Chapter 385: Healer's Sacrifice

Chapter 385: Chapter 119: Healer’s Sacrifice

The massive cursed wolf had remained outside the gates, watching the fighting from behind the advancing pack. Its blackened body was larger than any of the others, and the dark veins beneath its coat stood out against its flesh. Its hollow eyes followed every movement near the sanctuary.

Dane watched a guard break through the eastern line and rush toward it.

Three wolves immediately abandoned their opponents to intercept him. The first took a sword across its back without slowing. The second crashed into the guard’s legs, sending him tumbling. The third planted itself between the fallen man and their leader, snapping at anyone who came close.

Dane’s ears flattened.

They were protecting the Alpha.

He lunged past a wounded wolf and caught Hannah’s eye as she came up beside Ivy. Both women were breathing hard, and Hannah had blood smeared across her cheek. Ivy’s spear was bent near the tip, but she still held it ready.

“Look at them!” Hannah shouted, pointing toward the entrance. “They keep closing ranks around their Alpha!”

Dane followed her gaze as another warrior attempted to reach the leader. The cursed wolves swarmed him before he could get within striking distance.

“Kill the Alpha, and the rest might fall!” Hannah called.

“Or we find out what happens when he dies,” Dane growled.

“Do you have a better idea?”

Dane had no answer.

He watched the Alpha again. The creature had not moved from its position beyond the gates, but its head turned slowly toward the sanctuary steps. Several wolves followed its gaze and immediately began forcing their way through the courtyard.

Dane’s stomach tightened.

The Alpha was not simply directing them to attack the warriors.

It was directing them toward someone.

He looked toward the sanctuary.

Aurora stood near the steps. Vance guarded her, keeping himself between her and the nearest fighting. Elara was a short distance away, helping a wounded guard crawl behind the sanctuary wall.

Then Dane saw the wolves changing direction.

Three broke away from the eastern line and charged toward the sanctuary. Another slipped past a pair of guards and raced along the wall, heading for the same place.

Dane’s attention snapped toward the spot where he had last seen Destiny.

She had been near the sanctuary steps when the first wave struck, fighting beside him. She had refused to retreat, and he had been too occupied keeping the wolves away from their backs to argue with her. He remembered seeing her with his dagger, moving toward a creature that had slipped between the guards.

Then the press of bodies had separated them.

He had assumed she was still nearby.

Now he could not see her.

“Destiny!”

His shout disappeared beneath the noise of the fighting.

A cursed wolf sprang from behind a fallen pillar. Dane caught it before it could reach a wounded guard and hurled it against the wall. The creature landed hard but immediately tried to rise.

Dane finished it with a blow to the neck.

“Destiny!”

He shoved through the fighting, scanning the sanctuary steps and the spaces between the fallen bodies. He spotted Elara dragging another injured man to safety. Aurora was still holding the stone, and Vance had turned to face a wolf approaching from the gates. Henrik was fighting near the eastern wall, while Hannah and Ivy were trying to close the gap the cursed wolves had forced open.

Sonia and Ramon were still near the center of the courtyard.

But Destiny was nowhere.

A cold unease spread through Dane’s chest.

He pushed past a fallen beam, dodged a snapping wolf, and caught sight of the broken water trough on the far side of the courtyard.

Then he heard her snarl.

The sound was unmistakable.

Dane turned and ran.

Two cursed wolves lay on the ground near the trough, their throats torn open. Destiny stood over them, her dagger gripped tightly in one hand. Her shoulders rose and fell with each breath, and blood streaked her forearm. From the way she held her left side, he suspected she had already been hurt.

Three more wolves were closing in.

“Destiny!”

She turned at the sound of his voice.

The nearest wolf lunged from her left. Destiny ducked beneath its jaws and drove the dagger into its neck. She shoved it away, pulling the blade free as it stumbled.

The second came straight at her.

She slashed across its muzzle, forcing it to recoil, then moved to avoid the third.

She was half a second too slow.

The wolf struck her from behind.

Destiny hit the stones hard, and the dagger skittered out of her hand.

Dane’s heart lurched.

He charged toward her, but two more cursed wolves emerged from the wreckage and intercepted him. One snapped at his throat while the other struck his flank. Dane tore through the first, caught the second by the neck, and threw it into the broken trough.

He barely waited to see it land before racing forward again.

By the time he reached Destiny, seven wolves had surrounded her.

Two held her arms down. Another had its jaws locked around her shoulder. The others snapped at her legs and side, tearing at her clothes and flesh. She fought them with bare hands, kicking and twisting, trying to keep their teeth away from her throat.

Dane launched himself into the nearest wolf.

His jaws closed around its neck, and he dragged it off her before flinging it against the wall. The creature struck the stones and lay still.

Dane turned on the next attacker.

It lunged at him, and he met it with a savage strike that sent it crashing against the trough. He spun toward the wolf at Destiny’s legs, caught it by the hindquarters, and tore it away from her.

“Get away from her!”

The wolves did not retreat.

They kept coming even as he tore into them, ignoring their own injuries to press toward Destiny. Their hollow eyes remained fixed on her, and each time Dane forced one away, another took its place.

They were not trying to drive her toward the gates.

They were trying to kill her.

One caught Dane across the muzzle. Another sank its teeth into his flank, and he felt the sharp pull of flesh beneath its jaws. He seized the attacker and wrenched it away, then drove his claws into its throat.

It fell.

Dane turned to find two more wolves attacking Destiny, one at her leg and another at her shoulder.

She was barely moving.

“Destiny!”

She lifted her head at the sound of his voice. Her eyes found his, and for one fleeting moment, he saw her trying to focus on him.

Then the wolf at her shoulder tightened its jaws around her upper arm.

Something inside Dane broke loose.

He struck the creature so hard that its body left the ground. Before it landed, he was on it, tearing at its neck until it stopped moving. He turned and caught the next wolf by the head, forcing its jaws away from Destiny.

Claws raked his back.

Dane spun, snapping at the attacker’s face, and drove it down beneath his weight. The fourth wolf came from behind, and he met it with a full-bodied charge that sent them both rolling across the stones.

The creature snapped at his throat.

He caught its jaws between his own and wrenched sideways. Teeth scraped against his muzzle, but he held on until the wolf’s struggles weakened.

A second set of teeth closed over his shoulder.

Pain flashed white.

Dane tore free and struck until the wolf went limp. He barely registered the blood running down his side before turning back toward Destiny.

She lay motionless beneath the remaining attackers.

“Dane!”

Ramon’s voice came from behind him.

Dane did not look around. He could not afford to take his eyes off the wolves surrounding his mate.

“Help me!”

Ramon arrived a moment later, crashing into one of the attackers and forcing it away from Destiny. His dark coat was streaked with blood, and one of his forelegs dragged slightly as he regained his footing.

Dane seized the opening.

He caught another wolf by the neck and twisted. The creature fought him, its claws tearing through his fur and into his skin, but he held on until its head came free.

Ramon had the next wolf pinned beneath his forelegs. It thrashed so violently that he nearly lost his grip.

Dane sprang forward and seized its neck.

Together, they finished it.

The seventh wolf remained crouched over Destiny, its jaws stained red. It lifted its head as Dane approached, its hollow eyes fixed on him.

Dane saw Destiny’s hand lying limp against the stones.

He saw the blood beneath her body.

He saw the Heart Stone lying next to her and pulsing with a low glow like a beating heart.

The wolf lunged.

Dane met it in midair.

They crashed to the ground, rolling across the stones as the creature snapped at his throat. He caught its head between his jaws and wrenched violently. Its body convulsed once before going still.

Dane released it and scrambled to his feet.

“Destiny.”

He shifted back as he dropped beside her. His knees struck the stones, and he barely noticed the pain. His hands shook as he reached for her face, brushing blood-streaked hair away from her forehead.

Her skin was cold.

“No.”

He pressed his fingers against her throat.

Nothing.

He shifted his hand, searching again, pressing harder as though the faintest movement might have escaped him the first time.

Nothing.

“No, no, no.”

He bent over her, his hands hovering over the wounds that covered her shoulder, arm, and side. Blood soaked her torn clothes and pooled beneath her body. He could see the marks left by the wolves’ teeth, the deep gashes in her flesh, the damage they had done while he fought to reach her.

Her chest did not move.

“Destiny, look at me.”

He touched her cheek, then pressed his fingers against her throat again. A sound escaped him, low and broken, before he could stop it.

He pressed both hands against her chest, trying to stop the bleeding. He did not know which wound to tend first. Every place he touched seemed to yield more blood, and the crimson kept spreading across the stones then it touched the Heart Stone and a blinding glow radiated everywhere. .

“Stay with me,” he begged. “Come on, Destiny. Fight.”

She did not respond.

Ramon shifted beside him, his breathing ragged. Dane heard his father move closer, but he refused to lift his head.

“Dane.”

“Help me!”

Ramon crouched beside them. His hands hovered over Destiny,