CHAPTER 7: LUNA

Anastacia, still in the form of her hybrid wolf, looked at her twin brother who had just lost his consciousness while his body desperately gasped for air. Ana’s golden eyes lit up with a molten gold light, and her entire body froze. For the first time in her life, she felt her beast tone down and shut up as she took over.

“Anastagio!” Her hybrid wolf screamed, and it sounded like a cross between a beast and Ana’s voice, and Ana knew that this time, it was her voice and not Asteria’s voice. She was the one screaming through her wolf. Her beast, Asteria, suddenly lost all control. 

The pain of the situation, and the image that was now in front of her made her want to go on an even bigger rampage and kill everything in her sight. The only thing stopping her were the small gasps of air that the unconscious body of her twin brother was making. 

She knew that he was still alive, but she couldn’t focus enough to turn back into her human form. Anastacia no longer had the willpower to transform, as she realized that her brother also caused a pretty big damage to her body while they were fighting. However, the pain of her brother’s attacks was not nearly as painful as the thought that maybe, this time, Anastacia has finally killed her beloved twin brother.

“Gio…brother…” she whispered in despair, both with her cracked voice, and her voice in the mind link. She looked at her brother’s wolf that was still unconscious, yet somehow breathing, and a whimper escaped her wolf’s throat.

“Brother…please, answer me…” she called in their mind link desperately as she tried her best to feel her brother’s living presence. She felt like he was in a cave and there was no reception. She could feel that his mind was awake, and yet, she couldn’t feel him or his life force.

As she watched her hand stuck inside of her brother’s chest, she could feel the terror inside of her just waiting to burst. She felt like time froze, and everything around her was turning black. Her head was spinning, and she desperately wanted to take off her hand in her brother’s chest, but years of training told her that she needed to keep her hand in his chest and somehow help squeeze his heart based on how it was currently beating. At this point, she knew that the only reason her brother wasn’t yet dead was the fact that she was helping his heart pump, and her brother are hybrids, which meant that there was a miracle that was currently happening.

“Anastagio…” Anastagio’s eyes opened, and he was in a dark void. He couldn’t see what he was or what was happening, but he knew that he heard a voice that thundered in his mind and called his name. It was the first time that he had heard the voice, but it sounded somewhat familiar, and he didn’t understand why or how it was possible.

“Anastagio…” the voice boomed again in his head, and he gripped his head hard as he felt blood drip down from his nose, “Wake up, Anastagio…” the voice demanded again.

“Wh-who…who are you?” He choked on his words as he realized that he could taste his own blood in his mouth. He spat the blood and continued to compose himself as he realized that he was actually floating on thin air.

“Who are you?!” He screamed, and a menacing laugh that sounded like thunder and monster echoed.

“Bastard, you are starting to sound like your twin sister…” the voice said mockingly, and the entire pitch-black void suddenly lit up before Anastagio was able to comprehend what was happening.

As Anastagio opened his eyes, he couldn’t believe the sight that was in front of him. His eyes grew wide, and it felt like he wanted to slap himself as he saw his wolf in front of him. The beast that he was terrified of, and the beast that he has tried to control his entire life was now in front of him, and it looked nearly like his sister’s wolf, on his wolf only had gold fur and silver streaks, while his sister had gold fur and silver with a few red streaks on them after the incident. 

As he looked closer, he realized that if it was based on the size, he could now tell that his wolf was nearly half a foot smaller than his sister’s beast, and as much at it hurts his ego as an alpha, it made his relieved knowing that his wolf was a bit easier to control than his sister.

“Stop daydreaming in front of me, bastard!” The wolf shouted and bared its fangs. Gio swallowed hard and tried to focus on the beast in front of him. He shouldn’t get distracted.

“Who…I mean..what are you?” Anastagio stuttered a bit as he looked both in nervousness and awe at the beast in front of him.

“My name is Caerus,” the beast spoke proudly, “Your sister wasn’t as calm as you when she met my sister Asteria. It is good that you have more control over yourself unlike your pathetic twin sister. No wonder my hotheaded sister hates your twin.” he said and chuckled.

“Sister?” Anastagio’s head suddenly throbbed, and he felt like he couldn’t think properly. What was happening to him? He was both in pain and confused.

“Listen,” Caerus explained, “Thanks to your weak twin sister, my own sister became too out of control for her. Unlike you, she has close to no control over my raging sister, Asteria. Thanks to their imbalance, you and I are put into a dangerous situation.”

Gio’s mind raced, and he unconsciously touched his chest as his eyes grew wide. He remembers! He remembered the rampage that happened, and how he and his twin sister fought with everything that they had. He remembered Ana and her sudden transformation and the damages that they both caused. He continued to try and think, and he gasped when he remembered her clawed hand clutching his heart.

“You remember…” Caerus’ voice was laced with surprise. He never expected his human to be more collected than he thought. The two of them might just be lucky enough to survive.

“Anastagio!” A voice echoed, and Gio looked around him. There was no one, but he knew the voice. It was his sister’s voice. She was calling him through the mind ink, but he was suddenly feeling too weak to even open his mouth or activate the link with his sister.

“Wh-what…is…happening..C-Caerus?” he asked as he clutched his bare chest while the pain ran through his entire body. Gio felt blood come out from his mouth and nose, and he tried to wipe it away.

“Anastagio…” Caerus spoke, “You need to be strong and live. Unlike you and me who have a bit of a connection, our sisters are complete opposites. They are bound to kill each other, and neither of them could be balanced, which is why they need you and me to help them.”

Anastagio couldn’t understand him, but he tried his best to nod. He knew there was something more to them as twins and their beasts, but at the moment, all he understood was the fact that he should live, because his sister needed him, and he didn’t want her or him to die. He needed to overcome this.

“Caerus…” Another voice echoed in Gio’s mind, but this time, it was more feminine. It still sounded like a beast, but the voice was a bit softer compared to his beast Caerus.

“Asteria…” Caerus replied, and Anastagio tried his best to stand up straighter and looked around. There was no one, and as he looked at his wolf, he saw that his wolf’s eyes were closed. He was speaking, but his lips were not moving. Which means, whoever the monster female was, it was only through the mind link.

“This is pathetic, brother. You said they were the ones! And yet they failed! You failed!” The female voice echoed in his mind. 

The female beast’s voice was filled with anger, resentment, and even sorrow and regret. He felt all of the emotions as he tried to focus on their voices in his mind. The pain in his chest was intensifying, but Anastagio tried his best to listen and try to understand what the two beasts were talking about.

“Asteria…be patient. I am not yet dead,” Caerus said in confidence as he opened his eyes to see that his human was covered in blood. He knows that the moment he would allow Anastagio to turn back into a human, he would die.

“Sister,” he spoke to Asteria through their link, “Keep your human body alive and I will keep mine. They are the ones, but remember, you must make sure your human lives. Fate plays a role, but you are the player.”

Asteria was stubborn, but he knew that she was listening. As Caerus looked at Anastagio who was in pain, he allowed himself to release his power and took full control of their body.

“Anastagio…” Gio looked at the beast in front of him, “Consider this life I give as a debt that you must pay. But to receive it, you must die.”

Anastagio gasped in excruciating pain. He doubled over and coughed up blood. He was trembling with cold as his eyesight turned black and he couldn’t see anything. All he could hear was Anastacia’s desperate call for his name.

“Boss!” Ana’s head shafted and she saw Andrea, one of her wolf soldiers, and she saw that Roxanna was with nearly two dozen of their men and women soldiers. 

Each of the soldiers had guns, and for the first time, she was afraid. She wanted them to kill her, but by doing so, she might also kill her brother. Ana didn’t want to die like this. She wanted to be alive and know that her brother would live and be okay. As she looked at the faces of each of their soldiers, she noticed that some who were in human form, and even the humans, had tears in their eyes. They didn't want to kill her, and neither did she want to kill them.

“R-Roxanna…” Anastacia said with a growl towards the dark-skinned bald woman with a scorpion’s tattoo on top of her bald head.

The woman was tough, but Ana could see the terror and fear in her face at the sight in front of her. It was the first time Ana tried to talk, since it was the first time that she was in her half wolf form. Her Lycan form. It was a form that no one has even seen in person. They were mostly just pictures and legends. She heard gasps from nearly all her soldiers at the way she was able to speak in that form, and she tried speaking again.

“D-don’t..shoot…y-yet…” she tried to speak louder, “Sleep…m-make us…sl-slee..sleep…”

Andrea nodded, and dozens of guns were aimed at her. Her brother’s heart suddenly started to beat slower, and she could see his breath grow shallower. 

Anastacia roared as each of the guns went off, and nearly a dozen guns went off simultaneously. She felt her eyes grow weak, she tried her best to position her brother’s body and her as her knees buckled.

“Tacia…” Gio’s voice echoed in her mind. She tried to stay awake, but she could feel her body slowly grow limp. As her eyes rolled to the back of her head, she saw her soldiers run quickly towards her and her brother.

“Goodbye…” she heard her brother in her mind. A tear fell from Anastacia’s eyes as it slowly closed. Her heart was racing, and she tried her best to open her eyes, but she couldn’t move anymore.

“No…” she whispered back to him, “Gio…brother… don’t..leave…me…” she whispered more in her mind, as if she was catching her breath with every word that she uttered in her mind. Anastacia could feel movement around her as she was fighting against the drugs that were injected in her sister, but a few seconds later, she finally blacked out.

“Boss…” Roxanna whispered as she watched while the doctors and nurses, and the scientists that were able to survive tried to help the twin beats in front of her.

“I think it’s too late…” She looked behind her, and she saw her brother Barron who was one of the scientists that was helping, “They will never make it…” he said as he looked down at the twin beasts covered in blood.

Roxanna pointed her gun to her brother’s chest.

“If they won’t make it on their own, then do your job, brother, and MAKE THEM…” she said as her eyes glowed with gold.

“Good,” A female voice said in Roxanna’s mind. 

Barron swallowed hard. Roxanna’s eyes were light brown when she was a wolf. It was never gold.