Fifty five

The house was eerily quiet, and the items on the wall made my skin crawl. I kept my steps light as I dragged Ryland who seemed relieved that Skye was not in the building, deeper into the house.

I felt her before I sensed her, and I barely managed to avoid the object she sent hurtling at me while still keeping a tight grip on Ryland.

She seemed to vanish into space before appearing once more, this time behind me, and she managed to cut me deeply with the dagger she held. The cut burned like a motherfucker, and I swung out in anger. My fist hit its mark and the force of it threw her until she crashed against the wall.

"Don't hurt her!" Ryland yelled and struggled with renewed vigor in my hold. I let go of him and head-butt him hard. The sound of it was like a Canon ball breaking through the wall. I was surprised his skull didn't crack. He staggered to the floor, a dazed-out look on her face.

Skye's gaze followed his fall, the fury in her eyes overwhelming.

My heart pounded, as adrenaline pumped through my veins.

Skye crawled towards Ryland, her hands reaching to cup his face, but he just stared up at her listlessly, and I wondered if I'd really killed him, not that mattered. Skye was my target.

"I believe you know who I am," I asked, stepping towards her, the gun I had pulled out of my holster aimed for her head.

"I do." She answered quietly, her gaze still fixed on Ryland's unmoving form, her hand pressing against his wrist to check his pulse. She let go of his wrist, a grave look on her face as she got to her feet and turned to face me.

"You are Dearil's mate, and just like him, you are a monster too".

"No. I am worse than he is. You see he could forgive you for trying to kill him, even tho you deserve that, and more for trying to take his life after everything he had gone through because of your sister's curse, but I do not forgive, I do not forget, and I definitely do not spare the life of my enemies" I said then squeezed the trigger. The gun went off, but then I was struck with a blast so strong I was flung a few feet in the air before crashing into the wall.

The world tilted on its axis, the blinding pain from the fall making my head throb.

I got to my knees, then looked over my shadow, my breath coming out in short pants as I stared at the girl. Her eyes were completely white, and she looked like a demon from the pits of hell.

I got to my feet, a smile on my lips as I gauged my opponent. "You are not so bad for a witch".

"Neither are you for a half-breed Jade Alvarez. You know I actually felt guilty for having to kill you to hurt Dearil, but not anymore. You hurt Ryland, and I am going to make you bleed for that".

"Come at me" I taunted before a wave of dizziness and blinding pain racked up all over my arms. I groaned, falling to the floor.

The low cackle of Skye reached my ears, her feet bringing her two steps closer to me. "What do we have here? Do you feel weak all of a sudden?" she asked, her voice an eerie haunting sound. I looked at her, the pain wracking through my whole being and making me want to scream.

I clenched my eyes shut, trying to channel the pain and fuel it into anger. It would have worked, but I just couldn't catch a break.

"I knew you were going to come here, so I prepared the poison for you just in case," she said raising the bloody dagger that she had stabbed me with earlier. "Dearil will feel everything you are going through, and he will not be able to save you. He won't get here in time".

I swung my arm as she got close to me, and my hand froze in the air, then with her mind, she lifted me until I was suspended in the air, within an arm's length of her.

"Dearil was never innocent, and I will not allow you to defend him while you make me look like a villain. Dearil is the real monster here. I never said I was a saint, so yeah I do what I have to do to make monsters like him pay for their crimes. I do all this to make him pay for what he did to my family"

I coughed as the poison saturated my blood, my skin feeling like it was being ripped off my bones. The air I breathe in felt like shards of glass flowing down my lungs...

I clenched my fist, fighting the pain with everything I had in me. I would go down with no ounce of fear, and If by some miracle I could destroy the unseen bands that were holding me captive, then I would not hesitate in killing her off.

"Go ahead then. Kill me." I said instead, knowing for a fact that the words that left my lips were the only truth.

"Dearil will destroy you and anyone you care about in this world or the next. He would be a mindless beast that would burn everything in his path and you won't be able to stop him".

"That is not what is going to happen. He would be weak just as you are because of the mate bond getting broken".

I smirked, and she looked at me with a frown on her face.

"You really underestimate the true extent of the power Dearil wields, little witch. Yes, he would feel the pain of my loss, but he is only going to give up his vengeance once the people responsible are dead. Half of him flows in my veins Skye, so I know him better than you ever could".

"Liar. Your words will accomplish nothing now" she said, her hand rearing back with the dagger.

The door flung open, and Skye turned in shock to see who it was. I fell to the floor with a grunt as a spray of bullets littered through the room.

Two of the bullet hit me in the thigh before I could crawl away, and with the way they burned, I could tell they were poisonous bullets.

Skye got hit with most of the bullets, and the two men I'd come to hate ignored her dying form as they came in search of me.

I pulled out the dagger I kept stashed away in my boot, then clutched it in my trembling hands, as my heart started beating erratically. I took in a deep breath.

"Where the hell is she?" Black asked, I can't hear her breathing.

"She couldn't have gone far" Vaughn's voice reached my ears.

I stayed where I was, welcoming the stab of pain that flowed through my veins. The bond I shared with Dearil hurt the worst, but at least it made me realize that he was coming for me. He was very near. I could feel it. I took in a sharp breath of air.

"Got her" Black yelled, then his finger tightened against the trigger as his eyes locked on mine. I let the dagger fly, aiming for his hand on the gun. The dagger hit its mark, and a rush of bullets sprayed in my direction. I got hit three more times since the weakness spreading through my veins dulled my reflexes.

My bond flared to life as Dearil crashed through the door, the look of pure chaos in his eyes. His roar of pain made the hair on the back of everyone in the room stand on edge. I knew he felt my pain, and it should have weakened him, but the fire that burned in his gaze said otherwise.

He stepped toward his father who looked petrified to see him.

"I warned you not to go after my Mate" he roared and Vaughn flinched back.

"Stay back," Vaughn said using his Alpha voice, his pheromones flooding the room.

Black groaned, falling to his knee. The dagger had almost completely taken off his wrist. His blood spurted everywhere.

Dearil was like a flash as he attacked the other Alpha, the force of their punch resonating through the space like thunderclap. They crashed into the walls and furniture, and with every punch Dearil landed, streaks of blood followed his fist, and the man he'd once called father lay underneath him, his skull bashed in as Dearil's wolf let loose, his eyes completely different than his normal ones. They blazed red and as Jade watched him, she couldn't help but admire the piece of art he was at that moment, even as the pain that flowed through her vein squeezed out her life force.

Black roared as he smashed into Dearil, knocking him off Vaughn before he could completely decapitate his head.

Dearil roared, his body mass becoming larger.

The action caused Black to freeze in surprise, his eyes widening to saucers. Jade stared, mesmerized as fur sprouted out of Dearil's back, the poison making everything become a hazy red. Jade wanted him near, she wanted to touch him, feel his skin against her fingertips before she finally succumbed to the cold hands of death. The urge grew steadily, almost overshadowing the pain. Or maybe it was because she had lost half the blood in her system.

Black crashed against the wall, the impact of Dearil's punch causing him to black out on the spot.

And as if Dearil could hear Jade's internal wish, he was suddenly by her side, picking her up like she was something precious before he cradled her in his arm, his warmth enveloping her frame as he buried his nose into her scent gland and called out her name over and over again. Jade grabbed onto Dearil, her body tingling with sensations as the poison crept closer to her heart.

Dearil gasped out in pain, his hold tightening around her before he roared out his frustration. Out of the corner of her eyes, Jade saw Vaughn pick up the gun beside him, his hands shaking as he took aim.

"ENOUGH!!" Skye screamed, her voice piercing through every cervix in the room, the blast of her power knocking the gun out of Vaughn's hand.

Jade had thought she had died. Turns out the witch was a total badass, or not, as Jade's gaze slipped to see her crouching beside Ryland who had finally opened his eyes and was staring at the whole mayhem that had happened.

Dearil panted, his chest rising and falling erratically as he struggled to fight off both the murderous haze and the pain that wracked through his veins from their mate bound.

"I cannot believe this," Skye said, pointedly staring at the bloodied form of Vaughn on the floor. "You are willing to kill your Son, all because you wish to hoard all the power of the head Alpha for yourself. Can you not see the damage you have done? You let your hunger for power push you this far..." She got out and then paused, swallowing loudly. "And I, I allowed my anger to poison me. I should have let it all go, I should have lived my life as my sister would have wanted me to" she said, then turned to face Dearil. "You hurt me Dearil, and I wanted you to pay for what you did, but I have been so consumed by my anger and bitterness that I've become a monster myself. My powers should never have been used as a weapon to hurt others, but look at me... " She turned to face Ryland, taking his hand in hers. Ryland stared at her, his gaze moving to their joint hand. "The answer is yes Ryland. I am willing to let go of everything now and be with you. You almost dying opened my eyes to what I really wanted and that is you, Ryland," she said, and Ryland's eyes widened. "I choose you, Ryland. Do you choose me too"?

Ryland smiled, his hands squeezing those of Skye. He tried to speak but found it hard to because Jade had damaged his neck, so he just nodded.

"Jade is dying!" Dearil got our hoarsely. "You have to save her life. Save her!" He forced out of his throat, as he stared down at Jade, the anger still burning in his eyes, and Jade knew that if she died, he was going to kill everyone.

Skye looked to Ryland, who nodded for her to go ahead. She stood up and walked toward them.

Dearil's bloodshot eyes met that of Skye.

"Do not let her leave me. She is all I have" he got out of his clogged throat, a bloody tear rolling down his cheek.

Skye stared at Jade whose eyes had gone completely dim, then she raised her hand towards her, and began a long chant of a spell.

An ashy object appeared in her palm, and she stepped toward Jade, spraying the ash into every cut and wounds on her skin.

Jade's heart skipped a beat in her chest and If she thought she had been in pain before, nothing prepared her for what happened next.

Her scream of terror rang through the night and when it got overwhelming, she wondered if she would survive after all.