Chapter 16 The Second Clash #3
I pushed through, exhaling when we penetrated through, followed by Liam, Rayhan, and the rest as the barrier disappeared.
“Raihana, stay with me,” was the last thing I heard Elijah say before the growls of wolves filled the air from both sides, but theirs were running away, save a few who came to meet us head-on.
It was odd seeing every wolf the exact same colour, as if they were all exactly the same, from their scent to their size and the colour of their eyes, too.
I frowned, seeing the haze that surrounded the far side of the house as if masking something ahead. Was that fucker here?
Suddenly, the entire house went up in fucking flames.
Kiara and Kat!
Follow the wolves, I’m going to go find Kiara! I shouted through the link to my men and to the alphas present. Hopefully, my baby girl was there. I just fucking hoped so.
I ran ahead. As much as I wanted to fucking rip the bastard behind this to shreds, I needed to find my girls first. I just prayed that this time no one slipped out of my hold.
Ask Raihana if there’s anything she can do to make sure that they don’t take Kat or Kiara, I told my men, hoping whoever was closest to her would pass the message.
She’s casting a blood cage; anyone from the Rossi bloodline won’t be able to leave the premises… just in case they try to take Kataleya. There’s nothing she can do about Kiara.
That’s fine.
I’d find them.
Kiara! I called through the link.
I ripped the front doors off the hinges, walking straight into the blazing fire.
“Daddy!”
My heart skipped a fucking beat as my eyes fell on my little girl, my emotions overwhelming me for a second.
Thank fuck she was alive. Despite the bruises on her face, she was alive.
What had she been through? Despite that thought eating up at me, I was so fucking relieved to have finally found her.
I frowned, realising she was trying to tug something from the ground. My stomach twisted as I realised it was Kiara’s arm. She was stuck under a beam that was on fire.
I was in front of them in a flash, pulling the beam off of her, but the sight before me was not one I was expecting, nor one I ever wanted to see.
Her forehead along her hairline was cut, blood seeping out of it.
Her entire head of hair was full of blood, as if someone had tried to carve the top of her skull right off. Fuck…
“Mama’s hurt,” Kat whimpered as I wrapped my arm around her, unable to reply in Lycan form.
I lifted Kiara tenderly into my arms. My queen… fuck…
Slowly, I wrapped my arm around her tightly as I didn’t want to shake her too much. She was clearly in bad fucking shape. Her heartbeat was faint, too. With the other, I lifted Kataleya, tucking her against my chest and shielding her from the flames.
Safe. They were going to be okay. I was never going to let this happen again…
and whoever was behind this would surely pay.
I jumped back as a huge chunk of the house caved before climbing over it and getting out of this fucking place.
Once upon a time, I would have had the enemy in my hands right then, but now I had a family that came first, one I needed to make sure would be safe.
I looked around, scanning the grounds. There weren’t many of the enemy wolves left.
I saw Liam tear the head of one right off before his gaze snapped to me, falling on his sister.
He’d have my back. His grey wolf lowered his head to me, and I ran through the remainder of the enemies and the fire that had spread out into the grounds.
I spotted Raihana easily in her disturbingly pink clothes as she blasted wolves away, killing a few as she stood there, her power rising behind her.
I shifted the moment I was close to her, looking for a place where I could place Kiara down safely.
“Raihana!”
She turned, her black hair blowing in her face. She ran over as I placed Kiara gently on the floor behind a tree away from the chaos. My gaze fell to the side of her neck. Fuck, it looked like someone really had tried to cut open her fucking skull.
I didn’t let go of Kataleya, making sure she didn’t look at Kiara as Raihana crouched down by Kiara.
“Goddess…” she murmured in horror. “Move away.”
Despite not wanting to let go of Kiara, I knew I had to. I crouched down, my arms around our little girl, and pressed my lips to Kiara’s softly. Strong sparks coursed through me, reassuring me that she was okay, and I forced myself away. We couldn’t waste time.
“Is Mama going to be okay?” Kataleya whimpered. I nodded, kissing her forehead.
“She is going to be just fine. You all are.”
I looked down at her, brushing her hair off her face.
I was so fucking glad she was okay. We just needed to find the answers for Dante and Del…
I knew we were on a short time schedule, but at least we were fucking together.
I hugged her tightly, and she wrapped her arms around me tightly as she began sobbing into my shoulder.
I caressed her hair, inhaling her soft scent.
My anger grew when I saw the bruises on her arms.
“I got you, angel. No one’s going to fucking touch you again,” I growled venomously.
Keep one or two of those fuckers alive, knock them unconscious. I want them for questioning, I commanded through the link.
I watched Raihana heal Kiara. It was clear it was taking longer than normal.
Raihana was brushing the sweat from her brow, and I could see the wound along Kiara’s neck was healing extremely slowly.
I frowned, taking in the rest of her injuries.
There were marks around her neck, a clear handprint with long fingers literally imprinted around her neck. I clenched my jaw.
Oh, when I find you all, even hell will seem like fucking heaven when I’m done…
“Daddy, will Enrique be okay?” Kataleya brought me out of my thoughts, and I furrowed my brow.
“Enrique?” She looked up at me, and I brushed her tears away. I fucking hated my baby girl crying, and I didn’t even know the extent of what she had been through yet.
“Yes, the horrible Alpha’s son. Enrique was nice to me,” she whispered, staring at the burning house. I looked at her sharply. She had seen the fucking shit head…
“His father probably took him,” I said coldly. He had a fucking son, yet he could harm other pups…
“But Daddy, he hurt him, too,” she whispered. The anguish in her eyes and the way she said ‘he hurt him too’...
What had that thing done to my daughter? And his own son? He was a fucking sick bastard who needed to be fucking castrated and fucking skinned alive, then doused in wolfsbane.
“I’m sure he’ll be okay,” I said quietly. Seeing the sadness in Kataleya’s eyes, I sighed. “When I find him, I’ll make sure the kid is okay. How old was he?”
“I don’t know, Daddy. He looked a little older than Dante,” she said sadly, resting her head on my shoulder. Who the fuck was this guy, and where did he come from?
The fight was over. We had two enemy wolves in our hold, and a few of my men had gone to see if they could find out where the rest had escaped to, but it seemed magic, or whatever you call the shit that Djinn could fucking do, was at work. They had simply vanished.
I turned my attention back to Kiara, wanting to go over to her but staying fucking patient as Raihana did what she needed to. When she finally sat back, the blood was slowing down, yet the cut remained.
“Sorry, Uncle, it’s the best I can do,” Raihana whispered, and I realised she was shaking.
“We’ll get her home. You fucking okay?” I asked.
She nodded as Rayhan came over to support his sister whilst I looked down at my mate. Fuck, Amore Mio… you should have waited outside of the territory for me…
I placed Kataleya down, lifting my mate into my arms before scooping Kataleya back up. Elijah was by my side, adjusting some basketball shorts as he looked at his daughter and granddaughter.
“Come on, Kataleya. I’ll carry you, okay?”
“Ok, Grandpapa,” she whispered, holding her arms out to him.
He smiled, taking her from me, and although I didn’t want to let her go, I knew she was safe with him.
He kissed her forehead and cheek, giving her a small smile.
Despite his gaze flickering to Kiara, he kept his emotions under control.
I knew he wanted to ask about her, to know what happened, but even I fucking didn’t know, and I didn’t think stressing Kataleya out with all the fucking questions was going to be a wise move.
“I want squad seven and eleven of my pack to stay behind and scour this fucking area. See if there’s anything you can find here and put that fucking fire out. There might be some clues inside. As for the rest of the alphas who have helped, I’m grateful for it. Let’s move out.”
The rest obeyed my command. I looked down at the woman in my arms. Her heart was steady and I could tell she was simply asleep, but I couldn’t wait for her to be fully healed and back to her usual self.
The so-called fucking Crimson King clearly had issues with me, yet it felt like he was playing a game, one that he was drawing out purposely.
I was not going to let him pull me into this fucking cat-and-mouse game of his.
If he wanted to play a proper game, then it was high fucking time he learned how it felt to be the hunted.