Chapter 88

Chapter 88: Chapter 88

Chapter 88

KAI’s POV

I clung to Clawface, and he flung me, releasing our entwined arms just in time.

The motion projected me forward towards Nathan, and my legs struck him in the chest, sending him staggering back.

Yet there wasn’t a moment to relax. I slid to the left, allowing Clawface to take over. He hurled his fist out and clasped Nathan by the arm, then used his legs to hook him down.

Once he’d clipped him, I took over and leapt forward, hardening my palm as I slammed it against Nathan’s throat.

His muscles tightened, throbbing visibly right before he gagged.

I planned to end him with my claws until another explosion erupted to the side, destabilizing us and lashing us into the wind. Nathan used that as his means to recover as he lunged for us.

Bending the air to his will, he pulled Clawface towards him and froze his blood right before he came for me.

I fought back, my wolf at the very surface, but I wouldn’t shift. Nathan had been baiting me to turn into my wolf, but I’d seen what he’d done to some of my men who fell for that trap. There seemed to be a spell that trapped them in a continuous moment within the shift. A forever unending pain of bones shifting and cracking.

He was a monstrous beast. A darkness folded into the shape of a person.

"This isn’t going to be like the other night, Little Alpha Kai." He said as he evaded my punch, wafted past me, and sent his own fist into my ribs.

A dry cough escaped my throat.

"Oh, I look forward to that." I strained as I spoke.

Another punch landed against my left cheek. Then, his fist oozed with icicles right before an iced-thorned dagger appeared out of thin air and ripped across the middle of my chest.

He’d targeted my heart, but I’d used the last of my strength to deflect the attack.

"Why are you doing this? What do you plan to achieve?"

"Thought that was clear." He pouted. The madman actually pouted. "You hurt my feelings, Sire."

"Fuck you..." I kicked his knee, cracking the bone, and from behind me, Clawface ripped through Nathan’s back, tearing his flesh into strips of meat that hit the ground like droplets.

But the beast wasn’t weakening.

The sky darkened and thunder struck the land. Clawface landed beside me.

Muttering words I couldn’t make sense of, Nathan healed himself. When his eyes settled on us, they promised more damage than he’d already caused.

He was on the winning side.

Around me was nothing but ruin. The rocks had mostly turned into grains of sand, courtesy of the bastard’s magic. His men were overpowering ours. An ambush we hadn’t exactly prepared for.

In the distance, I no longer saw traces of Leo or his accomplice.

Of course, he was long gone.

I helped Clawface up and stood with a firm stance before the rest of my men.

"If we’re all going to die here today, then I shall be first." I declared as I readied myself for the incoming attack.

The darkened sky grew even darker, the thunderstorm warping the atmosphere until the air thickened and roared. A whiplash of white lightning struck the earth with life threatening force.

Whatever he was building was more than malicious.

Weapons pointed against one another as men from his side and mine awaited orders.

"Sire, what do we do?" Clawface questioned, the same thought lingering in the minds of the others.

I felt it through the bond we shared. Our minds were open and linked to one another, and that was what had kept us alive until now.

A hurricane loomed from the sky.

Its landing split the earth. Rocks as heavy as boulders were hurled in different directions as though they were mere pebbles.

The air turned chilly, far colder than the sensation crawling up my spine. And all I could do was watch as a downpour of ice-turned-asdaggers prepared to rain down upon us.

"There’s no escaping this!" The voice came from behind me. One of my men.

They were faltering.

Clawface and I shared a look. He nodded once and turned to remind them of the sort of knights they were, but then my attention was caught by something else.

The whirlwind was being sucked into... a portal?

It opened out of the blue with a heavy blast. The gusts of wind were drawn into it, the channelling opening to a different place in time.

I squinted at first until the mating bond knocked the air out of my lungs right as my vision centred on...

"Alex!"

My voice was raspy and completely inaudible.

The wind howled, enamoured with such vicious force. Its deafening nature was somehow more merciful than the shrieking it carved into one’s soul.

"Is that..." Clawface stopped mid-sentence as I grabbed his arm and spoke through our minds.

"Get through the portal. Now."

I lunged for the first man from Nathan’s side.

The irritation and frustration carried by my wolf as it remained trapped in this human form left us tearing the man into two.

Then we aimed for the next.

My claw sank into his stomach, ripping out his intestines. Digging deeper, I reached his heart and tore it free. The next knight was distracted, and I shoved the heart into his eye socket.

His scream carried faintly through the gusting wind right before I sent a punch through his throat. His fangs were the remnants lodged between my flesh.

As I plucked them out, my blood mixed with that of my enemies, my gait weakening, and I watched as my men escaped.

"Good..." I whispered to myself as I faced the battlefield again.

Nathan looked possessed in the distance, focused on gathering the downpour he meant to kill us all with. His maddening nature had surpassed any assumption I could have foreseen.

I tried to push through, but the men were gathering, the sharp ends of metal piercing my skin and drawing blood.

Still, I pushed forward...

But I was dragged back.

Clawface.

"What..." I hadn’t finished when I found myself on the other side of the war zone.

I had passed through the portal as well.

"I could have reached that bastard and ended him."

"He wouldn’t have left himself unprotected." Clawface retorted.

Both our consciousnesses were clouded by our wolves’ pheromones, but I knew he was right.

I could have died.

The hurricane around Nathan could have reached me and dragged me into the thunderstorm overhead. My skin flayed, stripped away, leaving nothing but a skeleton.

Such an unpromising way to die.

I stumbled up, my senses returning, and ran towards Marcellan and Alex.

"What happened?"

Marcellan’s figure barely registered in my peripheral vision as I remained wholly focused on my sweet peach.

"I don’t know. He just... went down. We were training his powers."

Blood had drained from Marcellan’s face, his hands trembling against Alex’s body.

To the side was the portal, where Nathan’s men were already approaching. Overhead, the downpour of iced-thorned daggers was drawing closer.

SilverFang Castle would be invaded in no time.

"Did Alex open this portal?" I glanced at Marcellan.

He shrugged, his lips twisting downward.

"I suppose."

"It must be."

I placed a hand against Alex’s chest and sank to the floor, allowing his head to rest upon my thighs.

"Death is certain if we don’t get Alex to close the portal right now." I muttered as I attempted to reach his mind. But the entrance was shut tight.

Surely he was in a dream state, but why would he shut his mind to me?

Whatever could he be facing?

I pushed harder, using the bond. I could feel Alex in the distance.

"Come back to me, sweet peach. Please, come back. I need you." I murmured, my lips close to his ear. My tongue flicked out, brushing the mark I’d given him on our mating night.

"I’m here, baby. I’m here, and I need you. Please, sweet peach."

From the depths of my chest, my voice cracked.