30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

I reached out to the new feeling; it was like standing at a cliff's edge on a windy day being buffeted by the air around me. My air magic was well and truly awake – and I doubted I was the only one with access to it. That blue magic had struck all of the wolves in the immediate area.

I wasted no time. I needed to use my air powers before Isaacs realised what was happening. Suddenly, the air was crackling with new energy; I could feel it coursing through the wolves around me and empowering them. All of the wolves, including Isaacs'.

Then a sharp gust of wind whipped through the battlefield, far stronger than any of the gusts that had come before. Someone was already toying with the new power within them.

Damn it. Now his wolves have air magic too , Esme grumbled. We'd both hoped that we'd have a chance to use it before anyone else realised what was going on, but that was a pipedream.

The tides were shifting and not in our favour. The Merseyside wolves used their air powers cautiously at first but then they grew bolder, leaping higher and faster as they used the currents to propel their attacks. One of them lunged at Maxwell but Alyssa helpfully incinerated him before he could land a blow.

Ares was there and I hoped he'd left Ivy at the lean-to. He was rearing up and smashing down on the wolves around him, but one of them used its air powers to leap onto the unicorn's vulnerable back. Ares reared up to try and shift it, but its claws were digging into him.

Before I could run to help him. Bastion swooped down, ripped the Merseyside wolf away and slashed his talons through it. Even weakened as he was by the witch's curse, Bastion was still a formidable foe. He cut a swathe through the wolves, but there were so many. I'd had no idea Isaacs' pack was so big – though it wouldn't be after we'd finished with it.

Isaacs shifted to his human form and laughed triumphantly. ‘We're going to kill you all,' he taunted. ‘Even your pups.'

I snarled, feeling the heat of my magic roaring to life. Esme's fury mirrored mine and her thoughts were like a storm. By tacit agreement, we shifted into human form, too: it was time to bring fire to the table.

Without Terrance's help I was naked, but I didn't give a flying fuck. ‘Like hell you will!' I shot back.

Enough, she growled. Let's show him who he's dealing with.

A nearby wolf, seeing me as a tasty human morsel, pounded the ground towards me, eyes alight with malice. We shifted our hands into claws, but didn't shift back into our wolf form; we needed to be human to call the fire. I intended to rain it down on Isaacs until he was nothing more than a crispy canapé.

The huge lupine brute was getting closer, dividing my attention between him and Isaacs as I focused on calling up the fire.

Around us, the clash of bodies and growls echoed through the trees, a deadly symphony of violence. I recognised another wolf that was running an intercept course: it was Tristan's wolf, Arden. He faced off the snarling, jet-black beast from Isaacs' ranks and its amber eyes glowed with malice as it circled, saliva dripping from its jaws.

Isaacs smirked and rocked back on his heels, waiting for what he clearly thought was the inevitable outcome. He wanted to demoralise us by making us watch Tristan and Arden die. But although Arden might not have had the other wolf's size, he had heart and purpose and he was fighting to protect his alpha.

I considered using my fire to help but the two wolves were moving so quickly that I was as likely to strike Arden as the Merseyside wolf.

The wolf lunged without warning, claws extended, teeth bared. Arden met the attack head-on and their bodies slammed together with a sickening thud that sent a shockwave through the clearing.

The black wolf's teeth snapped at Arden's throat but Arden twisted just in time, raking his claws across the enemy's face and piercing his eye. Blood splattered across the ground as the black wolf howled with rage. Fuelled by pain, he lashed out and caught Arden's shoulder in his jaws.

Arden gave a sharp yelp as teeth sank deep into his flesh. With a desperate twist, he wrenched himself free but the damage had been done: his left leg hung limp and blood was gushing from the wound. He staggered back then, despite his injury, charged again, aiming to sink his teeth into the enemy's throat.

I started forward to help but found that I couldn't reach them: something was in my way. I pounded against the invisible barrier but it did not give .

Isaacs smirked. ‘Let's keep this one on one, shall we?' He was holding out his hands; he'd constructed some sort of dome of air over the two wolves to isolate them.

Inside the dome, the black wolf and Arden crashed together, rolling and biting, their snarls filled with hatred. Arden managed to sink his fangs into the black wolf's flank, ripping at flesh and muscle, but the enemy's claws found their mark in Arden's chest. My heart stuttered.

I reached inside for the foreign air magic and tried to will it to my command, tried to deconstruct the air dome that was stopping me from reaching my packmate. But the magic was new and unfamiliar, and I didn't know what I was doing. Rage and despair were riding me. Despite my fumbling efforts, the cage of air remained locked round them.

ARDEN! Esme shouted.

Arden stumbled as his strength faded. Blood was pouring from wounds that were now surely fatal, and despair almost choked me, but even in his final moments, he refused to give in. Tristan had always been a stubborn son of a bitch. Tears blurred my vision.

The black wolf thought Arden was dead and he was already howling his victory to the whole battleground. It was that wonderfully exposed throat that Arden sank his teeth into and tore open. The black wolf's howl was suddenly cut off as he collapsed. He let out a low whimper and then he was silent.

With a soft whine, Arden's legs buckled and he fell too. His breath was coming in shallow gasps, his body broken.

I raged against the air cage around him, pounding it with my fists. I whirled around and fire rose within me, hot and raging. Flames flickered around my body, mixing with the wind Isaacs had unwittingly helped to awaken. I harnessed it, channelling the air and fire and feeling the elements bend to my will.

Isaacs' eyes widened as he realised his mistake: his air magic was tied up in the dome he'd created so he had nothing left to protect himself with.

‘You've forgotten something,' I said, my voice low. ‘Fire doesn't fear the wind – it feeds on it.'

Then I unleashed a torrent of it, twisting it with the wind and sending a spiralling inferno straight at my enemy. It moved with such force that he couldn't stop it any more than he could stop the sun.

The flames engulfed him, but I couldn't have him die like Xander; I couldn't see that again. Besides, he'd engineered Arden and Tristan's death and killing him by fire seemed too removed . I needed to look this piece of shit in the eyes as I killed him. I needed vengeance .

I called the flames back and leapt at Isaacs, partially shifting my face to match my claws. Our claws raked into his flesh and our teeth sank into his throat with brutal precision.

Isaacs collapsed beneath me; it was an eerie replica of Rain's death and, like Rain, Isaacs tried to shift to save himself. No, I ordered his wolf, piping it and holding it still. Isaacs' hands clawed at his ruined throat, and in that moment I knew I was a monster because I felt nothing but satisfaction as the light faded from his eyes.

I stood over him, my breath coming in ragged gasps, as my fire swirled around me.

The crown slipped from his head. I bent down and retrieved it and the glowing orb.

My Queen! Terrance's voice vibrated with intensity. Please know that I would never have willingly served that cur, but he threatened to burn Nina to the ground if I did not assist him. I couldn't let him hurt Nina! His distress was evident.

I understand, I said softly. I would have done the same if Greg had been threatened.

I shifted to fully human and put the crown on my now-human head. Now that Isaacs was dead, the dome of air around Arden had fallen. I ran to him and threw myself to the ground next to him. I put down the orb so that my hands were free and lifted his head onto my lap.

His golden eyes rolled up to look at me. ‘You're okay,' I lied. ‘You're going to be okay.'

He was still breathing but his wounds were too great; there was no coming back from those, even for a shifter. We were hardy but we weren't immortal. I stroked his head. ‘You're okay,' I repeated. ‘You did such a good job saving me.'

Arden turned his head to the side and his tongue reached out to lick my hand, one last sign of quiet affection, then his eyes locked on mine and flashed brown. Tristan looked out at me as his chest sank and did not rise again.

A sob ripped from my throat. Helplessly, I pressed Arden's head to my chest and rocked back and forth, crying my heart out at the death of one of my wolves. Tristan and I had come such a long way since we'd first met and his death tore me to shreds. He had died for me . My heart was in tatters.

Arden's body shifted back to human and I gently pressed a kiss to his forehead. ‘I'll be back soon,' I promised as I laid his hands across his ruined chest. I patted his shoulder and then I stood, grabbed the glowing orb and surveyed the destruction around me .

The battle was still raging; if anything, Isaacs' death had reinvigorated his warriors. I spotted Rohan ripping into the throat of another wolf and wondered whether I was witnessing my brother's first kill or whether it was one of many.

My Nonna and Nonno had been joined by Angelo and Beatrice. Together with Maxwell and Alyssa, they appeared to have paired up with some of my wolves and were using their flames and air powers together with devastating accuracy.

In the end, it was a massacre.

‘You can surrender,' I called to Isaacs' wolves. ‘No one else will be killed if you surrender.' The air filled with defiant snarls and the Merseyside wolves doubled down. So be it.

One of them tried to come towards me but before it could reach me Red tackled it and sent it flying. The battle raged on and I let it. I had finally learned my lesson: dead enemies were far better than living ones.

I stood next to Tristan's cooling body and used my air and flames to raze my enemies to the ground.