heard my thoughts, he grinned widely before saying, "You're all wondering why I'm alive, aren't you? Although, I have an inkling that Elisia knows." 

The blood-red eyes traveled to Aiden and rested upon him. "As well as the former rogue, the betrayer of The Rogue Force."

Aiden was glaring, looking the most hostile he's ever looked. 

She let out a low growl, her grey eyes glaring at my mate's face. It was clear she also didn't know how to handle the demon inside my mate's body. 

"Can't you exorcise it, like usual?" I mind-linked her.

"I would have if I wasn't so cautious about what he would do to Lucio's body." She responded warily.

"But you've exorcised other demons before, ones that were strong enough to control other beings." I countered, frustration lacing my words. "Why-."

"Maya, this one is different." She cut me off sternly. "I can feel how worried you are but think logically. You can feel the different aura this demon is emitting." 

She was right, of course.

"I am being overly cautious for a reason." She reassured me.

Perhaps my anxiety was derived from the fact that my body was screaming to run. That feeling that was completely foreign to me. The aura and feel of this demon were suffocatingly sinister and malicious, it was engulfing us all in its vile scent. 

My mother, Aiden and I stood frozen, staring at Lucio with worry. How was he feeling? 

He began to move casually, showing no indication of attacking. "How do you kill a werewolf?"

We stayed quiet, wondering why he was asking such a dumb rhetorical question. 

"Silver." He said simply, answering his question. "If enough silver is exposed to the bloodstream of a werewolf, they die." 

He forgot about wolfsbane. 

He faltered in his steps, sticking a finger up. "I can't forget about wolfsbane. A large portion of that poison would kill one too."

I guess he didn't. What was the point of this?

He paused, before winking at Elisia. "The US packs were re-introduced to it two decades ago, courtesy of me."

He got icy glares in response.

"Also if you hacked them to death. Oh, burn them to death too." He continued, strolling around. "Those would work but those methods take too long. Besides, let's be real, it wouldn't be easy to get a werewolf in those situations in the first place."

Fuck this.

"What do you want? Why are you here?" I questioned angrily. 

He ignored me. "The point I'm trying to make is that killing a werewolf is pretty straight forward. Hell, even killing a demon is straight forward if you have the power to. You banish them to the oblivion using the Light Gene, as it's the only power that overrules the Dark Gene." 

He stopping pacing and glanced at me curiously. "Do you see where I'm going with this?" 

I did. 

"What is NOT straight forward is killing a half-werewolf and half-demon, like me!" He burst out excitedly, his crazed grin looking unnatural on Lucio's face. "I was killed by Elisia!"

I took a step back, recoiling from Lucio's devilish and unnatural expression.

"I DIED!" He roared, sounding unstable and monstrous. "I died as a werewolf two decades ago. When that silver machete ripped through my heart, that was the end of Darkness the werewolf." 

"And what we foolishly forgot to take into account was your demon side." My mother spoke up. "We wondered if you were really gone, for good that is."

Her resent towards him was clear in her voice, her anger was like sharp daggers. 

"What is your purpose here?" I barked, needing an answer. 

Silence. 

"To simply, wreak havoc."

The serious promise behind that chilling response had every part of me had frozen with dread. 

My eyes were trained on the pure evil behind those red eyes, feeling his intent to disrupt this pack into pure chaos. 

Aiden let out a loud, angry growl. "I'd like to see you try, motherfucker. It's you against The New Dawn pack, made by the strongest family of werewolves, The Hunter's Empire." 

"Don't test me, boy." Darkness gritted out, sounding a little amused. "It's all fun and games, just enjoy it." 

Enjoy?

It seemed Aiden and my mother wasn't surprised by his sick words, I'm assuming that he'd always been like this. 

"I'll have you know I was powerless for a decade, it wasn't until my eleventh year as a demon when I began to manifest powers." He admitted with a dry laugh. "It took another decade to develop on them, and be able to use them at their optimum power."

"So you came back for revenge because we killed your wolf side and your father?" My mum gritted out. 

"Yes and no."

Silence.

"Mummy?" 

I recoiled in shock from hearing Ella's voice behind me. My eyes stayed trained on Lucio's figure as I slowly walked back to her position. She tried to wrap her short arms around my waist, clutching me desperately. 

Her odd-colored eyes were wide with fear and terror, as she took in Darkness' presence. 

"What is that?" She whimpered, closing her eyes. 

I touched the top of her head and said, "Don't worry about that. Where is Alex?"

Her small face was burrowed into me. "Upstairs. Playing games."

She shivered violently. "I'm scared and so are you. Will something bad happen?

I bit my lip in frustration, her ability to feel emotions was something she didn't know how to turn off. Alex can use it at will, which is probably why Ella was the one to come downstairs. I couldn't imagine what this five-year-old was perceiving from Darkness right now.

"Okay, we understand. Now leave." I commanded, holding her closer to me. 

The corner of Lucio's lips raised slightly. "Do you?" 

Suddenly, I felt the familiar presence of a powerful werewolf. It belonged to my father, a reassuring scent. Finally, it took him long enough.

"I guess that is my cue to leave."

Everyone glared at Lucio figure, internally cursing at Darkness. As though he felt our hostility, he raised Lucio's arms in surrender. "Hey, I just don't want to deal with too many Alpha-bloods. It is not, yet, the time to cause chaos." 

A little too late for that, demon.

"The public murders in this pack and in Lucio's, are you behind it?" I questioned icily.

His response was, "I guess you could say that."

He forced Lucio to contort his face to smile crookedly. "Goodbye." 

The blood-red eyes dissipated into their usual golden colour, as Lucio began to fall towards the ground. My body moved involuntarily, rushing to break his fall. 

The heavy front doors opened with a bang. "Elisia?" I heard my father yell my mum's name in concern. 

My arms were stretched out, reaching for his head, before it touched the ground. Fortunately, I got to him on time, supporting his head and laying it on my lap. Breathlessly, I looked down at my mate with panic. 

His cheeks were flushed pink and his brow was furrowed as though he was in pain. My distress had increased considerably as I took in his concerning appearance. Was he going to be okay? He had a demon within him before, surely he'll be fine this time around?

My father walked in, looking concerned as he rushed to my mother. He stopped in his tracks when he saw an afraid looking Ella. He changed direction to pick her up and comfort her. 

"What had happened?" He questioned us, caressing Ella's hair with love and concern. "Ella, you're okay. Dad is here, I'm here."

She burrowed her face into Dad's shoulder, whimpering quietly. "Scary man."

"Theo, my love." My mum spoke up, sighing as she crossed her arms over each other. "It is as we had feared, he is alive."

He took a sharp intake of breath, his eyes darkening with displeasure. "Erebus? Or Darkness, what the fuck he's called."

He ran his hand through his hair with a deep frown. "That explains the resentment and alarm I felt in the mate bond. Did he come by here?" 

"Yes, he took over Lucio's body." I answered, cradling Lucio's body close to me. "His reasoning for targeting us is because this pack terminated his wolf side as well as his father's existence, although he had implied that there were other reasons. As for his intentions, he wants to 'cause chaos' after being powerless for so long." 

I paused when Lucio started to stir a little under my touch. "Please be okay." I whispered to him. Seeing him like this, made me feel...

...scared.

"It seems like Darkness wants to play around with his newly found powers, it's like a game to him." I continued, my gaze not leaving my mate. 

"Okay. I understand, for now, we need to have Lucio be reviewed by a doctor. He doesn't look good." My father observed, his blue eyes swirling with concern. "I already mind-linked one, who should be on their way."

Everything that had happened after had felt like a blur. After doing some observations, the decision was made that Lucio was to be transported to the hospital. I followed without a word, let the experts do their job as I hung around helplessly. 

He was admitted straight away, into the VIP section of the hospital. Regular observations were done by the named nurse, feeding back her findings to the named doctor. They reassured me that there were no life-threatening or limiting concerns. 

I let out a sigh of breath that I didn't know I was holding. 

All I felt was relief, that Lucio was not harmed to the extent that I had thought. They explained that what had happened to him had an interesting physical effect on the body. His body had entered a state of extreme exhaustion and fatigue. 

I glanced at Lucio's figure on the hospital bed. "So he should be fine?" I asked the doctor.

"Yes, Alpha. Once he wakes up, we need to encourage him to eat and drink. He will then have to rest in the hospital for the rest of the day. Then I'd advise him to hunt, to feed his wolf."

I nodded at that. "Understood, thank you." 

And with that, she left the room, leaving me alone with him. I slowly walked over to the chair by the bedside and sat on it. I glanced at the time, shaking my head at the fact that it was only five pm.

I looked up to the ceiling, rubbing my temples to relieve the headache that I had and closed my eyes. 

My eyes closed shut as I felt a wave of fatigue come over me, too much has happened today. The whole deal with Luca and now this? It felt like this had been going on for much longer than half a day.

The familiar feeling of falling asleep had come over me, I accepted it, letting it overcome me.

**~** 

Ding!

The sound was very quiet and brief, but it was enough to jerk me out of my peaceful sleep. My hand involuntarily reached for my hidden pocket knife as I looked around for any threats. 

I relaxed when I took in the room, it looked untouched and normal. I glanced at the time as I stretched to stop feeling sleepy, an hour had passed since I fell asleep. 

I yawned, turning to see if Lucio looked any better than earlier. 

Instead, my gaze was met with striking golden eyes. I let out a surprised gasp, bringing my fingers to my mouth as I took in his face. The usual half-smirk was gracing his lips, paired with those teasing eyes. 

So different to how he was earlier, this was the Lucio I knew. A fluttery feeling had overcome my abdomen area as I held his warm gaze. My gaze followed his hand that held the side rail, the ring on one of his fingers probably made the sound. 

But more importantly, he was awake.

Before I could say anything, he uttered his first words since before he was possessed by Darkness. "Maya, are you okay?" He asked seriously, his gaze taking me in with concern.

Am I okay? 

I had the urge to tear up and cry, right then and there. He's the one in the hospital bed. Judging by how he's only barely moving his head, he's already realised that he can barely move. 

I was about to say a snarky comment about not worrying about me when he's hospitalised. However, his intensely worried expression stopped me in my tracks. 

"I'm fine." I answered sincerely. 

He held my gaze for a few more seconds before turning his head away, his soft dark hair ruffled by the pillow. "Good." He whispered in satisfaction. "Thank God." 

"Lucio?" 

"Yes?"

What do I say?

"Shall I tell you now what had happened?"

He turned to face me again, a small smile lingering on his face. I couldn't help but notice that he looked a little sad. "No need to tell me, my consciousness was still active as he took over me."

Ah. 

"But when he left my body, I had blacked out. I was worried something had happened to you."

"Or your family." He quickly added.

He looked up at the ceiling, all traces of emotions disappearing from his face. "All I could do is watch from the distance, that was all I could do. I'm sorry, for the trouble, I have caused."

"Trouble? Shut up Lucio, none of this is your fault. Don't you dare blame yourself for anything that had happened." I growled, annoyed at his passive behavior. 

A genuine chuckle erupted from him. "Ah, Maya." 

There it goes again, that fluttery feeling in my abdomen appeared again. He breathed out forcefully, before trying to sit up. 

"Lucio!" I exclaimed in alarm, reaching out to support him. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"It's not obvious?" He exhaled out tiredly, his teeth gritting together. "I'm trying to sit up, Maya."

I rolled my eyes at his response. "I meant that this mattress is fully automated, we can use the remote control to sit you upright."

"But-."

"Without having you do any unnecessary movements until you've regained strength to do so." I carried on sternly. 

He grumbled a little as I began to use the remote to move the top part of the mattress up. I held back an amused smile, I had never seen Lucio look like this. Wearing the expression of when a child is refused something they want. 

I proceeded to notify his named nurse that he had woken up, to which she had then proceeded to do observations on him. She had brought a menu with her, telling him that he needed to order food to eat. 

Only ten minutes had passed since he had ordered and it was already being brought to him. The staff member slightly bowed to me after they set the hot food on the table, and swiftly left the room. 

I observed it curiously, it looked better than I had anticipated.

His gaze lingered on the variety of food presented to him, hesitating for some reason. 

I sighed and pointed at the food. "Eat." 

This time he rolled his eyes at me, his intense golden eyes flashing with annoyance. "What am I, a dog?" 

Suddenly, the door opened at that moment, revealing a grinning Kyle. "Technically, you're a doggo!" 

Lucio frowned a little. "Your Gamma arrived before mine." 

Kyle suddenly threm a box of chocolates at him, resulting in hitting Lucio's face. "Everyone was called to an emergency meeting, orders came from the Mother Alpha."

Also known as my mother, Elisia.

No one acknowledged why Kyle thew those box of chocolates, or why he had it with him.

"So I assume the meeting is over?" Lucio grumbled, rubbing his cheek. 

"Yeah, but Enzo is busy with boring paperwork." 

I narrowed my eyes at him, with suspicion and disbelief. "You finished your parts already?"

He grinned even wider, confirming my suspicions and said, "I tricked Enzo into completing my part! He won't be coming here anytime soon."

I sighed as I rubbed my temples, I don't know why I'm surprised. I glanced at Lucio, who looked appalled by Kyle's behaviour. 

He, then, shook his head, as though he wanted to forget what he had just heard. "So...these chocolates?" He began to say, picking up the box. "Is it for me?"

Kyle nodded excitedly. 

"How do you know the brand I like?" 

"Enzo bought them for me." He declared with a grin.

I sighed once again, already foreseeing where this was going. I'm not even going to intervene, Lucio can experience this on his own.

Clueless, Lucio believed it. "Really? You like these too?"

"I wanted to get you something you liked. He bought them for you."

Ah, the truth is almost here.

Still clueless, Lucio nodded and said, "Ah, I get it. He bought them for you to give it to me. Thanks."

"No, I stole Enzo's present for you. Do you like it?"

Ah, there it is.

Silence.

"Kyle, what the hell?" Lucio groaned in confusion.

----------------------------------------------------

Poor Enzo >.< 

Let's hope you guys even remember the story and past chapter, with my hiatuses. I swear I'm not doing this on purpose, it's just that 2020 was proving to be worse than 2019 for me lool

Keyword - was

Yes, I'm doing pretty good now. I will prioritise my mental health over anything >.<

My plans for this book is - to get it finished soon by updating twice or three times a week.

Yup, that's the plan.

Sigh, I swear that's not an empty promise. As long as life doesn't throw me a sucker punch again, ughjsksnsnmsk

Lots of love, Yasmine xx

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