The Hunted Wolf – Chapter 79

MARK My heart stopped beating as I saw Adira start collapsing to the floor. Profanities streamed out of my mouth, and I didn’t know what to do. I lowered Adira to the ground, my hands shaking as I cradled her head. She was still alive. She was breathing, and I could feel her heart beating, but I knew Xavier was trying to take over Adira’s body, and I felt completely helpless.

Scythe, bring Ginger here. Now! I knew my order sounded harsh, but Ginger was the only one who could possibly do something to stop this now. Everyone was already on their way, since I linked them to join us the moment we found Xavier. They should have been here by now. What was taking so long?

Adira’s body shook, and I knew she was fighting against whatever was happening, but her skin was draining of color.

Adira, can you hear me? I tried linking her, hoping she could hear me, but I wasn’t getting a response.

The doors to the ballroom flung open, and Reyland was the first one through the door. Ginger and Scythe were right behind him. The others filed in, but I stopped paying attention to him. I held Adira tight in my arms, desperate to do something to save her.

“What happened?” Reyland asked, kneeling in front of Adira and me. He looked at the lifeless body and then back at me.

“Xavier released his magic, and it went straight into Adira. I don’t know what to do.” I looked at Ginger with wide eyes. “Please stop him. Please save her. I can’t lose her.”

Tears fell out of my eyes as I looked down at Adira’s tormented body. We were so close. I thought we had Xavier right where we wanted him, but it was the exact opposite. Now Adira had to suffer for our mistake, and I felt completely helpless. I didn’t know what to do except hold my mate tight and hope Ginger could stop this madness.

Ginger slid to her knees and pressed her hands against Adira’s chest. She closed her eyes, but then she suddenly pulled back, sucking in a sharp breath through her teeth. She looked at her fingers and then looked at me.

“I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help her. She has to fight him and expel his essence from her own body,” Ginger said. Her voice was quiet, which almost scared me more. Ginger was normally loud and confident, so her voice coming across this calmly made my stomach unsettled.

“There’s nothing we can do? I can’t just watch her fight like this alone.” I hated this. My mate was being attacked, and all I could do was watch helplessly from the side.

“Talk to her. Let her know you’re right here. Remind her of the reasons she needs to keep fighting,” Ginger said. “That’s all we can do. It’s up to Adira now.”

–

ADIRA Everything was dark around me. The white room that usually filled my subconscious was drenched with poison, and I could hardly see a thing. I stumbled forward, knowing I couldn’t give up. This was my mind and my body, and I refused to let Xavier take it from me. The problem was, I didn’t know where he was. I could feel his presence all around me, trying to steal what was mine, but I didn’t see a physical form.

“Adira!” Shadow called out. “Help!” I looked around, but I couldn’t see Shadow anywhere. Her voice sounded like it came from all directions.

“Where are you?” I called back.

Instead of hearing Shadow, I heard a deep chuckling echo around my head. It almost sounded like it came from right behind me, so I flipped around, expecting to see Xavier. There was nothing there.

“Let her go!” I screamed, terrified Xavier was doing something to my wolf. I kept turning as flickering shadows caught my eye, but there was never anything there. More laughter echoed around me, and I felt like I was losing it. Everything about this felt like a bad nightmare, and I knew there was no waking up to escape the horrors.

“It didn’t have to be like this,” Xavier’s voice said from nowhere in particular. “I wanted you to be my queen, but you chose to be my captive instead. Now you’ll be forced to live in your own head like a prisoner while I use your hands to kill everyone you have ever loved.”

My chest tightened at the thought, and it was becoming more difficult to breathe. I could feel the darkness infiltrating my soul, and I felt helpless. I wasn’t prepared for an attack of the mind, and I grew terrified that I wouldn’t be able to fight Xavier off. I started running to find something other than darkness, but I ended up tripping and falling onto my hands and knees.

Adira, don’t give up. Mark’s voice echoed in my head, and for a moment, a shimmer of light caught my eye.

“Mark? Where are you?” He didn’t respond to me, but I knew that was his voice. He was talking to me, waiting for me to return to him.

I started moving towards the light, hoping I would find something there.

I’m here with you, baby. We all are. I’m not letting you go. I know you can do this. You have to. I need you. I can’t do this without you. Mark’s voice broke as he spoke, and this sparked a fire within me. He was desperate and in pain, knowing Xavier was trying to steal my body. I couldn’t just roll over and let Xavier take over my body.

Xavier laughed again. “Does your mate honestly think he can do anything to stop this?”

It was my turn to laugh. “He doesn’t have to do anything, because I’m strong enough on my own.” I stood up and looked around the room. It was still dark, but it no longer scared me, because I knew light would always chase out the shadows.

“I’m so scared,” Xavier’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. He wasn’t taking me seriously, but I knew that would only work out to my advantage.

“You continue to underestimate me,” I mused. I started walking forward, feeling a strong presence straight ahead.

“Because you are just a babe. You know nothing about magic. I have been in this world for longer than you’ve been alive times three. You are nothing against my experience.” Xavier’s physical form appeared ahead, but all I could see was a shadow.

I raised my hand and shot a blast of magic into the air. Fireworks erupted, lighting the room and fighting the darkness. The flashes of light illuminated Xavier’s face, and for the first time, I knew I was looking at Xavier’s true form. This wasn’t a borrowed body that he needed to build his power. This was the face of the man who was killed by the council all of those years ago. His eyes were lighter than I had expected. I had only ever associated light eyes with this monster, so it threw me off to see pale blue eyes staring back at me now.

He was young, too, maybe around my age. His skin was soft, and if I didn’t know better, I would have thought he was just an innocent bystander. However, as the light faded, the shadows shot back into Xavier’s body, filling his eyes with the black magic filled with hatred. I knew he never had a chance to live a normal life. His magic poisoned him from the beginning, corrupting his mind with a l**t for power and b***d. He had to be stopped.

I shook my head as I looked at the twisted form in front of me. “I may not know how to control my power as well as someone like you, but what I do know is I don’t care. There is more to this world than being powerful. There is love and family and happiness. I almost feel sorry for you. You were corrupted before you ever had a chance to feel any of that. But I can’t feel sorry for someone who never tried to change their circumstances.”

Xavier’s jaw clenched, and his fists shook as the anger took over. “They are the ones who tried to take everything from me. That council locked me up like I was scum on this earth. They took everything from me, including my body. Once I get your power, they will be the first ones to suffer. I don’t need your sympathy or anyone else’s. I know who I am, and soon the world will tremble at my feet.”

Xavier sent a blast of dark magic in my direction, but time slowed around me, and I was able to easily step to the side of the attack. My hands moved to my stomach as this was happening. I hadn’t done anything to deflect Xavier’s attack, but I knew Cain’s magic was based on time manipulation. I could feel the power buzzing in my stomach, and I knew the babies had slowed time to keep me safe and give me a chance to easily dodge.

Time returned to its normal speed, and Xavier blinked at me. “How did you do that?”

I smirked at him. “I’m not alone here. You’ve made an enemy of the wrong person.”

I moved forward and started throwing balls of light at Xavier. The space around him slowed again, and he tried to stop the attacks, but he couldn’t move fast enough to deflect them because of the time bubble he was stuck in. One attack after another hit him, and soon the room was lit up by the amount of power pouring out of me.

Time returned to normal, and all of the attacks hit Xavier all at once. He was blasted back, flying several feet away before he hit the floor with a thunk. The room lightened a little, as Xavier tried to catch his breath.

I walked over to Xavier and stood above him, holding out my hand with another attack prepared. “This is my body, and you can try to take it over, but you won’t win, because I’m just as powerful as you, except I have something to fight for. You shouldn’t have threatened my mate or my family, because I don’t care how much time you have had to practice, you won’t defeat me, because I can’t let you. There are too many people who need me.”

Xavier coughed up a little b***d before smirking at me. “You really are a force that shouldn’t be reckoned with. I hope the world sees this side of you, because it will burn from the power of a scorned woman. Just do me a favor. Take out that council and show them they don’t control anyone.”

I scoffed at his request. “I’m not looking to take revenge on anyone. I don’t want power. I don’t care if the world knows who I am. I just want to live a quiet and peaceful life with my family. I’ll deal with the council if I need to, but I know you won’t give up, and I’ll never be safe with you here.”

I knelt down and pressed my hands against Xavier’s chest. I forced as much light into his body, and I watched as the darkness was pushed out and the light began to fill the room. I didn’t stop until there wasn’t a single shadow in my subconscious, and I couldn’t see anything because it was so bright.

When I was sure there were no more signs of Xavier’s presence, I stopped and sat back. My chest heaved as I started to breathe again. I hadn’t even realized I was holding my breath. I looked around, making sure there wasn’t something I missed, and everything felt normal again.

Moon and Shadow suddenly appeared in front of me and sat down.

“You did it,” Shadow said.

“He’s finally gone,” Moon added.

I smiled at him, relief filling me to my core. “Yeah. I finally feel free. Let’s get out of here.”

With another breath, I emerged from my subconscious and opened my eyes, finding myself in the real world again. I was in Mark’s arms, and he was staring down at me with tears staining his cheeks. I reached up and wiped the tears away.

“Hi,” I whispered, my body aching from the battle that just took place inside of me.

“Adira?” Mark’s voice was shaking, and I knew he was barely holding on, waiting for me to return.

I smiled up at him, knowing everything would be okay. “I’m back.”