Chapter 69: Revenge. Best served cold.

STORM

~I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible. And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are often named after people.~

This was it, the moment I had waited for. After I had barely managed to escape with my life, I always assumed that the rogues that had slaughtered my parents were dead.

I thought they had been hunted and captured with the others. So when I saw them sitting at the campfire, it was like all my prayers had been answered.

My body was alive with electric magic coursing through me. My time had come. My time to avenge my parents, to put right the balance in the world. An eye for an eye. A life for a life.

Everyone was getting ready to march down and come face-to-face with these rogues, but I couldn’t wait. I decided to march ahead of the others, despite Axel’s protests.

I needed to do this. My soul needed this. My parents deserved to live, but they took that chance from them, so I will do the same in return.

I heard the wolves descend from the castle behind me and head across the grounds toward the forest. This will be messy. I know it will.

These rogues will put up a fight if they’re here to cause trouble. If they’re just passing through, well, then, sucks to be them, because they won’t see sunrise.

There was a skip in my step as I marched across the grounds coming to the entrance of the forest before the others.

I took a steeling breath, readying myself for a battle that was undoubtedly about to begin, taking a step forward. I came to a firm stop as I walked into something solid.

Taking a few steps backward, I stared up in horror as the mountain of a man sneered down at me. Walking forward, he made me take several steps backward.

I heard shouting from behind me as the wolves caught sight of the rogues exiting the forest onto the castle grounds, and they sped up.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here, boys? I told you I sensed something earlier.” The mountain man sneered at the others, who leered in response.

The wolves behind me caught up to me, and we all came to a stop in the clearing on the grounds.

“You know, I didn’t think it would be this easy to get all of the wolves in one place, but it looks like the Goddess is working in my favor today,” the mountain rogue boomed for all to hear.

Diego growled behind me and lunged at him. Flying past me in a fury, he landed roughly on the main rogue tackling him to the ground.

Shifting into their wolves, they became locked in a flurry of growls and snarls echoing across the grounds.

Chaos ensued, wolves lunging at each other, teeth snapping, guttural snarls. I got pushed to the side as the wolves went at each other.

My eyes scanned them all, trying to find the ones that killed my parents.

It was a lot harder to tell everyone apart when they were in wolf form. I needed them to shift back to their human forms for me to know who they were.

I edged around them as they went for each other, claws swiping, teeth making contact with their targets, and ripping.

~If someone kills my parents’ killers before I can…~

My heart began to race. I couldn’t let that happen. They were mine. I had to be the one to end them.

“Enough!” I roared.

The wolves stopped and looked at me.

“Shift!”

I didn’t think I would have the power to make them shift, but in a matter of seconds, bones were cracking, and skin was starting to replace fur.

I scanned the mass of naked bodies in front of me, and I found them. The air was electric with my magic. I licked my lips and pointed at the two rogues that I had intended to kill tonight.

“Come forward,” I demanded.

They stood firm in their spots, their bodies ignoring my demands.

~Oh well. Either way, they’re going to die~

Lifting my hands into the air, I raised the rogues into the air, they pulled against my hold, but I strained my mind to keep them there.

The earth rumbled around me as I drew strength from my surroundings. The sky clouded over, and thunder rang out, followed swiftly by lightning.

I hadn’t displayed magic like that since my arrival at the pack, the same magic that almost cost me my life the first time I fought these foul beasts.

Gripping their souls tightly in my magical grasp, I pulled my palms into closed fists and twisted, allowing the rogues to squirm one last time before I ripped their souls from their bodies, separating their wolves from their human side. With a thud, the rogues and their wolves landed on the ground side by side.

The royal wolves and their entourage stared at me in horror at the display I had just put on. I had just performed the same magic that had killed their alpha, but on more than one wolf.

I had taken out the rogues with a wave of my hands. Even Keir hadn’t displayed that kind of magic the last time they fought him.

For a while, no one spoke. We just stared at the bodies on the ground. I thought I would feel some kind of relief after avenging my parents, but I felt nothing. Just emptiness.

After all, my parents were still dead. Killing their murderers didn’t bring them back. It just made me public enemy number one.

I hadn’t told anyone that I knew how to do what Keir had done. Separating a wolf from his human was dark, dangerous magic, magic that shouldn’t be completed lightheartedly. It always ended in death.

It was ultimately a death spell specifically created for wolves by dark witches centuries ago in order to protect their covens from those that would lose themselves to the beast within.

Reign broke the silence. “How did you know how to do that magic?” Her voice was cold and harsh as she finally lifted her eyes from the corpses to stare at me.

All eyes were on me now as they waited for my answer. Instead, I chose to say nothing, so Reign spoke again.

“I’m asking you, how did you know how to do the magic that that madman used to kill my father? These people’s alpha! How?”

I lifted my eyes to look right into hers, not particularly caring if she thought it was a challenge or not. I was no wolf. Their rules didn’t apply to me.

“Answer me!” she roared.

“Because I am the one who taught him how to do it. I showed Keir the ancient magic he knows. Everything he knows is because of me.”

The silence that followed my admission was deafening. Everyone stared at me in horror.

“So that madman is on the loose with tools to kill wolves because of you?” Diego barked in my direction.

I nodded, matching his steely gaze with my own.

“He almost killed me, Storm. Do you know that? I almost died.” Axel stared at me like I was some stranger to him.

“You act like I showed him how to do this recently.” I didn’t recognize my own voice because of the lack of emotion in it.

“I didn’t know any of you when I showed him this magic. I didn’t know my pair would be a wolf. I assumed I would pair with a fellow witch.”

“Oh, and that makes it okay, does it?” Axel practically roared at me.

I rolled my eyes. “The factions have been at war for centuries. Don’t act like witches and wolves have always been best friends. It might be like that in this pack, but it’s not like that in others.

“I did what I had to do to protect my kind.”

“Protect your kind?! I should have you thrown in the dungeons to rot!” Diego screamed, marching toward me with fury.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“So do it, then. Go ahead. I got my revenge. I don’t care. But know this. You cannot defeat Keir without me.

“I am the only one with the power or knowledge to take him down, and you know this; otherwise, you would have killed me by now.”

His eyes danced with a furious rage as I confronted him, drawing my own height up to match his own, even though I barely came up to his chest.

“Lock her in the dungeon. The king will deal with you tomorrow,” Diego growled.

Axel didn’t put up a fight as the guards grabbed my arms and dragged me toward the castle.

If this is my fate, then so be it. At least I will die happy, knowing I avenged my parents and experienced love even briefly.