Agilus chuckled softly before answering, "I heard them talking when I delivered from the gamma station. I'd thought it would be a great chance for you to be saved from them. So, I'm determined to keep you holding on. We bonded, and you're too kind to be hurt like that."
"What happened next?" Allison carefully asked, hoping not to touch too sensitive emotions about that terrorizing past.
He took a deep breath, recalling those moments as if they had happened yesterday. With firmness and guilt, he continued, "Even though we're close, I'm still drowning in guilt. I kept atoning for my sin by staying with her and doing what I could for her. But they won't let her rest." His voice wavered, trying not to cry, but he still did. He wiped away his tears before continuing his story. "The three of us were about to meet at our usual place, but Talia was running late, and when I arrived, everything crashed on me." Agilus's voice trembled from crying, his hands clenched tightly, almost white, and his shoulders stiffened and were shaking. But he was determined to continue, letting out his guilt. "I could hear her screams and pleas, but they weren't listening. I tried to fight back, but I'm beaten up, pinned down, and forced to watch how they break her over and over again."
Hearing his side of the story, I remembered looking at him that moment. He was fighting for me, but he could not win. When he was down, bloody, and beaten, his eyes were filled with anger and guilt. I felt his emotions, but at that moment, we were both in our weakest state. I remembered his voice calling my name, telling me to stay with him despite the terror they were inflicting on my body. My eyes fixated only on Agilus as we're both crying, wishing for the nightmare to end.
"When they had their fun, they left us, broken. But I tried to be with her, held her, crying, apologizing for what I could not do for her." He cried, making me squeeze his hands for comfort. He closed his eyes before continuing, "Bernila wished to die in that moment. We could end things out there, but something whispered to me and didn't let her. And for once, I had to give her something to hold onto."
"I remember the shift in your eyes back there, Agilus. They were sincere, filled with unspoken admiration for me, and a decision to make up with me." I continued our terrifying story, but I recalled the moment we became one. "You held me with tenderness, you kissed me with security, and your warmth protected me from their touch against my skin. I let you cover them with yours, and let us conceive a child."
Agilus smiled softly at me because we both wanted that moment. Then he added, "I cut ties with them. I focus on becoming a gamma, staying with Bernila, atoning for my sin, and facing Talia's punishment. Talia's punishment was worse than the alpha's."
"I thought it was just rumors," I interjected, making him chuckle.
"It's Talia; you should expect worse from her," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
I giggled, agreeing, "Can't argue with that."
"Then I heard the wonderful news. Bernila is pregnant. She was afraid, but I kept reassuring her that we'll get through it. Even though we're not mates, I began to have a plan with her and our child." He continued the story, smiling as if he was thrown back in that moment again.
I chuckled as I added. "Talia wasn't a fan of it, but seeing me laughing with Agilus's futuristic plan, she gave up and joined us." My voice was filled with happiness, recalling that moment. But my smile went thin. Then I continued, where a painful loss began to happen. "We were ready to settle down with each other when things got ruined. I had my intensive relapse when a man accidentally touched my arm at the pack's clinic. I remember that night, and I collapsed badly. The next time I woke up, Agilus and Talia were crying beside me. I knew it. I lost my child, who I haven't touched."
"Since then, I trained harder and became her shadow, protecting her from them as I kept atoning for my sin." Agilus finished, and anger was rising in his chest.
"Agilus, you've done enough." I squeezed his hands, assuring him.
"But I wasn't there. I..." He tried to reason, but I've already passed it.
I shook my head and gently told him, "I know, and I'm grateful for that. This time, do it with your mate. She's one of a kind. I like her for you."
"Are you sure?" he asked, searching for doubt in me, but I don't regret forgiving him.
I nodded. "I already forgave you, Agilus. Remember that." And I glanced over at Allison. "Go to your mate. Allison is with me."
"Okay, thank you. See you whenever." He kissed my head before he excused himself from Gilmesh's office.
As the silence in the office was thickening and heavy, none of us tried to break it. Allison cleaned the cups, Gilmesh was in his thoughts by the window, and I was playing with the spirits. I was playing cards, which I was obviously failing at since I don't know how to play poker.
"Seriously, you're a pro poker player," I whined, defeated in the card games. The spirits snickered. I glared. "Unfair."
"Wow, you can play with ghosts now?" Allison amusingly asked.
"Is that obvious?" I smirked, nodding. But I noticed how Gilmesh stared at me as if he saw something that I couldn't. "What?"
"Nothing. They never played or touched anything." Gilmesh answered coldly, but I could tell that he was cautious, as if he was trying to clarify something around me.
I nodded, not believing him. "Hm...you never tried, old man."
"You're careful." His voice became amused as he went to his desk, grabbing something.
"So are you," I replied flatly, playing chess with the spirits when I started asking, "Now that you know my story, which I haven't told my wife, what is it for you?"
"Nothing for me, but for you it has," he answered after a sigh, stopping me from playing, and I frowned at him. "You had to master working with the spirits." His voice remained cold and neutral, but I could sense hope in it. He handed me a piece of paper, then said, "Go to the Knightrose's mausoleum tomorrow night; there's a tomb leading to the family's crypt. You'll understand once you read the letter. Go, you're dismissed."
***
As Allison and I arrived back at the manor, I could feel that everyone was in the living area. I frowned, confused since they hadn't done it since New Year's Eve. My eyes narrowed; I even tugged Allison's sleeve and signaled her not to tell my whereabouts. She stepped in first as I tiptoed in the shadows, but nothing slipped from Alysia's foresight.
"Where do you think you're going, little one?" Alysia asked slyly, and I shivered. I froze for a second in my tracks before she continued. "Come here and join us."
"Sorry," Allison whispered her apologies.
I waved it off. I whispered back to her. "Nothing escapes the eyes that could see." I stood straight and went to the living area. I was surprised to see my wife standing by the fireplace, lost in her thoughts. I telepathed her. "Hon, are you okay?" Mirxalyn glanced over her shoulder and nodded. But my eyes narrowed, and without stopping my steps, I went directly to her. It didn't matter if her family saw it. I pulled her collar, making her face me. I softly asked, "What's wrong?"
Mirxalyn tried to fight back, melting in front of me by clenching her jaw. My eyes squinted, scrutinizing her before her tensed shoulders sagged. She leaned her forehead against mine, saying softly, "Grandfather gave you his assessment, didn't he?"
I was taken aback. Then I asked confusedly, "Is that an assessment?"
She smirked and nodded before answering, "He does, and he's giving you a difficult task."
I nodded, but there was something in her eyes that felt distant. I remembered what Almira once told me about her, and I sighed. I caressed her face before I pecked her lips, and she was surprised by the action. I smiled and said. "I know you heard what I told the old man, based on what Almira told me about you being everywhere. I'll repeat them when I no longer feel attached to it anymore. Can you still wait for it, as I waited for yours?"
She closed her eyes and nodded. "I can do that."
"Good, because I'm not sure what the family meeting is all about." I smiled and faced the family, who seemed to love what they had witnessed between us. I rolled my eyes dismissively. "You saw; get over it and tell me what's with the meeting?"
Alysia chuckled, amused by how I sounded. "You've shifted. More relaxed. More you."
I blushed but thanked her. "Thank you?"
"We heard from Almira, and those men were detained in the Red Moon pack," Michael informed us seriously.
"Hm, the Marasigan." I nodded as Mirxalyn let me sit in her seat. Then my voice dropped cold as I asked, "Is Jeremiah handling them?"
They were surprised by my tone before Michael wondered, "Yes, have you met her?"
"Yes, and she is deadly," I answered, shrugging my shoulders.
Almira smirked, asking, "Better than my sister?"
"Nope. She's different," I answered, shaking my head before turning the topic seriously, "If they're detained, they need four more spaces to fill it."
"Four? Why do you need four confinements?" Michael asked curiously, but I only smiled at him.
I glanced at my wife, asking, "Hon, can you request it and tell Jeremiah to keep them for a while till I come for them?"
Her eyes studied me, asking, "And your reason?"
"A lifetime punishment," I answered flatly, checking fingers before smirking at her. "I think you want to witness that too, am I right, hon?"
Mirxalyn was stoic, but seeing the menace around me, she grinned. She understood what I was talking about and agreed. "I see. I prepare something, and I'll let you know the process."
"Thank you." I thanked my wife before I went serious, facing Michael and answering his question, "I need four more because I'm not done punishing them for the scar they had left in me." Then I pulled the letter that the old man had given me. "I need to know about the Knightrose's crypt."
All of them looked at me as if I had said a taboo. I frowned, scrutinizing what they were hiding about their mausoleum. I was waiting patiently for their reply, but none of them was saying anything. I sighed, entwining my fingers in front of me as I relaxed on my wife's chair—too relaxed. They were alerted when they felt odd and malicious air had dimmed the light from the fireplace.
Alysia Cain found me, staring menacingly at them. "Alright, enough, Bernila." She sighed, stopping me from spreading my Sigbin malice. Then she spoke on behalf of the family. "The Knightrose's Crypt is beneath the new family mausoleum. The crypt is something not everyone in the family is welcome to enter. It didn't care about the status or the rank. If the crypt didn't let you in, then you won't."
I listened attentively, but something was still off. I've sensed the need to be there as soon as the old man, Gilmesh, mentioned it. I asked curiously, "Then why does the old man want me to go there tomorrow night?"
"Did he see something in you?" Michael's voice was firm and thick as he worried about me going there.
"Yes, he made a careful decision to send me there tomorrow," I answered, still curious about what lies in the crypt before I set foot on it tomorrow.
"Have you read his letter?" Alysia asked.
I looked over the letter, and I answered, "Not yet, because I need to know about it first."
"According to our family history, the highest heavens blessed the family, and the spirits favored us. But having overwhelming powers is too great to handle. Some chosen ones failed in that, and they lay in the crypt as cursed, incinerated vampires." Alysia's voice held grimness and pity as her eyes fixated on me. Then she added, "That crypt hasn't been sealed for a while, and no one dared to check, go near it, or attempt to open it."
"How long is that 'a while'?" I asked carefully as I felt my wife's hand on my shoulder, squeezing it for support.