Chapter Fourteen: Saving Grace

The silence that had fallen almost made her regret her decision to come out and show herself. Cole’s wide blue eyes had teared up with fear and Gene was now struggling to get out of their Beta’s hold. Lucas was standing in his place completely frozen and she had to assume it was because of what she had said to him. He had to trust her, he had to listen to her because what she was about to do was going to save all three of them.

“About time you showed yourself, Ava.” Her Alpha seethed with the cruellest smile she had ever seen in her life. “You were almost too late.”

She swallowed nothing, her mouth had gone dry and the harder her heart pounded in her chest, the more she felt her throat completely close up. Yet, she was still able to speak somehow. “What do you want?”

He grinned. “I want a lot of things Ava. I want loyal pack members. I want my people to obey my every command. I want my people to tell me everything they know instead of keeping secrets from me and I want honesty.” He then tilted his head as he eyed Lucas and herself. “As you can see, I’ve received none of that from any of you.”

“I’m not a part of your pack.” Lucas finally spoke and she noticed that his hands were clenched. “And soon, neither will they.”

“Is that so?” Her Alpha questioned before she felt something through the pack mind link. A warrior came onto the ship, his eyes weary while he wore gloves and was holding what looked to be silver handcuffs. Ava felt her heart stop, the smell of the wolfsbane clouded her senses and she felt herself take a step back. The necklace that Luke had gifted her was silver but it was fake silver, but those handcuffs. Those handcuffs were pure silver and they felt like acid on your skin if you were a werewolf. Even as a witch, she had no control over it and that only drove more fear into her. “I will only say this once.”

“If you think-“

“I don’t think, I will.” He cut Lucas off with a bone-shattering growl. “Now that I know you two are mates, I have a new goal. I have both packs but that isn’t enough, I want more. This land is so small but your kingdom and the people in it are large and strong. I want your kingdom, I want your kind brought to your knees as you beg me to show mercy. I want to rule your kingdom and then I’ll take over the rest of Dradevows and rule the people on this god-forsaken island. I will be the new God and the person I need to help me do this is you little Ava. You will kill the king and queen.”

If she thought her heart had stopped before, it officially stopped now as she felt herself completely freeze. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t think and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from her Alpha and his insanity. He was always insane, he was always out of his mind but this, this was something new. As if his mind had completely snapped and now all that remained was someone with no sense and humanity. “I won’t do it.”

“I thought you might say that.” He said before the warrior approached her. Lucas was quick to be by her side, pushing her behind him while his fangs were exposed.

“Touch her and die!”

“Such a threat for someone with no weapons or defence.”

The dark chuckle made her shiver, her fingers subconsciously gripping onto Lucas’s shirt as she whimpered. It was cowardous, her whimpering was pointless and her grip on Lucas was only temporary but it gave him some weird form of hope as she felt his hand touch her arm. “My brother would never allow her to come into the kingdom, he would never believe her if she said that she was my mate without me so take me instead. I’ll do it.”

Her Alpha pulled his lips into a thin line. “That will not do. You already did her first job so it is only fair that she repays me. She has her magic, she’ll figure it out.”

The warrior came closer. “Come any closer and I’ll rip your fucking throat out!” Lucas snapped, his hold on her had gotten tighter but she wasn’t about to complain. “Nobody touches her! In the name of my kingdom and the rules of my family name, I decreed war! You can harm me, you can do what you have done to her brothers but nobody will ever touch a hair on her head!”

The venom in his words sent a chill down her spine. Her eyes finally looked away from the warrior and into the eyes of Eugene and Cole. They were so calm, they stood in their places with such calm faces that she wondered if they had suddenly placed their trust in Lucas. He was only one man, he could only do so much and yet, he was fighting for all three of them. Mostly her but she knew his words were for her brothers as well.

“So naive.” Her Alpha chuckled before he pulled Cole’s head back and placed a dagger against his throat. The sizzle came before his scream. The wolfsbane burned his skin and she found herself screaming his name as Lucas held her back from jumping to save him. Eugene cried through his gag, trying to get out of the Beta’s hold but his grief had taken his strength and now he was on his knees begging through muffled words to let Cole go.

“I’ll do it, I’ll kill King Zachariah and Queen Mackenzie. I’ll kill them and their unborn child as long as you let them go!”

The dagger was removed from Cole’s throat, his skin kept burning and his whimpered cries had turned into pained sobs. “You can’t bargain with me, girl! We have been standing here long enough, chain the bitch up and take her to my ship!”

“Yes, Alpha.” The warrior said before he came towards her. Lucas tried to cover her body with his own, He tried to protect her but he didn’t see the other two warriors coming up behind them. She didn’t either until she felt one of them grab her and the other grabbing Lucas. His scream broke her as he yanked and pulled to get out of the male’s grip but it was hopeless. He only had so much strength over the strength of a werewolf and he knew that but he still fought.

She couldn’t look away through her blurred, teared-filled eyes as she felt the handcuffs around her wrists. Her teeth clenching as the pain sored throughout her wrists and body, she tried not to show how much it hurt but after a few seconds, her cry couldn’t be helped.

Ava felt herself get pushed to walk, her legs felt numb and if it wasn’t for the hold of the warrior, she would have fallen. She couldn’t look at Eugene, Cole or Lucas but she could hear them, she could hear their yelling and screaming. She could hear them begging the deep raging rawr that admitted from Lucas’s chest. She could hear it all and she could do nothing as the wolfsbane weakened her abilities and stopped her from shifting.

She knew that she should have used them when she got the chance but the fear overpowered everything. Killing Shane was an accident but it came so naturally that she feared that she would kill the people she loved as well. One simple flick of her wrist and her boys would be dead at her feet and that was the kind of mind-numbing fear that she never wanted to face in real life.

Ava felt her body get pushed onto the new ship. Her legs finally buckled under her as she crawled towards a corner and pulled her knees against her chest. She had lost feeling in her hands but the pain was so intense that her veins pulsated and caused her vision to form black spots.

The proud look on her Alpha’s face made her grit her teeth as he commanded his men to move. The ship was away from the docks so fast that she hadn’t registered that she was being taken away from her brothers and Lucas for much longer than she would have liked.

She needed a way off of this ship, she needed to get back to them but she couldn’t swim. She was never taught and as the island slowly started to turn into a dark blur she knew she needed to make a choice and fast. Her legs wobbled under her as she found herself standing, her movements were ignored and she was glad for this as she looked over the edge and felt her breath hitch with fear and nerves.

But she had to do this, she had to face her fears and take the risk otherwise she is going to be forced to kill people that she already thought of as family. Her hesitation was the only irritant as looked around and found that everyone on the ship was busy and her Alpha’s back was turned. He was so confident that she wouldn’t jump, he was so sure of himself and that was his first mistake.

Without a second thought, she sucked in a breath and jumped.