Chapter 210: A massacre

Alyssa had completely lost all logical reasoning. The only thing swirling in her mind at that moment was rage–hot, blinding rage and the feral urge to kill.

Her eyes, glowing like red coals, glared down at the rogues still gathered around the clearing. The pile of dead Lycans caught her attention, fueling the fury burning inside her.

The whirlwind vortex spun faster and faster, swirling around her suspended body, its raw force ripping massive tree trunks from the ground and hurling scattered debris through the air.

Seeing the intense power around them, the rogues began to retreat in terror. They turned and ran for their lives, scrambling to escape the clearing. But as they fled, Alyssa raised her hand toward them.

She flicked her wrist, and the ground suddenly started to tremble. Another round of thunder crashed loudly, and lightning bolts tore out from the sky straight toward the earth where the rogues were.

One by one, the rogues were struck down. One by one, they exploded into masses of black blood and charred fur before they could even reach the tree line. The lightning bolts didn’t relent until every last one of the soulless creatures was completely destroyed.

A few meters away from the swirling wind vortex, Alec couldn’t bring himself to look away from the sky and the sight before him, even as Samantha’s fingers slipped weakly from his blood-soaked shirt.

Far behind him, Pandora was deathly pale, her hands stiff against Anthony’s unconscious form. Her expression was one of pure horror and disbelief, her lips parted as she stared at Alyssa suspended in the air, controlling the skies and the lightning bolts like she owned it.

Across the clearing, Dorian had shifted back into his human form. He stared up at Alyssa through the violent vortex, his breath caught in his throat, his eyes wide with awe. Dangling from his hand was the gold talisman she had been wearing.

Once the rogues were all destroyed, Alyssa gave a final flick of her wrist, unleashing one last massive wave of power through the forest with a terrifying boom.

The shock wave exploded through the treeline, knocking every last surviving Lycan unconscious. And just as quickly as it had begun, it ended.

The whirlwind lessened, the vortex disappearing completely as the tree trunks and debris crashed back to the ground. High above, the red clouds faded, and the blood moon slowly gave way to its normal, silvery glow.

Alyssa slowly descended, her head falling back limply, her body weak. Silence descended on the clearing; a total, deafening silence.

Dorian rushed forward and caught her easily as she collapsed back to the ground, unconscious. He clipped the talisman back around her neck, then held her close against his chest, his hands stroking her face. Her body was burning up with a high fever.

"Alyssa?" he whispered, softly stroking her cheek. "My love, can you hear me?" But she didn’t answer. Her body had collapsed from the stress of unleashing her full powers.

He slowly looked up, taking in the aftermath of the battle. All around them was chaos and ruin. The clearing was a disaster; large cracks embedded in the earth from the lightning bolts, trees overturned, their gnarly roots casting eerie shadows.

Blood covered every inch of the snow, blood from the dead Lycans and the rogues. The air was thick with the metallic smell of fresh carnage.

The surviving Lycans that had fallen unconscious from the blast were scattered across the bloody snow. Only Pandora and Alec were awake, staring at Dorian wide-eyed and in utter shock.

"I don’t believe this," Pandora whispered, her gaze accusatory as she glared at her brother. "Alyssa is an Onyx?"

"Yes," Dorian muttered. There was no use denying it. The truth was out. "She’s not just an Onyx. She’s a Hybrid. She’s half Lycan."

Pandora looked like she was having a heart attack. "You knew?" she gasped. "All this time you knew what she was, and you kept it hidden from us?"

Dorian knew he had a lot of explaining to do. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at his gamma. Alec was still silent, but the expression in his eyes was unmistakable.

He was disappointed that his Alpha had hidden something so crucial from all of them.

Dorian wanted to say something in his defense–anything at all–to escape the look of accusation his sister and gamma were currently leveling at him.

Fortunately for him, Cole returned at that moment with the army that had been stationed along the borders. There were about a thousand of them, a mix of Cole’s guards from Ashgard and Dorian’s warriors.

"Alpha Dorian!" Cole exclaimed as he rushed up to Dorian’s side and dropped to his knees. "We left the borders to come here the moment we heard that the territory had already been breached, but the blood moon threw us off. It was so sudden."

"You did your best," Dorian muttered, cradling Alyssa to his chest. "But you came too late. It’s already over."

Cole finally looked around the clearing, his eyes going wide with shock. "Goddess above," he whispered in horror. "What happened here?"

"Looks like a fucking storm ripped the place apart," one of the warriors muttered as they dispersed into the clearing. "Even the earth is ripped open."

"Everyone is unconscious," another added, leaning down to check on the surviving Lycans. "The rest are dead. It’s like a bloody war happened. A massacre."

That’s exactly what happened, Dorian thought. A massacre. Despite all my preparation, we couldn’t stop the vision from coming to pass.

Cole listened to the guards, his eyes scanning the ruined clearing. He turned back to Dorian, then stared at Alyssa, who was unconscious in his arms. His frown deepened.

"What happened to the Luna, Alpha?" he asked.

But Dorian remained tight-lipped as he rose to his feet, holding Alyssa in his arms. He didn’t bother giving an answer.

"We’re through here," he said coldly, his expression dark. "Cole, divide the men into groups. The dead should be buried. The unconscious will need healing."

He paused, turning to glance at Pandora and Alec, who were still looking at him. His eyes fogged as he passed a hidden message to them through the mind-link.

"Help Pandora and Alec bring Anthony and Samantha back to the mansion," he continued. "And someone should send for Nina. It’s a good thing she didn’t attend the Solstice. She needs to heal everyone."

Without another word, he turned and walked off, taking Alyssa with him.

...

Miles away from the Northern territory, in a hidden cave deep inside the forest, Ragnar crawled through the opening until he was safely hidden inside.

One of his legs was gone, ripped out from the knee. His arm was broken, and there was a deep gash on the side of his face. The worst part was that he wasn’t healing.

He had managed to slip away from the clearing without being burned to a crisp by the lightning bolts, but he hadn’t been quick enough. His leg had been struck, and during the fight, his arm had been broken.

Nothing had gone according to plan, and that was what made him boil with rage. Conri had helped his rogues slip into the borders days before the Solstice. He had given them the perfect spot to hide.

The night was supposed to end with Alyssa dying, while he took the blood from her heart and took it back to Ozai.

Instead, his rogues were dead. Alyssa was still alive, her Hybrid powers had fully awakened, and he still didn’t have the blood from her heart. Ozai was going to kill him.

How could he have known the Solstice would unleash the Hybrid’s powers? How could he have known the massacre would turn out to be his own rogues being slaughtered?

He was still lost in thought when a figure suddenly materialized at the entrance of the cave.

He scrambled backward, his eyes wide with terror, thinking it was Ozai who had appeared to him. But it wasn’t.

It was a woman. A woman with bright, blood-red hair and glowing blue eyes. The moment their gazes locked, he recognized her.

"You!" he hissed in disbelief, his eyes wide open in horror. "You’re alive?"

"You can’t be allowed to live," the woman muttered, drawing close to him. "I will do everything to protect my daughter and stop Ozai from escaping."

Ragnar’s eyes widened. "The... the Hybrid is your daughter? Please! Please, don’t kill me..."

Before he could draw another breath, the woman curled her hand into a fist, and Ragnar instantly began to choke.

?Blood oozed from his eyes, nose, and ears, and he made a wet, gurgling sound as his body trembled violently. A sickening, crunching sound followed, and he lay still, his neck twisted all the way backward.

The woman rose to her full height, drawing her cloak tighter around her body. Now that Ragnar and his rogues were dead, Ozai would never escape from the shackles she had placed upon him.

"I’m coming, Solange," she whispered into the air as her body disappeared. "I’m coming to save you."