Chapter 175: End Of Volume 2
It was night when Yuki finally woke. Her face was still slightly bloody, though the skin was already knitting back together, healing from the brutal beating Princess had given her.
She stared up at the sky, watching the thin sliver of the crescent moon through the canopy. A faint, jagged smile formed on her face. She was alive. That was all that mattered.
Then she turned her head to the side and saw Helen sitting on the ground nearby, leaning heavily against a gnarled tree.
"See what you’ve caused with your hesitation..." Yuki said, her voice raspy. She looked at the witch, expecting an argument or a defense.
Helen didn’t respond. She looked too exhausted to even breathe, let alone speak. Her face alone showed the depth of her worry, her eyes sunken and dark.
Yuki checked her own body, running her hands over her face and arms. Everything had healed with terrifying speed. Not a single bruise remained, and her dislocated joint had snapped back into place while she was unconscious.
"You gave me the moon wolf’s blood, didn’t you?" she muttered, glancing at the empty glass vial on the ground near Helen.
Helen began to cry. It wasn’t a loud sound, just a quiet, broken whimpering that shook her narrow shoulders.
Yuki stood up and walked over to her. She bent down, gently touching Helen’s face and brushing her tangled hair back from her forehead. Her expression was soft and sympathetic, almost like a sister.
"What’s wrong? Why the tears, Helen?" Yuki asked. Her voice was laced with concern, smooth and melodic.
"My son is dead..." Helen said, her voice breaking into uncontrollable, racking sobs.
Yuki’s expression shifted, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"How is that possible? What happened to him?" she asked, her hand still resting on Helen’s cheek.
"I found one of his toy trains in the grass... then I tried chanting to see his last whereabouts, to follow his path," Helen cried, clutching her chest. "When I closed my eyes, I saw him. I saw him being devoured by that snake. My baby boy is gone, Yuki."
She clutched the small toy train tightly against her heart as she wept, her forehead resting against her knees.
Yuki watched her for a long minute.
"Helen... this is their fault. Your son died because of them and their interference. You will get your revenge for this. We will get our revenge together. We’ll take the moon wolf back and make her do as we see fit. Henry will be avenged, I promise you," Yuki said, her voice firm.
Helen shook her head, crying even harder now. The sound was high and sharp.
"I don’t want revenge, Yuki. I don’t care about the moon wolf or the Alphas. I just want my son back. I just want my baby back in my arms," she sobbed, rocking back and forth.
Yuki stared at her for a moment, her face becoming a cold, unreadable mask.
Then she stepped forward and pulled Helen into a gentle embrace, slowly stroking her back to calm her down.
"Don’t worry, Helen... it’s alright," Yuki whispered softly into her ear. "You’ll see your son again very soon."
Yuki’s eyes suddenly glowed a fierce, toxic purple.
Helen’s crying turned into a sharp, wet grunt. Her eyes went wide for a split second, staring at nothing.
Then her body went limp. Her head fell heavily against Yuki’s shoulder, her breath stopping instantly.
Yuki had reached through her ribs and ripped out her heart.
Yuki buried Helen right there beneath the tree, digging into the soft soil with her bare hands. She placed Henry’s toy train beside the body in the shallow grave and dropped the still-warm heart in as well. She didn’t feel sadness, only a sense of cleaning up a mess.
After covering the grave with dirt and heavy stones, she stood in silence for a moment.
Then it began to rain. The drops were cold and heavy, washing the blood from her hands, face and the dirt from her clothes.
Yuki turned and walked through the woods toward where she had parked her car on the dirt track. Her mind was already moving to the next plan, the next way to get Faye back.
Just as she reached for the door handle...
A gunshot rang out, echoing through the trees like a crack of thunder.
Yuki grunted in sharp pain, stumbling as she tried to open the car door. She reached for her side, feeling the hot rush of blood. Another shot hit her, right in the leg, and she collapsed to the muddy ground. Everything went black again.
When Yuki opened her eyes again, she wasn’t in the woods. She was lying on the floor inside a perfectly square room.
Everything around her was made of polished silver. The walls, the floor, and the ceiling gleamed with a cold, metallic light.
She quickly scrambled to her feet, her heart racing as she scanned the walls for an exit.
There were no doors. No windows. Just a solid box of silver.
Then suddenly..
A section of the wall slid open with a hiss, and someone stepped inside.
It was the same black-haired man who had saved Princess in the woods earlier. His face was still hidden behind a heavy tactical mask, his dark eyes the only thing visible.
"Who are you? What is this place?" Yuki demanded, stepping toward him with her teeth bared.
She tried to summon her claws, waiting for the familiar weight and the sting of the silver growing from her fingertips...
But nothing happened. Her hands remained human.
"Oh, that?" the man said calmly, his voice echoing in the small space. "Your silver claws have been chopped off. We took the liberty while you were under."
Yuki’s eyes widened. She looked down at her hands, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps.
"You don’t need to know who I am," the man continued, his voice flat. "Just know that this is your new home. You’ll be staying here for the rest of your life."
"Do you really think these silver walls can hold me forever?" Yuki growled, trying to hide the fear in her voice. "I’ll grow my claws back and I’ll tear my way out of this place. I’ll kill you last."
"No, you won’t," the man replied coldly. "This isn’t ordinary silver. Since you’re immune to the standard stuff, we spent a lot of money to make something better. This alloy will slowly drain your energy, day by day, until you fall into a coma."
He gestured toward the tiny, pin-sized holes lining the top of the walls.
"Every two hours, aconite gas will fill this room. It won’t kill you, but it will keep you weak. This is the end of the road for you, Yuki Bangs."
Yuki clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white.
"Who sent you? Was it Princess Kings? I have money, lots of it. I have accounts you can’t even dream of. I’ll pay you double whatever they are giving you," she said quickly, her mind racing. She assumed this was just a business transaction for him.
The man stepped closer, his shadow falling over her.
"My daughter used to be your biggest fan," he said quietly. "She adored you. She had your posters on her walls. I even thought about kidnapping you one day just to make you marry her, because I thought you were a hero. That’s how much she loved you."
His voice darkened, turning into a low snarl.
"But you hurt my daughter. You destroyed the image she had of the world."
"I don’t even know who your daughter is!" Yuki screamed.
"There’s no price for that kind of betrayal," he said, ignoring her. "I want you to suffer here. I want you to feel the pain of being trapped. I want you to sit in this silver box for decades so that in your next life, when you see people like my daughter... you’ll turn around and walk away instead of destroying them for your own ego."
He turned his back on her, walking toward the opening in the wall.
"Oh, and one more thing," he added, pausing at the threshold. "Princess Kings wanted you to know something before the door closes for good."
He paused, looking back over his shoulder.
"Alphas will always be dominant."
The man walked out, and the silver wall sealed shut behind him without a sound.
Yuki growled and threw herself against the metal, screaming until her throat was raw,
But there was no way out. There was only the sound of the gas beginning to hiss through the vents.
