The Longing

Chapter 49

He pounces at me, wrapping his arms around my torso just to throw me away from him.

The hell is he on?

I managed to balance myself, almost falling off the edge with my non-broken leg.

I hiss as pressure hits my broken one. Asshole.

I turn to him in anger only to be caught off guard as Titus hurls his sword at me, my instincts automatically wanting me to catch it and so I did.

Fuck. Wrong move. I saw him smirk before he moves to attack me.

I already have a broken bone and he knows it very well. He aims for it even. I yelp in pain as he grabs my broken leg and tosses me to the ground.

He didn't stop there. He grabs me by the throat and squeezes. I groaned in pain, my airway getting cut off so suddenly makes me dizzy.

His sword stumbles to the side, Derek makes no move to grab it.

"I will show you no mercy for what you have done." Anger was evident in his tone, yet I couldn't hear him properly because my ears kept ringing.

The half of my body is held down by Titus' weight above me, making me unable to move.

"T-titus..." I spurt, coughing up air.

He ignores me, putting more pressure on my neck. I gasp in pain.

His eyes held no mercy, no light, nothing. It's as if I'm fighting a different person that I've known for months.

His eyes were all black, reflecting the darkness of the night. It was full of anger, resentment, sadness, and fear.

Every negative emotion a person has, Titus' eyes was showing it. This man is broken beyond repair.

This isn't the Titus who held me when I broke down.

This isn't the Titus who brought me food when I woke up.

This isn't the Titus who broke his control and kissed me like his life depended on it.

This is a losing battle for me, I can't win this. I'm starting to hyperventilate.

No! I need to focus. I have to survive and save my parents. I can't let it all be for nothing. I refuse to give up, not now.

Mustering up my strength, I lift my non-broken leg and knee him between his thighs then bang my head against his. My forehead throbs from the impact. His hold on me finally loosens so I push him off of me with my hands on his chest.

He tumbles away from me, shaking his head. I get up as fast as I can with this leg of mine, putting all my weight to the other.

The crowd roars in cheers in excitement, clearly enjoying the end of my beautiful life.

Turning my eyes back on Titus I massage my neck, trying to ease the pain. "Don't do this." I rasped.

I made my first move by getting close to him, only to duck and aim for his side. He groans in pain only to stop my second punch, twisting my wrist to loosen my grip.

He uses the same wrist to turn me around so my back is to him, completely open for him to target.

He uses his left leg to send a kick to my side, earning a pained gasp from me, my face contorting in pain. "Fuck!"

He turns me around again and sends a punch to my gut, twice. My legs feel like jell-o at this point.

I kneel in front of him, the pain in my torso is so bad, I lose my strength in my legs. Titus grabs my hair forcefully, tilting my head up at him. He punches me in the face sending it flying to the side.

He pulls me by my hair and drags me closer to his sword.

Shit, shit.

I hit his hands the best I can, to no avail. Then an idea popped in my head. I'm such a goddamn idiot. I grab the daggers on my goddamn waist and stab the back of his hand.

Titus roars, letting me go. I scramble away as he recovers. His blood oozes from his hands down to the floor, his eyes filled with rage I've never seen before. My dagger is beside his dark boots, his blood on it.

"You cheat."

I roll my eyes. "Nice try, dickhead. That's part of my armor."

I grab another one and hold it on my left hand, narrowing my eyes at him. He makes a move to grab me but I dodge, getting away from him.

I throw my dagger at his boot, hitting it as I distance myself further. The only way I can win this thing is if he can't reach me. If he can't grab me, he'll most likely get angry and he'll lose control of it.

I just need to make sure it works.

Two more daggers are left on my pocket. I grab the other one and hide the last behind me, making sure Titus won't see it.

I notice his hand, the bleeding has stopped. Oh, I forgot they have fast fucking recovery. This makes things a whole lot harder. I throw the dagger straight for Titus' face, he grabs it the last second before it makes contact with him.

During that, I already grabbed the bloodied dagger I stabbed him with a while ago, while we went around the uplifted platform.

Titus holds my dagger on his uninjured arm, his grip tight. He surprises me as he lets it fall down, leaving himself defenseless.

I took that as my chance to get close and slash the strap on his armor by his shoulder, barely avoiding his sweep as I duck and roll away. His armor clings to him with one strap only. Titus clicks his tongue in annoyance and finally removes it.

I strike at him, slashing his torso and sending another one to his arms. I avoid his kick and punch as I slit his thighs.

I back away, looking at him with a panting breath. All the wounds I've inflicted on him doesn't seem to bother him as he looks at me with annoyance as they heal one by one.

"You can do it, Katie!" I hear my sister shout from behind me. I felt a little confidence build up inside me.

My sister is watching so I need to win.

With my dagger on hand, I tear through Titus' defense and successfully stab him on his chest. We go down as I land on top of him still holding my dagger that's attached to his chest.

He coughs, looking at me. "You think this will kill me?"

I raise my eyebrow. "What makes you think I want to kill you?" He kicks me off of him, my grip loosening on my dagger.

I back away in annoyance, all my daggers are at his side now. He stands up with a bloodied chest, only to pull my dagger out of it.

The crowd ouches as if they're the one that just got stabbed.

"What's it gotta be Titus?" I jump, avoiding his leg. I send a punch to his face which lands perfectly.

I chuckle. "Let me win so I can do what I need to do."

Titus looks at me in anger, his eyes glowing. "What?"

"What you need to do?" I nod, confused. He crouches and grabs my dagger with his right hand. "What you need to do is go home and never to return. Or I will kill you."

"No, I refuse." Titus snarls, throwing my own dagger at me. It hits me on my left arm, going through the fabric, cutting my skin.

I hold it, refusing to back down. Adrenaline helping me right now as I feel no pain on my whole arm. Let's just hope it holds til' the end cause I swear to all those above, if I die, they die.

Technically we're already dead by then but hey, double dead sounds fun.

I pull out the dagger, shredding a cloth from me, I tie it to my injured arm to stop the bleeding for a while with my right hand and pull it tight with my teeth. Can't play if I'm dripping.

And shit, he got me on my dominant hand too. This fucker knows it and decided to injure it.

"You purposely aimed for my dominant arm, didn't you?" Titus refuses to answer.

Looking back at the duel I had with other people, nobody has intentionally aimed for it, probably because they're not smart enough to do it.

But Titus is different. He feeds off of your strength and weakens you with it. He probably observes his enemy first before he actually gives it his all.

Titus comes close, grabbing my goddamn bleeding arm and twists it. I whimper in pain, the adrenaline no longer helpul at this moment.

He tosses me to the ground again, as I land with a loud thud. I roll on my side, my back burns from the impact.

I continue to roll away from him as I keep my eye on him. He follows me slowly, as if he's playing with me.

I get up on my feet, forgetting about my broken leg for a second. My face scrunches in pain and Titus fucking sees it.

"I had one rule." He says. "One." He lunges, tackling me to the ground and he goes down with me.

We roll over and stop before we fall over the edge. Titus is now on top of me again, straddling my lower half and holding my both my arms up with one hand above my head.

"You don't have to do this." Panting, I try to wiggle my wrists.

He picks up something above me with his free hand. The sharp and shiny object reflecting the sun's light.

Shit.

He points the edge of his sword to my neck, putting pressure on it. "Your future ends here."

"No!" Someone screams loudly, overriding the whole crowds shouts of victory and losses.

His eyes turned black, Titus finally slashing my neck and so once again, death has come to my door.

I fall into the dark abyss.

"Never surrender!" Someone shouts.

What?

"Never surrender!" I gasps and immediately got up. My vision returning to me.

"What the fuck..."

The hell happened?

"Katelyn!" The scream again. I turn to my left, only to be left face to face with an unfamiliar face but her voice sounds very fucking familiar.

"Oh, it's you." I groan, feeling an ache everywhere on my body.

"Where am I?"

"The in-between." I scratch my head. "Am I dead?"

"No, refuse it." I chuckle darkly. "Nah, I should just give up and look at 'em while they fight for some useless throne that I don't even want, but dies for it anyways." I roll my eyes and lie back down.

"You forget the reason why you are fighting. Never surrender to the darkness that has taken it's toll on you." She whispers.

"Yeah? Enlighten me then."

A light glows in front of me. It's showing me Kris, crying as she clutches her chest in pain. She's looking at me with hope but her actions are that of acceptance.

Realizing it's a screen, I turn to the lady. "My sister is a grown woman, she can handle herself."

She looks at me with pity, then swipes at the screen. It changes scenery and I see myself, lying on the cold hard ground, blood coming out of my neck as Titus stands over me with his bloodied sword beside his boots.

He's breathing heavily and he's knuckles are bundled up, the veins on his arms and hands showing.

But I couldn't keep my eyes off my body. I lie there, pale and staring at the sky, the life slowly leaving my eyes.

Titus didn't completely decapitated me just like what he did to the other women.

She must think it'll drive me insane if I leave just like that. No justice, no nothing.

I'm just so tired and exhausted. The only thing I feel is stupidity.

I feel stupid for doing all this just to die in the end. And it's because I was fighting for a throne that wasn't even a part of my plan.

So why did I fight? What made me live to the point that I'll die for it?

She swipes at the screen again, this time it's inside our house. It pans to a picture. My family picture.

I remember this one. Mom decided Friday to be a rest day so she took us out while Dad paid for everything. We went on a road trip and got on a bunch of rides on the theme park. It took us the whole day to try everything and we ended up at free photoshoot.

We wore weird hats and glasses, held up signs that made sense or was too damn funny. It was one of the most beautiful day that I had ever experienced because we were happy and complete.

"Look how beautiful you were." She snuffles.

Dad and Mom was smiling brightly, Dads arm wrapped around Mom and Kris as I crouch in front of them for a cute picture. No hats, glasses or signs, just plain, old us with our sincere love for each other.

We were so happy and I couldn't ask for more of it. My heart hurts thinking about the days that I won't get to see them again.

"You must get up and fight back. Your parents need you both." She makes the light disappear, focusing on her words.

"What's to stop me from dying, lady?" I said lowly, my tone full of doubt. "If I die again, nothing will protect my sister and look for my parents."

"Then do it now. Protect your sister and find your parents in this lifetime. If it doesn't work, make it work." She grabs my hands tightly, giving me a reasurring smile.

I smile back, thankful for her. "Thank you for this..." She frowns as I look at her in confusion.

Why was I here again? "Oh no." She curses.

"Katelyn, you must go back." She says. I shake my head in confusion. "Go back where?"

"To your body."

"To my what-" I scream as her face morphs into that unpleasant one, her eyes disappearing as her teeth grew larger.

A soulless woman now screeches at me, her eye sockets visibly wide, her mouth opening as smoke comes out of it.

"Wake up!" Her voice heavy, like of a man as she shouts at me.

"No!" I scream at the top of my lungs, Van holding me back as I hear Sen gasp in shock at the scene.

My eyes widen as the Alpha slits my sister's throat. I lose all my strength and fell to my knees, no longer feeling anything.

My surroundings began to dim just like when you switch off the light.

I lost her.

I gaze at the scene, my sister's body covered in her own fucking blood. I feel a warm hand land on my shoulder, Van crouching down on my level as he speaks to me.

"I'm sorry." Then I broke into the most heartbreaking tears.

They all fall down continuously, not a sign of stopping. The stream of tears building up every second I take my sister's body in.

She's dead. The Alpha killed her.

He slit her throat with his sword. And he's looking down at her like the arrogant animal he is.

This is a game to him. For him to look good for everyone and those he faces are just collateral damage.

Kill him.

"I'll kill him." I bellow, fighting Van's hold on me. Sen covers my front, holding me down as well.

"Stop!"

"Let me go! I'll slit his throat just like what he did to my sister!" I cry, punching Sen harder than I intended to.

She stumbles, losing her grip on me. I take that as my chance to stomp on Van's foot making him let go of me.

And I ran as fast as I can down the stairs, and barge through the double doors.

The women turn to me in confusion. I ignore them, walking past them and set my eyes on him. Fucking asshole.

I jump on the platform, earning his attention. What catches me off guard wasn't the man behind him, just a few stairs down.

Nasser.

The Alpha's eyes were a mix of red, black, and gold. The gold shining under the sunlight as he looks at me in sadness.

I sneer at him. "It's only fair I do the same to you."

My eye wandered to my sister's body, her eyes slowly losing their light.

I breathe deeply, my chest heavy. Anger adding fuel to my actions. "I change my mind, I'll skin you alive and hang your head on my door."

I grab my sister's dagger and aimed for his head. The Alpha didn't move an inch, as the dagger continues to fly towards him.

He just stands there like a statue which pisses me off more than it should.

An inch left and that dagger will hit him between the eyes. Then justice for my sister will be served.

A hand shoots out from behind him, stopping the dagger from reaching him.

I follow the hand to the person, but she wasn't looking at me. She's looking at Titus.

A smirk is on her lips as she plays with the dagger on her hand.

Titus slowly turns to her, his breathing labored. "What is the meaning of this?"

He can't believe what he's seeing as he backs away, crouches and grabs his sword. He points it at her, her only response was a chuckle.

"I slit your throat." He growls.

She clicks her tongue in dismay, turning to me and waves cutely.

I gasp in disbelief. "Katie."

She shakes her head and motions for me to be quiet, putting her index finger on her mouth.

"Katie's sleeping." She giggles.

I look at her weirdly. "What do you mean?" Nevertheless, I'm glad she's alive.

But how?

She puts her hand down, turning back to him and losing her smile.

"You haven't changed one bit, Ezekiel." She says.

The Alpha growls in response. "What happened to your fucking eyes?"

After he said that, only then did I notice her eyes. It was blood fucking red.

"I taught you better manners than that." She chuckles, grabbing a piece of her hair and twisting it.

What is she doing?

She finally looks around, the crowd murmuring about what happened.

"Some things never change, huh." She turns back to Titus.

"Let's finish your fucking game, Zeke." She nods her head at him, asking for him to make the first move.

Titus refuses, frozen in shock, his eyes are wide as saucers. "What did you just call me?" He asks, his voice cracking.

Before Katie could respond, we all turned to the voice that sent shivers down my spine.

"Rogues!" A pained yell was heard through the whole stadium, the alert sounded after it.

"Call the royals!"

Everyone panics as the crowd all rush to the exit, pushing everyone in their way.

The Alpha and Katie just stared at each other, no one moving an inch.

A wolf jumps and lands on the middle of the arena, then another, followed by another two and another.

They all pile up all at once. All of them were growling, hunched low as if preparing for an attack. A loud whistle caught our ears as we turn to the sound.

I gasp as a man with a huge hammer resting on his shoulders emerge behind the raised throne, a sinister smile on his face.

"Is it not the most delightful day?"

He sits on the chair meant for the Alpha, leaning on the armchair lazily while staring down at us.

"Oh, do continue with your charming exchange; I do like a show." He chuckles, putting his hammer down beside him.

Two rogues also appear behind him, guarding his back if anyone ever tries anything.

"Want a popcorn?" A voice offers.

Human and wolves emerge from the closed doors of the arena, the King and Queen at the center of the formation.

Oh shit, it's about to go down. They're so fast on coming here. Is it because of the Queen? I heard she's one of the seers. Katie told me all about it.

"Lennox." The King growls, pointing his sword at the man.

"You will die today." The man only laughs, stood up and grabbed his hammer.

He jumps down from the throne and lands smoothly. He looks at the King and snarls at him.

"You, my brother Lazarus, shall be the one to pay the ultimate forfeit before this sun has set."

"I am not of your disgusting bloodline."

"Indeed, I recall it clearly: your mother was a woman of questionable virtue who dallied with my father."

Lazarus roars, his pack whimpering with the tone.

"And from that illicit affair, you sprang forth, only to seize my rightful place and steal the sacred inheritance that was mine by birth."

Lennox growls, his eyes no longer holding the playfulness it once had, his voice lowering to a much lower octave.

Did he just say the King stole his crown? Oh no, so Lazarus isn't the real ruler? I turn to him.

The King growls loudly, the arena shaking with how loud it was.

"Bring me his head!"

I feel like shit—nothing new here.

But good news and bad news.

The good news is I'm back from the dead, which is kinda weird since I feel like shit but nonetheless, my broken leg and wounds are all healed.

Question is, I don't know how it happened but I'm thankful for it.

Bad news is, there's a whole goddamn war going on in front of my eyes and I have no clue who started it and when it started.

All I can fucking remember is Kris holding me up when I was about to collapse from fatigue. Titus was also holding me by my waist, preventing me from falling down.

This asshole just slit my throat and thinks he can get away with it.

"Let go of me." I push him away.

"No." He murmurs, pressing his forehead on mine.

What the...

I feel his warmth. I let out a sigh only to realize what I did. I shake my head.

"Titus, let me the fuck go or I swear to God I'll kick you in the balls. Don't try me, I already stabbed you with my dagger." I grunt, finally able to distance myself from him.

He growls, reaching for me. Kris steps between us which stops Titus from reaching me.

"Leave her alone, dickhead. You fucking killed her." She sneers.

Titus visibly flinches, pain reflecting in his eyes.

A loud roar caught my attention. The sound came from a werewolf and a rogue fighting just below the uplifted platform.

The rogue bites the wolf's ears and throws it to a distance, earning a whimper from him.

The rogue doesn't hesitate and lunges at him, bites his neck and twists.

And he's gone.

"How kong was I out?"

"An hour at most."

"When did the battle begin?"

"I'd say thirty minutes or longer. I'm not sure, it's been quite a long day."

I look around and everyone is fighting. Both rogue and werewolf alike.

I scan the crowd and gasp in shock. "Lennox?"

"You know him?" Kris asks.

"Yeah, I met him a while ago."

Oh, so if he's here, the King should be too. I'm right as I see him looking directly at Lennox, who was smiling at him with the most disturbing smile.

"Lennox is the Rogue King. He's probably here to instigate chaos or for fun. Either will do." I state, move to grab my daggers and put them in my pockets.

Kris grabs someone's sword, clinging to it. "Did you just say Lennox is the King of Rogues?"

I turn back around and make my way through the chaos, making sure to avoid violence. These rogues aren't here for us, no.

"They're here to thrash the King's power, aren't they?" I nod, dodging a flying rogue.

"Lennox is showing mercy by bringing not even half of his army."

"This isn't half?" I shake my head. "No, but the King is outnumbered by a lot."

"Wait, so. If Lennox is the Rogue King, doesn't that leave his pack vulnerable?" I chuckled.

"No, Kris. They also have second in-commands there. And, Lennox has a wife. Or looks like it. He's old enough for one though."

"Why is the king not attacking him directly?" I too, look at the King.

"Yeah, I wonder too."

The King is sending his werewolves to him, but he doesn't go close himself. Lennox on the other hand, seems to be enjoying the fight as he swings his hammer.

Is it possible that he's not attacking Lennox because the Queen is beside him? To protect her from danger? Or is it because he's afraid what Lennox has up in his sleeve?

"Whatever it is, we need to stop Lennox from going further. He has already sent his message."

Considering how long I've been gone, Lennox has probably brought wrath upon them all day.

I finally reach Lennox, who turns to me with a gentle smile. "Why hello there, peeping tom. It has been a while."

I tsk. "Lennox, why did you attack now of all days?"

"Because I feel like it." He chuckles, swinging his hammer to crack a werewolf's head.

"Really? On my most joyous day?" I say sarcastically.

Lennox holds his chest, as if offended.

"My, I couldn't have possibly known."

I roll my eyes. "You know everything, ain't no way you didn't know this."

"Fine. I'll tell you since you're my third most cherished person."

"Third? Who's the other two?"

"A question for another time."

I huff in annoyance.

"My informants had told me that the King is present on your most 'joyous' day." He quoted, "And so I decided to take the day off and visit."

"Now forgive me, I do not intend to hurt you or any of your companions." I'm only here to derive amusement from your precious little King." He points to my sister, then to Titus.

Who unbelievably, followed us all the way here. How the hell did I not hear him?

That aside, I need to fight him and win. The only way I can get to my parents is if this whole thing is over. I'm not even sure where they are now.

And I don't like it one bit.

"Lennox, can you do me a favor? Please leave and take your members with you. I really need to finish this fight with Titus so I can start finding my parents." Pointing my thumb towards Titus.

Instead of answering me, he suddenly sniffs the air. His smile wipes off of his face and was replaced with a familiar gaze.

"Why do you smell like her?" He growls.

"Who?" I chuckled nervously.

"My daughter."