Chapter 203
I slid on my knees when an arm shot out about to smack my throat and the ones I needed to fight on the way, I took care of. But I was close now, the Elder’s naturally hooded eyes were focused and his nose wrinkled as I closed the distance between us with a swift hit that he dodged. For an old wrinkled sack of skin, he sure was fast. The Elder’s claws extracted, long and sharp as they slashed through the air and he widened his jaw- his canines grew and a snarl soaked in power brushed from his lips.
I dodged the first hit but the other came too fast and I grabbed the side of my neck when blood gushed from the wounds.
“I am the Elder of Valeria, little girl. You stand no chance!” One by one his hits flew and amply knocked me over.
The cold skin of a dead Guard cooled my hands when I landed on top of him, and I turned around.
“Yeah…well…” I scrambled myself up and Trixy stepped forth.
His eyes bulged when I clawed at his chest- they sliced open his cloak and scratched the surface of his skin.
“… I’m a mother,” three quick hits against his face made him lose focus, and when I saw a twinge of uncertainty across his eyes, I landed a swift kick on his ribs and heard the crack. After Nora’s cut on his throat, I knew that I couldn’t just wound him; he’d heal too quickly, and the lethal blow would take forever. Therefore, I need to take the one thing no living person can stay alive without.
The Elder stood, and my fist cracked another one of his ribs before I came up behind him and round-kicked the back of his knees. He was down. I bent to get momentum and rammed my hand into my chest.
The sound of a whimper made me turn my head with my hand inside the Elder’s cavity and I saw Darian in the same position- he held Zade by his throat and his hand disappeared inside his chest but when he pulled it out there was nothing between his fingers.
“You can’t kill someone who isn’t alive!” Zade snarled and pushed at his chest. Glowing edges formed around his wound as it stitched itself together.
My fingers pulsated around the Elder’s beating heart and I gripped it tightly.
“It will never survive, if it’s not tonight then someone else will make sure that you never give birth to that thing.” he choked. His head fell back and he looked up at me, frail and mortal.
“They,” I said and his face twisted in confusion.
“What?”
“They. Triplets, three Lycans that will ensure a future where Valeria is ruled by Lycans for all eternity. They will not be harmed, their mother will not let anything to them, and it saddens me that you won’t be around to watch me turn Valiera upside down to create the safest place for them.”
“Three…” a line of blood went down the side of his mouth and painted a crimson track on his chin.
“One.” I tightened my fingers around his beating heart and relished in the fear that glimmered in his eyes.
“Two.” His breath caught in his throat. That last breath.
“Three.” I reminded through a smile whilst I punctured his heart with my claws and his ribs cut through my hand on the way out. The Elder fell with that final breath still in his lungs. I scanned his body, to ensure that he wouldn’t get up, and watched as the wound on the palm of his hand started bleeding. The tainted blood washed out and soon turned crimson with a light stream that formed a puddle on the grass.
I looked around. The Demons with chokeholds on our Guards lowered their hands and stepped back.
Zade watched me, his eyes dark and a proud smile reached his eyes when he bowed his head.
“You solved it,” he gleamed. “You won the game.” The last game I’ll ever play in this lifetime.
The humans and rogues all turned to the Elder who was no longer of use to them, they depended on him, he had promised them a future and it all fell at their feet in shattered hopes.
1/2
Chapter 203
“And now?” I asked. Wary of whether or not he’d keep his end of the deal. Zade promised that if I figured it out, we could all walk away.
He turned to the Demons and a black smoke circled him as he evaporated.
“Protect them,” he ordered before the smoke swallowed his face.
The Demons cheered as they disappeared and the field was covered in a black fog. The smoke of each Demon shot through the humans and each one they passed through fell with open eyes and mouths, their hearts stopped and the magic was undone.
Like spears being thrown- they pierced every human and the Rogues slowly retreated but when they turned to run, a wall of Demons stood in front of them.
“This was not the deal!” One of the Rogues spat.
A girl stepped forth next to Zade and tilted her head.
“Not the one you made, but he,” she pointed to the Elder, “made it for you. Your souls are not for this world any longer. Time to pay up,” her brow shot up and a cocky grin painted her beautiful face. Her hazel eyes gleamed with a dangerous excitement and she swiftly shifted and shot through the rogue whose chest pushed out and he looked toward the woods before he fell on his back.
They were taking their souls. The humans and the Rogues, everyone was falling and those who weren’t already dead soon fell like dominos. Screams rippled through the air around us, no blood or gore, they weren’t suffering, they were paying a debt for their deeds.
When the thud from the last fallen warrior sounded, the Demons rose high and went their separate way. All but one.
Zade emerged in his glorious human form and walked over the bodies.
A gust of wind pushed up behind me and I knew that Darian stood there. Gabe walked out from behind the trees in a pair of shorts, covered in blood, and took a stance on my other side.
The Alpha’s Hunt
