The Beast And The Blessed by Ashley Breanne
Chapter 95
Natalie’s P.O.V.
Killian was already standing in his Lycan form. His back was to me as he scanned the area.
A few of our pack members screamed and yelped in pain as they tossed their bodies into the dirt, trying their hardest to extinguish the fire. It was short lasting, but I knew they would have some serious injuries for a while.
I couldn’t feel Killian in our bond. He had shut himself off but stayed close to me as I jumped to my feet and waited. The heat from the flames warmed my chilled fur, and I shuddered.
I had trained to fight but had no idea what to do when we couldn’t see our enemies.
‘They are still in the mountains. That was a warning shot.’ A gravelly, deep unfamiliar voice stated, and I turned to look as Tobias stepped closer.
Thomas and George were on my other side, and I knew the sound of their voices. It hadn’t been either of them.
It was Tobias.
The smell of burnt fur made my nose wrinkle, and I glanced around Killian as the last of the injured hobbled their way back toward the healers. Only one body remained limp on the dirt with smoke coming from them, and a group of humans sprinted through the crowd with a stretcher to grab him.
The pack was alert, all on their feet, shifting every few seconds as they waited for their orders. But they remained silent.
I examined the area for the first time since waking and found that the sun had barely started rising. The glow of light on the treetops would work to our advantage. Vampires were fine in the sunlight as long as they had fed. Even if they didn’t, they could still be in the sun. They would just burn quickly from the vitamin deficiency their diet caused.
From a distance, yelling could be heard, sending a shiver down my spine. The echoing war cry coming from several hundreds of bodies was something I would hear when I closed my eyes years from now.
‘Move in!’ Killian ordered low and deadly. I expected everyone to sprint through the trees to find our enemy. Instead, we marched together at a steady pace forward. I stayed just behind Killian as he stalked toward our enemies, looking every bit like the predator he was.
The others of his kind were up on two feet as their hulking beasts pressed in to surround their king. The animalistic sounds coming from them were lower than before. Still, for the first time, I finally understood what they were saying.
They were demanding blood. It excited them that they would spill it within the next few minutes.
“Aurora!” A voice called out as the man from last night sprinted toward me. “Are you alright?”
Killian let out a warning growl, and the man dropped his head in submission before moving to stand on the other side of Tobias.
He marched forward when I didn’t acknowledge him but continued to spare me glances. It wasn’t lost on me that several other werewolves moved with him to provide yet another wall of guards around me.
It was proof… proof that I didn’t need nor want right now that the stranger with the same color hair and eyes as me knew my mother. He knew her white fur and cared for her. He wanted to protect her. He had no idea who I was or what my relation to her was.
I refused to look his way, focusing on the more important task at hand as we reached a large clearing at the base of the mountain. It wouldn’t be able to house both armies. There would still be fighting within the trees, but it provided us with an opening large enough to see the wall of angry vampires on the other side. There had to have been hundreds that had been hiding all these years, breeding and turning more into their kind until they had created the thousands that now stood before us.
“Talia!” Killian roared, but I felt the slightest falter in his voice when not one but two women stepped forward and into the clearing.
I would have recognized her anywhere, but the crown decorated with blood -red rubies took my breath away. They had to have dug up Killian’s father to get the crown, and seeing it sitting on Lillian’s head made me nauseous.
The woman next to her was a tall yet paunchy woman with pin-straight blonde hair and a glare that could k*ll on its own. She had to be Talia.
“Mom?” Charlie’s voice cracked as she stared at the women. She had yet to shift and held a long sword that dripped with a sickly-looking green slime.
“Your reign is over!” Lillian called out, and the vampires and witches hollered excitedly behind her. The sound sent the last few brave birds up into the sky to hide from the bloodshed that was about to be unleashed. “You Lycans have poisoned our world! You think you are a gift from the Goddess, but you are just a group of cursed dogs! You steal and pillage, raping breeders, trapping them as prisoners to sire your lines. Only for them to produce more of your evil, disgusting kind. You think you have the right to decide who lives and dies, but not anymore. It ends now! Surrender!
Hand over your rule, or blood will be shed.”
I swallowed hard as I watched the crowd part behind her. The sound of chains rattling reached me before I could see them.
The other council members were nowhere in sight, but Agatha and my mother hung limply as they were dragged to the front and forced to their knees next to Lillian. They were injured and struggling to stay awake based on their drooping eyelids and swaying bodies.
Agatha had a large patch of blood oozing from her stomach, staining her clothes. While half of my mother’s face had been smashed. The crimson liquid matted her hair against her cheek.
“I believe I found something that belongs to you,” Lillian called out as Agatha slumped forward, only to be caught by the chains.
The shine of the morning sun glinted off the metal of a blade. Talia moved around Lillian to stand behind my mother as she held her head up in defiance.
I looked back and forth between Lillian and Talia, knowing Talia was waiting for the order to end my mother’s life. I wasn’t even sure if Agatha was still alive with how she hung limply, only held up by the bloods*uc*kers holding her chains. ‘The famous Descendant. It is a great joy that she gets to die first.” Lillian laughed, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Talia as she lifted the dagger in a dramatic show, wanting everyone to witness the moment she sent the
Descendant back to the Goddess.
I stepped forward, dodging Tobias and ducking under Killian’s arm as I shifted into my skin.
Talia lowered the blade, pressing it against my mother’s throat, and I saw red. My hand lifted in her direction, and I could practically see the water in her body. I could feel the air going in and out of her lungs.
As my fist closed, Talia let out a scream of horror, dropping the dagger. Her body convulsed as the liquid beneath her skin boiled.
Lillian stepped forward, and my glare slid to her as my hand moved in her direction, sending her flying back into her waiting army. She gathered herself quickly as she scrambled to her feet and laughed amusedly.
Both sides were getting anxious, waiting for the right time to attack. But as Lillian rushed forward, I fell to my knee, pressing my hands into the ground as I let out a war cry. The Earth rolled beneath us, each wave getting larger as it approached the enemy.
I watched, amused, as the witches on the other side dropped to the Earth to try and counter my magic, but it was no use. While they were distracted, my mother twisted and pulled the chains from the vampires’ hold. They had lost their balance during my attempt at an attack, making it easy for her to grab Agatha and drag her toward us.
I knew she wasn’t going to make it. There was too much ground to cover. My mother had been growing weaker every day that she was away from The Sanctum. I was almost positive Agatha was dead. The weight of her body slowed her down.
Lillian let out a yell of anger as she lifted her hands toward the two escaping women.
And there it was. The bloodlust. The desperate need to spill the blood of my enemies. It was stronger than anything I had ever felt before and now was my chance.
“You little b*itc*h!” She screeched as Agatha and my mother were forced to the ground.
I momentarily gaped as the former queen displayed powers no one knew she had. She had been a wolf. A regular wolf. She hadn’t even come from Lycan blood. Yet, she wielded power.
The distance between the former queen and her two prisoners gave Joselin enough time to teleport to my mother and Agatha. She stood behind them, facing us as she grabbed each woman’s arm.
If I had been more aware of my surroundings, I would have seen Talia struggle to her feet and throw the dagger before she collapsed forward again. Instead, I watched as Joselin stumbled into the two women, her eyes wide with horror. She let out a silent scream as she disappeared, taking my mother and Agatha with her.
Tobias let out a sound of pain but remained still as Joselin vanished, leaving only the smell of her blood on the breeze.
I looked at Killian as he kept his glare on his mother. Charlie stepped forward in the corner of my vision, and I tensed before returning to my fur.
As soon as my paws hit the ground, Killian released a snarl, and we charged forward.