Chapter Thirty - Five

SASHA

I’m following behind Atlas and the other white lighter witch, but with every step forward, I’m stumbling over the long black duffle coat Atlas gave me to wear around my naked body. It’s way too big for me; I’m drowning in it.

Mason suddenly sighs in annoyance from behind me when she shouts to Atlas,

“Hey, white witch dude,” Atlas suddenly stops as he turns around to glare at her.

“It’s Atlas.”

“Whatever,” She brushes him off, “She can’t walk around in your black coat; she’s useless if she keeps falling over her feet.”

Looking down at me, a sudden blue spark shimmers in his eyes as his eyes meet mine, and the shiver it sends down my spine is unwanted as I narrow my eyes at him. Breaking eye contact with me, he smirks before looking back at Mason.

“So, what do you suggest?” He asks, clearly agitated.

“Right up at the front to your left is a room; it’s our laundry area. She can find some clothes in there.” Mason shrugs nonchalantly.

“Atlas, we don’t have time for this, Lisbon, remember,” Kris snaps in a disgruntled tone.

“If the princess needs clothes, then we will give her clothes. Understand?” He snaps back at Kris.

Rolling his eyes, he shrugs, “Yeah, man, whatever...” Kris continues grumbling under his breath,” She’s already got you whipped, and you haven’t even completed the union yet.” Atlas’s head snaps towards Kris as he scowls at him, “What?”

Shaking his head, Kris holds his hands up in surrender, “Nothing, man, just saying, we don’t have time to babysit,” Looking over at us, he shrugs apologetically, “No offense, but a bunch of chicks.”

“She’s your princess, Kris.” Atlas barks at him.

“Yeah, and right now, you need to get your head back in the game. Our first priority is Lisbon. Do you remember what Ronan said to us before we left? If you come back without Lisbon, don’t bother returning at all. I do not plan on going home empty-handed; that bitch has taken up enough of our time as it is.”

Rolling his eyes, Atlas runs a hand through his wavy, long, dark hair, “You don’t need to fucking lecture me, Kris; I know what’s at stake.”

“Do you, really? Because my girl is back home waiting for me to return so we can finally complete our union. Yours...” He gives me a skeptical, lopsided look, “Is half a wolf, has been marked by that big ass wolf back in there. So, all in all, good luck with the complicated shit show you were born into, Atlas. Why you couldn’t have just been mated to a normal witch, one that comes from an uncomplicated background.” Looking back at me, Kris sighs,

“Princess Sasha, no offence. But your life is a shit show, his life is a shit show, and I just want to get fucking back home. Now, if you three don’t mind, can we just get going already!” He suddenly snapped. All our eyes were suddenly wide as we stared at his sudden outburst.

Mason suddenly scoffs as she begins shoving me forward, “Fucking witches, always so goddam emotional,” She grumbles. I want to protest and pull away from her tight grip on me, but she leaves no room for me to wriggle free as she suddenly shoves me into the laundry room, kicking the door closed behind us. She finally lets go of me as she sighs.

My eyes widen as I swing around to face her, expecting her to attack me. I bring my fists up in defense, ready to fight her off. I’m surprised when I see her leaning half over one of the washing baskets, digging through a pile of clothes. The moment she lifts a pair of black tights and a grey hoody jacket up to me, her brows instantly furrow in response to my clenched fists.

“What are you doing?” She asks, clearly irritated.

“You’re going to try and kill me again, aren’t you?”

Scoffing, she rolls her eyes as she holds the clothes up in her hands,

“Yeah, totally. Death by fresh clothing. That would be a new one for me.”

She smirks before shoving the clothes against my chest.

“So you’re not going to try and kill me?” I ask suspiciously.

“Look,” She sighs. “Let’s get something straight: I will never like you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t help you. In the end, Wolf was the only one who ever gave a fuck; I owe him after what I did to you.”

Smirking, I start getting dressed. Pulling the hoody over my head, I narrow my eyes questioningly at her.

“Why should I trust a word you say?”

Pulling her shirt away from her neck, she tilts her head to the side, exposing a freshly marked scar. Examining it for a second, I look in the eyes the moment she looks back at me.

“You allowed Damien to mark you, why?”

Shrugging, she tugs a piece of hair behind her ear,

“I suppose I stopped fighting the mate bond. Besides, it was at its strongest tonight, right?”

“So you allowed him to mark you because of the full moon?”

“No, I just decided that maybe, just maybe, Damien and I deserve some happiness, too. We’ve both been through enough shit, and I’m just done fighting my way through life.” My jaw goes slack at that moment as I stare at her. It’s the first time since all this craziness started with Mason that I finally see something genuine and honest in her.

I’m about to respond when the door suddenly swings open. Atlas’s eyes fall on me, and he swallows hard as if looking at me pains him somehow. Breaking eye contact, I look away and instantly sense his annoyance.

“Come, let’s go.”

The moment we’re out the door, I hold my arms out to Atlas, “Here,” I say, holding his jacket up to him, “Thank you for letting me use it.” Nodding, a blue spark ignites in his eyes. Narrowing my own in response, I shove the jacket against his chest hard; whatever he thinks this is, it’s not. As I’m about to walk past him towards the exit, he suddenly grabs hold of my wrist, pulling me to him, and my chest collides with his. His hand wraps around my waist, and his other hand tilts my chin up so our eyes can meet.

“Careful, little spitfire,” His touch sends an unwanted shiver down my spine as a shudder suddenly runs through me. Pushing both my palms against his chest, I shove back hard,

“Don’t...” I grit out, and he’s about to respond when Kris suddenly grunts,

“Fuck!” Turning to face Atlas, he scowls at both of us, “She’s moving towards the opening, Atlas, she’s going to get away. Fuck.” And it’s like those words ignite panic within us; within a split second, we’re bolting out towards the darkened night.

~

The moment we reach wherever it is that Kris is leading us, we’re so deep into the forests of Sitka that we are at least three miles away from the mine shaft. Atlas’s hand suddenly flies up to block me, and I instantly skid to a halt as I look up at him.

“What, is she close?”

“Shh...” Placing his finger against his mouth, he indicates for us to be quiet, and my wolf is suddenly on high alert, ready for anything.

Kris turns to give a nod to Atlas before sprinting away from us, and instantly, flaming torches ignite in bursts beside us in what looks like a circle.

“What the...” I hiss. At that moment, Atlas suddenly swings around and grips me behind my neck with one hand, folding his other over my mouth; he groans as he rests his head against mine.

“You are going to get my men killed; now, please, shut the fuck up.”

My jaw clenches as my eyes narrow on him, his words instantly pissing me off. He’s supposedly my witchy mate and thinks that now he can just talk to me however he pleases. I’m immediately blocking that thought out of my mind; what am I even saying? I scold myself. He’s not my mate; I have a mate. Wolf is my only mate, and that’s how it’s going to stay.

He slowly tilts his chin up and places a gentle kiss against my forehead before whispering, “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.” I’m still completely fired up, his apology doing nothing to quench that; maybe I should be a bit more understanding, perhaps I shouldn’t hold his outburst against him. But the fact that he thinks we’re meant to be together only ignites even more of the fire inside of me; right now, all I want to do is knee him in the balls.

Letting go of me, he slowly turns back to where he was facing before. I’m instantly wiping my mouth with the back of my arm, the feel of his touch still sending unwanted sparks dancing across my lips. I’m staring daggers at the back of his head as I go to rub his kiss away from my forehead.

“Asshole,” I think to myself.

“I heard that,” He replies, tilting his head to give me a sideways look.

“Get out of my head.” I groan internally.

“I can’t.”

Clenching my jaw, I feel annoyed with his answer, but I’m suddenly curious to know why he can’t, so I bite,

“Why not?” I’m suddenly acutely aware that Mason is looking at us strangely because we’re having a silent argument, and she probably doesn’t know that.

“Who do you think has been in your head since you were little, Sasha, some goddamn ghost?” Gulping back the shock, my brows suddenly furrow,

“You?”

“Bingo.”

“H-how?” And I watch his jaw tick as he swallows hard, like he’s suddenly uncomfortable to talk about it. But stuff his feelings, he’s been in my head since I was small, and yet he never told me who he was or anything about who I am; I spent my entire life thinking I was crazy, some default wolf with serious problems.

Narrowing my eyes, I abruptly shove the palms of my hands against his back hard, which instantly has him stumbling forward before swinging back to glare at me.

“What the hell was that for?” He barks out loud. Scoffing, I cross my arms over my chest as I raise a brow at him,

“Clearly not too worried about Lisbon hearing us after all?” I think with a snarky spike in my tone, and of course, he heard me, considering he’s been in my head all my goddam life, like some stalking weirdo.

“Why do you have to be so goddam frustrating?” He snaps.

“You were in my head all this time, and you never thought to tell me who you were. Don’t you think you owe me an explanation as to why that is?” Sighing, he slowly rolls his eyes at me.

’This is not the time nor the place for this conversation; we’ll have plenty of time to discuss it once we’re...”

“Don’t you even say it,” I snap at him.

“Become one union.”

“I am not marrying you!” I bark back in the link.

“You don’t really have a choice.”

“Yes. I. Do!”

And at that moment, Mason suddenly clears her throat nervously,

“Um, could you two maybe continue your domestic argumentative mind link later? Because I’m pretty sure that’s Lisbon upfront glaring straight at us through the thicket of those trees,” she points out.

Both Atlas and I swing forward at the same time, suddenly looking in the direction Mason was looking, and sure enough, we are met with the most angry, dead eyes I have ever seen in my life. Gulping back a shudder, I instantly feel Atlas pull me back to stand behind him as he mutters,” Stand behind me.”

I instantly feel him link Kris, wait... how am I feeling him link Kris, how the... My brows suddenly furrow at this bizarre phenomenon, but before I can give it any more thought, Atlas suddenly raises his hands up and outward. A ball of electric blue electricity begins dancing along the inside of the palm of his hand; like an orb, it just floats there, illuminated by an energy that is unexpectedly tingling through my own body as well.

“One way or another, I’m taking you back, Lisbon. Either willingly or in a body bag, I have my orders.” He shouts out at her. With a sudden grin, however, sparks of darkness ignite in Lisbon’s eyes as she glares wickedly at Atlas,

“How you have grown, little Atlas, last time I saw you... You were just a baby.” And I watch his jaw clench as his entire body tenses.

“Not such a baby when I can still remember what you did.” He grumbles. Smirking, she shrugs in response,

“Your mother was in my way; don’t take it so personally.” And I see his fists instantly clench in anger, radiating from him in waves as he stares her down.

I blink when it hits me: Lisbon must have killed his mother. Without even thinking, I place the palm of my hand against his back to soothe him. An instant gasp escapes him from my sudden contact as he slowly lets out a breath he was holding, and I instantly feel the build-up of rage within him begin to calm.

“You killed her out of spite and nothing else, Lisbon. My father chose her over you, and you couldn’t handle the rejection.”

“Your mother stole him from me..” She suddenly sneers, eyes wild with disgust.

“In which lifetime do you think a white lighter would ever be with a dark witch like you? You should have crawled back into the hole you came from when you turned.”

Turned? My brows suddenly furrow as I look up at him. But she merely cackles wickedly in response,

“You have something of mine, Atlas. I want it back...” Her eyes find me still hidden behind him.

“She doesn’t belong to you, Lisbon. She’s mine.” The moment he says ‘Mine,’ I instantly take my hand away from his back, jaw clenched and brows furrowed. The sudden loss of contact has him groaning in protest, and as much as I hate him saying it, I hate the feeling that erupts inside me the moment he does even more. The pull I feel towards him angers me, I don’t want to feel anything for him; this is insane.

I notice Atlas take a step towards Lisbon, and the moment he starts chanting something at her, a blue glow begins to form around him. The chanting gets louder from all around us, and it’s then that I notice another white lighter on my far right doing the same thing and Kris on my far left doing it as well. Are they busy boxing her in? Another two white lighters are spaced out somewhere behind Lisbon; I can only make out their blue glow.

The chant is in the language of the witches, and I instantly understand it.

′Tamno - vještica - zlo - carstvo - uhvatiti - držite - obuzdati - magija - vlast - tama.” Dark witch of the evil realm, we capture, we hold, we overpower your magic, the power, the darkness.

They keep saying it over and over again, getting louder every time as they do. Infuriating anger suddenly begins to erupt from Lisbon as she spins around to glare at each of them.

“You think you can capture me, contain me? You will never have that kind of power over me, never again!” She seethes as she swings around, glaring daggers at the white witches. Mason is right beside me, and I can hear the vibration of her wolf growling as she glares at Lisbon, “I fucking hate this bitch.” she snarls. Gulping, I nod, agreeing, “That makes two of us.” I grumble as my eyes stare daggers at Lisbon.

Don’t ask me why, but I suddenly start stepping forward until I’m right beside Atlas. Lisbon is the sole reason for so much pain and hurt in my life; she killed my mother, and my wolf mother died because she sent Caius to kidnap me. My father and brother are dead because she enchanted our betas, and then there’s Wolf’s pain, his loss of his family at the hands of this bitch. And now, I discover that she’s taken someone dear from Atlas as well; how can so much evil and destruction come from one person.

The moment I’m standing beside Atlas, I begin chanting with him, and he quickly looks down at me in surprise before looking back at Lisbon; he continues chanting the words, and I’m right there with him. I don’t know if I’m allowed to, but it just feels right. And the moment my arm brushes up against his, he suddenly does something I wasn’t expecting. He slowly takes my hand and intertwines his fingers with mine, squeezing my hand. I suddenly feel that little shudder of energy flow from him into me. I try not to focus on it because right now, the only important thing is capturing Lisbon, releasing Wolf from his curse, and finally being free from all this.

Lisbon’s rage escalates as she snarls at the white witches, her darkness swirling around her like an out-of-control hurricane. Suddenly turning her attention towards me, she screams, her body shaking violently as the darkness in her eyes shocks me.

“You little bitch, you think this is over; you think you’ve won. You think you’ll ever find happiness. I will never let that happen; I will rip it all away from you; you are an abomination, a hybrid; you shouldn’t be allowed to live!” She’s screaming the words at me, black veins suddenly throbbing as they explode into place across her face, and I can’t help the moment I gasp in fear.

Atlas instantly senses my anguish as he tightens his grip around my hand, “Don’t let her get to you; she’s trying to get inside your head. Don’t let her in, Sasha.” Nodding, I do my best to try and push it from my mind.

Abomination. Hybrid. Shouldn’t be allowed to live.

As much as I don’t want these words to cause chaos and pain inside of me right now, it does because I know it’s all true.

Darkness suddenly explodes from her hands as she catapults it straight at me. All her hatred, all her rage, it’s all directed straight at me, nobody else. And at that moment, I had never felt so hated in all my life.

The moment I hear a guttural scream of agony suddenly cascading across the night air, my eyes instantly fly over and collide with a horrific sight that immediately makes me feel sick to my stomach. A rogue wolf has unexpectedly yanked Kris back from the circle. The moment he rips his throat out, the sound of him gurgling and choking on his own blood as it pools from his throat makes me shudder. I don’t even know him, but the horrific sight before me instantly has my heart constricting.

Atlas instantly screams out Kris’s name as he turns towards the horrifying scene, and it’s then that I realize that the suffocating pain I’m feeling in my chest is coming from Atlas.

Instantly letting go of my hand, he charges in the direction of the rogue, who is still standing over Kris’s body. From that moment, it’s like watching everything fall to pieces in slow motion; the gridlock instantly breaks, snapping like a rubber band, and as my eyes dart back towards Lisbon, it’s a second too late as she suddenly collides with me hard and fast.

She grabs me by my throat as she comes down on top of me. My body hits the ground with a loud thud, my head hitting the ground first, and I hear a loud buzzing sound between my ears. The moment she lifts up from me, an instant force field engulfs us; it’s so toxic and deadly that I feel it suffocating me.

Mason runs towards us like a shot; I see her out of my peripheral vision. But the moment her body comes into contact with the force field, she’s instantly catapulted back through the air. My eyes are fixed on the darkness of Lisbon’s eyes on me; however, I don’t miss the army of rogue wolves descending on us. They’re coming out of every corner of the woods, lunging at the white lighters like savaged animals.

Lisbon’s hands once again wind around my throat, and she begins to squeeze. She’s delirious with rage, drunk on her hatred toward me. Tightening her grip around my throat as she presses harder and harder.

“I will turn you into your worst nightmare, little girl; I’ll turn you into me just before I take your life, take your powers. You’ll feel your light slip away from your eyes the moment I take it, bijela kraljica.” And the moment she calls me a white queen, she lifts her one hand away from my throat, bringing her thumb to my forehead and pressing down hard. She presses so hard that it feels like she will crush my skull with the impact she’s pushing against me.

The moment she touched my forehead, I felt all the life being sucked right out of my soul, the moment her darkness flooded me. A guttural scream explodes from me as I begin thrashing about; I can feel her evil beginning to eat away at me, darkness seeping into my veins as it starts to drain the life right out of me.

I faintly hear Atlas screaming from somewhere in the distance, screaming at Lisbon to stop! I can vaguely still make out his voice, but then it slowly begins to slip away as the darkness of Lisbon starts to eat away at me.

The moment my body stops thrashing, and I stop screaming, Lisbon finally lets go of me as she stands up and moves away from me. Grinning wickedly, she stares down at me. I slowly move into a seated position before standing up, but I feel nothing; all at once, everything inside me feels dead and numb, darkened like a decaying corpse.

The moment I’m standing before her, she stares into my eyes and cackles as she breathes out in laughter, “You will now know true fear and horror as I take what is rightfully mine. Now give it to me; give me your powers.”