Big Bad Wolfie

Like I was on autopilot, I pulled the poisoned knife from my waistband and sliced it through the Hybrid King's arm.

It hardly broke the skin, but that's not the point.

I sliced the knife across his arm to losen his grip, then grabbed onto Marco and slammed my foot into The King's chest. The combination of it all gave me enough momentum and strength to pry Marco from his iron grip so we both fell to the ground.

I scrambled onto my back so I could have eyes on the enemy, but the second I saw his towering frame standing over me with the whip clutched in his sadistic hands, I was a defenseless dear in the headlights all over again.

He smirked evilly.

Oh goddess.

"Come on Maria! Now is not the time to freeze!" Trainer Marco growled while grabbing me under my arms and forcing me to my feet.

By this time Rose was up the hill and composing herself to fight, and, as to be expected, Brandon came sprinting out of the forest after her.

I glanced around at the people counting on me to get my sh*t together.

And realized how dumb they were for doing that and how terrible of a person I am for tricking them into it.

All I can do is stand, stare, and be afraid.

Why did I think I could do this?

How could I forget how broken I am?

The three of them started to engage The Hybrid King, keeping him semi occupied.

It still looks like he's just playing with his food from where I'm standing.

I wonder if it looks that way from where Desi is looking down on us too. . .

Or my parents...

I wonder if they already know how this fight is going to end.

The smell of new blood spilling filled the air.

Now's clearly not the time to be wondering things about the after life, but I can't force my mind back into the present like I sometimes can.

Or maybe this is the perfect time to wonder about the afterlife.

Either way my emotions won't turn off.

So there's nothing I can do about the thoughts.

How unfortunate.

I thought I trained myself so well in how to control them, but now the fear is forming in my stomach, crawling up my spine, and slithering around my throat like a vice, and I can't do a single thing about it. I can't pinpoint where to intercept it, it's too overwhelming, too all encompassing.

Then two more bodies emerged from the forest.

One of which made me momentarily feel something other than fear when I sensed his presence.

But then the sharp sting of a whip slashed across my face, leaving fire in its wake.

That mixed with concern for Wolfie brought me out of my jumbled thoughts enough to notice Brandon, Rose, and Marco struggling to stand from their nearly defeated positions.

The Monster didn't pay any mind to them though, he just leered at me, a look of utter disgust on his face.

"You've got to be kidding me," he spat.

"I came here looking for a challenge. A Mistress.

And I got you.

How disappointing.

Maybe you and your little boy toy aren't even worth breeding."

I felt the bile rise in my mouth at the mere mention of that word.

"Your parents were strong.

I wanted to end their legacy tonight with you.

But turns out their powerful legacy really did die with them years ago.

How anticlimactic."

What he said didn't have time to have an impact on me because suddenly, I saw my parents.

Not in heaven with the moon goddess and all the other good people that have been lost, like I sometimes imagine when I have nothing else to think about. Or alive and well from a fond memory from when I was younger.

The parents I see now aren't like that. Now they're what I see in my nightmares.

As I see them now, they're alive, but not well. They're fighting, and they're nowhere close to winning.

In fact, losing is an understatement.

They're being destroyed, right before my eyes.

Piece by piece, they're torn apart, and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

So much blood pouring from them, so much exhaustion on their faces.

They still push on though.

They still fight for what's right.

For what they believe in.

For what they love.

... For me.

I gaze on as my heroes do what heroes do.

And give their everything to save the day.

To save my day.

As quickly as their precious faces came, they were replaced by new ones.

I saw Rose get up after every slash and drive on.

I saw Brandon wipe the blood off his face and run straight back into the line of fire, head first.

I saw Happy and Marco, people who truly have every reason to hate each other, work together to defeat the threat that none of us can survive alone.

Then I saw Wolfie. The person who's going to make sure that if we make it through this alive, I won't have to face the rest of the threats in life alone.

And I intend to take full advantage of that silent promise by living through this.

Desi didn't die for nothing.

And my parents' legacy is still alive and well.

Now it's just time to prove it.

Not because I think it's possible, but because I have to.

I felt the terror's hold on my airway

losen. The knots in my stomach didn't stop tightening, but the way it felt like electricity shooting through my muscles, reinvigorating my previously paralyzed form, told me my eyes are red.

Crimson red.

I stood up, feeling strong.

Something I've never ever felt in the presence of this beast.

He chuckled at my change of demeanor.

Little does he know, it's not only my demeanor that's changed. It's everything.

"Little late, don't you think?" He gestured at my battered friends.

Guilt bit at my heart, only encouraging the new primal vigor I had growing inside me to end this war once and for all.

"Better late than never."

And I pounced.

With speed I've only utilized while in blood lust, I attacked with my knife aiming straight for his throat.

He easily caught my arm and tried to break it in two, but I used one leg to push off his chest and the other to push off the ground and flipped out of the hold.

Next, I spun around his back in a maneuver Marco taught me that I never thought I'd be able to master. Must be the talent driving, I probably won't be able to do it by tomorrow morning.

Even The King looked slightly caught off guard by the sudden burst of raw force when I slammed my forearm down onto his neck and sliced the knife through the skin on his back, making sure to break the skin.

He whipped around. The anger growing in his eyes at the sudden challenge.

He threw the whip out and it caught me around the wrist, but I threw myself into an Ariel and used the momentum to drive my fist into his face.

He caught my wrist and reciprocated the favor, only I wasn't quick enough to block it, so the force of the collision had me crashing to the ground and nearly flung me off the hill completely.

I sprung back up, ignoring the instant tears that leaked from my eyes triggered by getting hit in the nose.

The inability to move my face not a concern at the moment.

"That's what I'm talking about," Marco grumbled.

I glanced around to find approving faces mixed with smirks of revenge and sighs of relief. Wolfie gave me a quick nod of acknowledgement and it felt like I got bumped up another level.

The Hybrid King collected himself after realizing he'll need to be focused to take on all of us.

I watched his expression go from hatred to cool and calculated.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise as my instincts warned me of something.

I sprung into motion, not even sure of what I'm preventing yet, but I found out pretty quickly.

His whip wrapped itself around Wolfie's neck with a flick of the wrist, and he pulled my mate in, claws out, ready to do serious damage.

Oh.

The bomb.

I forgot about that.

At the sight of Wolfie in danger, it triggered the biggest burst of lethal vitality in my heart I've ever felt.

The bomb combusted in what felt

like a painful tear through my soul, and I felt the wave of rage, sorrow, conviction, confusion, hatred, primal instincts, regret, fear, and sheer power run through my chest and to the rest of my body like a fire was set in a dry forest.

My fingertips buzzed with the need to release the pent up cacophony of potential energy within me.

Without a second thought at all, I charged The Monster and shoved his own warrior's blade into his chest, tackling him to the ground.

I pulled the knife from his chest with a twist and a wrench, feeling the blood splatter on my face.

He moved to retaliate, but I had already leapt off him to a safe distance.

With Wolfie free after he untangled himself, my mate threw the whip off the side of the hill and moved to create a line of defense in front of the path to it with Brandon and Happy.

The Hybrid King hid his rage well, but with one look at Rose I could tell he was fuming that his favorite weapon was no longer a convenient choice.

Though, it never was that convenient, was it? He just uses it to show off how capable he is of violence, because he can.

He unholstered two knives and held them at the ready, then fought with them expertly.

The deadly blades moving so skillfully they're barely visible to even my heightened gaze.

The first time Happy got cut with it my heart stopped as I waited for his

veins to turn black and for him to drop unconscious or immobile and endure a slow and painful death. I watched him hold his breathin anticipation of the same thing.

But that didn't happen.

His skin didn't sizzle, and his muscles didn't seize.

The knives aren't poisoned.

For the first time I saw The Hybrid King as something other than an unbeatable supernatural force.

Others got cut and the same thing followed.

I saw him as a fool.

Two regular old knives can only do so much against a group of six highly trained warriors after all, no matter how skilled and powerful the wielder is.

To his credit, he's not dead yet, not even close.

And we're covered in cuts and gashes and breaks that will take an eternity to heal, supernatural healing or not.

But we're making progress.

And we will end this fight on top.