HUNTED

Matthias turned back around after freeing Amelia from the binds. He was surprised, but his features then took on smug satisfaction. However, his smile dropped after sensing his mate waking up; he looked back at Amelia, whose eyes were darting around warily and in shock at her surroundings. Then they landed on Gabriel and the sword piercing through Cassius\' throat.

Her hands raised to her lips, and tears filled her eyes, "Cass.." She whispered before being slapped in the face and falling to the ground. Matthias was growling at her, his chest rising and falling as his eyes burned into Amelia\'s back.

Gabriel pulled his sword from Cassius\' neck, using his foot in his back as he did so, and letting him drop to the ground.

"Kill the wench now," Matthias growled. Gabriel saw the Alpha\'s form vibrating, looking as though he was ready to shift and attack Amelia. She jumped up and ran towards the door but was immediately shoved into the wall by Gabriel.

"Gab-"

His hand punched through her chest and clutched at her heart. He heard something between a growl and a whimper from behind him, but he ignored the Alpha King. His thoughts were a mixture of pain, anger and vengeance.

Gabriel and Amelia stared at each other, one in shock and sadness and the other cold and emotionless. She gasped as his hand closed around her beating heart. Amelia struggled to raise her hands to grip on top of his forearm. Her lips were wide as she struggled to breathe.

Amelia was not struggling to escape, though, and he could see her giving up on her life. This was her end, and she knew it. A smile filled with sadness curled up on her stunning face. "Out of everyone.." She wheezed, "you.. should know.." She raised her hand to his face, brushing aside a single silent tear he didn\'t know had escaped his frosty eyes. "It was always you…I-I … You have.. my heart.."

"You don\'t have a heart," He ripped her heart out of her chest and leaned forwards, so their foreheads were touching, "And now, neither do I.." He whispered darkly and crushed the organ in his hands.

Amelia collapsed on the ground, and Gabriel turned to look at Matthias. The werewolf was clutching at his chest as though he, too, wanted to rip his heart out. Matthias closed his eyes, savouring the feeling of heartbreak. Gabriel raised a brow at his thoughts, then within a flash, he was on him.

Gabriel pierced the Alpha King\'s chest with his sword. A sword made out of pure silver gleaming under the dull light of flickering flames in the room. Matthias\' eyes were open, and looking at Gabriel in confusion.

"You did not think I would let you live after wanting to blame the Vampire King and his people for the death of your Luna.." He tsked and watched the werewolf chuckled darkly.

"I should have known…" Matthias breathed heavily, "better.. than to trust a vampire.." Matthias grew his claws and making a swing for Gabriel. But he dodged his arms and pulled his sword out before swinging it back down on him, decapitating the Alpha King.

Blood splattered on Gabriel\'s face, making him look like a true angel of death. His hands were bloodied, his face was bloodied, and his white angelic hair was dripping in blood. Matthias\' head fell to the ground along with his body.

Gabriel read Matthias\' thoughts when the werewolf came to the castle, and he rechecked them today; his plans had not changed. Even if he did do this for the Silver Crescent pack, the Alpha King would wage war with the vampires anyway. Matthias was usually an intelligent leader, but maybe spending time with Amelia and her psychotic ways made him realise how much he really despised vampires. His hate, in the end, was too deep, and the war would have been inevitable.

Now, his son would take charge of the packs. Gabriel hoped their alliance would stay in place. He planned for Luther to take Matthias head far away and get rid of it. After he dealt with his brother, they would set up the whole scene of a planned rogue attack in the packhouse.

Gabriel cleaned his sword down with a handkerchief before sheathing it once more. "It was a shame. I did like you, Matthias. But to go against one another again would be a waste of spilt blood," Gabriel muttered as he stepped over his body.

He then looked at his brother, who was gasping in a puddle of his own blood on the ground. By stabbing him through the neck, he made sure to break his bones and severe all the nerves passing through the area. It was a severe wound, but Cassius would heal within the next few minutes, so he needed to be quick.

Gabriel\'s steps echoed through the cold crypt as he approached his brother slowly. He squatted down and moved Cassius\' hair away from his face. His blood covered hand smeared some of Amelia\'s blood in his hair and part of his face. "Dear brother, I do not know why.. after everything.. I cannot kill you," He whispered.

Cassius\' eyes slowly opened, and a gurgled chuckle escaped his lips, "You cannot.. kill someone.. as pretty as me.." He wheezed, cracking a joke before all jest left his features. "But.. you killed her.."

Gabriel saw the anger flash across Cassius\' eyes, but he still couldn\'t move. "Yes. She was taking you down a path of no return, Cass.. I cannot let that happen.." Gabriel replied softly.

He sighed heavily. "I will not forgive you.." Cassius spat back.

"And I cannot forgive you… " Gabriel replied before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pouch of magic powder. He blew it on Cassius\' face and watched in wonder as his face aged, the skin melting down, his body wasting away as though he was already a corpse in the ground.

It was a potion he paid a hefty price for from a powerful witch. It made a vampire\'s body speed up the process of going without blood for a certain period of time. Gabriel told the witch to make it extra strong and cause the body to a weakened state of 100 years without blood.

"Luther," Gabriel called quietly, and the vampire appeared beside him, his face impassive, not glancing at the bloodied room or dead bodies. "Clear that other room out."

"That looks like it\'s meant to be for the king, though.." Luther trailed off after seeing Gabriel\'s face. He snapped his lips shut and removed everything from the room except for the tomb remaining in there. There was no name engraved on the top of it yet, and that was how it would stay. The room would be bolted shut, and no one allowed in there.

Gabriel gently placed Cassius in the tomb, who groaned in pain; his wound on his neck was much worse, especially with his rotten skin now. It seemed it may take years now for Cassius\' throat to fully heal. Gabriel stroked the side of his brothers face and looked at the dull light behind his still piercing blue eyes. "This is my punishment to you. Your sentence of 500 years. until then, brother," Gabriel said sadly and turned around.

"F-father.." A raspy voice croaked from the tomb.

Gabriel turned his head to look back at Cassius. "He cannot help you-"

"Will.. not…be.. pleased.." Cassius breathed back.

"If he has seen what has unfolded between us.. My mercy is what he will not be pleased about," Gabriel snapped back, raising his voice as he glanced around as though he was looking for their creator, their father, in the dank crypt.

No answer, exactly what he was expecting.

"Goodbye, Cassius."

He watched as Luther closed the crypt slowly and heard his brother whispered his farewell. The door was bolted together, and the two vampires set up the mansion appropriately, killing the remaining servants, getting rid of any witnesses. They were quick to remove any evidence of their presence and left the Silver Crescent packhouse behind them.

They passed through the gates, and Luther quickly killed the guards viciously, again making it look like the \'rogue attack\'. Gabriel leaned his head into the back of the carriage with his eyes closed as he heard the ripping sound of flesh and yelp before there was gurgling and silence. His right-hand man returned, and they were on their way back to their lives in Chester, where the packs stayed silent against the vampires for at least 300 years.

**

Gabriel glanced behind him. Once again, he was staring into space at the window while he told his story to his natural enemy. And to the pack, Gabriel so violently attacked. But if they listened to his story, then they would know he had no choice. His eyes landed on Aila, and he saw the surprise on her face at the dreadful ending to \'storytime\' as her wolf so eloquently put.

But as he listened in to her thoughts, he was taken back by how aggressive they were. She was angry. Not at him, but at her ancestor. \'What a psychotic bitch. To have gone between brothers..\'

Gabriel turned back to look at the city lights and cracked a small smile, and the corners of his eyes crinkled. They were nothing alike. His smile dropped as a thought occurred to him. Cassius was much more affectionate towards Aila than he ever was to Amelia.

He glanced back at Aila, her mate and her friends, who were all protecting her. Cassius knew they were nothing alike and pursued her not just for his own schemes but because of who she was. Cassius liked her for her. But was she easy to manipulate? If things got messy, which they would, he hoped Cassius never got his hands on her.

He played his first move by showing up at the club and revealing the relationship he so easily started with Aila. He left her there in the safety of the Vampire King and her friends to help with the hunters and to show Gabriel that he was confident in getting her back.

Cassius was taunting him.