Chapter 17: 17: Chapter 17

LEAH

I tell him about everything that Camille and Lilly said when they held me captive, and Ares tells me about all the information he got when he did a background check on me. I’m still mad at him for keeping this information from me.

“When were you going to tell me this? Never?” I ask snidely.

Ares gets up from his chair and opens his mouth to answer me but is interrupted by Boris calling out to us through our mind-link.

~“Your Majesty, we are under attack!”~

“Fuck!” Ares roars before taking my hand in his and pulling me out of the bedroom.

“What’s going on, Ares? Who is attacking us?” I ask anxiously as I stumble after him through the corridor.

“I don’t know, Leah. Stay close to me, I won’t let you out of my sight,” he growls loudly. He throws open the door to his office.

Boris, Zeke, John, Mateo, and some from the council are already there. I meet John’s gaze, which is filled with something like sadness, before I look away.

“Tell me everything you know,” Ares says shortly before he pulls me into his arms.

“There are approximately a thousand rogues outside our borders in all directions. They haven’t done anything yet and we don’t know what they’re waiting for. The army is ready and waiting for orders,” Zeke replies.

I feel Ares’s arms tighten around me and I caress his hand to calm him down. A dark growl emanates from his body.

“Boris, John, and Zeke, your job is to protect the queen. But I always want her close. I don’t think it is wise to split us up. Camille won’t be able to get to her if she is near me,” Ares says between clenched teeth. “Make sure to increase the guard around the prison area, if Camille is here to free Lilly, she won’t succeed.”

Zeke nods in agreement and Mateo clears his throat.

“We know where Camille is,” Mateo says.

“What do you mean?” Ares asks in return.

“She’s spotted at the northern border, surrounded by her rogues. She’s not even trying to hide; I think she wants us to know where she is. But we must be careful, we don’t know what she’s planning,” Mateo continues.

“Okay, prepare the army, I want people all around the border, ready for an attack. Let’s make our way to Camille, she might be interested in a little chat.” Ares takes my hand in his before he leaves the office.

Boris, John, and Zeke follow us out of the castle and toward the northern border. I feel sick, the whole situation makes me want to vomit. I think about all the innocent lives that live within the borders, how the risk of casualty is great with the thought of how many rogues are waiting out there.

***

It takes a while for us to go all the way to the northern border. All around us guards are running out in different directions. As we approach the border, Ares stops at a reasonable distance and sure enough, I can spot Camille’s chalk-white hair farther down toward the forest. She is surrounded by rogues in their wolf forms.

“My dear king,” Camille shouts. She must have used a spell to amplify her voice that now echoes out around us. “Give me the queen, and no one will be hurt.”

Ares growls loudly, his hand gripping mine tighter. “Over my dead body,” he replies loud and clear.

“If that is what you want,” Camille replies, followed by a dreadful laugh. Rogues start running immediately toward us, at the same time as she starts chanting muffled words.

“Protect Leah,” Ares orders before shifting.

“Yes, sir,” Boris, John, and Zeke reply in unison. Zeke and Boris shift before placing themselves in front of me. John places himself closer to me, and we watch the army run up to meet all the rogues. Ares throws himself into the crowd of wolves, his jaws tearing their throats apart one by one.

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty,” John whispers when he notices how tense I am. “These rogues are no match for us.”

“I hope you’re right, John,” I reply, giving him a gentle smile.

Camille’s body rises from the ground with her arms outstretched, her chanting is getting louder and louder. The wind around her begins to blow up at a powerful speed, her hair beating and tossing in the winds. Her gaze is fixed on me, and I’m getting a bad feeling in my body just before a big hole appears in the ground in front of Boris and Zeke. They growl and snap their teeth loudly at the vibrating ground.

“John!” I scream as I watch a new set of rogues make their way up from the hole. I can see them climbing up from underground tunnels and both Boris and Zeke jump on the newly arrived rogues before some from the army arrive to help.

John and I shift at the same time, and I get into a fighting stance, ready to take down the wolves one by one. My eyes wander to Ares, who has just taken a big bite out of another wolf. I don’t have time to admire my mate for longer than a few seconds when John’s presence throws me back to reality. He jumps on a rogue that tries to get toward me, and I must throw myself to the side to keep from crashing into him.

~"Behind you, Leah!"~ I hear John’s voice echo within me.

I turn around and crouch down when a rogue lunges at me. I parry by sliding under him before I take off and attack the wolf from behind. He howls loudly as I sink my teeth into his neck, bite hard, and twitch to get a big piece of his flesh. The wolf staggers away before collapsing on the ground. The hot liquid is sipping down my jaw as I spit out the meat.

I look over at Boris and Zeke who are busy fighting the rogues. John runs up to me and places himself in front of me as protection from the continued stream of wolves. I glance over at Camille who is still hovering above the ground with her hands outstretched. Her gaze is intensely fixed on me, and I don’t understand what she’s doing until John turns to face me, his usual eye color now replaced with a bright red color.

~“John?”~ I step back away from him, his eyes pinned on me, he bares his canines as saliva drips down from his jaw.

~“John!!”~ I glance over at Zeke and Boris who are busy fighting all the rogues who are trying to get to me. ~“Ares, something is wrong with John!”~ I pile backward as John crouches down like a predator, ready to pounce on his prey.

~“Leah! Get out of there! Come to me!!”~ Ares roars, and I turn away from John to run toward Ares. I jump between fights and with only a few meters to go I feel John jump on me, and we tumble across the field. John’s jaws snap at me but I manage to dodge it.

~“John, wake up!!”~ I jump on him so that he tumbles backward, but he quickly stands up, his red eyes sending shivers down my back.

~“Ares, you need to get Camille to stop her chanting!”~

Ares reacts immediately by running toward Camille. I continue to defend myself against John while trying not to hurt him. Out of the corner of my eye, I see how Ares shifts, bends down, and picks up a large rock which he then throws straight at Camille. The stone hits her in the stomach and she falls to the ground. Ares turns around to face me before shifting back to take on the next rogue that is attacking him. John falls to the ground, and I shift and run up to him.

“John?!” I kneel by his wolf and grab his head with my hands, turning it toward me. When he opens his eyes, I sigh with relief. The red has disappeared. He also shifts after I let go of his face.

“What happened?” he asks, touching his head as we stand up.

I’m about to answer him as Ares’s voice echoes across the field.

“LEAH!!” he roars loudly.

I turn to him when I see Camille once more up in the air. She has created a bow that is surrounded by a purple fire; it is pulled taut and a burning arrow is shot in my direction.

I don’t have time to react before John throws himself in front of me. My scream fills the field as the arrow penetrates his body and he falls to the ground.