Chapter 47

Merry Christmas :)

May this day bring you peace, joy and love :) Enjoy!

On this wonderful day, I also want to share with you guys lovely people that I have been selected for WATTPAD BLOCK PARTY :D Yay!

As promised Chapter 47 has been updated and it is dedicated to @Nikky54 for the beautiful cover above ^^^

Sorry, but I did not have the time to edit this....

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"Only very few people can remain unruffled by trouble."

-Anuradha Bhattacharyya.

QUILLON P.O.V

Dad had come back home. Darya had got accepted as the Luna as since everything was fine in the pack now, she asked mom to remove the exile order and call him back home.

He is a changed person since he has returned. Doesn't talk much, doesn't interact with others much. I don't know if mom forgave him or not but he seemed happy... really happy these days. So, I think everything is fine between them too.

Dad also came to know the truth about what had happened really in that war, fifty-two years ago. He was ashamed and he had conveyed his apologies to Darya. She forgave him too. I know they won't ever be the best of friends, but they both have started respecting each other.

Two days had passed and Konrad hasn't made any move to attack yet. Instead of feeling relieved, I was actually confused. I expected him to show off, but he was still not coming front and that was fishy.

It was obvious he was planning something, but I didn't know what. The thought that he was one step ahead of me, annoyed me. On cue, my wolf growled nastily.

Even though I found it hard to believe, I had honestly thought Konrad was dead. However now... he was back!

As if one wasn't enough... there's now two of him!

I admit I was very much taken by surprise to hear it. I never could have thought cloning was his gift, but at the same time, I was curious to know more.

There has to be some way where Konrad can be killed without having his blood being shed to the ground. Strangling, hanging, poisoning, starving, drowning... many ideas were going on in my head, then again, Konrad wouldn't sit simply and allow me to do that.

No... I needed to think something so twisted that even he wouldn't have seen it coming!

The sound of chair being pulled back across the wooden flooring gets my attention and I turn to look at Quinn, who sat in his seat while busy texting.... Probably Sabine!

"Where is Darya?" I asked him because they were both sitting and watching T.V while I came to kitchen.

"She went upstairs" he murmured without looking at me as I kept plates on the table to serve spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs.

Before I could call her, I heard footsteps and soon Darya sat in her seat, beside me. Chewing her bottom lip, she stared at the food and then a smile crept on her mouth, which made my wolf wag his tail.

"So.... I have been thinking" Quinn began and we both looked at him questioningly. "About this current situation and I feel like I am a gooseberry; which is—"

"A what?" Darya asked him.

"You know... two's company; three's a pair of lovers and one gooseberry!" Quinn explained and I cocked a brow. "Well, that's why I have decided that I am going to move out."

The spoon slipped from my fingers and clanked against the plate as I frowned at Quinn.

"What?" I said and he compressed his lips. Did he just...

"I am moving out" Quinn stated and my eyes hardened.

"Moving out where?" I snapped.

"My apartment" he replied and I growled.

"What's the problem here?"

"Nothing... It just doesn't feel right" he said and I glared at him.

"You didn't have that problem before" I pointed out.

"Before it was just you and me, now Darya is also here" he muttered playing with his food.

"Of course she is here... she is my mate" I scowled at him.

"That's exactly my point. She must stay here because it's her house, whereas I... I will go to my apartment."

"Enough about this apartment crap! The deal was that you wouldn't move to your apartment until you are eighteen" I growled.

"Screw the deal. I am moving to my apartment on Saturday" he defied and I glared at him. "I told mom and she agreed" he added and my eyes widened.

"She did?" Darya spoke before me.

"Yes"

"You are lying"

"Ask mom" he shrugged.

I didn't bother because if he spoke so confidently, then obviously he was telling the truth. But why would mom agree?

'Because it doesn't feel right' mom replied through the link and I furrowed my brows. 'Your link is open... I can hear your thoughts'

'Why did you agree?'

'You have found your mate. He has found his. You both staying in the same place with your mates doesn't seem right. It might not be a problem now but we can't tell the same about the future. Since he does have an apartment of his own, I think it's good if he stays there. Of course, if we didn't have another apartment then we had to adjust but that is not the case here' mom reasoned and I sighed.

'You sure about this?' I asked her. 'Think he can manage? He has never been away from us' I told her.

Quinn has never actually stayed alone. While I joined college, I used to stay in a dorm and hence, I am used to staying away, but Quinn...

'It scares me' mom whispered. 'I will be worried about him! But sooner or later this would have happened right? While you moved out... I was scared too but look, how well settled you are in your life. I am sure he will be fine too.'

'Yes' I agreed with mom, pleased that she was okay with this whole thing.

When I asked Quinn to stay with me, mom didn't agree at first, but since I was also there with him, she gave in. My house was barely twenty minutes drive from my parents place and so mom would visit us every day. But Quinn's apartment, which dad had bought after selling a piece of land, is almost an hour drive from here.

Hence this was a completely different scenario. From now on, he would be on his own. No one to fuss about him 24x7! I don't know if he can manage or not, but I do know that we cannot always baby him. One day, he has to stand on his own feet.

"Okay" I said out loud and Darya looked at me in surprise.

'You are truly okay with this?' she asked unsurely and I told her exactly what I had been thinking seconds earlier.

"Alright" I announced loudly and Quinn looked at me in surprise.

"Really?" he asked and I nodded. Quinn seemed doubtful at first, and when he realized I wasn't bluffing his face curved to form a huge grin.

"Is Abi going to move in with you?" Darya queried curiously and the smile vanished from Quinn's face.

"No. Her parents said they would send her after she completes her high school" he sulked like a kid and I rolled my eyes.

"Then why this sudden decision?" she further asked him.

"Not a sudden decision. I have been thinking about this for almost a month now" Quinn shrugged. "Even before I met Sabine" he added and I sighed.

He really wants this and I think it's time we let him have his independence.

__

"Good morning sir" my colleagues greeted me and I repeated the same as I walked past them and into the waiting lift. While the lift moved up, I got thinking about Darya.

She was very wary among humans ever since Nancy's death and Wesley's betrayal. Doesn't interact with them at all! When her classmates spoke to her today, she just replied with a yes or no.

Snob... they had called her and I knew she heard it, but she didn't react to it all.

I could understand why she was apprehensive around them but what she is doing is wrong. She studies in a college where except for her and four more students, all are human. Ninety percent of her coworkers in the farm are humans. And she is there for nearly eight hours a day. So obviously she cannot avoid them. They are as much a part of her life as we are.

I scratched my head as I thought on how to make Darya understand all this.

The lift door opened and after I stepped out, more people greeted me.

The moment I entered my cabin, my wolf growled murderously and I stopped in my tracks. Slowly, I raised my lashes and saw him... Konrad, sitting in my chair!

He was invisible to others and I knew that because none of my colleagues would be this calm if they knew a stranger was sitting in their boss's seat.

He smirked as I closed the door shut and locked it, without taking my eyes off him. I didn't want any interruption in this meeting.

Konrad showed himself and leaned further back in the seat as I dropped my coat to a vacant chair.

"Quillon Sanders" he began in amusement, "You are one hell of a tough nut to crack" he repeated what he had once said. "So tough that you didn't even crack when your mate burnt half of your pack" he said impressively and I tensed, while my wolf bared his fangs.

"Is that why you went into hiding?" I asked cocking an eyebrow and the smile vanished from Konrad's face. "You didn't have to go such lengths. I had already decided that I would kill you only after telling you about my gifts."

"Kill me?" Konrad laughed as I firmly held the back of two different chairs. "Oh! Your mean like your mate did?" he taunted further and my wolf snarled inside me. "She is so predictable" Konrad said rolling his eyes heavenwards and I glared at him. "In fact you both are" Konrad mused and I gritted my teeth. "Say a word against one then the other automatically becomes defensive" he chuckled. "I knew that. I saw that and I, used that to my advantage" he said looking me in the eye. "I goaded her. All I had to do was say some lies, make some threats and bam! Darya gets so mad that she stabs me with a long sword that I, myself had kept for her" he stressed; "But the best part... you all believed that I was dead" he said shaking his head in pity, which had my wolf scratching inside me.

I hated to admit this but he was right about the last part. We should have suspected somewhere something was amiss.

Konrad is no ordinary wolf. He is undiluted evil and someone like him, shouldn't have been killed that way.

"Nice plan" I said honestly and Konrad's grin widened. "All this was for you to come back powerful?" I inquired, making hand gestures.

Konrad clicked his tongue, "Partly, but it was also the main intention. However, the reason why I did this was for all your secrets to be out" he admitted. "When I came to know there is a soothsayer and Darya knows who it is, Sanity first suspected it to be Kasey. However, many things didn't add up because Kasey was part of her big family and if she was really one, then I would have known about it. That got me thinking and I realized that the actual soothsayer was someone who was out of the family circle and only Darya knew who that someone was. Now you know Darya very well; she wouldn't have confessed to me who it was even if asked her nicely" Konrad chuckled and I growled loudly. "So, I had to come up with this plan. It had many advantages and one of it was... the truth about what you really are" he said with a shrug.

"Impressive"

"You see... all I had to do was sit back and watch events unfold one after the other. But obviously, I had to make a first move and do something to trigger it."

"Maxwell" I said the name and when Konrad looked me in the eye, his whole eyes turned dark as night. He wasn't really surprised to learn that I knew Maxwell's truth.

"Yes. There is an old saying that goes something like, your enemy's enemy is your—"

"Best friend" I finished and Konrad nodded.

But it was not true. Maxwell was not really the enemy. He was loyal to my dad once despite of his many flaws. He couldn't bear to watch the improvement in the relationship between Serene and Emperor Pack and that, made him the enemy! Couldn't bear to see Darya as my Luna! He hated Emperor and especially Duncan because Duncan had once captured and imprisoned him for trespassing into Emperor Pack territory.

"Sanity had to do some research and eventually, she found out someone who was ready to make a deal. It took me less than two minutes to convince him" Konrad said smugly.

All I wanted to do at that moment was to tear Maxwell into two. The chairs which I had held shook as I desperately tried to calm myself. I had to be careful around Konrad. There is no way I can give into my anger no matter how much of a pain my wolf is being.

He wants this. He wants me to get angry and do something stupid but I am too smart to give into his wishes.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed back my wolf and then changed my own emotions to a calm, collected one.

Konrad's eyes flashed and his jaws clenched when he saw how unaffected I was and that made me smile, which in turn made him growl.

"So, as per your wish Maxwell talked my dad into insulting Darya in front of the whole pack?" I demanded coolly, but inside me, my wolf was violently fighting to shift and kill this rotten monster.

"I had to do something" Konrad justified, which set my wolf on edge. "You guys were going too slow for my liking. That's why I had Maxwell coax your father against Darya and look, how well things worked for me after that! Took him some time, but eventually, we all got the result we wanted" Konrad spread his hands on his side. "Maxwell has this rare gift like Isadora, which lets him manipulate anyone and everyone. Strange thing, he didn't know he was gifted until I told him. Once things was explained to him, he was so grateful that he agreed to help me without even bothering to listen what I wanted."

All this time, everyone blamed dad for humiliating Darya in front of the whole pack. Except for Quinn, no one suspected Maxwell was behind everything.

I don't know for how long he had talked and twisted dad's mind against Darya. I don't know what all lies he fed, but in the end he succeeded in getting dad under his control.

"He kept doing his move everyday and he did it so nicely that one day, finally, your father burst out and enraged Darya to an extent where she almost burnt half of your pack. Now, that, I was really impressed with! But what completely blew me over was your silence" Konrad said in an amazed tone and I snarled at him.

"I am not complaining though" Konrad said raising his hands in surrender, "I am not complaining at all because your silence gave birth to something that I always wanted."

I scowled at him, not comprehending the meaning behind his words. Gave birth to what? What more was left? Another Konrad? Is that how the second one came to life? What did my silence create?

There were so many questions going on in my head that I felt like I would drop down just by the weight of it.

"Something so very powerful that it will be right beside me, helping me kill you" Konrad growled looking me in the eye and my wolf gave such a deadly growl that it shook the glass above the table.

"A dream"

"Which is going to be reality soon" Konrad finished what I started.

"Soon indeed. But not today" I said and glared at him. "No matter how much I want to kill you, tear apart that spiteful bone of yours, I cannot because I am not going to fight when there are humans around. But you knew that didn't you?" I demanded through gritted teeth and Konrad narrowed his eyes.

"You knew I don't fight when humans are around and that is why you chose to come like this. Quiet, unseen and alone" I grinned which brought out Konrad's claws.

"What makes you think I am alone?" he queried.

"Your clone counts?" I chuckled and Konrad bared his fangs, which had my wolf sit back in satisfaction.

There wouldn't be any fight today, no matter how much I craved for one!

"Bring him out" I dared and Konrad held the handstand of his seat in a very tight, death like grip. "You won't, will you?" I taunted again and Konrad's body started shaking in anger.

"No. You didn't come here for a fight" I answered for myself and Konrad growled angrily. I was positive my colleagues, all humans, might have already heard the growls coming from the room.

"If you had come for a fight, you would have come prepared; brought a huge army and command them to fight with me, until they paid for it with their lives. No. You just came here to gloat" I said flatly and his lips curled up in annoyance.

"Gloat how you are ahead of all of us" I said honestly. "But you forgot one thing that your opponent is me and you can never be ahead of me" I stressed, grinding my teeth against each other and pouring as much venom as possible in my gaze.

Konrad's nostrils flared and his eyes turned the color of night. The growl that escaped from his teeth could make a fully grown man piss in his pants.

I was deliberately pissing him off and my wolf relished the sounds of his growls because it proved that I was having an upper hand. He seemed he had one the fight but he was wrong. He had just won a battle. The war was still going on and only that will decide who amongst the two of us comes victorious.

"Now that we have made that clear—" Placing my hands, flat on the smooth wooden surface of the table, I leaned forward and hissed, "—I want you to get up and get the fuck out of my office" I snarled gnashing my teeth so hard that it actually hurt me.

Konrad got up so fast that the chair toppled over and fell on the floor with a loud noise. No one spoke a single word while the chair danced repeatedly on the marbled floor.

"Wrong move" he spelled out, curling his fingers to form a fist. "You made a mistake."

"You think I give a damn?" I shrugged and he took a threatening step forward. I cocked an eyebrow as he stopped mid-step and fumed in fury.

"A very big mistake" Konrad growled and thrusting the door open in a rough speed, he stalked out, after becoming invisible to them.

I held the edge of the table and took deep breaths to calm myself.

I provoked him.

I provoked the son of devil a lot and I knew, he wouldn't rest until he has wiped me from the face of this earth. However, it would only be his dream. I swore in all honesty.

My wolf growled loudly, though it wasn't with as much spirit as I expected. He still seemed tense and I was confused by it!

Konrad was going to play dirty and make his best move till date. I knew it and I also wanted to be prepared for it!

The war is going to being soon... No! Scratch that!

The war has already started.

__

MEANWHILE AT KONRAD'S WAREHOUSE....

Konrad kept pacing on the long, stretched living room of his warehouse. He was fuming in rage rethinking what Quillon Sanders had said.

No matter what he does, Quillon Sanders always seems to have the last word and it got on his nerves and infuriated him.

A rage unknown to him bubbled inside his chest and was threatening to burst out like a volcano. However, Konrad swore not to give into his anger. It would only cause harm to him and he knew that.

No!

He had to be very careful, very smart to incapacitate Quillon Sanders. He knew how to do that but he also needed back-up! He didn't want Quillon to come in between and ruin his plan. All he wanted was for his plan to work smoothly without any interruptions.

And for that to happen, Konrad was ready to sacrifice hundred wolves if needed.

He needed a lot of help from others and Konrad hated that. He hated depending on others but thank-fully, he had one such gift that lets him get others help whether they want to or not.

But Quillon could also bring out the wolves out of their trance and Konrad absolutely hated that.

Ugh!

This Quillon Sanders was becoming too much of a problem and Konrad wanted him out of his way... fast!

He had a foolproof plan and he had decided he is going to act on it soon.

A growl erupted from his chest and as it resounded, Konrad turned to look at his clone. His clone, looks, acts, fights, behaves just like him. The only difference, his clone doesn't utter a word.

Konrad watched his clone feeding on the heart of the dead body and smirked as he recalled how his clone came to birth.

That day, after everyone got convinced that he was dead, they had left the place to share with others what they had termed as happy news. But once the sun had set and the stars had appeared in the night sky, drops of his blood had soon become a pool of his blood and in it, emerged his clone as naked as a newborn baby.

His clone had soon, pulled out the sword from his body and healed all his wounds, thus reviving him back to life.

Now, Konrad noticed the way his clone closed his eyes and savored the taste of blood in his mouth. As he opened his eyes, they turned they turned to two dark pools of stormy grey.

His clone, Sanity and Maxwell are going to help him but he also needed Ekon to lead them all, while he gives his full attention to his primary target.

"Stay here... I need to go somewhere" he told his clone and looked at Sanity, who was sitting on one of the room and sketching, useless stuff like she always does.

"Where are you going?" Sanity questioned when Konrad picked up his coat.

"To visit a friend" Konrad replied and closed the door shut behind him.

___

Ekon was loading the items into the backseat of his car which was parked in the basement parking lot of the mall. He had made sure to purchase everything that Meryl had listed but somehow he had lost the list and now he didn't know what exactly was needed from him. He had tried to remember everything and even made a list in his phone but he still thought that he missed something.

While he was counting the number of items, the lights in the parking lot blinked and frowning, Ekon looked around him not once but thrice! He didn't find anything suspicious and so, he went back to his work.

Once again the lights blinked and an irritated growl emerged from his chest. He turned his head left and right but he didn't find anything suspicious. However, the unusual silence in the parking lot and even in the building unnerved him!

When his heart thudded in his chest, he knew that something was wrong.

The box of cornflakes fell from his hand when he sensed a familiar presence behind him. Gulping, Ekon slowly turned to face Konrad.

"It's been such a long time" Konrad said, looking Ekon in the eye as he turned an ashen shade.

Goosebumps appeared all over Ekon's skin and he couldn't even stop it. His first fear was for Meryl but somehow he also knew Konrad hadn't hurt her.

He wouldn't hurt her either because there was nothing he wanted from Meryl.

"What do you want?" Ekon asked him shakily, though in his heart he knew what Konrad really wanted.

"You. Back where you belong" Konrad replied with a smile.

"I do not belong there. I belong with—"

"You are wrong" Konrad cut him off, without even bothering to hear what he wanted to say. "You were born there, lived there and it is the only place you truly belong. Playing house isn't you Ekon" Konrad said shaking his head and Ekon turned his head, to look away.

"I love her. I want to be with her"

"And you shall be with her; but only after you keep your promise to me" Konrad reminded him coldly and Ekon flinched.

He closed his eyes and trembled in fear as memories of his cruel father torturing him ran through his mind. It was a usual thing for me while growing up. He had almost given up hope on life until he was saved...

He opened his eyes and looked at Konrad through pleading eyes. Almost begging him to let him go, but Konrad seemed unable to fathom what he wanted.

"You had once said that this life of yours is a gift from me" Konrad pointed out and Ekon lowered his head in shame. "I was the one who saved you and is this how you repay me?" Konrad demanded staring at him through shock stricken eyes that Ekon knew would forever haunt him.

"If you really love her... then, then you... you can go" Konrad finished and Ekon closed his eyes in pain.

All he could think about was all the moments he spent with Meryl in the past two months. So beautiful, so perfect. He had thought his future would only have this, but now his future seemed blank... distant.

His dark past has colored his future, making it gloomy.

When Ekon opened his eyes again, Konrad wasn't standing there. He had kept his word and he was gone. Would never really bother him again and he knew that but still on the inside he felt unsettled. He felt like he was doing the wrong thing by sending Konrad back... empty handed.

__

As he drove to Meryl and his apartment, he couldn't push away the feeling of guilt and sadness.

With a heavy heart, he walked upstairs, holding the bags.

Meryl opened the door before he could knock and then greeted him with a cheerful smile. So beautiful, so perfect. A small smile crept on his face and she leaned forward to kiss him in the mouth.

"Give me that" she said and took a paper bag from his hand. She walked into the kitchen and Ekon followed her. "I have made some coffee for you" she grinned giving him a large mug and after thanking her, Ekon took the mug.

While he drank, he watched Meryl who moved around the kitchen, preparing dinner for the both of them. It was their routine and he had become so used to it that he forgot everything, even his past.

However now, he couldn't help but recall it and he clenched his fists, when he realized how brutally he had killed beside Konrad. How many lives he had taken without even flinching!

Konrad was right. He was born there and he belonged there.

Ekon knew he was cruel and that someone like him didn't deserve to have such a peaceful life. Someone like him deserved to rot in that hell.

All of a sudden this place felt claustrophobic and Ekon struggled to breathe.

A soft, gentle hand was placed over his fist and Ekon's eyes flew open as he snapped out of his trance. Meryl was standing next to him and staring at him with clouded eyes.

"Ekon" she whispered his name and he looked at her with anguish.

He was cruel and someone like him had no right to ruin her life. He was nothing but bad for her. Sooner or later his past would have caught up and it would have ruined even her life.

Oh God! What the hell had he been doing?

"Ekon" she whispered his name again and soon, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her chest.

He was bad. Very bad for her and he could destroy her. She was so nice and she didn't deserved better in her life.

Someone like him not only didn't deserve her, but also had no right to destroy her future, her happiness and Ekon had swore to always see her happy.

Pulling away, Ekon looked at Meryl with apologetic eyes.

The decision had been made.

He had tarnished her life for long enough; but no more. It was time for him to go back to the hell he really belonged and fight beside those demons.

****

Actually, the nail of my thumb finger cracked in between and when I showed it to my dad, he in turn asked me to show it to a doctor. The doctor while explaining to me that it is a vitamin deficiency, pulled out a pair of long, solid steel scissors and I was like woah! What is going on here?

I screamed and my mom, while laughing, held me while the doctor held my thumb and cut off that broken nail :( My thumb is hurting pretty badly and I cannot type very swiftly either.

So, this is short... But I still hope you like it :)

Ekon had now joined Konrad again... how do you think Darya will react? What do you want Darya to do? Share with me :D

Next update on New Year.. that is on 9th. If possible, I will try sooner!

Also, please don't forget to vote, comment and follow.

I love you all :-*

You guys are the best :D:-*

Thanks,

Shruthi.