Chapter 3 #2
When I finally reach her, the guards are almost all dead, the wolves attacking them in a frenzy. It’s a bloodbath. Teeth gnash, everything is soaked, and it takes every ounce of willpower I have to keep the beast at bay. The carnage thrills him as he pulls on the cage.
The walls start to fall.
I don’t have long.
Max has her daggers pulled, her hands covered in red from her magic. It hisses and spits at the animals, but I feel her fatigue. She can’t rely on it now. Not without fainting from exhaustion.
Jumping in front of her, I take two wolves to the chest, another to my waist. Yanking them off of me, I snap one’s neck, ripping another’s heart out through its mangey fur, and kick the last away.
It yelps but it’s drowned out by the horrible shouts and pleas for help around us.
A final guard yells, the last to fall to their madness, before I drop to my hands and feet and howl.
Long, low, and predatory, I let these wolves know I’m finished. That they cannot have any more of my kind—they cannot touch my wife.
Their ears lower, their eyes fall to me. Blue-white eyes flicker with uncertainty. I am no one to them, yet they can feel my power. It caresses them with deadly promises. They know I will slaughter every single one of them. Their lives are of little consequence when it comes to her.
There’s a slight pause before they scurry back into the forest with nothing but a whimper.
Panting, I stand upright, feeling the oozing of my wounds in the cold air. Everything hurts and the beast rages loudly in my skull.
It wants to be healed—it wants blood. The cage whines in protest and he finds the door unlocked.
Not yet.
Turning toward Max, I stand, silently. She’s scratched, but whole, hand to her mouth, looking at my various cuts. Her eyes—big, shining orbs as dark as the sky on a rainy day—widen and her lashes grow wet.
Inhaling, I growl, controlling my heart and lift one claw to her face. A smear of blood is on her chin and there are circles under her eyes. I know she hasn’t been sleeping—even from a distance, I’ve watched over her. But if she doesn’t rest, she won’t survive much longer.
This is what the curse does. It doesn’t just take from me, but it takes from her. Steals her life, steals our future. It’s a rotten thing.
Carefully, she curls her hands into my black, fur-covered palm and she sniffles.
“Thank you.”
Such simple words and yet my heart yearns to hear more. To hear her say my name, to hear her moans or her shouts in anger. Everything about her I wish to have again—to see again, when I am not like this.
On Bel’s fiery balls, I have never wanted a future as badly as I do right now. But now, I do. I want one with this woman. I want her at my side. I want to see her face every morning. And I want her to see mine—normal, curse broken.
She looks at me as if I hold the key to the universe, and I want to survive, to be that for her.
The thing shouts in my head and I wince, snarling at the pain. I’ve lost track of time, and the beast has grown bold. His shouts are tiny daggers into my temples, drilling and striking until I relent. Dropping her face, I step away, but she reaches for more.
I have just enough strength to grumble out, “Don’t.” She stops, hands falling to her side.
“I will save you,” she promises, resolved. This is no longer the little kitten I found in Griffin’s palace, but a queen ready to fight. It’s magnificent to see it. “We’re almost there. Hold on. Please, Kaden. Hold on for me.”
How do I tell her I’d grip to a cliff for days on end while a Fury pecks out my eyes, if it meant having her at the end? I would gladly suffer it all, just to have a future with her.
The beast shouts again and I feel the cage give way. Soon, he’ll erupt and I won’t be me. I’ll be a passenger to this body again, forced to watch my mate from afar, and see a beast control my form.
And because of my injuries, he will kill my love, just for her blood.
Before he breaks, I tuck a singular strand of hair behind her ear, and use my knuckle to wipe her lips. “Love,” is all I can mutter, behind the large fangs and sharp canines.
Speech is too difficult to manage, but she nods anyway. She understands and a tear falls from her chin..
“Just hold on.”
I will hold on until Neevea ends. Lurching away, I throw myself at the tree, snarling and claw at it, as if it offends me. Anything but to touch her.
She screams my name and reaches for me, but she sees the shift, the change. Her mouth parts as I’m shoved away, taken from her once more.
The beast growls and my body curves. The energy changes from something sweet to thrashing fury. The barrier drops, and now I’m locked away.
And no one is here to save Max. From me.
The beast growls, a menacing thing, and she halts, jerking back. She stumbles over a corpse, but doesn’t fall completely. I’d be impressed at her balance if it wasn’t such a horrible moment.
The beast swipes out, and she falls back, lifting a hand.
I want to scream at her to leave, to run, to forget me and save herself—but the oddest thing happens.
The beast freezes. My body stops.
Max’s eyes widen as I feel my own do the same. She’s holding the invisible thread to my heart in her hands. She’s never been able to do this before.
That’s intriguing.
When I’m not in control, she can summon my blood.
The Hadeon crashes into the small area, placing my wife at his back and startled, she drops her hold on me. The beast knows not to fight, not now while he’s so injured, so he hisses, and stalks into the woods. A wounded animal looking for shelter and safety, he ignored her broken sob.
I don’t have a moment to say goodbye before we leave.
Exhaling, I drop in my mental prison, relieved. Thank Azure. She’s safe, the beast is away and the Hadeon protects her.
It only takes a moment, but then I turn my attention to the sky, willing Nxyla to hear my pleas. The mother of monsters, I plead: Grant me the strength to survive, so I may lay my eyes on my wife. Don’t let the beast win. Don’t let me succumb.
Just one more day, to see the woman who owns my heart and soul.