Chapter 174: Episode 173: Separating a fight.

“The nursery was no place for a bloodbath,” Drax said. He didn’t even sound out of breath.

He hauled both massive wolves down the stone hallway. His big hands clamped tight on the back of their leather collars. Axel and Onyx struggled, kicking their heavy boots against the floorboards, but Drax held them like misbehaving puppies. He kicked the heavy front doors open with one dark boot.

He threw them both straight into the dirt courtyard.

Axel hit the ground hard, rolling through the dry dust. Onyx landed right next to him, scraping his knees against the loose gravel. A thick cloud of brown dirt kicked up into the crisp mountain air. Drax stood in the doorway, blocking the path back inside. His dark eyes burned with silent warning.

Rue hurried out onto the wooden porch. She left the babies safe inside the house, tucked away in the quiet kitchen. She gripped the wooden railing with both hands. Her soft pink eyes went wide. She expected the men to stand up, dust themselves off, and just yell at each other.

They didn’t yell. They didn’t even talk.

They just exploded.

Axel pushed himself off the dirt. His white hair was a messy, wild halo around his head. A dark, terrifying growl ripped out of his throat. It didn’t sound human. It sounded like a starving beast. He didn’t stay in his normal body. He shifted halfway.

Thick, coarse white fur sprouted along his sharp jawline. His hands curled into tight fists, and sharp, black claws burst right through the tips of his fingers. His mouth stretched open, revealing long, deadly fangs. His bright blue eyes bled into a glowing, feral gold.

Onyx met him halfway. The moody wolf mirrored his twin perfectly. Fur ripped through the collar of his scratched leather armor. His own dark claws extended, glinting in the afternoon sun. His icy silver eyes turned wild and manic.

They crashed into each other right in the middle of the yard.

The impact sounded like two heavy boulders smashing together. Rue flinched, pulling her shoulders up to her ears. The sound was awful.

Axel swung his heavy, clawed fist. He caught Onyx right across the cheek. Sharp nails sliced through pale skin. Bright red blood sprayed across the dry dirt. Onyx didn’t even stumble. He just snarled, burying his own claws deep into Axel’s shoulder. He tore the dark shirt right open, ripping into the thick muscle underneath.

They fell to the ground, rolling over and over in a messy, violent blur of white hair and blood.

Rue couldn’t breathe. Her chest felt tight and cold. Her stomach twisted into a painful knot. This wasn’t a sparring match. This wasn’t a friendly fight to burn off extra energy. They were trying to kill each other.

“Stop!” Rue cried out. Her voice sounded thin and weak over the roaring snarls.

They didn’t hear her. They didn’t care.

Axel pinned Onyx to the dirt. He raised his fist high and brought it down hard on his brother’s nose. A sickening crunch echoed in the yard. Onyx spit a mouthful of blood right into Axel’s face. He kicked his heavy boot up, catching Axel in the ribs. Axel let out a sharp gasp, falling sideways.

Onyx scrambled on top of him. He grabbed Axel by the throat. His sharp claws dug into his twin’s neck, drawing a fresh line of bright red blood.

They were destroying the beautiful yard.

They rolled into the small flower garden Rue planted last week. Heavy boots crushed the delicate green stems into the mud. They slammed into a tall stone statue, cracking the solid rock right down the middle. They kicked up massive clouds of dust, turning the bright afternoon into a hazy, choking mess.

Rue let go of the wooden railing. She spun around.

Knox stood right by the open front door. The giant Southern panther leaned his broad shoulder against the heavy wood. He had his massive arms crossed over his chest. He watched the bloody brawl with a calm, bored expression on his scarred face. He didn’t look worried at all.

“Knox, please,” Rue begged. She grabbed his thick forearm, digging her small fingers into his warm skin. “You have to stop them. They are going to kill each other.”

Knox looked down at her. His golden eyes were soft, but he slowly shook his head.

“I can’t do that, little one,” Knox rumbled gently.

“Why not?” Rue practically screamed. Her hands shook. She pointed at the yard, where Axel just slammed Onyx’s head into the dirt. “Look at them! They are bleeding everywhere!”

“It is wolf business,” Knox explained simply. He didn’t move a single inch. “They are brothers. They have a lot of bad blood built up inside them. If I step in, they will just turn on me. If Drax steps in, they will feel humiliated. They need to bleed this out. It is the only way their wild instincts will settle.”

Rue stared at him in pure horror. She couldn’t understand that logic. She came from a world where people talked about their feelings. They didn’t rip each other’s throats out over a stupid disagreement.

“That is stupid,” Rue gasped, tears prickling the corners of her eyes. “They are family. You don’t hurt family.”

“We are beasts, Rue,” Knox sighed softly. “This is how beasts talk.”

Rue turned back to the yard. The tears spilled over her pale eyelashes, leaving hot, wet tracks down her cheeks.

The fight was getting worse.

Onyx shoved Axel off him. Both men scrambled to their feet. They were covered in brown dirt and dark red blood. Axel’s white shirt hung in shredded ruins around his waist. Deep, bleeding scratch marks covered his broad chest. Onyx’s face was a mess. His nose bled freely down his chin, dripping onto his leather armor. He favored his left leg, limping slightly.

They didn’t look like the handsome, proud warlords she knew. They looked like feral monsters.

They charged at each other again.

Axel ducked under Onyx’s wild swing. He drove his knee hard into Onyx’s stomach. The air rushed out of Onyx’s lungs with a loud, wet wheeze. Onyx doubled over, but he didn’t give up. He reached out and grabbed Axel’s white hair, yanking his head down hard.

They crashed into the heavy wooden fence. The thick wooden planks groaned and splintered under their massive weight. One of the sharp posts snapped right in half, falling into the grass.

Rue felt physically sick. The coppery smell of fresh blood drifted up to the porch, mixing with the dust. It made her stomach churn. Her bare toes curled against the wooden floorboards. She hated this. She hated the awful violence. She hated the mindless, cruel aggression.

Why did they have to do this?

They didn’t even have a real reason to fight. Onyx was just jealous and confused by a magical bond he didn’t ask for. Axel was just defending his pride. They were letting a stupid, invisible system tear their brotherhood apart. They were willing to break bones and shed blood over something neither of them could actually control.

It was so senseless. It was so unfair.

Onyx landed a brutal punch right on Axel’s jaw. Axel’s head snapped back. He stumbled, spitting a dark tooth into the dirt. But the white wolf just laughed. It was a dark, terrifying, bubbling sound. He wiped his bloody mouth and lunged right back at his twin, sinking his claws into Onyx’s thigh.

Onyx let out a raw, agonizing scream.

That scream broke something inside Rue.

She wasn’t a warrior. She wasn’t a fierce beast. She was just a girl in a soft green dress. She didn’t have sharp claws or glowing eyes or thick armor. Her bones were fragile. Her skin bruised easily. A single hit from either of those men would snap her in half.

But she couldn’t stand on the porch and watch them destroy each other for one more second. She couldn’t let her family tear itself apart in the dirt.

Her fear vanished, swallowed up by a massive, overwhelming wave of pure, hot anger.

She was the mother of this pack. She was the one who kept the house warm. She was the one who fed the babies and built the peace. She refused to let two stubborn, overgrown wolves ruin everything she worked so hard to put together.

Rue let go of Knox’s arm. She wiped the wet tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. Her pink eyes flared bright.

She turned around and marched right toward the wooden steps.

Knox reached out to grab her. “Rue, wait. It isn’t safe.”

She slapped his massive hand away. She didn’t even look back at him.

She marched down the wooden stairs. Her bare feet hit the dry, dusty ground of the courtyard. She ignored the broken stone. She ignored the crushed flowers. She walked right into the middle of the danger zone, heading straight for the bleeding, snarling wolves.

They didn’t see her coming. They were too busy trying to choke each other in the dirt. Axel had Onyx pinned against the broken wooden fence, his hands wrapped tight around his brother’s throat.

Rue didn’t hesitate. She didn’t cower. She took a deep breath, filling her small lungs with the dusty air.

She steps down the porch and shouts, “Enough!”