Chapter 59: Feral Beast in the Fog

Aurora

I was dumbstruck by what had just happened. For a moment, everyone in the fields stood still, in complete shock of what had taken place.

Psyche, Emma’s wolf, had managed to kill off the humans she was fighting against. She sprinted over to where I stood.

~“How the fuck did you do that?”~ Emma’s voice cried in my head.

“I really don’t know,” I said, looking at my hands.

~“What do you mean you don’t know? You just buried a man alive!”~

“Yeah, I know that, but it’s a long story,” I said.

Cronnos growled at us.

~“Well, whatever it is you did, make sure to keep doing it!”~ Emma said.

Right then, Max’s wolf came up to us, nuzzling over Psyche.

~“Babe, are you okay?”~ he asked her.

~“I’m fine, thanks to Rory here!”~ Emma said to him.

~“Quit the chit chat. We’ve got to get rid of these assholes first!”~ Wolfgang growled at us.

We all stood on alert. Humans ran toward us, ready to attack. But we were stronger than them, and swifter. We had the upper hand.

Cronnos, being the biggest of the wolves, barged through the hunters like dominoes.

Slowly, the hunters fell back until there were fewer and fewer numbers of them, but Wendell was nowhere in sight.

Somehow that put me on edge, not knowing where he had run off to.

We were fending off the last of the hunters when a horrible screech made us all bend over in agony.

Those of us in human form covered their ears to muffle the sound, and all the wolves whined and whimpered, desperately trying to cover their more sensitive ears with their paws.

The leaves in the trees above suddenly started to move as a strong gust of wind blew through them.

Suddenly, witches flew down from the tree tops and bombarded us with a strange concoction. It exploded, forming a heavy green mist that fogged the entire area.

It was so dense that I couldn’t even see my hand right in front of me. A fit of coughing had me gasping for air as it became unbearable for me to breath.

I kept hearing the cackling laughter of the witches flying above us.

Suddenly, I heard wolves begin to whine and whimper more loudly all around me.

~“Emma! Max!”~ I tried to mind-link with them, but no one answered. I staggered forward, squinting, trying to see ahead of me, but I couldn’t see anything.

A growl made me swing around in fear. It sounded so feral and animalistic, it sent shivers down my spine.

Red eyes glowed in the middle of the fog. An ugly snarl left the wolf’s mouth.

The fog began to dissipate around us, but before I could see the wolf in front of me, a wood-pine scent hit me.

“Wolfgang?” I breathed out, almost in a whisper.

He stood before me, his eyes glowing a deathly blood-red.

“Wolfgang?” I said again. I took a step toward him, but he snapped his fangs at me, and I jumped back in fear.

The fog had dissipated, and I could clearly see my surroundings. The other pack members were unconscious on the forest ground.

The hunters had us surrounded.

Wolfgang stood before me, baring his fangs as he snarled and growled at me, taking menacing steps toward me.

~“Rhea! What’s wrong with him? Try talking to Cronnos. Calm him down!”~ I said to my wolf hoping she could figure out what the hell was going on.

~“I can’t reach him! It’s like they are unconscious, too!”~ Rhea was panicked, which filled me with fear.

I looked into Cronnos’ bloodshot eyes, and it was clear to me that it wasn’t him.

I looked around and saw that the hunters were closing in on my pack members, ready to finish them off. Wolfgang continued taking menacing steps toward me.

Froth fell from his mouth as he growled, snapping his fangs.

“Wolfgang, listen to me. You need to snap out of this.” I said, hoping he’d react to my voice.

“There’s nothing you can do here, princess.” Wendell finally showed his face as he stepped out from the shadows of the trees.

The moon was the only source of light.

“What have you done to him?” I growled, feeling my blood boil at the sight of him.

“Your mate is in a trance, thanks to the potion the witches threw over you. I’m surprised it didn’t knock you both out, but it doesn’t seem to have an effect on you,” Wendell said.

He sneered. “I’m sure it has something to do with that witch, Elena, who raised your mother. But now Wolfgang has succumbed to his true nature. A feral beast!”

Wolfgang dashed after me and tried to bite my arm with his powerful jaws, but I managed to dodge him by leaping over him.

I made a quick run to the closest tree. I needed to get to a high place.

A human blocked my path, their gun pointed at me, and a witch crafted some type of lasso that restrained Cronnos.

“Don’t shoot! Let’s have them fight.” Wendell commanded his henchman. “This should be a sight to behold. The alpha is about to destroy his mate, the last of her kind.”

He laughed, and every other person in the field followed suit.

The human lowered his gun, and the witch had the lasso disappeared into thin air. Cronnos came charging at me once more.

I was fed up. This had to stop, now. I felt a sudden surge of energy course through me as anger took over me.

“CRONNOS! STOP!” I shouted at him. To my surprise, he came to a skidding stop before toppling over and falling at my feet.

I stooped down and cradled his head in my hands. I called out to Wolfgang through the mind-link, but he still seemed to be asleep, so I spoke directly to Cronnos.

“Cronnos, are you feeling better now?” I asked him. He whimpered and licked my face.

I took that as a yes and smiled as his tail gave a weak wag.

His eyes no longer gleamed red, but were the baby-blue shade I had missed.

“HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? HOW DID YOU BREAK HIS TRANCE?!” Wendell shouted, anger clear in his voice. A vein throbbed in his temple.

“KILL THEM ALL!” he ordered.

Witches and human hunters came charging at us. Cronnos stood to defend us, but he staggered and fell back.

I stood and readied my stance as the attackers approached. My hands burned as my power flowed.

Rage took over me. Suddenly, purple embers left my hand and traveled through the ground, then ran up to all the nearby humans, engulfing them in purple fire.

But none of the flames touched the wolves, who still lay limp and unconscious.

The humans’ screams echoed through the silent woods. All the other spectators watched in fear.

“What are you all staring at? Put out the fire and stop her!” Wendell shouted to the witches. They stood numbly, as if they couldn’t understand what was happening.

When they came out of their stupor they flew after me, but with a single wave of my hand, they were knocked off their brooms, falling before Wendell and his henchmen.

Wendell opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, flabbergasted by what just happened.

“Listen to me clearly, Wendell Grosvenor. You will leave this land, and my pack. If you ever target us, or any of our allied packs again, I will personally hunt you down and torture you until you let out your last breath.”

My voice resonated through the silent forest, mixed with Rhea's. I took a step toward him, and I could see him physically shaking as he retreated from every step I took.

“Have all your people leave my town, NOW!” I roared.

The ground beneath us trembled, and the witches and humans screeched in fright. Wendell was shaking with pure rage.

One of the human hunters—who seemed like a younger version of Wendell except for his red hair—came up to him, whispered into his ear, and moved back.

Wendell and I stared one another down for what seemed hours, but was merely a couple of minutes. Then he sighed.

His demeanor changed from outrage to calm. He ran his hands through his hair, combing through his brown locks.

“Very well. We’ll heed your warning, princess. Everyone, move out!” he commanded.

His lackeys slowly retreated, disappearing behind the trees. The remaining witches also left.

I stood there, unmoving, making sure I couldn’t hear them for another couple of minutes. Then I collapsed.

Wolfgang caught me before I could hit the ground.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a cool voice.

“I feel drained,” I said. I held my head, allowing my body against Wolfgang’s.

Then I realized he was naked behind me, and my body jerked away quickly from his, as if it were on fire.

“Aurora, are you okay?” he asked again, holding my shoulders.

I shrugged him off, doing my best to keep my eyes trained on his and not down at the ground.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry. But um… Could you…go put on some pants or something?” My face was crimson from how flustered I was.

Wolfgang blinked a couple of times before bursting into a fit of laughter at my uneasiness.

“I’m serious! Go put some clothes on, we need to get the pack back to the doctor to get them checked out,” I said.

I shoved him, but he grabbed my arm and closed the distance between us.

I felt his breath caress my face. Our lips were mere inches away.

“You were amazing today, Aurora.” He spoke so softly, and with such tenderness and pride, that it had my heart flutter.

“Thank you for saving the pack today. I was knocked out for most of it, but Cronnos said you pulled him out of the trance, and single-handedly fought off the humans and witches.”

“You are really an amazing wolf,” he continued. “You truly were the mate meant for me.”

My heart fell. He acknowledged me now only because he saw me as a royal.

Nothing else.

I shrugged out of his hands and moved back.

“We need to get the healers here to check on everyone,” I said. I could see the hurt in his eyes, but I didn’t care.

He’d hurt me first.