Chapter 96
Amanda
Javier looked like he''d swallowed a stinkbug. His arms were crossed over his chest and though he tried
to smile at me, there was something in the action that was missing.
"Luna," he grumbled as I walked by.
This was quite the change from earlier. It had only been long enough for Zale to sit him down to have a
talk and this was the result? "What''s wrong?" I asked. We didn''t have much time now. We needed to
leave soon.
Javier groaned and sighed at the same time while thumping his chest. "I''ve made a decision." He
grimaced even as he said the words. "I''m staying behind."
Bo perked up from the other side of me. "You are?"
Javier glowered at him. The man''s eyes were almostpletely closed. "I am," he agreed with a shrug.
"I''ve got no choice. I''m going to help protect the people here along with Tyler."
Mytest hound nodded slightly. I hadn''t prepared for two of my mates to stay behind, but if I thought
about what had happened thest time I had been outside of the magical walls of the Kingdom, I well
understood the reasoning.
If we kept losing packmembers, there wouldn''t be much of anything left but us. I took Javier''s fists in
mine and his pout flickered as if he was fighting to keep it there. "Thank you, Javier."
"Yeah, well, if I want to keep my people safe, I have to show an example. We all saw how Bo botched it
need to get the help of a hound."
Tyler for his part ignored him. He was looking into the distance his eyes almost liquid pools as he
focused. "With two of us here thesends and people should be safe. I''m not so sure about your
journey, but with the Prime and the other hounds with you, I trust you''ll be in the best possible hands."
He slung a hand around Javier and the man red at the other. "Come wolf, we need to prepare. We''ll
keep these people safe, but it doesn''t mean we won''t be challenged."
There went my chance to say goodbye to him. No matter. Time was precious and we were letting it
trickle away like sand to the wind. "Thank you," I whispered to the two of them. Tyler gave me a little
wave without turning away and Javier turned only enough to give me a determined grin.
I could trust them to protect this ce, this new home of mine. "Ready?" Raul asked. He waited for me,
a hand held out. Bo stood beside him ring at the hounds and pouting.
"Bo, if you don''t stop pouting you''re staying here to protect the ce," Zale growled in his ear. Bo
stiffened and grunted. "Good," Zale praised.
Zale''s hand found mine and he pulled me after him. "We''re going to get ra back, and we''re going to
kill that fucker that dared to try to hurt you."
I wanted to believe him, that he was entirely capable of it and that soon I would start my fairytale life. I
didn''t care if I was lost in endless orgasms or being pushed to my limits. Any and all of that was worth
what it would mean if we could just scrape Rigar off of this world once and for all. No matter what he
threw at us.
Raul took my other hand which made Bo pout even more, but a simple re from Zale made him stop.
The magical shield recognized Zale''s power as we walked through. The wide snowy expanse in front of
us flickered away.
But it wasn''t the dark green forest I was used to ready to greet us.
Instead, thend before us was solid ck ash. There were no trees, there was no grass, no life,
nothing.
"What''s going on?" I demanded.
Belonging to N?velDrama.Org.
Jesse came up behind us. "My guess? All the life of this ce was sucked out. That fucker did some
sort of spell taking it all. The only reason your ce is safe is the Prime''s barrier."
Bo knelt down and ran his hands through the fine dust. "Zale," he whispered. "How could they do this?"
"It doesn''t matter, Bo. We''re about to go rip him apart. We''ll use his blood to regrow this area and take
it back over. This is all death now, but we''ll bring back life."
My forehead throbbed again but within seconds, Raul kissed the spot and the pain faded just as fast as
it came. But I understood now it wasn''t just a way to make me suffer. That bastard was trying to use
this attachment that had been forced on me to keep track.
I''d been miserable, but this ce had been my home once. I''d grown up under the trees and listened to
the songs of the birds. All of that was gone. This looked like a desert filled with ck stand stretching
as far as my eyes could make out.
Raul jerked to attention and Jesse pushed his way in front of us. Both of the hounds transformed into
their animal selves and their fires formed a circle around me and Zale. I opened my mouth to ask them
what was wrong when I too felt it.
A coldness hung in the air, a different type of chill than what came from ournds. The tiny of bone-
tingling chill that would allow the dead to walk again.
They shimmered to life around me, floating in the air, forming a loose circle around us. Were these
ra''s brothers, my sons? I couldn''t quite im these monsters. Their eyes were either ck or literal
mes. Their fingers were ckened on the tips and trails of blood dripped down their cheeks. The
oldest one pointed at me and smiled. His teeth were all ck spikes. "Look who has joined us,
brothers. Our mother is here to share her power with us."
My hounds growled and their mes zed around us. Zale had not wasted a moment shifting into
Ares and the big wolf growled at the group.
Only Bo was frozen in ce. The tips of his ck fingers twitched and he jerked this way and that
before slowly turning toward me. Ares snarled at him, but Bo ignored him before falling to the ground,
and shifting into a strange version of a wolf. It wasn''t his, and it wasn''t Ares. Instead, it was almost as if
a skeleton was forcing its way out of him and a dark red light glistened in his eyes.
"Stay still," Raul ordered me. "We''ve got this."
But I couldn''t help but worry. The sweet side of Bo that I''de to know was gone. All I could see was
a hunger in those unfamiliar eyes that longed to burn me alive.