Chapter 81: Blood, Death, and Freedom

OLIVIA

The noise was deafening.

It was akin to the sound of bones being pulverized. She blinked, attempting to clear her vision.

Dirt and debris were swirling around, and since she was at ground level, it obscured her sight the most. ~Did he hear me~? ~Did I manage to warn him in time~?

Her heart pounded in her chest, her throat parched from the screams that never escaped.

A new scent mingled with the existing ones. ~But it wasn’t unfamiliar. It was recognizable. Jason~.

As the dust cloud dissipated, she saw him, positioned between Alex and Will, his hands extended. On the ground, glinting at his feet, was ~the needle~.

From its appearance, he hadn’t managed to inject anything. ~Thank God.~

She couldn’t determine if it was her warning or Jason’s sudden arrival that mattered, but it was irrelevant; Alex was safe and that was the crucial part.

If Will was no match for Alex, he certainly didn’t realize they were two against him. ~It will be okay.~ Everyone will be okay.

She shifted her paw, feeling the tingling sensation spread to…~her elbow~…could she refer to it as an elbow? ~Whatever~. It was ~wearing off~. That was the key point.

She wasn’t sure if she’d feel more if it would intensify, but for now, this was sufficient.

She needed to pull herself away, she needed to regain control.

But how?

She shut her eyes, contemplating ways to extricate her body while they were preoccupied. Will was focused elsewhere; he had to wriggle his way out. He wouldn’t consider her, not at this moment.

She writhed, contorting her body, burrowing deeper into the ground. ~Come on, come on~. She hadn’t endured the agony of transformation for ~nothing~.

The more she moved, the less she could see them.

She was attempting to distance herself from the immediate vicinity; if Alex was concerned about hurting her, he wouldn’t fight the same, and she needed him to give it his all. ~Death~. That was all she could contemplate.

It surged through her, compelling her to move when she shouldn’t. Her wolf craved blood, and that wouldn’t subside.

At least, not while she was in this form. She needed more and more.

She could hear them, the punches, the labored breathing, the footsteps. It was all so loud and distinct in her head that she couldn’t disregard it. Her wolf was far more conscious of her surroundings than she was, absorbing it all.

But now wasn’t the time. She didn’t even know where she was headed, she just knew that she was creating distance. ~More and more ~distance.

There was a growl, one that shook her bones, squeezed the breath out of her, and made her freeze. ~Not good~. She felt the fur on her body stand on end, and a shiver crawl down her spine.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. Suddenly, more heartbeats were pounding in her head and her nose was overwhelmed by too many smells. ~There were more of them~.

Except these smells didn’t carry the fresh, comforting wave that Jason’s scent had brought. This was different. These were not pack members. ~The other wolves~.

The ones she was promised to… Bile surged in her throat, scorching its way up, and her heart started to race. They would come for her, and she couldn’t let them.

She tried to plant her paws down, hoping she could hoist her body and move quicker.

Her legs trembled, threatening to give way.

She could barely sense her limbs, and she didn’t know if she could bear her entire body weight on them, but she had to try.

She felt intoxicated, struggling to navigate through the grass, her head lolling, her legs buckling; a little more and then…

~But the little more never arrived~.

Instead, it was all pain.

Teeth clamped into her neck, and she cried out.

The warm sensation of blood trickling down her neck, the sharpness of teeth tearing her skin… She crumpled onto her belly, her tail drawn in.

The cries of pain kept spilling out of her as she was abruptly hoisted off the ground; they were hauling her.

Fear gripped her chest, and she tried to flail around, but all it did was deepen the grip on her neck and splatter more blood.

~That wouldn’t work~.

~Come on. Come on~.

She had to escape, she had to break free.

“She’s a slippery one. Be careful.”

She recognized that voice all too well. It echoed through her, leaving goosebumps trailing across her skin.

A knot of anxiety twisted in her belly, so intense it almost drowned out the primal instincts of her wolf. The part of her that yearned to rip him to shreds. ~Will~. He always managed to survive.

But he was with Alex and Jason… What did his presence here signify?

Suddenly, something gripped the fur near her ears, and her head was lifted from the ground.

She didn’t need to turn to know it was him, grinning down at her from his crouched position. “~Don’t worry. ~He’s still breathing. I thought it best for alpha to fight alpha. Monster against monster, wouldn’t you agree?”

~He could never let it go~.

The victim act. Did he believe his own lies? Could he distinguish where the falsehoods began and ended? Or was it all the same to him?

What kind of warped narrative had he spun for himself, where he was the hero and everyone else the villain? He assaulted her and believed he was her savior.

He claimed to love Jess, and in his twisted logic, that justified his initial plan to kill her over a rejection.

He saw alphas as monsters, as problems, but he was the real monster.

“See, they all follow his orders? They’ll slaughter your friends because ~he~ commanded it. Isn’t that foolish? Dying for someone else?”

Maybe Jess was his mate—that could be true. But he didn’t love her. He couldn’t. Because Will didn’t comprehend love.

If he did, he wouldn’t have asked that question. She was trying to protect Alex, to minimize the harm to the pack. She cared about them.

He was incapable of understanding love.

He knew obsession, control—but he didn’t know love.

“If you had stayed, if you had obeyed, we wouldn’t be here, Liv. We’d be back home—together.”

She couldn’t suppress the growl, the curl of her upper lip.

If she could speak, she would tell him he was never her home. It was all an illusion. She’d found her home independently, and it was far from him.

“Guess beasts can’t talk, huh?”

His grip on her slackened, her head thudding against the ground before she was hauled away again. Her limbs dragged on the ground, the hold on her neck tightening once more.

And there was Will, watching her with a smile on his face. He knew what they planned to do to her. Of course, he did—he was the one who suggested it. He couldn’t possess her anymore, so he wished the worst fate for her.

~No way~.

He kept coming out on top.

He kept surviving.

He kept getting away with everything.

Not this time.

Olivia could fight back. She had more mobility than they thought. She hadn’t resisted much. They wouldn’t anticipate it.

She had one chance, one opportunity to seize the element of surprise. She had to strategize, find a way to escape from the wolf’s grip. Will was still in his human form.

Even if he transformed; she should be able to get a head start. ~She could do it~.

From her position, the only limb that offered her a good range of motion was her left front leg. She could reach the wolf with it. Perhaps his face. ~His eyes~.

~One shot, Olivia, one shot~. She twitched her paw, tried to move her legs, her gaze locked on Will as he watched her being dragged away. ~Would he stay there? Would he participate?~ If he had his way, if Alex couldn’t—~NO~.

She wouldn’t entertain that thought.

She wouldn’t go there.

She’d escape.

Alex would triumph.

And Will would pay.

It had to be this way, it was the only way.

She hadn’t fought so hard, hadn’t torn down all the barriers for it to end like this. She wouldn’t be someone’s plaything again. She wouldn’t be at the mercy of a monster again. This was ~her~ life.

She would regain control and she’d be free.

She’d finally ~be free~.

Blood.

Death.

It was the only fitting end.

~Yes. His death~.

She dared to blink, to close her eyes, channeling all her energy into that one swipe.

A rush of adrenaline surged through her veins as her claw dug into the eyeball, scratching it, piercing it. A yelp of pain echoed in the background, a scream, but she couldn’t hear it.

All she could hear was the pounding of her own blood, drowning out all other sounds.

More and ~more~.

Blood splattered her face; her heart pounded, and she kept going and ~going~.

The yelps ceased, the movements stopped.

Everything stopped.

As her vision cleared, she found the wolf’s body lifeless beside her. ~Did I do this~?

Had she fought back enough, blinded him, caught him off guard to gain an advantage? Her eyes flickered, but she couldn’t detect the sound of blood coursing through his veins, no heartbeat. Nothing.

His chest was hollow, devoid of any breath.

~Did I kill him~?

Suddenly, a low growl echoed—soft, yet close.

~The others~.

Three wolves stood before her, their bared teeth a clear sign of their displeasure at what she had done to their ally. She had taken ~one~ down ~by~ surprise. How could she possibly defeat three?

They would tear her apart. Or perhaps something worse. Did werewolves…mate in this manner? Would they…

Her thought was abruptly interrupted. A loud ~thud~ and a flurry of fur obscured her view, standing between her and the adversaries.

She took a deep breath, a new scent filling her nostrils.

~Jason. How did I know it was him~?

Had she ever seen him in this form? Yet, there was no doubt in her mind.

She wanted to feel relief, gratitude, but there was only one thought in her mind; it wasn’t Alex.

Was that heartless and cruel of her?

He retreated, forcing her to follow suit.

He was creating even more distance between them. ~What was he planning to do?~ She’d never actually seen him fight. She’d never seen any of them fight. She didn’t know their capabilities, their limits. What if this was too much?

What if he was being reckless?

And why was he here? Because Alex asked him or because…

~No way~. She refused to entertain that thought.

Alex was okay. He had to be.

She heard Jason dig his claws into the earth, the mud yielding under his weight.

He was preparing to spring forward. She didn’t know that, but her wolf instincts did. She braced herself, her equilibrium still compromised by the poison Will had administered earlier. At least she could move now.

But it wasn’t sufficient.

Jason lunged forward, initiating the attack three against one.

“~Puppets always do their master’s bidding~.”

~Him. Again~.

“His alpha’s not even here, and he does his dirty work. Don’t you see, Liv?

“That’s what you’ve become. I’ve tried to help you, save you from that. But you betrayed me. You went against me. You only have yourself to blame for this. You got yourself in this situation.”

~Her fault. Always her fault~.

He kept doing this. All the time. ~Always her. Never him~.

Jess rejected him.

She left.

He never did anything wrong.

He always justified his actions to ruin someone’s life.

Would Jess still love him if she knew?

Could she stay with him? Could she look him in the eye again?

Olivia couldn’t. Never again.

He’d shattered her, and he’d almost succeeded in keeping her down.

“Now be a good girl. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. The beta’s gonna die because of you. How many more people need to die for ~you, Olivia? Are you really that special? Is that what you think?”~

~Him~.

~Him~. He was the vile monster. The reason why anyone was even dying.

He brought this pack here. He promised them ~her~ body. He was treating her like she wasn’t even a person. She was a plaything, a possession. He never saw her as anything more than something he was entitled to own.

“Shed that form, and behave. It’ll be easier for you if you just accept it. He hasn’t come for you. He won’t come for you. I have been watching him. Why do you think there were so many attacks?

“I wanted to see him in action, I wanted to know his weaknesses.”

He was trying to unsettle her.

He was trying to sow seeds of doubt. It was clear.

“He’ll die, and that’ll be your fault too.”

~No. Beta dies~.

~He brought pain~.

~Die~.

He was manipulating everyone, all the time.

“Maybe I should show them what you’re good for. Maybe I should remind ~you~ what you’re good for.”

~Enough~. He had to be stopped.

~She had to do it.~

She had to kill him.