Chapter Forty-Eight

Celina

Mara growls while my teeth clash together shut. He could be bluffing, but knowing what he’s already done to this pack, I can’t risk it. “Leroy, go get Chris.”

Leroy growls but takes a reluctant step back. “You’ve got less than a minute.”

“Then you better start moving,” Damian snaps before looking at me. “Now, if you want as few casualties as possible, I suggest you get in the car, Celina.”

I bark a laugh while I try to think of something. He could be bluffing. “Do you really think I’d get in the car with you? You’re barely standing. Now get on the ground.” I growl, pushing my aura onto him.

Damian flinches and drops to his knees while he tries to fight me. He’s gritting his teeth while his nails dig into his knees. “You’ll want to stop doing this, Celina.”

“Or what?” I hiss to him; watching the veins pop out of his neck and face while he tries to resist me.

“Or I’ll let your little mate die.”

That gets my attention. “What do you mean?”

“If I don’t call my man over there off your phone, he will trigger an explosion that will release silver and bromine gas.”

“You’re bluffing.” I take a step toward him, making him flinch as I push my aura almost to its limit on him.

“Do you want to take that chance,” he asks through gritted teeth.

“If it means your death, maybe I do,” I tell him as my aura slams him to the ground.

“It may cost my death, but the price will be his as well. Can you live through another mate’s death Celina,” Damian demands while his voice darkens. He spits dirt out of his mouth while fur starts to grow on him. “I’ll be happy to help you find out.”

“I’ll do you one better. Submit to me, and we can see how long you live.” It’s been over a minute. Where is Leroy? I’ve never wished to be able to shift so badly. Damian may be down for now, but there is no telling if he could get a second wind, if he’s faking, or if he’ll be able to still strike me with his gnarly claws if I get too close. He’s already shown he has no qualms about hurting me to get to me. Damn it Mara, hurry up and change already.

Damian chuckles, “I’ll make you the same offer, only I’ll amend the end to see how long you can resist me.” He grunts as he tries to stand up, “Now be a dear and get in the car.”

“I’m not the one on the ground here,” I retort, pushing all my aura on him. He yelps as he screams out in pain; his neck bending at a painfully awkward angle as his body submits. However, his beast is still resisting. “Release those kids. Now,” I order. He growls and I feel him fighting me. I push my aura into him harder, making him growl in pain during mid-transition.

“You’re making me angry,” he growls, his silver eyes flashing black, drawing his beast forward. “This is your final warning, Celina. Get in the car before I have to hurt you.”

“Release. The. Kids.” I growl my order; my eyes flashing between my blue and Mara’s dark bronze.

“Is that all,” he chuckles, “because I already did that when that pathetic Damian submitted.”

“Sephtis,” Mara breathes while I roll my eyes. “Then you should have said something.” I glare at him while Mara tries to emerge to protect me. We both grimace in pain, which Sephtis was more than glad to see.

He chuckles darkly. “Still weak I see.”

“Weak my ass,” I growl; making him yelp as I push my aura on him. Where the hell is Leroy with Chris? Sephtis being out is extremely dangerous. That likely means that Damian’s body is at its breaking point and Sephtis is taking over to preserve them.

“Still not strong enough to be my Queen,” Sephtis growls. “Maybe my bride, but never above me.”

“Your neck says otherwise,” I taunt a little; surprised by how hard he’s still fighting. How does he have this much strength to fight? Oh right, blood oaths. Cheater. “Now what I want is for you to release everyone who is bound to you by a blood oath, without killing them.”

He chuckles darkly, “Tell you what my little princess, I will do that if you agree to come with me. Do we have a deal?”

I hesitate for a second while I briefly consider it. There is no way in hell that I’m going anywhere with him. “Why should I believe you?”

“Because, at this point, you have no reason not to. I’ve fucked with you a lot Celina, but I’ve never lied to you.”

“Ha,” I bark while Mara growls, pacing once more.

“Look love, either believe me or let me up. This is getting on my nerves.” Sephtis grunts, trying to push off the ground. “Either way, I’m running out my clock. I’ve gotten you out of the house, and if I got you in the car, that was a bonus.”

“What do you mean,” I demand from him as I watch him fall back to the ground, my body starting to tense. I can feel my hold on him slipping. He’s putting everything he has in him to resist me. He’s submitted to me and he’s still fighting it; making this display a little more impressive. Resisting an alpha you submitted to is ten times harder than resisting one you haven’t.

“You weren’t supposed to be here. None of you were. You can blame that traitor Randaul for that. Still, I never expected Chris to allow you to come. I just thought it’d be him. I’d blow up the house and then leave, but no you just had to be here.”

His head snaps up to glare up at me. “You’re always there. Always getting in the way of my plans.” Sephtis staggers to his feet; panting with his body trembling. “Now get in the fucking car.”

“Not good,” Mara warns me while I push my aura on him, grabbing the blade Leroy had given me earlier. “He’s strong Cel.”

“We’re stronger,” I tell her while Sephtis takes a step back. I can’t run. Not in this form. I can’t shift. My only options are to comply or fight.

“You can’t shift nimrod,” Mara growls as she bares her fangs uselessly at the beast.

“I still can fight him bitch,” I snap at her while Sephtis takes a staggered step forward. “Besides, if I back down, I lose my grip on him.”

“What grip? You’re losing it on him now.”

“At least it’s something Ms. Pessimist.”

“After this ends badly, remind me to tell you how stupid you were for sending Leroy away.”

“Oh shut up,” I growl as my glare hardens onto Sephtis. “Kneel.”

He stumbles as he falls to his knees a few feet from me, just outside of reaching distance.

“Celina,” Chris calls out while I refuse to bend away from Sephtis. Hearing Chris’s voice seems to break something inside of Sephtis. He lets out a pained cry as he lurches toward me. I cry out in pain as his claws slice through my calf as he tackles me and pins me against the side of the SUV. I punch his eye to distract him while he opens his mouth to reveal his canines to me. Quickly, I stab the knife into his neck as I kick my knee up; striking his thigh.

While he’s distracted, I hit him with my aura, stunning him enough to take a step back and drop me to my feet. The moment my feet touch the ground, I kick out and strike his tendon with my heel. Sephtis moves quickly and goes to strike my face with his claws; acting on his anger to try to kill me. I hit him again with my aura and kick up, hitting his solar plexus. As he hunches over to strike and bite me in retaliation, I snag the knife from his neck.

The sound of an explosion interrupts our fight and knocks us both to the ground. Sephtis gives off a dry chuckle next to me. “You should have gotten in the car with me. Now you’re going to see if you can live through the death of another mate.”

Panic and fear hits me the moment that never-ending pit of loneliness begins to open up once more. “Chris,” I scream out as I stab the knife into Sephtis’s chest. Ignoring him, and just praying to the moon goddess that I finally killed him, I get to my feet and run.

“Chris!” I call out again as I race back to the house, seeing smoke coming from the house.

“Chris, answer me damn it,” I call out again, desperate to hear anything from him. Please, Goddess, you cannot do this to me again. I can’t do this twice.

“Celina,” Chris calls out when I reach the porch of the burning rubble, his voice hoarse, “Where are you?”

“Celina get over here,” Leroy coughs into his sleeve as he runs up the porch steps. “You can’t be here.”

“Where is Chris?” I demand while I pull my arm away from him.

“Looking for you,” he tells me as he turns me around to look at him. He’s nude and so gory that I assume he skinny-dipped in a pool full of blood to look like that. “When I first got here, some of the soldiers were shifted while one held a little detonator in his hand to stop people from leaving the house. My surprise arrival was the only reason we were able to get everyone out of the house. That’s why I was so late coming back. When Chris and I went back to find you, both you and Damian were already gone.”

I swear out loud as I pull at my hair, trying to steady myself. “So I didn’t kill him. Get patrols out. Call in everyone we can that’s near here. Have road checks in place. Look for any of our black SUVs, but make sure every vehicle is searched. He can’t be far.”

“Celina,” Chris yells out again; interrupting our conversation, and sending my feet into motion the moment I register the sheer anguish in his voice. I run towards where I had heard him, hoping that’s where I could find him.

“I told you, you pathetic waste of a king, she’s gone. Andras took her and will be claiming her soon,” a dark hoarse voice cackles loudly, making it easier to follow. “My purpose is just to distract you, so fighting me won’t do any good. Just give up like the good washed-up mate you are, so I can end your miserable existence.”

Finally, I find him in the woods in the back of the house, engaged in battle with a maroon lycan. Chris is not shifted, and he’s fighting the maroon beast barehanded; he’s barely standing. He’s covered in ash, dirt, and blood. He’s panting so hard that it’s easy to hear the wetness in his voice. I’m convinced he’s still standing just out of sheer determination.

I push my aura on the maroon pup, making him yelp and fall to the ground while I stalk forward. “Your master is just as pathetic as your taunts,” I growl while his neck nearly breaks when he goes to submit. “Speaking of pathetic, where the hell did he go?”

The mutt whimpers as I push the full force of my aura over him. “Toward Moonrise Pack. He has a safe house-” the mutt yelps out before he starts twitching; the light already out of his eyes.

“Mother fucker,” I spit as I glare at the lifeless corpse. That, for one, proves Damian is alive, and two, proves he’s still willing to make sacrifices even with his loss of strength.

“Cel,” Chris breathes as he reaches out for me.

“Chris,” I gasp when I turn around to look at him. He’s starting to sway so I race over to catch him. I almost lost my grip on him, just because of the sheer amount of blood and sweat on him.

“Are you okay?” I demand from him as I look him over while he smiles at me. He’s covered in open wounds. Why isn’t he healing?

“You’re okay,” he tells me as he stumbles forward. I grunt as my body accepts his weight. A pained cry escapes my lips as I hold him up, but it’s ignorable.

Leroy comes over to help me. “Help is already on the way. We need to get him back to the others,” he informs me while he takes a step toward the house, with me falling into step with him. I nod while anger begins to stew inside of me. Damian is going to pay dearly for this.