Finding Forgiveness

We were struggling to hold them back and chaos had quickly gripped the entire territory as we lost countless good soldiers, including every man in my patrol except myself and Blair. It was now just the two of us against a group of about a eight of Martinez’s men and only a short distance away, we could hear the fire and shouts of other patrols as they fought just as we were.

“Any word of Martinez?” I asked Blair as I looked over to him.

He shook his head, “No sign of him. But division three have some prisoners. They might find something.”

“Fuck,” I cursed, as the machine gun rain continued, “We both know what Martinez is like with information. His men don’t know shit.”

“So what do we do?” Blair asked, “This is already a blood bath.”

“All we can do is keep fighting,” I replied, “And hope the bastard shows his face at some point.”

Just then, the machine-gun fire finally stopped and I gripped my gun, “Good luck,” I said to my Beta with a nod before marching out and firing ruthlessly to the enemy men desperately trying to reload the machine-gun.

With a combined effort, Blair and I had them all dead in seconds.

I glanced around, checking for any more before lowering my gun and taking a deep breath.

But just as I was relaxing, thinking we’d killed them all, I heard the clapping of a pair of hands only metres from us.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Bravo, Leonardo,” A voice said, “You’re good with a gun.”

I snapped my eyes over to the voice to see a tall, dark-haired man carelessly stepping over the bodies of Martinez’s men, prodding their lolling heads with his foot.

“What the fuck…” I muttered under my breath, “Why is it always you, Luciano? Why do you always reappear unannounced?”

He let out a short laugh before he looked at the death and destruction around us.

“So it looks like Andrea Martinez’s obsession with your girl has developed to yet another extreme length…” he said in an almost amused tone, like the loss of all this life meant nothing to him.

“Are you just here to watch the show or…?” I asked.

He paused for a second, “No,” he said, “I’m here because I thought you might want to know something about Martinez’s plan. I’ve been working with him you see.”

I clenched my jaw and paused.

I knew Luciano was twisted and manipulative but we were running pretty low on options here. Whatever he knew could be the difference between the saving and losing this pack.

“And who’s side exactly are you on?” I questioned.

“Neither,” he said with a shrug before delving his hands into his pocket, “I plan to? ensure you and Martinez both kill each other so I can take everything you have without even breaking a sweat.”

At least he’s honest.

“… But right now… it’s looking like Martinez is gonna take an easy win.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“And does he know you’re medalling on both sides?”

Luciano laughed, “He doesn’t trust me. Not even a little,” he said before putting on a scornful smirk, “The only person that’s ever been dumb enough to trust me is you.”

“Then why would he have told you anything of use to me?”

“Oh, he didn’t,” he replied, his eyes glinting, “It’s what I told him.”

I exchanged looks with Blair.

“And what the fuck did you tell him?” I asked.

“Has that gun still got bullets in it?” he questioned, the smile still on his lips as he glanced down to the gun I gripped tightly in my hands.

“Tell me Luciano,” I hissed, “Stop wasting my time.”

“I gave him the coordinates to the three bunkers,” he said.

My stomach clenched and churned as I froze.

“… and I’m guessing by the look on your face… you have indeed hidden your family in one of them,” he said, “So predictable-”

Before he could finish his sentence, I seized his throat and threw him into a tree.

“What?” he asked with a laugh, “Did you forget I used to be one of your most trusted men?”

I slammed his head into the tree and blood dripped down his neck.

“I can’t decide if I should kill you now quickly or wait until I have time to make it slow and painful,” I growled in his ear.

He only grinned more despite how weak and injured I had rendered him.

“You don’t have time for revenge, Leonardo,” he said, “Martinez could be finding your Luna and your little kids as we speak… and what are you doing to help them? Beating up your oldest, most loyal friend…”

Irritatingly, he was right. Fucking him up wasn’t my priority right now.

I had to get to Ella and our children before Martinez did.

“Do you hear that?” I whispered, snapping my eyes to Milly.

It’d been silent hours. The children thankfully had all gone to sleep and Milly and I were in too much anxiety to speak.

But now the muffled clanging of metal had crept up on us.

“It sounds like somebody trying to get into the vault,” Milly replied, her voice hushed and hoarse.

The entrance to the vault was a small steel hatch shielded by rocks and vegetation.

“There’s no way anybody would just stumble across us,” She said surely, “Maybe it’s the Alpha or my brother. Maybe everything is over.”

I shook my head.

There were about ten different locks, passcode and scans but Leo and Max both had access to them all. They wouldn’t be trying to break through the thick, sturdy metal.

“Just an animal, maybe?” she suggested.

I forced a smile and held Stefano tighter in my arms, “… maybe.”

We sat for ten minutes just nervously listening to the banging. As the time passed, it became apparent that whatever or whoever was out there, was incredibly determined to break through and with every single attempt they made, my heart jumped, praying they wouldn’t succeed.

But eventually, it stopped.