Chapter 15

Terrified tears blurred his vision.

All he knew to do was run. Just run.

That's all he could do as the feral began chasing him, and all he could think about was how unlucky and stupid he was as he did. This situation was all his fault since he was the one who dragged Eli out there in the first place, but he never thought they'd grab any sort of attention.

They didn't go far enough to do so, Ari made sure of it, but it seems like he misjudged how attractive omegas were to others. The feral was sniffing the air the whole time, it was definitely the scent that led him to them.

Now he's chasing Ari who is, as usual, forgotten once more by everyone else.

It was lucky that Rowan was able to take the feral by surprise and get the feral off of Eli – she actually took them all by surprise – and he could guess why she had followed them. They shouldn't have been alone, and if they really were, that feral would have done something horrible to Eli.

Alec would have never forgiven him if it really did happen. It was his fault.

Then again, did Ari really deserve to be left alone to fend for himself like this?

He could barely outrun the feral as bitter thoughts filled his mind. Thoughts of how Eli had seemed more important than him to Rowan.

It was understandable, and he had to remind himself that Rowan had to make a choice between someone who is an omega and a future luna, and a beta who had better chances against another feral beta. A beta who wasn't as important.

But Ari had no chance, he was helpless.

Never in his life had he been in a fight before, and it was his first time to see a feral up close like that. There was no way he was getting out of that situation unscathed and just the realization of it made his pace slow down as hopelessness set in.

He was tired of all the running; he couldn't do it anymore.

Everything happened quickly, the feral was able to get him to the ground making him almost land on his face and a low growl sounded above him. Ari tried to crawl away, get on his feet, but he was too slow and the feral effortlessly pushed him down again not sounding too happy about Ari's attempts to escape.

A clawed hand grabbed him by the shoulder holding him in his place, and he could feel something sharp dig into his skin.

The smell of his own blood entered his nose and he felt so alone. So abandoned. Why did it have to be him who was left behind?

Nobody really thought about him, and he was used to that for most of his life, but when he felt another slash on his back, he wished somebody did think of him. Even just a little.

There was a moment where he wanted to call out for help, but he knew that if he did he might attract some more unwanted attention. Ari had no idea who was around to hear him and the possibilities could range from attracting even more ferals to others who might want to kill him.

Something in him just gave up, but he was surprised to hear a yelp come out of the beta above him followed by a sickening crunch as if something hit him with a lot of force.

Relived of the weight pinning him down, he was about to make a run for it when he was stopped by the stinging pain on his back. Whatever the beta did, he made sure to cut him deeply.

"Not even a thank you?"

It didn't occur to the panicked Ari that there was a reason for the beta to be writhing in pain next to him, that someone must have hit him. He just concentrated on the fact that he's able to run away from his assailant, so when he looked behind him to look at his savior, he was met with a familiar face.

A face he never thought he'd be happy to see, but his happiness was short-lived when he realized that his situation might not have gotten any better.

In fact, it might have gotten worse.

"Thank you." He didn't know what else to say.

Ari was given a smile and a pat on the head before his savior, Constantine, walked up to the beta who was nursing a headache from the impact on his skull before he was kicked down on the ground easily. Without missing a beat, Constantine stepped on one of his hands putting enough force in his foot for the beta's fingers to convulse as they cracked and broke.

The sounds of bones breaking was just disgusting.

Horrified, all Ari could do was watch as the Beta screamed and struggled some more.

When Constantine was done destroying his hand, the beta rolled on his side holding it as he let out pained sounds akin to sobs. "You really have a knack for getting into trouble, huh?" Constantine spoke casually as he placed a foot on the beta to roll him on his back once more.

There was ease in the way he moved and dealt with the beta, and Ari knew for a fact that it was due to practice. The sheer power disparity between alphas and anything else was as impressive as it was unfair.

"I'm sorry." Ari wanted once again to run away, especially when he watched Constantine place a foot on the beta's throat. He almost wished he was never saved as he heard struggling gurgles while the beta thrashed to get Constantine's foot off of him. "Wait, you're killing him!"

It was stupid of Ari to say that, but he couldn't help it. This was hard to watch for him, and his heart couldn't take it. Seeing someone struggle like that was difficult, even if they attacked him moments ago, but it wasn't right.

Maybe Ari really was stupid.

"That's the idea." Constantine chuckled holding the beta's uninjured arm when it tried to claw at his ankles. It was only a matter of time before the beta dies.

And as usual, Ari couldn't just sit still and not say or do anything.

Constantine watched him curiously as he walked up to him with an upset face and tears flowing freely from his eyes without him even him knowing about it. All what Ari could think of was that this was cruel and heartless, and he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight after witnessing someone die like this.

"Please," He begged pleadingly pulling on Constantine's arm, terrified. "Just let him go."

"It's just a feral, why do you care?"

The sounds coming out of the beta were unbearable. "This is abhorrent. He's a feral, he doesn't know what he's doing."

"You're right." Constantine agreed and a loud sound of something snapping echoed around them. The widening grin on his face was etched in Ari's mind as he looked up at him feeling like the whole world went still. "All the more reason to kill him."

The lifeless body of the beta sat motionless on the ground as Ari took a step back letting go of Constantine's arm.

"Why…"

Amused, Constantine took his foot off of the beta's throat and stepped closer to the petrified Ari. "Why not?"

Fear was an emotion that he witnessed so many times and loved it. Constantine often did things to evoke it, and he loved to see how people react when they're under its spell. Sometimes they'd freeze, and sometimes they'd do irrational things. Other times they might just mindlessly attack which would give him an unneeded excuse to retaliate by killing them.

Somehow, though, he found that fear looked absolutely delicious on Ari.

It was the first time Constantine thought about it this way. There was no wish to intimidate the poor boy, he just wanted to see him afraid. The first time he witnessed him just shake in his place was the time Constantine knew that he craved for more.

Ari was beautiful even as he cried.

"No, no, no…" He sounded distraught probably blaming himself for a death he never caused. It was Constantine to blame entirely, and he couldn't help but reach out with his hand and wipe the tears that kept falling. "You didn't have to do it. You didn't."

"I didn't." He confirmed with his lips twitching up in amusement as Ari continued to cry over the dead body of a feral who was doomed anyway. People were silly mourning such deaths. "Think about your bleeding self first."

Ari didn't say anything regretting ever being in this situation.

It never occurred to him that he might have ran to the same spot where he found Constantine last time. He literally led himself there without realizing it.

And if he did realize it, he'd rather not think about it.