And Then There Were Four (Lilith Carrie)

James.

When Damian was killed, I felt like a piece of me had been ripped away. I wasn't sure how it had been possible, but my brother had been taken from me, and I let out a howl of despair into the air.

Ivy's scream shook all of us and not just the wolves of her pack but those of our enemies as well. I never heard anything like it before, but watching her drop to her knees next to Damian, crying, nearly killed me. 'They will all die for this.' Talon said through our link.

'Kill them all.' Hale replied with a snarl.

War had come for us, and regardless of the situation, we weren't going to let them get away with killing Damian. We weren't going to let them get away with anything.

Before I could step forward, a force surrounded me, holding me in place. I tried with all my might to move, but I could not. And suddenly, a shift was forced over me, turning me back into the human body I usually held. 'What's going on?!" I yelled through the link. 'Something made me shift back.'

'Me too.' Talon growled.

'It seems it has for all of us. Something is happening.' Hale replied.

He wasn't wrong. Something was happening.

A buzzing under my skin started to burn like fire, and a voice deep inside me spoke with it. 'It's almost time.'

What was almost time? Was this the beast Ivy freed?'

I tried to fight against what was happening but was unable. A force pushed against me, and the beast came forward snarling. Watching, I saw the wolves of our enemies stepping backward. Their ears lay back as they seemed to look at each other with confusion and uncertainty.

It was obvious I was something to fear. Something they shouldn't get involved with, and I would tear them apart with my new form.

My eyes cast towards where Ivy was, and watching, I saw the power building within her. She was magnificent, and though I couldn't hear what she was saying, the moment a roar sounded and the wolves started the battle once more, she shot a source of power toward the man in front of her with fury.

"Kill them all."

My beast growled before he threw himself at our enemies, slowly tearing them apart. His hunger for blood was a feeling I would never be able to forget.

***********

Ivy.

When Damien died, chaos consumed my soul like nothing I had ever felt before. A scream ripped through me I wasn't sure belonged to me. As the tears streamed down my face, I fell to my knees before him. The light from his eyes had slipped away, and with it, my heart.

"Why?" I cried out softly, trying to understand why someone would want to kill him. Trying to understand why they hated us so much. Just because we were different. "What have you done?"

The echoed howls of mourning from our pack members and Damian's brothers resonated through the air. The moment his heart stopped beating, we felt the snap of his bond, and with it, the snap of my mind. "You had to be controlled, and with him gone, the circle is no longer complete."

The circle... that was what this was about?

My mate was killed because they thought it would cut the circle and diminish everything. They were

fucking idiots. As my eyes snapp to him with hatred and anger in my gaze, contemplated his words. "What do you mean, the circle is gone?"

"With his death, the portal shall forever be closed, and nothing you can do will open it." His words were riddles, and I was honestly over listening to riddles.

I had no idea what portal he was talking about or why this man would act the way he did, but as I tried to calm my racing mind, I attempted to push back the power, craving to break free. "What portal?"

With a sly grin, the haze washed over him like a waterfall, washing away debris. He changed before my eyes, and as he came back into view, the man standing before me was not Alokaye.

Onyx eyes as black as night with midnight blue hair hung loosely down over his shoulders were the first things that caught my attention. The man before me stood with pale skin covered in black and green intricate tattoos. Something about him was familiar, and his mischievous grin let me know he had expected this reaction. "The portal that I came from."

"Who are you, exactly? Because nothing about you is familiar."

"Well, that's a shame," he replied with a smirk.

This was enjoyable for him. While I was here falling apart at the loss of my mate in front of me, he was relishing the destruction he caused. Standing to my feet slowly, I let the power within me build up. My heart raced, and my fists clenched so tight that my knuckles turned white.

I was going to kill him. "You have no idea who I am, do you?"

Cocking an eyebrow, the corner of his lip twitched at my response. "You're the goddess of Earth... or SQ they have proclaimed. But now the circle is broken, you will never reach that potential. The portal will never open, and I will rule over this realm. Everyone you love will die at my hands."

With his words, a roar sounded, and the battle commenced again. Some of my warriors were caught off guard as more wolves pushed from the treeline. Richard included.

"That's what you think," I snarled as my eyes washed over black, releasing the power inside me. A power that had been slowly growing over time. Slowly leaking out and infecting the people around me.