Chapter 135 Duel to Death

Avalyn

Adrenaline pumped through my body at the thought that maybe Nikolai could kill him.

And I was so excited, that I didn't see the arrow that came from the Mystic Lupus, aimed right at Nikolai.

Adrik was positioned such a way what I couldn't see Nik clearly.

I spotted the arrow when they moved a little but it was already too late. And it was followed by a howl filled with pain that broke my heart.

No one touches my King.

I sprinted towards Nikolai, not caring of the various shouts coming from my pack.

"Avalyn no!" Dimitri yelled.

Mikhail and him tried to catch my hand but they weren't fast enough.

Adrik and Nikolai had stopped fighting, and had backed away from each other.

I scanned the people of Mystic Lupus. Most were in their wolf form and some were in their human form. One of them stuck out. I saw him put the crossbow down.

I extended my hand in his direction and dragged him to the centre of the field.

A cry escaped his scrawny form as he scraped through the rough ground and I dropped him besides Adrik.

I came to a stop besides Nikolai and snarled at Adrik, "is this what you call a fair fight, Alpha?"

Adrik shifted in his human form and focused his thunderous glare on the archer. "How dare you?" And from the looks of it, he was already healed. So he had impenetrable skin and super healing powers. Just bloody perfect.

Nikolai shifted back to his skin and my heart melted at the multiple wounds, cuts and scrapes on his body, "I won. I had your fucking neck and you know it."

Adrik turned to look at Nikolai, "it was a duel to death, no? You had said so. As far as I know, I am still alive."

"It was a duel to death that your pack member dishonoured. How will you make it right?"

"The only option we have now is war." He replied. "That, or you can submit to me. I will forgive all your sins and show you the correct path. But you will have to take an oath to be loyal to me."

Nikolai replied by spitting on the ground and saying, "I would rather fucking die."

"As you wish, son." Adrik smirked but it had a darker edge to it. His pride had been wounded because he knew he had lost. Nikolai had his neck between his teeth, and if not for his powers, Nik would've killed him. So the only way for him to boost his ego was to kill Nikolai.

And I would unleash all my powers if anyone tried to do that.

"I dare you to fucking try," I hissed.

"You should teach your bitch some manners. I thought I had taught you better than that, son."

I didn't care for his name calling. Nor did his words affect me. But the way Nik growled, I knew he had struck a nerve. And it wasn't just a nerve, it seemed like an old wound that hadn't yet healed.

Speaking of wounds, I pulled out the arrow lodged in Nikolai's shoulder and healed both of the wounds with a snap of my finger. And then threw it in direction of the archer. I used my powers to increase its velocity to that of a bullet.

It passed through the eye of the archer before he fell dead.

Adrik's eyebrows raised upon seeing my powers. "You're a special one, eh?"

"Special enough to kill your entire army without lifting a finger." I smiled evilly. "Want to see?"

I could see the fear and dread rolling off the people of Mystic Lupus. I could feel that my powers were something they hadn't heard of or seen before. But more than that, I could feel that Nikolai was frozen. Maybe, that one sentence had done more damage than I think. But I was here and I would protect him. Just like he protected me when I had to face Emilio.

"Give me a demonstration first." He offered, spreading his arms, inviting me to kill him.

He was Nikolai's to kill.

But that didn't mean I couldn't torture him a little first.

I brought my hands up and imagined lifting him up into the sky.

Adrik didn't move an inch.

I focused harder, using more strength, more power than I ever had. But it had no effect.

Adrik's eyes shined with sadistic delight. "I have been blessed by The Great Goddess Luna. I am the one who will be the King of this universe and might even just save the universe if Nikolai keeps being such a little pussy. I am the one who will fulfil the prophesy. You cannot kill me. Nor do magical powers work on me."

"That does not make you an exception from pain." It was Nikolai who spoke this time. "And once I have you, I will keep you captive for the rest of your life. Make your immortality a curse. I will torture you every single day, for as long as I live." Nikolai's voice was filled with pure hatred. And this kind of hatred was felt only after a lifetime of suffering. It was ingrained deep within him. "I will make you my perfect prisoner."

The smirk on Adrik's face faltered.

He didn't look as confident anymore.

He wasn't aware of the entirety of the strength of my powers. He wasn't aware of the strength Nikolai yielded. He wasn't a small boy anymore. He was an a hot blooded Alpha. A true King. Who now had multiple armies at his disposal.

With the armoured vampires on our side, our army matched the size of Adrik's army. There would've been a fifty-fifty chance of winning. But now that Adrik knew that I had the potential to kill his entire army without having to move a muscle, his confidence had faltered.

Because as Nikolai said, he might not die but he does feel pain. And there was no running from such a huge army. He was trapped now and he would be at our mercy. And he knew that being alive and kept as a captive was worse than dying.

"I'm not going to do down without a fight." He said after a solid minute before he looked back at his army and growled, "attack!"

His army didn't look very confident now. They didn't look like they wanted to fight anymore. Who would fight for an Alpha that had already lost? Who would fight for an Alpha that was knowingly sending his entire army on a suicide mission?

Out of thousands of werewolves, only a few hundred of them stepped forward, but not with a lot of confidence. They however, were definitely loyal to him.

"What are you waiting for? Attack!" Adrik's Alpha command boomed across the ground and the next thing I knew, his entire army was charging towards us.

"Attack." Nikolai's command came right after. But he didn't have use an Alpha command to force our pack members to do his bidding. They did it willingly. Our army and the armoured vampires charged forward in full attack mode.

"Don't use your powers and kill them, Love. We're going to end this without a lot of bloodshed. Let's go find Adrik." Nik's voice was confident as he shifted in his wolf and ran in the direction Adrik disappeared.

Was he really willing to get his army killed just so he can get an opening to escape?

I uncurled my wings from the back, making them visible to the naked eye. I saw the wolves running towards us look at me with shocked, wide eyes but I paid them no heed as I started moving them and rose into the air.

I had actually gotten pretty good at flying. Once I was at a decent height, I began soaring around, wanting to spot Adrik. It was dark and being a faye, my eyesight wasn't as good now as it was when I was a werewolf. But my vampire side helped.

I saw Nikolai running away from the fight, towards the forest.

And near the edge of the forest, I saw Adrik running into the woods. But instead of going in, he stopped at the edge and turned around to look at Nik.

I saw his lips move and he raised his hand. A pouch appeared in his hand.

I knew something wasn't right. Without wasting any time, I flew right towards him. But I was too far away, and so was Nikolai.

Adrik dug hid hand into the pouch and then threw red coloured dust into the air that then fell down on him. It looked exactly like the dust the zombie witches used to teleport.

Oh Goddess no!

I increased my speed and I was a few seconds away when he disappeared into thin air.

And I was too close to the ground to slow down so I crashed on the ground and rolled on the ground to a stop. A cry escaped my lips. It freaking hurt!

"Avalyn!" Nikolai was looming over me when I flickered my eyes open. "Are you okay?"

"He got away." I rasped.

"I saw." He whispered, his eyes haunted. I can't even fathom was going through his mind. I know that he has made it his life's mission to kill his father. And he had ideated an elaborate plan that would ensure it. But Adrik was a few steps ahead of him and attacked first. And after the many difficulties we faced, things were finally looking up.

And Adrik escaped.

Goddess knows where he is now.

"We'll catch him, Mi Amor." I cupped his cheek.

"Yeah." He didn't sound very sure as he pulled me to my feet. "We need to stop the war first."

I nodded.

"Can you walk?" He asked with worry. "Heal yourself."

And I did just that before we sprinted to the war together. The events of the last few days were just crashing down on me and I didn't feel as strong as I was feeling earlier.

Maybe it was adrenaline and the fall wore it off or something.

"Stop!" Nik growled when we reached the fight.

He only gained the attention of the few people around us.

But then slowly, Nik's powers started increasing and his Alpha wolf was right on the surface, more prominent than ever. His hair started turning blond as he reached for the energy deep within before he let out a thunderous growl.

Everyone paused. There was pin drop silence. No one dared to make to make a single sound.

Neither the supernaturals in our pack, the armoured vampires nor the wolves of Mystic Lupus.

"Adrik ran away like the coward that he is." Nikolai's voice reverberated across the ground, "the war is over. You either bend the knee and surrender or die."

Utter silence ensued and I could feel the dread rolling off of the wolves of Mystic Lupus and relief off of our warriors.

"Bend the knee, or die." Nikolai growled again, his fists lighting up on fire and I spread my wings wide, ready for attack.

And it was all for show after all. The last thing both of us wanted was bloodshed, but it would be inevitable if they decided to fight. And the best way to make them surrender was for them to realise that it was the only option they had. And showing our power, our strength and dominance over them did that pretty well.

Nikolai

One by one, they started kneeling. In the end, only a handful remained standing. Heath, the Beta of Mystic Lupus was one of them. I remembered him to be a strong, kind and loyal wolf. He was the reason Mom and I had been able to run away all those years ago.

He was the reason I am alive today. And right now, I was faced with the challenge of either making him submit or to kill him.

"Beta Heath," my hands clenched in a fist. I used to call him uncle once upon a time. "It will be in your best interest if you kneel. Adrik is gone. He deserted his pack members, left them to fend for themselves or die. That is not kind of Alpha you should stay loyal to."

"I have made many mistakes in my life," his eyes were sharp. He regrets helping us run away. I have no idea what story Adrik had fed him. "Standing right now is not one. I made an oath to King Adrik that I intend to follow for as long as I live." The warriors that were kneeling looked shameful and the ones who were standing puffed their chests.

"You made a stronger oath when you became a Beta and took over after your father than what you made to Adrik. To guide the Alpha. To protect the weak—women and children. To do what is right for your pack. Or have you forgotten that?" I asked. "Adrik did none of those and yet, you kept following him blindly. And now, he is leading you to death, away from your mate and family. You still choose to go through with it?"

When I had the option between Ava and kneeling, I knelt. Nothing in the world is more important to me than her. Not even my own self. Especially not my pride. And if this man chooses Adrik, literally the worst Alpha to walk on this planet, over his mate, his daughter, then that was not the kind of man I wanted in my pack.

His eyes met mine and I knew I didn't get through to him.

"I will reunite with my mate in the afterlife. But right now, me betraying King Adrik would be equal to me betraying Goddess Luna and going against her word. I cannot live with that weight on my shoulder." He replied solemnly.

Betraying Goddess Luna? What the fuck was he talking about? And why was he calling Adrik King instead of Alpha?

I could feel the people growing restless. I need to take action and take it quickly. The last thing I wanted was to think that I'm weak and then betray me when they become my pack members. Because that was worse than enemies attacking you.

"Yes, I will stand by King Adrik too and follow his orders. He is blessed immortality by Goddess Luna. He is soon going to become the King of this universe with her blessings too." One young warrior, who stood beside Heath spoke up.

"Blessed by the Moon Goddess?" Ava snorted. "I could literally feel the black magic rolling off of him. You seriously cannot believe otherwise."

I didn't feel it. Which was why I was sure that no one else did either.

But Ava wasn't just a werewolf or only a vampire. She's a Faye, she has different powers.

"Black magic?" Heath was the one who asked. Now this put him in a dilemma.

Ava nodded. "He probably did some spell just like casted a spell on those poor witches and made them into zombies."

"Zombies?" He murmured.

"Yes. He got a spell casted on us because of which the souls of our ancestors took control of our bodies." Arrow stepped out of the crowd. "He is the reason the witch population of Jivan had been dwindling in the last decade."

There was a look of pure shock on Heath's and the other wolves' of Mystic Lupus's face.

"Are you seriously telling me that being the Beta of the pack you didn't know any of this?" Anna hissed. That’s when he took in the large witch population, all of whom looked furious.

I understood. Adrik was good at putting up a nice front. Excellent, in fact. He only showed people what he wanted to show. And this time, he had fooled his entire pack. And I was sure it wasn't the entire pack. Some had to know, surely. And I had to weed out those corrupt wolves before they do any harm. They were the ones who would do anything for money and power.

"Apologies," Heath said, his eyes lowering. "I swear to the Moon Goddess, we didn't know anything. I will accept any punishment you deem fit, Alpha Nikolai." And then he fell to his knees. He was followed by the rest till every wolf of Mystic Lupus was kneeling. The other wolves murmured in agreement, deep shame filling their forms, all their previous pride vanished.

"Punishment will be served, Beta Heath. You are the Beta. It is your goddamn job to know what your Alpha is up to and what's happening inside the boundaries of your pack. First, you will find out the wolves who did know about this and bring them to me. Some surely did to have executed an operation this large. Once that is done, you will dedicate your life to find Adrik." Regardless of the secrets, he was the one who knew Adrik the best, having grown up with him and worked together since a century. "And until you do that, you are to not return to the supernatural island, not unless it is required to find him."

He lowered his head in acceptance.

"Alpha Nikolai," An aged witch called and I turned to look at him standing in front of the thousands of witches. "On behalf of all the witches standing here, I would like to say something."

I nodded, motioning him to go on.

He proceeded to kneel on one knee and he was followed by the rest of the witches.

"Alpha Nikolai," he started, "we would like to apologise for all that we did while in the influence of Adrik's power and the souls of our ancestors."

"You have nothing to apologise for." I replied. It really wasn't their fault. They had been a victim just as much as we were.

"We would also like to thank you, Luna Avalyn, and the rest of the Volkov family— especially Beta Dimitri and Beta Natalia from the bottom of our hearts. And if you would have us, we would like to join the great Soare-Luna Pack. It would be an honour to call this land our home and you, our King."

"It would be our pleasure." I replied for the entire pack.

"We had been misguided by our elders and it is because of your family that all of us are alive today and our race will continue to live on." My heart felt full upon feeling the depth of their love and loyalty.  He then placed his hand over his heart, "I pledge my life to you."

"I pledge my life to you." His voice was followed by an echo of the voices of thousands of the witches kneeling behind him. "And every single witch from here on, will remain loyal to the Volkov family."

I saw Jeffry Malone, who was standing on the side, wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. Most of the witches kneeling here would've been his students, he had known most of them for all their lives. It must be surreal to see them all together, well and live again.

He looked at me and gave me a shaky smile before he too knelt down and placed his hand over his heart, "I pledge my life to you."

The great Headmaster of Scholae Pythonissam, the mentor of the entire witch race was kneeling in front of me and pledging me his life and loyalty.

I had to have done something right.

Ava's fingers threaded through mine. I looked down at her and saw her smiling tearfully at me.

'The power of love and loyalty triumphs the power of fear and brutality, Mi Amor.' She said through the mind link.

There was a time I used to believe that people need to fear you to follow you. But that was my father's teaching that had cultivated into my belief. I had been proven wrong today.

If I had not loved and cared for my people, for the people of other packs and Kingdoms, more than half of the supernatural race would have been dead today.

Ava is right. She usually is.

Hate cannot kill hate. Only love can.

"Rise." I said and all the witches stood up. "The wolves of Mystic Lupus too."

Once they did, I carried on. "It has been my greatest honour to have all of you pledge your life and loyalty to us." It really was. "In return, I pledge to always protect you, care for you and love you, as an Alpha should. And it would be my pleasure to have you call Soare-Luna your home. This goes for you too," I looked at the Mystic Lupus wolves, "you will not be treated like slaves or omegas just because you surrendered or belonged to Mystic Lupus. You fought for your Alpha and for your pack, there is no shame in that, there would be no punishment for that."

I could feel the relief flowing from them and the rise in their respect, especially once they saw what we had done for the witches and their love and loyalty towards us.

"As far as I know, there is no Mystic Lupus anymore, only Soare-Luna. You will be treated like any other pack member. And as a result of that, you will be expected to learn and follow all the new, progressive rules of the pack, unlearn all the old, regressive rules of your previous pack. I also demand utmost respect and loyalty from each and every one of you. These are the only conditions to be a part of Soare- Luna. Anyone who doesn't want to be here is free to leave. The only punishment for treason will be death. And pass on this message to the rest of the pack. Heath will stay and take care of the transfer and the people, announce the new rules and reforms that will be sent to you before I come there and take charge myself."

"And all of you will officially be inaugurated into the pack after everything is in place. Understood?"

I know it won't be for another few days. I needed to pay a visit to Bellehaven and rip apart a few hearts.

"Yes, Alpha Nikolai." Heath replied, lowering his head in compliance.

"Yes, Alpha Nikolai." Malone replied.

"What now?" Ava asked, turning her head to look at me.

"Now we take care of our dead." I whispered, sadness creeping into my heart at the thought of Javier, Sofiya, Vladimir, Valeralyn and the hundreds of other dead we didn't even know the count of yet. "And pray to the Moon Goddess to be forgiving enough to excuse this war and bloodshed and accept them in heaven."