Chapter 31

OLIVE

We’re frozen in place, our warriors on high alert as demons hover above us. They’ve got the advantage...and we’re easy targets.

“Time’s ticking, Olive. Make your choice,” Asmodeus teases.

I shake my head, more in disbelief than refusal. I’ve let everyone down. How can I be a queen when I’ve messed up this badly?

“Not going to choose? Let’s make things a bit more interesting then, shall we?”

As Asmodeus speaks, Max, Daisy, Dinah, and Idris rush in to join us, ready to fight.

Dinah and Idris have transformed into their lycan forms. Dinah’s lycan is truly stunning; her fur is a glossy honey brown. She looks powerful and fearsome.

Her claws glow purple with magic, something she couldn’t do in her previous wolf form.

With a flick of Asmodeus’s fingers, a wall of hellfire separates us from the rest of the pack warriors.

The warriors all turn to face off against hundreds of demons now swarming the palace halls.

The demons drop into the ring of fire one by one until we’re completely surrounded.

The demons all wield silver knives, waving them in the air, taunting us as they close in.

Before we know it, chaos erupts. Dinah and Idris fight back-to-back, taking down demon after demon.

Max has shifted into his wolf form and is protecting Daisy as she fights off the demons with her vines.

Zeke and I are in our own circle, surrounded by demons. We work together to take out as many as we can.

It feels like this goes on for hours, though it’s probably not even twenty minutes. They’re taunting us, wearing us down...and it’s working. We’re all slowing, tiring, completely drained from the battle.

That’s when the demons make their move. They start to slash at us with their silver blades. They get Max first, overpowering him and pinning him to the ground, then Daisy.

Zeke is still fighting as though he just started. The man never seems to tire. Dinah and Idris have joined their king’s side to protect him from the onslaught of demons.

Asmodeus seems to sense my mate's endless stamina and the power the lycans hold.

He huffs and snaps his fingers, and two dozen more demons drop from the ceiling, completely overwhelming Zeke.

Zeke doesn’t slow down; he continues to cut down demon after demon. He’s truly an incredible warrior.

Dinah and Idris barely get nicked with the silver knives.

Even though they’re small cuts, they force the couple to return to their human forms, giving the demons the chance to overpower them and shackle them with silver.

They kneel on the floor, panting and exhausted.

Asmodeus appears to grow tired of Zeke’s resilience as he stands and snaps his fingers.

Shadows seep out from the darkness. They slither up Zeke’s body. He tries to pull them off but there’s no physical form to grab.

They were constricting him, preventing any movement.

He yells out in anger and frustration, looking at me with apologetic eyes as if he’s let me down.

I try to smile back at him to let him know it’s okay, but it’s a feeble attempt. I don’t know how we’re all going to get out of this alive.

I turn back to Asmodeus, tears streaming down my face. He seems to have called off the attack, for now.

“Now that all your beasts are tamed, it’s time for my lovely accomplice to return.”

He turns to the doorway behind him and in strides the tall, blonde traitor.

Alice.

~Alice!? Am I seeing this right?~

~Alice!? The kind-hearted wolf who never has a bad word to say about anyone. The one who doesn’t have a mean bone in her body? That Alice?~

But this Alice looks different; her usual carefree, happy demeanor is gone. All that’s left is a dark sneer on her face.

“Alice!? What the fuck!?” Max is the first to speak up, disbelief clear in his voice.

“Didn’t expect to see me, brother? Sweet little Alice who couldn’t do any wrong?” She pouts.

“How? WHY?” he yells.

“Well, turns out you were wrong about me, brother,” she sneers.

“I don’t understand,” he responds, dumbfounded.

“Amber may be tough on the outside, but she has a heart of gold,” she says. “But me, I might look sweet on the outside, but I guess I’m rotten inside.”

She laughs manically while shrugging.

“Poor Amber didn’t even know what she was doing most of the time.” She laughs as though she’s telling the funniest joke in the world.

“What are you talking about?!” Max shouts in frustration.

Alice sneers before answering. “I’ve been using our twin bond for years, our whole lives actually," she states, shrugging, without a hint of regret.

"Filling her head with hatred and dark thoughts, persuading her like a devil on her shoulder to do the things I wanted to do. Olive…you’ll know what I mean.” She smirks.

Memories flood back in an instant. All the times Amber was cruel to me, all the times she picked on me, Alice was always there. She was always touching her physically when it happened.

At the time I thought she was trying to stop her... but all this time it was her. Manipulating her sister, her own twin, and using something as sacred as their twin bond to do it.

The worst part is that Amber isn’t even aware. She thinks that she just has these dark and horrible thoughts.

But Amber is actually the innocent twin. Sure, she has a bit of an attitude, but she means well.

Alice was a wolf in sheep’s clothing all along.

“Why?” I ask calmly.

“Why? Why does anyone do anything? For ~power~ of course! Asmodeus made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” She smiles.

“Which was?” I ask.

“To wipe out my brother’s sorry pack! I’d get rid of all the dirty hybrids, then I’d go after hybrids from other packs,” she spits out with a venomous tone.

“What’s your problem with hybrids?”

“Don’t tell me this is all about Alex,” Max interrupts.

“HE DUMPED ME!” she hisses.

“Good grief, Alice. HE FOUND HIS MATE!” he shouts back.

“Yeah, the dirty hybrid bitch. They’re all going to pay.” She laughs, sounding pleased with herself.

All this drama because her ex found his mate? A hybrid mate. Unbelievable.

“Here’s the deal, Olive,” Asmodeus begins. “I’ll offer you a new bargain…

“Since you’re a demon hybrid and you can’t really use both heritages anyway, you have to make a choice.”

“And what’s that?” I retort.

“You have to decide if you’re a demon or a wolf. If you choose wolf, everyone here, all the people you love, will die. Choose demon and they’ll live, but you have to stay here and help me rule.”

If I choose wolf, everyone I love dies. If I choose demon, everyone lives. They could have long, happy lives…

I just won’t be there to see it. I’ll die in a way. I won’t get to see Zeke, my parents, or my friends.

Zeke picks up on my thoughts.

“Olive, don’t you dare!” He looks up at me from the pile of demons holding him down, begging me.

“Please…don’t do this,” he pleads, his eyes shining.

“I choose demon,” I say, turning back to Asmodeus.

“Olive! No!” Zeke cries out, his voice filled with pain and panic.

“Good choice, my dear,” Asmodeus says. “Come.”

He extends a hand and I walk forward to take it.

I reach out with my left hand.

Our hands are almost touching.

This is it.

Just as our palms are about to meet, I conjure a dagger in my right hand, spinning and aiming for his throat.

But I don’t hit anything.

Just smoke.

I follow the smoke with my eyes as it reshapes into Asmodeus, his eyes glowing with a murderous look.

“So, this is your choice, is it? So be it.” Another Asmodeus illusion appears on the other side of the room, then again in another spot and again.

There are multiple versions of Asmodeus surrounding me, but which one is real?

“You’re weak,” one taunts. I lunge and slash at it, but it just disappears only to reappear again.

“You’ve let your people down,” another says. I throw myself at it, but the same thing happens again.

Tears are now streaming down my face. He’s in my head.

“Pathetic.” I slash again.

“Freak.” Still nothing.

“You’re an abomination.” I’m wild now, panting and heaving from the mental stress he’s putting me through.

“A monster.”

“Stop! Stop it!” I scream, covering my ears.

~“Little Wolf, don’t listen to him! You know what he’s doing, right!? He’s trying to mess with your head! If you’re so weak, why does he want you by his side!?”~

Zeke pulls me out of my downward spiral.

~He’s right.~

“Weak little hybrid,” Asmodeus sneers.

I take a few breaths to calm myself while wiping away my tears.

~Zeke is right. I’m none of those things, not with my mate by my side.~

I straighten my back, a small smile on my face.

“You see, Grandfather, you’ve got it all wrong. You see me as weak, but you’re the weak one. You kill and you torture because you’re scared someone might be stronger than you.

“You realized I don’t want your throne, so you try to blackmail me, to control me. You try to tell me what I am…what I can do…but you have no idea.”

I smirk as a fierce determination rises within me.

~I~ can ~do this.~

My green aura lights up my body as hellfire starts to crackle to life, dancing on my skin.

“You see. I just wanted to fit in.

“I was too scared to be myself, always trying to blend in, hoping to avoid attention for being different.”

With each word, I feel more and more powerful.

“But what I should have been doing all along is being true to myself… I’ve always been both…my wolf and my demon heritage have always been in harmony.

“You say I can’t use both at once? You say I’m weak? Well then, let me show you what I’m really capable of.”

The crackle of fire explodes, bursting into life in a frenzy. I shift into Raven’s wolf form, though I’m in control. Wings sprout from my back.

I stand there in my wolf form and shake out my wings, stretching them to their full size. The flames travel to my front legs and paws, forming larger clawed weapons from hellfire.

Hellfire spills over my muzzle and drops to the ground, like drool dripping to the floor below.

~“You’re beautiful,”~ Zeke tells me.

Asmodeus’s illusions look shocked for a split second before he regains his composure.

“Ha! Pathetic! You think that impresses me!?” he scoffs.

I throw my head back and howl as hellfire spills from my fur. I send a wave of hellfire out, careful to avoid my loved ones, but making sure I hit all versions of Asmodeus around the room.

“AH!” the one in front of the throne yells, clutching his burned arm to his chest.

He stumbles backward into his chair, fear written all over his face.

Alice scurries to his side, checking his wound and glaring at me with hatred.

I growl low as I slowly stalk toward my prey.

Asmodeus makes a high-pitched whistle, and from behind the throne, three hellhounds come out, growling menacingly.

“KILL HER!” he orders.

They approach me warily, growling and snapping their jaws in a defensive stance.

I make the first move, swiping my large, flaming paw at them, connecting with all three in one smooth motion.

They yelp and howl, their tails tucked between their legs as they scramble backward, whimpering.

“KILL HER!” Asmodeus bellows again.

But this time, they whirl around, snapping at their king.

Asmodeus’s eyes widen with fear as he realizes the truth.

He no longer holds power over them.

“Seems like they have a new leader now, Father,” Dominic says, his voice filled with pride.

Asmodeus shoots him a glare as he tries once more.

“KILL HER,” he commands, but it’s useless. The hounds stay put.

~“Kill him,”~ I command them, as if I’m talking to myself in my head.

They must be linked to me on a deeper level now.

As they leap forward, I join them, tearing him apart, piece by painful piece, ensuring he stays alive for as long as I can manage.

His screams and gurgles are like a symphony to my ears.

That’s when I hear Alice’s shriek. The traitor.

I turn to her, blood and fire dripping from my jaws as she tries to run.

~You can’t hide, Alice.~

I bound after her on all fours. It only takes me a few seconds to catch up. I pounce on her, knocking her to the ground before sinking my teeth into her neck.

“Please, Olive! We’re friends—” she pleads.

I bite down—hard—and rip her pretty head from her shoulders.

I toss her treacherous head to the ground with a thud. It rolls to a stop, her mouth hanging open, her face frozen in fear.

I howl in triumph, then shift back to my human form.

I walk back to the throne where Asmodeus’s torn body lies. The hellhounds are still gnawing on his flesh and bones.

I turn to the remaining demons in the room, my voice commanding.

“Release everyone now and you’ll live. Harm anyone else in this room and you’ll die a slow, painful death, just like your pathetic leader.”

My gaze meets Raven’s, causing the demons to shriek in terror and scurry back into the shadows from whence they came.