Chapter 85: 86: The Toy Sword

ARIEL

My heart jolts as Xavier takes another step into the room, the floorboards creaking under his weight. Natalia grips my hand in terror.

But I refuse to show this asshole a shred of fear.

Instinctively, I stand up, getting between her and Xavier.

“What do you want, Xavier?” I say through gritted teeth.

“What do I want!?” he cries out. “I want ~everything~.”

“We can’t help you with that.”

He takes another step closer, and my hand instinctively moves to my hip, where my sword usually is.

But this time it’s not there. I must have left it with the rest of my gear on the motorcycle when I came in.

~Shit.~

My mind shifts into overdrive. I need some other way to defend myself.

A weapon.

And fast.

“I used to be an alpha,” he says, his claws extending and his eyes darkening. “The most powerful wolf in my pack. And, just my luck, here are the two ~bitches~ who took all of that away from me.”

“Everything that happened was your fault Xavier,” Natalia spits from behind me.

“How dare you?” he roars, lunging at her in a lightning flash, and I barely have time to react.

His furious speed knocks me off balance, sending me crashing into the wall as he grabs Natalia by the throat.

She struggles for air, and he grits his teeth. “You left me in that dungeon to rot!”

I struggle to regain my footing as Natalia tries to squirm away, but his grip is too strong for her. There is a burning fury in his dark eyes, stronger than I’ve ever seen before.

“You could have let me out, but no! That fucking half werewolf had to do it. Someone working with the Hunters has more decency than my own mate.”

My head starts to spin.

~Half werewolf?~

~Vivian?~

~She freed Xavier?~

~Vivian is working with the Hunters?~

If Xavier is telling the truth, we’re in deep trouble. My mind flashes to Alex, who has no idea he’s been planning the ceremony with a spy.

But I’ll get to that later.

~One traitor at a time.~

First, I need to deal with the asshole standing in front of me.

“Let her go, Xavier!” I call out, readying my fighting stance. “Come and fight me. Or are you scared I’ll beat you like last time?”

That hits a nerve.

He turns to me in disturbed rage, letting Natalia drop to the floor while she gasps for air.

In a flash, he shifts, his clothes ripping to shreds, and his hulking, growling wolf stands before me.

I barely have time to react before he pounces, knocking me back against the wall with a growl. He tries to pounce, throwing his giant claws at my chest, but I kick him with my legs and scramble to my feet.

~Think fast, Ariel.~

~I need to get him away from Natalia.~

I dart out the door and he growls loudly, giving chase as he bounds down the hall after me. I can hear his giant claws scratching the wooden floors right behind me, and feel his teeth lashing out, almost biting my heels.

At the end of the hallway, right before the stairs, I turn suddenly into the bathroom. He reacts too late, crashing downward with a snarl.

As his giant wolf tumbles over the stairs with massive thumps, I know I’ve bought myself some precious time. I slam the bathroom door shut and lock it, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

I need to let Alex know Xavier is here—

~BOOM!~

Xavier throws himself at the bathroom door right as I start writing a text, trying to keep my fingers from shaking too much.

Ariel

Alex I’m—

But before I can send it, the bathroom door shatters into splintered pieces and Xavier comes charging inside, his eyes filled with rage.

He slams into me, sending my phone flying out of my hand as I land next to the bathtub.

Xavier looks down at the phone, and his snout curls into a sharp-toothed grin.

~Shit.~

His giant paw comes down on the screen, shattering any chance I have of contacting Alex into a million pieces.

There’s only one option left now.

I shift as quickly as I can, baring my teeth at Xavier.

~“That’s more like it,”~ he says, mind-linking me.

I charge at him, delivering a flurry of scratches, each one more vicious than the last.

We fall back into the hallway, our claws slashing through the floral wallpaper.

If I were in human form, I would be trying everything I could to knock him out and keep him alive.

But my wolf wants to extend no such kindness to my ex-destined mate.

His hind legs kick me off of him, and he lunges, scraping me and snapping at my neck.

I growl, and try to ignore the pain of his razor-sharp claws buried in my fur, instead focusing on slipping out of his grasp and bolting toward the closest open door.

The door to my childhood bedroom.

I scan the room, my mind racing. It’s empty except for my childhood bed and a dozen or so boxes.

Besides a toy sword from my childhood, there’s not a weapon in sight.

I turn to face the incoming wolf right behind me: his eyes are feral, and saliva drips from his mouth.

I’ll have to fight and do what I can to buy enough time for Natalia to get far, far away from here.

I brace for impact as he tackles me, and we crash onto the bed, shattering the wooden frame. My wolf lashes out with everything she has left, scratching and biting with fury.

But he’s far bigger, and my wolf won’t want to admit it, but…

She’s trapped.

His jaws grip my neck, threatening to bite down, and I hear his mind-link enter my head like a hiss.

~Yield,~ he says.

~Shift back and your sister lives.~

I pray to the Moon Goddess that Natalia has gotten to safety.

But I need to buy her more time.

Yielding to Xavier is the last thing I want to do, but I have no choice.

I feel my wolf reluctantly slip away, back into my mind. My bones become smaller, the hair on my body sinks into my skin.

I lie there naked, trapped by Xavier, my heart thundering and my body frozen.

He shifts back too, but still keeps me firmly pinned down with his own human weight. His eyes flash with a feral intensity, and he is panting heavily.

“Ariel, why can’t you see it? We’re destined mates! ~This~ is what Fate has planned for us!”

I struggle to get away, but his grip tightens.

Then suddenly a voice calls out from behind us.

“Hey, asshole,” says Natalia, her voice unwavering. In her hands she holds my old wooden toy sword like a baseball bat. “Get off my sister.”

She winds up and swings as hard as she can, hitting him right in the head and knocking him out cold with a giant ~CRACK~.

He instantly goes limp and falls off me onto the floor, but she winds up again, bringing it down even harder.

“YOU MOTHERFUCKER!”

I roll away and watch as Natalia releases all her pent-up aggression on Xavier, bringing the toy sword down on him over and over and over.

When she finally runs out of steam, she drops her weapon onto the ground, stunned at what she’s just done.

My heart swells with pride. My sister, the girl who screams wildly the second she sees a spider, has just taken down an alpha wolf.

After quickly putting on some of my old clothes from the boxes next to the bed, I rush over to my sister and hug her.

“Glad that toy sword was still here,” I say.

“I doubt any of the dolls in my room would’ve knocked him out like that.”

I glance down at Xavier—a bloody mess—lying on the floor. My wolf growls at him, still on edge. ~Calm down,~ I tell her. ~It doesn’t look like he’ll be waking up anytime soon.~

~Thank the Goddess.~

But before we can catch our breath, I suddenly remember what Xavier said earlier.

That Vivian is working with the Hunters.

“We need to warn Alex about Vivian before the unification ceremony,” I say, formulating a plan. “Xavier shattered my phone, do you have yours?”

Natalia shakes her head. “I was in such a daze when I left the palace that I didn’t bring it.”

“Then we have to get back to the Royal Pack as soon as possible.”

“But what about ~him~?” she says as her gaze moves toward the spot on the floor where we’ve left Xavier.

My heart skips a beat—all that is there now is a pool of blood.

He’s gone.

A trail of red leads to the bathroom window across the hall, and we hear the shattering of glass.

~That bastard.~

Rushing into the bathroom, we find it empty. We peer out of the broken window, and I see Xavier's wolf limping away into the darkness.

“Looks like I didn’t do a good enough job,” Natalia says seriously, picking up the toy sword. “Let’s go get him.”

“Wait,” I say, grabbing her arm. Natalia gives me a confused look.

I’m completely torn.

My wolf is telling me to track and capture Xavier, smelling the scent of his blood still in the air.

But then I think of Alex. Lying in bed, probably wide awake and worrying to death about me, when he ~really~ should be worried about Vivian’s betrayal.

The whole pack is in danger if we don’t make it back in time.

“No, leave him,” I tell Natalia. “We’re heading back to the palace right now.”

VIVIAN

It’s the middle of the night, and I twist and turn in bed, unable to switch my mind off.

Part of me wants to sneak back into the forest and let my wolf out again.

Letting her take over just feels ~so good~.

I can sense her pacing back and forth in the recesses of my mind, urging me to howl again.

I know I should really get some sleep.

Tomorrow is the big day.

But it’s not the ceremony itself that makes me nervous.

It’s the thought of seeing my father again that fills me with anxiety.

He has a way of making me feel…insignificant.

But once he sees what we’ve planned, it might finally be the moment where he sees me as a partner.

An equal.

My phone dings, and the screen bursts to life, filling my dark room with bright light.

“Dad always has impeccable timing.”

Dad

I expect everything to be perfectly in order tomorrow.

Vivian

It will be.

Dad

You’ve been sloppy so far.

Dad

and now you have one last chance to get this right.

Dad

I could’ve easily put you down like the mutt you are, but I didn’t.

Dad

I raised you like a human.

Dad

Don’t make me regret that decision.

Vivian

I won’t let you down, Dad.

Dad

Don’t call me that.

Dad

You haven’t earned that privilege yet.

Dad

You haven’t proved your loyalty.

Dad

Until then, address me by title.

Vivian

You’re right…

Vivian

I’m sorry…

Vivian

Mr. President.