The Scarred Wolf

Chapter 2 Off the Cliff

-Rose-

I jerked awake when the water poured down and soaked my hair. I shuddered at the freezing cold and hadn’t recollected myself when Hans’ voice rose.

“Now that you are fully awake, we could have things settled.”He chanted cheerfully.

I ignored him and looked around, alerted at the fact that we were standing on a cliff. I glanced down but failed to see anything except the endless darkness. One thing is for sure, no one could survive from this height.

I wondered if Hans took me here to make me disappear. But if that’s the case, why didn’t he carry out his plan when I lost my consciousness?

“Hey you ugly b***h, you should listen carefully when I talk to you,”Hans said as he kicked me in the belly, making me cry in pain and bent into a ball. That was not enough for him. He yanked me from the ground and thundered, “Get up! Up! Didn't anyone teach you manners? Oh, I forgot. You are the Alpha’s daughter and you always have privileges. You don’t have to bow to anyone. You received training earlier than other wolves and your safety is always prioritized more than anyone else!”

“Why are you doing this to me?”I asked, my head spinning and my ears ringing at his roar.

“Shut the f**k up! Don’t you question me!”He shouted as he raised his arm. He was about to strike me when Bella held his wrist and said, “Stop hitting her. It is useless. We’re getting rid of her anyway.”

“Right,”Hans muttered as he loosened the grip and gave me another kick in the knee and I fell to the ground. He laughed hysterically as he pointed at me, “She kneels. Do you see, Bella? We make her kneel! Our revenge succeeded!”

“Revenge? What are you talking about?”I looked at him in bewilderment. Now I was too shocked to feel pain and angry.

“My father died for saving your father,”Hans spat.

“But it was the rogue that killed your father…”

“Does it matter who killed him? When a king sentenced a man to death, would you blame the headsman or the one giving the order?”Hans cut me off, “My father died because of your father’s stubbornness! He insisted that we go through the Moon Valley while my father suggested we choose the main road. Your father made the fatal decision but it was my father who paid the price! Do you think this is fair? Do you think this is forgivable, huh?”

I was speechless. Part of me understood his pain while the other part of me wanted to curse him and rip his head off. I took a deep breath and said calmly despite the growing fear in my heart, “If you harbored such resentment against my father, you shouldn’t have messed up with me in the first place…”

“On the contrary, Rose.”Hans shook his head and smiled cruelly, “That’s part of the revenge. If I didn’t approach you in the beginning, how could I make you fall in love with me? And how could I tear apart your heart piece by piece?”

“So you never loved me,”I muttered while trying very hard to hold back my tears, “All the vows you made, all the gifts you sent to me…they were just props for your show.”

“Correct. It is a spectacular show, isn’t it?”Hans announced proudly, “I succeeded in tricking you and your old man, let alone others in the pack. They considered us a perfect couple. Thus it would never occur to them that I have anything to do with your death. It is just a tragic fall off the cliff. Either it is seen as suicide or accident, no one will investigate further. The pack will mourn for you, but how long will such sorrow last? You will soon be forgotten and no one would ever speak of you again…just like my father.”

“I see,”I said and let out a bitter laugh at the ridicule of my fate. I have my eyes fixed on Bella and asked quietly, “What about you? Why did you betray me? I saved your life.”

“Saved my life?”Bella sent me an incredible look and she stated with hatred in her eyes, “I should thank you for jumping on the rogue and interrupted him, but you didn’t save me, Rose. You ran for your life when you fell off the rogue’s back, leaving Hans and me to die…How could you say you saved my life?”

“No I wasn’t running for my life!” I argued as anger fueled my body, “I was using myself as a bait to distract the attacker from you and Hans! I tried my best to protect you!”

Bella gulped at my words, and there was a knit forming between her eyebrows. After moments of silence, she said in a low and trembling voice, “You never told me about this.”

“You never asked! You showed gratitude to me after the event and how could I know you were just acting!” The more I said the harder for me to control my emotions. I could no longer hold back my tears and they began to roll down. The salty liquid flew over my cheek, triggering a stinging pain.

I inhaled sharply and suddenly remembered the wound resulting from the fire tongs. My face was no longer bleeding but I could still feel the stickiness of the blood. I wondered how bad the wound was. Would children cry when they saw my face? Well, maybe they wouldn’t get the chance to see my face, as I will soon be murdered…my mind was about to drift away when Bella spoke, bringing me back to the earth.

“Hans, we might have misunderstood Rose…”Bella said hesitantly and the way she looked at me changed. The resentment was gone, replaced by guilt and remorse.

Hans stared at me for a long time and lowered his gaze. He cleared his throat and said coldly,“Well, even though we had made a wrong judgement, it was too late to regret. We couldn’t let her live now or she would avenge on us. ”

“But…”Bella opened her mouth, trying to say something but Hans stopped her impatiently.

“Enough talking for tonight.”said Hans as he handed a knife to Bella, “You stab her and I will throw her off the cliff. Her body will sink in the river and be eaten by the fish. No one will suspect us. I will be the Alpha and you will be the Luna. We’ll rule the pack together and make it prosper. Okay?”

“Okay,”Bella fidgeted with her fingers nervously before taking the knife from Hans. I widened my eyes when I found the knife she held was firekiss. I had no clues when Hans took it away from me, probably during my unconsciousness.

“Isn’t this your favorite weapon?”Hans mocked, “How pathetic”.

Seeing his smugly face I realized he chose firekiss on purpose. He was using my favorite knife to to end my life, making my death ironic.

I watched Bella coming to me step by step. I was retreating until I was cornered to the edge of the cliff and couldn’t back up more. The night was quiet, enabling me to hear the roar of the river.

“Bella,”I called. I lifted my head and she averted her gaze before our eyes met. “Don’t do this. You know this is wrong. I know my running away hurt your feelings. But like I said it was a misunderstanding. Never have I ever thought about forsaking you. You are my best friend! Drop the knife so we could fix this. We can still be good friends.”

“After all the things I have done to you, you’re still willing to forgive me and see me as your friend?”Bella muttered, voice barely a whisper.

“Yes, yes.”I nodded.

“Don’t be silly,”Hans sneered, “She said so only to beg for her life. I assure you once we let her go, she would order her men to behead us.”

“What should I do,”Bella talked to herself as she clenched her fists. She tightened the holding of the knife, her knuckles turning pale.

“Kill her,”Hans commanded in an unarguable voice and added intimidatingly, “Or I kill both of you.”

I felt doomed. I thought this threat would be the last straw to break the camel's back, which would undoubtedly drive Bella to kill me. I never expected that Bella would shake her head and negotiate with him, “I can’t. Sorry Hans, I can’t do this. Rose has been super nice to us. Maybe it wasn’t that bad to let her go…”

Her voice came to an abrupt halt as Hans snatched the knife away and stabbed her in the chest. Bella staggered back as she looked at Hans in disbelief.

“No!”I cried as I saw Hans pull out the knife and push Bella to the side. She fell with her face to the ground. She went into convulsions. Seconds later her body vibrated with a final spastic jerk, she relaxed and lay still.

“Liability,”Hans cursed in disdain and strode to me.

With the monster ahead and abyss below, I was literally trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea.

To the abyss or to the devil?

I made my decision that I'd rather die from drowning than make the devil satisfied.

So I closed my eyes and jumped before Hans could get me.

His frustrated growl disturbed the tenderness of the night, and the last thing I could remember was the cold riptide enveloped my body and put me down.