Come What May

Ryder’s ears were buzzing as the blood rushed towards his head. His world falling apart as he helplessly witnessed his Charlie getting assaulted by the soulless atrocity. His vision turned red with the intent to kill. The anger that coursed through his body was unbearable.

He leaped towards the demon and transformed into his Lycanthrope form. Grey magnificent fur sprouting from all over his body, his body gaining unimaginable strength as his deadly nails dug deep into the throat of the enemy ripping him into uncountable pieces that disappeared into thin air.

A loud roar left his mouth as he saw his mate’s body falling limply into the ground in the pool of his own blood.

They hurt his mate!

They made him bleed!

He wants to finish every demon by his own hands. He turned and saw the demon who held his Luna Queen disappear and he leaped to carry her in his arms. He put her to the ground gently and rushed towards his mate.

*******

Berenice’s pov

I shook my head vigorously to shake the unconsciousness out. I opened my eyes after a few minutes and got to my feet in wobbly legs.

Charlie!

Oh my God, Charlie!

I frantically looked for Charlie and was taken back when I saw a huge Lycan holding Charlie’s lifeless body in his arms. His large frame almost hid away Charlie’s smaller one.

I cautiously approached the already distressed Lycan who I know is Ryder with a bleeding Charlie in his arms. My eyes welled up with tears as I look at the little boy, Ryder’s angel in this condition.

Why did this happen to him? He doesn’t deserve this. They both don’t deserve this. They deserve their happily ever after.

“Ryder.” I say, gently keeping a hand over the massive Lycan’s shoulder and looked at the angel in his arms who had a smile on his face.

Ryder looked at me with his bloodshot eyes. His eyes spoke a million words. He lost his everything, his whole world and his own will to live.

I was about to say something when I felt my head spinning and I heard a faint sound.

lub dub.. lub dub…

lub dub.. lub dub…

I shook my head to focus back on Ryder and Charlie when I realized Ryder heard the same thing.

Charlie’s heartbeat!

“Charlie!” the Lycan cried, his voice so deep, I almost couldn’t recognize it’s Ryder’s.

How was I able to hear it?

“He- he’s alive, Ryder!” I cried in happiness and I saw the tears of happiness leave Ryder’s eyes too.

He did not wait another minute leaped towards the castle, no doubt, taking him to the medical wing.

“Berenice!” I was about to follow them when I heard the voice that I wanted to hear all day and in an instant, I was engulfed with my mate’s warmth.

And just like that I surrender in his arms as I cried my heart out. I felt like all the troubles will be gone and all the problems will be solved as my mate is here now.

He is our protector

Our savior

I bury my face in his chest still sobbing as I am carried inside the castle. He did not say anything to me. Just allowed me to cry my heart out.

No words spoken

No questions asked

No consolation

Nothing

I felt him sniffing my scent as I myself greedily inhaled his. I was carried to the medical wing where a chaos was waiting for us.

Ryder who was still in his Lycan form was growling at the medics who tried to take Charlie to the emergency room. He was not letting anyone near him.

I was gently put down on a couch in the waiting area and given a soft peck on the forehead. I looked at my mate who gave me a small and reassuring smile taking away all my worries.

He walked towards his best friend who looked at him warily and stood before him maintaining a safe distanced to not make him feel threatened.

“Ryder, you need to let them help Charlie. They can save him.” he tried to take a step further towards him but the snarl that left Ryder’s mouth made him retreat his step.

“We need to treat Charlie now!” Nayanthara came running towards us and yelled.

“Ryder, please, let them help Charlie.” I croaked.

“You can take him there yourself.” Nayanthara offered. Ryder gave a subtle nod and followed her to the emergency room.

My mate was by my side again, on his knees, inspecting me for injuries. His hands raked over my throat making me hiss.

“It’s swollen.” He whispered. He leans forward and touch my forehead with his.

“I am sorry I was not there to protect you.” he breathes out.

“It’s not your fault.” I sobbed. I held the back of his head with my shaky hands and entangled my fingers in his hair.

I was at fault here. I was not able to save Charlie who held on to me for his safety, who trusted me with his safety.

I failed as the Luna Queen

I couldn’t use my abilities when they were needed the most.

A loving kiss was pressed against my lips and then my mate stood up and walked towards his mother. Then only I noticed all the people present in the waiting area.

Mother, Grace, Sasha, Gabriella. Sasha was crying in mother’s arms whereas Grace and Gabriella were huddled in a corner bawling their eyes out.

What happened to them?

I stoop up as soon as I remembered about Sara.

“Berry!” mother screeched and my mate was at my side in an instant as I felt dizzy.

“Sa- Sara. How’s Sara?” I asked as my mate pulled me in his embrace.

“I was about to ask that, love. Calm down.”

“She is out of danger now. Nayanthara was able to save the baby too.” Mother announced and a relieved smile made it’s way on my lips.

“That’s- that’s great news.” I said.

“How is Max?” I asked my best friend who looked at me with a teary smile.

“The- the doctor said that he will be fine.” She managed to speak. There was an aura of nervousness around her as she was intimidated by the presence of so many Lycans around her. I gave her a reassuring smile.

The pain in my neck also vanished because of quick healing.

“I think I should go to my mate.” Sasha said and left after bowing to all of us.

My mate’s one arm was wrapped around my waist and the other hand cupped my face, caressing my cheek with his thumb as he simply looked at me. We both stared into each other’s eyes finding comfort in each other’s presence.

“Alpha!” a guard came running towards us with panic and fear written all over his face.

“Al- Alpha, all the captors managed to escape the dungeons.”

WHAT?

*****

Ryder’s pov

It felt like someone was ripping out my heart from my body when I saw those demons sucking the life out of my Charlie. They hurt him and I couldn’t do anything.

I turned back into my human form and was offered a robe to wear after Nayanthara announced that Charlie will be safe.

She told that the potion she made us all drink acted as the shield that protected Charlie. The demons could not extract his life force. The potion made the demons weak. That is why I was about to finish off the one who attacked my Charlie.

My baby

My angel

I just looked at his sleeping face and waited for him to open his big doe eyes full of innocence. I wanted him to smile at me. I wanted his cheeks to turn the beautiful shade of red whenever I said something corny.

I held his hands and stared at his pale, lifeless face connected to so many machines.

“Please, wake up baby. Please.” I whispered and kissed his hands.

Please God, give me back my angel. Who will light up my whole day with his cute giggles if I lost him? how will I ever be able to sleep peacefully at night without him in my arms? Who will complete me?

A tissue was offered to me and I looked up to see it was Nayanthara standing beside me. Then only realized that I was crying. I took the tissue from her hand and wiped my tears away.

“He will be okay. He sustained minor injuries because of the hard fall. I readjusted his bones. They are not dislocated anymore. He holds your mark. It will help him heal quickly.” She reassured me.

“Thank you.” I sobbed. She patted my head a few times and then left the room leaving me alone with my mate.

How will I live without you, Charlie? I can’t.

This is the last time someone hurt you. I will not let this happen ever again.

Never!

****

Berenice’s pov

We all left the waiting area and were now at the meeting room. My mate was having a serious discussion with some Lycans who held important ranks which I was not informed about. He called all of them for an urgent meeting when he got to know about the escape of all the captors.

They left after my mate ordered them to make sure everyone drinks that potion daily and no one is to be left out.

It was reported that no one else was harmed today. The demons’ target were Charlie and Ryder.

“Alex, we have something to tell you.” mother spoke up. My mate looked at her with a questioning gaze.

“It was Savannah.” She said.

“Savannah?” I asked.

“The one who tried to kill Saraya and her unborn child was Savannah.” Grace answered and started crying along with Gabriella.

“How can you say that?” My mate asked. I on the other hand, was taken aback. She looked so happy when she found out about Sara’s pregnancy. Why would she do that?

“She was the one who prepared breakfast for Sara. She was acting suspicious and pushed me out of the kitchen when she was cooking. She disappeared after that. We have no clue where she is.” Grace revealed.

“My own sister betrayed us!” my mate yelled and threw a chair across the room in anger which made us all shrink back into ourselves.

His eyes turned golden as anger got the best of him.

I suddenly remembered something.

“Oh my God, I- I saw her sneaking out of the castle last night. Was she conspiring something against us?”

“I think yes, Luna. I cannot believe my best friend did that.” Grace cried.

“I don’t understand one thing. How did the demons enter our territory? I thought they can’t enter any land that came under the Royals. And why only Charlie was harmed? They had caught both Charlie and Berenice but they only attacked Charlie, why?” mother questioned.

“Mo- mother. They said that..” I gulped before continuing.

“They said that they wa- want to rip out the baby from my womb in front of my mate.” I said and looked at my mate who had a blank look on his face.

Just the though was enough to make me double over in pain.

How sadist are they?

“Th- they take great pleasure in tor- torturing others. They want us to see our loved ones die a slow painful death. They would’ve attacked Ryder too if their attack on Charlie was successful.” I explained.

“So, they don’t want to kill you? Then why were you attacked a few months back? You would have died if it weren’t for Fatmagul. But isn’t Fatmagul working with those demons? Why try to kill you and then save you? Why?” mother held her head in both her hands.

“Because it was all a setup.” My mate spoke up making all of us shocked.

“A setup?” I asked to which my mate nodded.

He plopped down in one of the chairs and ran a hand over his face.

“They attacked Berry only to be saved by Fatmagul later because they wanted us to trust Fatmagul. They knew we will blindly trust her if she saves my mate’s life.

They made us believe that people are safe on our land so that we can all be at one place and they could ambush us easily.

They tried to take away our strength by taking away two of our strongest Lycans by harming their weak points. Their mates. We would’ve lost Ryder and Charlie today if it weren’t for the potion that Nayanthara prepared.

They want to see me suffering by killing my mate and unborn child in front of my eyes. That is why they cast a spell on me that day. They wanted me to complete the mating process. The attack on those wolves was a setup just to get me at a secluded place.”

I fell down on a chair as it became too much for me to process.

“Today, they attacked the castle and officially started the war.”