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Esteban
“Daphne, stay down here. Gabriel, come with me.” Without looking back to see if my cousin was following me, I climbed the stairs to the walkway on top of the wall that surrounded Santuario.
I met Yoselin’s mate Jaime, a hunter, commanding the forces. They were raining bullets down on Victor’s goons who had brought siege equipment and were trying to maul our gate. Jaime and Hender weren’t officially the Betas of Gabriel and me, but they adapted to leadership roles easily so we allowed them to lead troops.
“Alphas,” Jaime acknowledged our approach; Gabriel stood next to me.
“Report,” I commanded.
“A few minutes ago Victor’s forces started attacking the gate. Hender and I armed as many people as we could with assault rifles from the warehouse. Hender is still there, issuing the last of the firearms to the people who can use them. I’m sorry I took unofficial leadership in your absence.” Jaime lowered his head. He was a burly man, taller than even me, and he looked out of place showing this much submission.
I waved my hand dismissively. “Don’t mention it. You did the right thing. We should be sorry that we weren't on duty when the attack started.”
“It’s past working hours, so no one can be blamed.” Jaime shrugged. “Now what are your orders? What should we do next?”
“Focus all of the fire on the people who are pummeling our gate with that battering ram.” I looked down at Victor’s forces, relentless in their assault even though our people fired at them ceaselessly. A few of the enemies were already lying dead, but others replaced them quickly. “The entrance to Santuario is sturdy but with enough ramming, the hinges won’t be able to hold the doors and they will collapse inward. Then we will have a close fight on our hands.”
“How many men did Victor deploy at us?” Gabriel had a hand on his jaw, looking at the attackers. He was thinking about something, but I wasn’t sure what was on his mind.
“It’s impossible to tell because most of them are hiding in the trees and bushes.” The vegetation outside Santuario was dense; a situation not to our advantage. “When one enemy collapses, another appears and replaces them.”
“Gabriel and Esteban Torres!” A booming voice called out from the vegetation beyond the wall.
Gabriel and I gave each other a glance. It didn’t take long for the owner of the voice to come out; Victor himself.
“The fucker came here as well?!” I whispered to Gabriel.
My partner shrugged. “Let’s see what he wants.”
“We’re here, Victor!” I called out to the leader of our enemies.
“Hiding up on the wall, are you? Why don’t you come down and get in a real fight with me?” Victor chuckled, putting his hands on his hips. “Or are you scared after the last time I beat you up?”
I clenched my jaw.
“Of course we’re not scared of you,” Gabriel replied instead of me. “We simply don’t find it necessary to fight you. What do you want from us, Victor?”
“I’m sick and tired of your existence. When I killed your whole family I found it funny to leave the three of you alive,” he meant Hanny, Gabriel and myself, “but I’ve changed my mind. Nowadays you annoy me more often than you entertain me. You’ve outlived your worth.”
“Funny how you measure the value of a person,” I taunted Victor.
“Yeah, we’re just trying to live in Santuario peacefully, Victor. Why don’t you leave us be?” Gabriel said in a mocking tone. We both knew Victor would stop at nothing to rule over the entirety of Isla Paraiso, and we also knew that we were in the way of his goal. Sooner or later we were destined for a battle like this one.
Victor’s goons still rammed into our gate. I heard the hinges groan. They wouldn’t hold much longer.
We, unfortunately, had no sniper, someone who could shoot Victor and kill him once and for all from this distance but if the gate broke, I myself would run straight at Victor.
Gabriel’s eyes gleamed with bloodlust. I was sure he was thinking the same thing. He wanted to murder Victor even more than I did. His thirst for revenge had always been stronger than mine.
“Don’t bullshit me.” Victor spit on the ground. He looked furious now. “You wouldn’t have attacked me a week ago if you ‘just wanted to live peacefully’.” He said the last few words in a mocking tone, trying to mimic Gabriel’s way of speaking, though he failed miserably.
His joke didn’t amuse me though; a serious threat like Victor was never to be taken lightly.
“Should we tell him?” I whispered to Gabriel. I meant whether or not we should reveal to Victor that we had attacked him to rescue our mate.
“It makes no difference in the grand scheme of things if Victor knows the reason we attacked him or not,” Gabriel replied.
That point was true. Victor was dead set on destroying us. We had always known the day he would bang on Santuario’s doors would come eventually. We had only quickened the arrival of the inevitable event with Daphne’s rescue.
