The Mouse and The Wolf - Chapter 43: Chapter 43

-Jack-
If they thought I had given up, they were wrong.
I could barely stay conscious. The snowy ground under my feet kept disappearing. I hardly recognized my surroundings, even though the smells around me were familiar. I was home, deep in our territory, but in my hazy state of mind I couldn't tell the landmarks apart.
But there was still fight in me. I wasn't done yet.
"You keep messing things up!" Henry spoke angrily and I'm sure he continued talking, but I wasn't listening anymore. I needed all my strength to keep myself from falling into consciousness. Soon, we arrived at an abandoned factory by a frozen river. Home.
I had called that place home for the past ten years, ever since our small, defeated pack arrived at this God-forsaken town. We once were a mighty clan, but things happened. Enemies happened. Now... Now there were only thirty of us. Nine out of those thirty were born here.
The factory was covered in snow. Parts of it had given in to nature long before we moved in, but we managed to build a home inside the crumbling walls.
How I hated my fate. My mother was long gone. Ten years to be exact. Our home was ripped from us. Our friends and families dead. We were left with nothing but this collapsing factory that once belonged to humans.
Life at the mercy of Blue Moons... Black Thorns were once feared fighters... and now we were nothing but a laughing stock... dependent on the goodwill of a bunch of lap dogs who had never had to fight for a meal.
How I hated Jaden. He knew nothing about life. He acted like he owned the world. He and his little friends. The only reason he and his pack could live a peaceful life was the fact that they lived here, where no one would even want to claim a territory.
Where the land belonged to the Spirit Walkers.
The outer wall of the factory was suddenly right in front of me, and a second later, the walls shielded me from the freezing wind. I was slowly regaining my strength as we walked deeper into the building, passing two guards sitting next to a small fire that didn't make the big room any warmer.
It got a bit warmer after a while, especially when we got to the living quarters that were located in the middle of the factory. There were big, square columns on the walls, wider than I was tall, and between them, we had built our tiny homes with wooden planks, tarps and even cardboard boxes. Just to get some privacy from the other pack members.
No one paid any attention to us. All I could see on their faces was defeat. I could still remember how full of life this pack once was. Back in our old home. Ever since the enemy pack murdered our people and drove us off our lands, defeat was all and everything I could see around me.
Until...
"I need to speak with the Alpha," Henry spoke, and I forced myself out of my memories to see that we were, indeed, at my father's door. The room used to be some kind of an office right at the end of the inner part of the factory, and my father had claimed it for himself.
The guards let us through, and closed the door after us. I saw my father sitting on the only couch we had at the opposite wall, wrapped in blankets. There was a big fire in the middle of the room, and the walls were covered in covers to keep the cold away, but nothing could keep the cold away.
We waited patiently for my father to move. He was staring at the fire with the familiar hate on his face. There had never been anything else than hate on his face during these ten years. He had long, gray hair, but it was growing thin. His beard wasn't strong enough to hide his wrinkled face and scarred skin. The fire I saw in his eyes... I wasn't sure if it was just a reflection or his own rage I saw.
"Henry," he finally spoke and looked up at us in questioning manner.
"Jack ruined everything," Henry spoke between gritted teeth. "He ruined everything again!"
My father's eyelids twitched in anger. "You need to be more specific."
"I almost had the Spirit Walker! I would have caught him if Jack hadn't slowed me down!" Henry yelled in his frustration.
'Whoopsie...' I said. Although it was only Henry that could hear me.
"Let me talk to him!" My father hissed, and stood up.
When Henry left my body, my knees gave in after such a long time of not being in control of it. I could almost see his shadowy figure just before he was completely out of me. After that I wasn't linked with the Shadow realm so I couldn't see him anymore, but I could feel him right next to me.
"Father," I croaked, and spat at his feet when he stopped in front of me. He greeted me with such a sharp slap on my face that he practically sent me flying to the floor. I let out a dry laugh, when I pushed myself back up on my knees. I spat again, but this time the stain was red. "You seem mad," I said.
"What did you do?!" he yelled at me.
'I almost caught the Spirit Walker! He had a guardian spirit in him, so he managed to escape, but I could've caught him if Jack hadn't slowed me down!'
"We heard you the first time," I muttered, and my father gave me an ugly glare.
"How is it possible that you're still alive?" my own, dear father asked me, glaring down at me.
"I guess I still have some spirit left," I chuckled. "You're too soft, father. You should've let the Walker feed my spirit to his shadows."
"Anthony!" my father yelled.
I heard some shuffling behind me, and I saw a middle-aged man appearing from the shadows.
Literally.
"You called?" he spoke. Anthony. Shadow Walker.
I hid the fact that his presence made me feel nauseous. The only good thing about being possessed was that Henry usually forced me unconscious, so I didn't have to feel sick all the time.
"Do something about him!" my father ordered, pointing at me. "He keeps ruining all our plans!"
"Hey! Am I not getting any credit for stopping Henry from killing Oliver that one time?" I asked, and got slapped again. "You remember, that time when Henry realized that Oliver didn't know he's a Spirit Walker, right?" I continued mocking them, since that was all I could do anymore.
"Shut the fuck up!" Dad yelled at me, and turned to look at Anthony. "What are you going to do about this?!"
Anthony looked at me, and I did my best not to shiver under his gaze. His eyes... They were empty. Like two black holes into the realm of shadows. He had dark, short hair, matching his soul. He was short, and looked weak, but he had the shadows on his side...
"I'm not a Spirit Walker," he said slowly. "All we can do is to wait for his spirit wither away, I'm afraid," he spoke slowly, quietly, and I had to look away.
"And I won't go down easily," I turned to speak to my father. "As long as he's using my body, I will not give up. I will never give up."
"What about your mate?" my father asked, and I had to force myself to ignore the pain in my heart. "Maybe I'll make you watch as your precious mate dies in Henry's hands. In your hands, to be exact," he spoke with that fire of hate in his eyes. "Maybe that will make you more cooperative?"
I had tears burning in my eyes by the time he stopped talking.
"You will never have him," I spoke, but my fear was suffocating me, making my voice tremble.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," he said, and now he was smiling. "Henry? Your next order is to hunt down that Diviner, and rip off his limbs, one by one. Make sure he dies slowly. Screaming."
"You will never have him!" I spoke with a raised voice, but he only laughed at my face. "You hear me?! I won't let you lay a finger on him! I will fight until my last breath! You will never lay a finger on him, or the Blue Moon!"
"Henry, if you please," my father said, and turned his back on me.
I could feel the darkness forcing his way back into my body, and I fought back. I fought back so hard, but my spirit was fading. I was fading.
"I won't let anyone touch him! You hear me?!" I yelled with my last breath. I could feel something warm run down my cheeks.
"No, we won't touch him," my father said without turning to face me. "You will."
"Time to go back to sleep," Henry spoke with my mouth. "Next time I'll let you out, well... You shouldn't have stopped me today."
'This is madness... Someone... stop them...' I tried to speak, but no one was there to hear my prayer. 'Please, stop them... Goddess... Don't let them kill my mate...'
"Cry all you want. No one will hear you," Henry laughed.
And the world went dark around me.