Chapter 10 Threats
2350 Words
[Stella’s POV]
“Here is what’s going to happen – you tell him, that he and his friend are free to go, and if they wanna stay alive, they should leave as fast as possible and never return.” Armaros explained to me, as I nodded.
“I understand..” I replied, as he then proceeded to open the door for me. Landon looked surprised when I walked back into the room together with Armaros. After what had just happened, I could understand why.
“Stella! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” He started asking, as Armaros just rolled his eyes.
“I’m fine, thank you, and no, he hasn’t.. But I need you to listen to me for a moment, okay?” I spoke, as he knitted his eyebrows. I knew he was being a sceptic, but he agreed to listen anyway.
“Okay?”
“Armaros has agreed to let you and uncle Peter go.. And he has already sent Bella, Kyan, Jaze and Nathan home, but you have to promise not to return to this place like.. Ever.” I stated, as he looked at me like I was crazy, and maybe I was.
“And what about you? Are you just going to stay here? If he is threatening you, then I will personally kick him in his..” He growled, as he glared at Armaros, but I cut in.
“No, I have decided to stay here on my own accord, and you need to accept that fact ‘cause.. Armaros is my mate.” I admitted, as Landon’s eyes widened.
“Are you kidding me? You can’t be serious right now!” He blurred out, as Armaros took hold around my waist and pulled me close as he kissed me in front of Landon, which took me by surprise.
Then he turned to look at Landon with a cocky smirk.
“She’s not, and you have to accept that she now belongs to me!” Armaros stated, as Landon continued glaring at Armaros.
“Why should I listen to anything you have to say, shíthead!” He yelled at Armaros, which made him take a step towards Landon in anger, but I placed a hand on his chest to stop him.
I didn’t want the situation to get worse, so I did what I had to, to keep everything running smoothly.
“You don’t have to listen to him.. But you should listen to me! And I’m telling you to leave and don’t come back.” I stated, as my throat started tying knots on itself.
“You think your father is just gonna accept that..? And what about your mother and Theo?!” He fired, as I felt my heart hurt as he mentioned them.
“He will have to..” I spoke, before I turned to leave. I had to because I knew if I stayed, I would start crying.
“Goodbye uncle Landon..” I spoke in a low voice, before I walked out of the room, while I felt my tears started to flow freely, and my breathing became shallow, while I glided down to the floor.
That was the hardest thing I ever had to do.
To lie to someone I care about because Armaros might be my mate, but it didn’t mean I didn’t want to go home.
I missed my parents and my brother and everyone else in the tribe, but there was nothing I could do about it.
[..]
As Armaros walked out of the room, he couldn’t see Stella anywhere, so at first, he got a little worried that she might have tried to run away again, but then he realized she was sitting on the floor.
Her eyes were all puffy, and she was hugging herself as her breathing was erratic from all the crying.
So, he proceeded to pick her up in his arms and walked to the bedroom, where he put her on the bed.
“It will probably be best if you try to get some sleep.” Armaros stated, before he placed a kiss on her forehead, but she didn’t reply.
“Stella, I need to make sure that I am able to trust you, so from now on.. Shax will follow your every move. Wherever you go, he will go too! Until I say otherwise.” Armaros stated, as Stella just nodded, emotionless.
“If you say so..” She mumbled, as she just sat still on the bed, almost looking like an empty shell.
He didn’t like to see her in that state, it just didn’t feel right to leave her like that. So, he sat down next to her.
“Are you going to hate me?” He asked.
“Why should I? I chose this..” Stella replied, as she still wasn’t looking at him.
“‘Cause I would rather you hate me, then I have to see you like this.” He answered as he grabbed her chin, so she was looking at him.
“I just wanted to go home, Armaros, I miss my family, but I realized that’s never gonna happen, so just let me mourn in peace.” She mumbled, trying to pull away, but he didn’t let go.
“I can’t live without you, that’s why I can’t let you leave! But I want to see you happy Stella, so please tell me, what I can do?” He begged as he put both his hands on her cheeks.
“Sorry, but you can’t buy happiness, Armaros.” She stated, as she placed both her hands on his wrists in another attempt to make him let go.
But she didn’t really fight that hard.
“Would it mean anything if I let you call them?” He asked, as she seemed surprised by his offer.
“Would you do that?” She asked hesitantly, not sure if he was playing games with her right at that moment.
“If it will help bring a smile back to these lips of yours.. Then I will.” he replied, before he pulled her closer, and placed a kiss on her lips.
As he pulled away, he proceeded to push her gently down to the bed, and then placed the sheets over her.
“But first you need to get some sleep..” He stated, before he walked out of there.
He then headed down the stairs as everyone waited in the hall.
“Shax! I need you to keep an eye on Stella.. Starting from now on! Whenever I’m not around, you will be there – got it!” Armaros ordered, as Shax nodded his head, before he headed towards the stairs.
“We also need to double the security. I don’t wanna risk another break on security around here,” Armaros stated as everyone nodded, except Morax, who rose from his seat, which caught Armaros' attention.
“So you let all those werewolves go, just because she told you to? If I didn’t know better, I would say you’re getting soft!” Morax shot in disbelief. Armaros’ eyes immediately turned hard as he glared in his direction, but Morax challenged him.
“I’m not! You might believe that, but she is a bigger asset to us, than all those werewolves compared. Why do you think they are sending all those werewolves to get her back?” Armaros argued. He knew he wasn’t completely honest about his motives for keeping her, but they didn’t need to know that.
“So, she doesn’t mean anything personally to you?” He asked suspiciously, as he narrowed his eyes.
“What I do with her is my business, but it is what it is – my business!” He growled.
“Sorry to spoil your fun! But I need to talk to you alone, Armaros!”
Armaros turned to look at Baal, who was sitting half on top of a table, as his arms were crossed.
Armaros had an idea of what he wanted to talk about, but he agreed anyway.
“My office!” He answered before they headed in there, and he closed the door.
“What do you want?” Armaros snapped, as Baal glared at him.
“You might have fooled those idiots out there, but not me – tell me what the fück is going on Armaros – and don’t pull that crap on me that it’s nothing!” He hissed.
“How do you expect me to explain something to you that I don’t fully understand myself!” Armaros argued, as he pulled his fingers through his hair.
He walked over to his cabinet and took out some whisky to calm his nerves.
“Try! ‘Cause even those wolves seemed to know something I don’t!” He continued. Armaros turned around as he stared Baal dead in the eyes.
“I fücking swear, if you tell anyone, I’m going to kill you with my bare hands!”
It wasn’t just empty threats, and Baal knew that, ‘cause Armaros wasn’t a person taking lightly on threats, he always followed through.
“I get it okay, now spill!”
[..]
“I’m going down there!” Chase growled as he had been talking to Landon, who was still clearly marked by those blows, Armaros had left on his face.
He had explained what had happened and now watched as Chase paced back and forth in the living room.
“If he thinks he can just send threats and just expect me to leave MY daughter in his care, he is clearly mistaken, who does he think he is!” He roared, while his hands were fisted.
“I don’t know if we have much of a choice, there are more demons in that town than I can count, and Stella has already made it pretty clear that..” Landon began, but Chase glared at him.
“I don’t care! He’s clearly manipulating her or something, he.. He can’t be her mate, it’s impossible.” He stated dismissively.
“Maybe not..” Cathrine stated while she was sitting at the sofa, as Chase looked at her confused.
“Why? Do you know something that I don’t?” Chase asked, as she licked her lips.
“You remember our anniversary ten years ago, right? The day you got mad at Stella for going into the woods and talking to some boy she met there?” She replied, as he nodded slowly.
“Well, she told me about their encounter, and from what she told me back then, I might already have guessed that he was her mate, and I might have led her to believe that too..” She replied.
“Why haven’t you told me?” He asked in disbelief.
“Because I knew you would react like this, and I didn’t know whether I was right or not.” Cathrine defended.
“.. And it’s ten years ago, Chase, how should I know that this was going to happen?” She added, as Chase sat down and placed his face in his hands.
“Still.. You shouldn’t have kept it from me.” He spoke, as Cathrine nodded.
“I know, and I’m sorry.” She spoke as she walked over and gave him a hug and a kiss. Then Cathrine’s phone started ringing as she took it out of her pocket and looked at it.
She frowned as she saw the caller ID, all it showed was: unknown caller, but she chose to pick it up anyway.
“Who is this?” Cathrine asked hesitantly, as she listened to the other end of the line.
“Mom? It’s me, Stella.” The voice spoke, as Cathrine put a hand over her mouth in shock.
“Stella, honey, are you alright?” Cathrine asked, as it caught the attention of everyone else in the room. Cathrine put the phone on speaker, so Chase could listen as well.
“Yeah mom, I’m fine, is dad there with you?” Stella asked as Chase took the phone.
“I’m right here, sweetie!” Chase answered.
“Hi dad! I’m just calling to tell you both that I hope you are doing alright and of course Theo too. I really miss you all, but dad, I need you to promise me, that you aren’t planning on coming after me.. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt, okay?” Stella begged.
“Stella, I can’t just leave you with that.. That demon! Who knows what he is going to do!” Chase argued.
“Please dad, you have to listen to me, you can’t change the facts.” Stella spoke, as Chase thought for a moment.
“He is there with you right now, isn’t he?” He asked harshly.
“Dad, that’s not what this is about..” Stella started, but Chase wasn’t letting it slide.
“Let me speak to him, now!” He growled, as he heard her sigh.
Then there was a moment of silence, but then shortly after an unknown voice came on the line.
“Hallo?” Armaros spoke firmly, as Chase's anger already peeked to new heights.
“Now you listen to me! I don’t know who you are or who you think you are, buddy, but I’m warning you – you will let my daughter leave, or I don’t care who I need to send after you, I will hunt you down, and I will kill you!” He growled.
The phone line was quiet for a moment, but then he heard a chuckle from the other end.
“Wow, what a poignant line you got yourself there, but I think you got it all wrong here, Mr. Lupus. I am not, and I will never be scared of your threats. I’m doing this alone for Stella’s sake. She cares for you, but make no mistake, if you or anyone else shows up here, I will not hesitate to kill those who do.” He stated coldly before the line went dead.
- Writer
