Chapter 36 Lucien
THIRTY-SIX
Lucien
Ifollowed closely behind Kane as we wove through Wrenchet, goblins screeching so loudly, it hurt my wolf’s delicate ears. It was nothing compared to the third explosion, which rocked the ground beneath our paws and shook the foundations of the handmade buildings we ran between.
It wasn’t hard to find the source of the battle.
A warlock and a lesser fae stood a few feet back from the edge of the city, the former hurling fireballs as if it was nothing, the latter shooting magical attacks that hit with the force of a bomb, blowing trees out of the ground by their roots, and sending them flying.
They weren’t alone, though. At least thirty enforcers were behind them, wearing magically enhanced body armor, and that was only what we could see between the trees. There was no telling how many they’d actually brought.
It was crystal clear that they hadn’t come to capture or question us.
They’d come to wipe us off the map. But good luck to them, because Kane’s power…
I hadn’t noticed it when he was in human form, but now that he’d shifted, it had multiplied.
Since Brielle’s omega powers had been unlocked and her curse removed, he’d clearly leveled up.
Focus on the magic users first. The rest will do less harm individually.
Kane’s order came through the pack bond, and we arrowed toward the two out front who were hurling mass destruction as if it was any other Tuesday.
As soon as the enforcers saw us, they surged forward, half surrounding their magic users, while the other half ran at top speed toward us.
We were outnumbered and out-magicked, but we fanned out into an arrowhead shape with Kane at the tip. I lunged and tore my way into the enforcers, my wolf relishing the gore as we found targets not protected by their armor.
Many shifted, mostly big cats, but there were at least two bears in the mix, swiping with their giant, razor-sharp claws.
I can’t say if I killed or only disabled my opponents as we cut our way through the horde. But Kane was relentless, pushing toward the magic users with single-minded focus. We’d reached their outer ring of protectors when we finally ground to a halt.
Samuel and I fought back to back, each of us fending off blows both magical and physical from either side.
That was when Kane released his high alpha power.
I felt the sucking sensation in my chest a second before he unleashed it, and the impact was devastating. Our pack was unharmed, but our opponents?
All but the strongest within a hundred yards were blown back or pinned down as we bounded over and through them.
It was the break we needed to get to the fae, and he knew it. His eyes grew wide, terror filling them before he flashed out of existence, abandoning his comrades in a blatant act of self-preservation.
The warlock realized a second too late what had happened, hurling a fireball our way as he attempted to run, his long black and silver robes flapping behind him.
I was far enough to the side of our formation that I only felt the heat, but pain seared the pack bond, and I knew at least one of my brothers had been hit. Despite the injury, the rest of us couldn’t stop, couldn’t falter, or else the warlock would send another fireball hurtling our way.
We circled the warlock like sharks, nipping and harassing his personal shields, attacking from too many directions for him to block us all at once. Sweat began to roll down his face, his pointed velvet hat knocked askew by his efforts to keep us at bay.
One of Kane’s lunges broke through, and he sank his fangs into the warlock’s thigh.
I saw the opening before I even realized I had lunged. I leapt for his throat, fangs and claws extended.
His blood was hot and sour on my tongue. The unfamiliar tang of magic zipped through me as I rode his body to the ground, shaking the life out of him with all my might.
By the time we hit the ground, his head was gone, his magic fizzled out like a candle in a hurricane. His hat rolled away, disappearing in a poof a few seconds later.
But the rest of the enforcers had recovered from Kane’s blow, and the fight wasn’t over. With the most immediate, deadly threat eliminated, we ran back to where Gael had fallen, forming a protective circle around our wounded pack mate as we fought off the endless horde of attackers.
More and more of them poured from the forest, and bodies began to pile around us as blood soaked the earth.
My humanity waned as the wolf’s rage grew as high as the pile of enemies we’d slain, my control on him thready at best. Time grew warped by the battle. All that remained was blood and death and the next attacker who dared defy us.