Her Forever

Sadie

My breathing was ragged. Small drops of b***d from my previous wounds were starting to heal, but the smell wasn’t leaving. I noticed that werewolves heal quickly, but I was healing quicker than the rogues. Ariande and her mate had all the wolves out of the cave by now, and I could hear some commotion outside. I continued to pray that Seth and the rest of the warriors were on their way. It was a bit past dawn.

Marcellus started to circle the fire to come closer to me, his body hunched over like the predator he was. His teeth elongated. I guess he had some abilities from his wolf. “Last chance, little wolf, use your power to heal me, and I’ll let you live.” He licked his lips.

Gaia started to pretend to dry-heave while I laughed in our head. Marcellus jumped over the fire, used his massive hand to pick us up by the scruff of our neck, and threw us against the cave wall again. “Alright, no more trying to be funny, Gaia,” I said.

“Agreed!”

Gaia shook off our fur and launched straight toward Marcellus’ arm. Quickly ripping his forearm to shredded meat. B***d spilled from his arm as he roared and bore his teeth. Slipping on some b***d standing on the cave floor, we slipped, and Marcellus took this to advantage and put his whole hand around our torso, causing him to try and squeeze the life from our stomach. A few squeezes and b***d started to pour from our mouth. The few slams against the wall must have us bleeding internally.

We eyed him from the side as we threw up once more to his hand, causing him to slip on his grip. With enough wiggle power, we could contort our body to snap up at his hand and crunch through the bone of this thumb. Finally letting go, his thumb hung by just a few tendons. Marcellus grunted, holding back a howl as he tried to hold his thumb together.

Both of Marcellus’ limbs were bleeding but still healing. He was large and strong, and I was still small compared to him. I would have to work faster and work piece by piece to pull him down enough. I’ll never be able to kill him, not in the state I am at. I was tired, physically and mentally from healing over 200 weak wolves. Gaia could feel the burn in her chest. Our muscles were worn.

“Sadie, I can’t keep going.” Gaia panted. “I’m trying, but he is healing too fast, and he is so strong. Only his wolf must be damaged from that demon’s powers. Got any ideas?” I thought for a moment, “change back. I’ll handle it.”

“He will crush us in human form!” Gaia m****d in pain.

“We don’t have a choice

#7. We are going to have to get him monologuing or something! It is almost dawn!”

We quickly changed back into my human form. Everything was bloodied. The fire sizzled with a few pieces of wood leftover. B***d littered the floor, pieces of cloth covered in b***d that I couldn’t use as a cover-up. I was naked as the day I was born. Marcellus’ smirked as his forearm healed, but his thumb remained detached from his body. He would need someone to help it back into place.

“Already tired, little princess?” Marcellus scowled while he cracked his neck.

“Well, you know, healing 200 wolves that you mistreated may do that to you,” I spoke sarcastically.

“You’ve only got one left, now get over here. My patience is dwindling. If you’re good, I might be gentle with you when you’re done,” he sneered.

“Not a good enough reason,” I used a sing-song voice while rolling my eyes.

“Fine, let me tell you a story then…”

Gaia tapped into my head, “Ha, you were right, monologue!”

“Did you know that Seth has a hatred for rogues?” Marcellus taunted. “In fact, he had such hatred, those that came to him that ran away from me seeking peace were murdered in cold b***d?” My head perked up hearing this. He wouldn’t do that.

“Now, your little Alpha has quite a wolf. He’s strong, fearless, and almost uncontrollable. His own wolf hated rogues because he thought his own mate might have died from one of them. He had it embedded in his brain so much he started to believe it. That a rogue took his mate, it drove him crazy. How could the Moon Goddess not give him his mate after so many years? From then on, he killed rogues instead of bringing them to the kingdom rehabilitation center to be relocated to packs. Instead, he just ripped them to shreds while his pack members watched.”

My heart dropped. My Seth wouldn’t be that cruel. He loved me. He loved us. He knew that people deserve second chances, too, right? Then again, he didn’t want to give Nathan a second chance, nor Bastian until I told him and begged him to. My heart felt a little crushed thinking of any rogue wanting peace, and he killed them. It must be a lie.

“You lie!” I screamed at him.

“Hm, believe what you will. You have heard the rumors, I’m sure. The beauty that finally tamed the beast from his killing spree? The beast finally finding his solace and no longer hungering for b***d?”

I had heard the rumors, people being scared when he walked into a room, bowing their heads long before he even set foot into the room. The silent stares when he and I first met at the lake house those months ago. Everyone stared at us in awe.

My eyes started to water a bit, but I knew he had changed now. He was better than what he was. He was just lonely. I also didn’t have the whole story, who knew if those rogues-”

Before I finished my thought, Marcellus grabbed me by the neck with his good hand and had me gripped tight around my neck. My hands went up to his to try and pry them off, but he held me mid-air as he squeezed.

“Now, you are going to be a good little wolf and give me my strength back, got it?” I gargled at the lack of oxygen and hit his arms with my fists. Dropping me to the floor, where I bathed in the b***d of others, I stayed lying down with my arms around my neck to soothe the pain. Gaia wasn’t answering me. She was already tired from healing us. There was no way we could heal him too.

Marcellus put his hand out and made me put both my hands on his. “Do it, do it now, or your little witch friend is done.” Ariande stood at the gave entrance with a wolf holding his claws next to her neck. We were so close to winning this, and we didn’t make it. A few burning tears went down my face, and I grabbed his hand.

“Good girl,” he growled menacingly.

I concentrated my power. I felt the light leaving me as I tried to push forward. However, something was holding me back as I felt it in my wrists. I tried to push forward, but it wouldn’t budge. Using the last bit of my strength, I pushed as far as I could until I finally saw spots in my vision. I g*****d and finally screamed as I tried to let it go until I suddenly let myself go and slipped into the black.

Seth

All of the warriors were in place. There was no way that the rogues were going to win, as long as Sadie had been able to hold off giving any healing abilities to Marcellus. The results could be catastrophic if the demon power would be unleashed from him. His strength and power would exceed my own as well as all the kings of Bergarian combined.

Caspian and I were still in our half form. A full 50 hours of pure adrenaline ran through our veins. We hadn’t slept. Caspian was slowly taking over my body by the minute, and my ability to keep a level head was wavering. We had to get our mate back, and quickly.

“Everyone is in place,” King Orion spoke as he sat on his white horse, caked with mud. The once magnificently prepped horse was muddied from head to toe, and its golden hooves stunk like the stench around it. The terrain was more difficult than anticipated. The paws sinking into the caked mess for the warriors had slowed us down considerably, and dawn had fully approached. I prayed to the goddess that Sadie was still alright.

Marcus ran up to me in his wolf form, barely hitting mid-thigh on our half-beast form. Caspian growled at acknowledgment. “Alpha, there was a disturbance. A witch couple with a child has kept the rogue warriors from entering the cave. The rogues are trying to penetrate to get to Sadie. We could hear Gaia growling from inside.”

Caspian’s back paws that we stood from clawed at the mud. Our claws elongated further and were ready to proceed. Orion touched my shoulder, and Caspian snapped at his hand. “My friend, the Vampires haven’t given the signal of their arrival.” Orion was worried, his brows furrowed while his defensive and offensive generals were whispering battle strategies in his ear. I could hear every word but chose to ignore it. Sadie was my goal.

“There! I see it!” Marco mind linked. A large falcon flew into the sky, squawking three times, signaling the vampires were in position, ready for an attack.

“Command it, Orion,” Caspian growled in our deep voice. Orion let out a loud blow on his horn, and the horses reared up in defense. Wolves growled and pounded the mud into the camp, vampires jumped from tree to tree to take down any warrior rogue that wished to flee the scene. The faes took their swords out of the sheers as the rogue warriors shifted swiftly in their wolf form.

Many wolves were not like the rogue warriors. There had to be over 200 wolves that didn’t bear any sign of malicious intent. They were survivors, slaves, and captured by the Rogue King. Marco mind linked me, “Alpha, they have been forcefully taken in by the rogues as slaves. Sadie healed them to help aid in the fight and have the women and children run.” My Sadie successfully grew her power, which only worried me more. She would be weak healing so many, and there was a chance Marcellus was trying to extract more of her power.

“Get them out, all of them. We have enough to fight.” I growled out. Many of the wolves huddled together and shook in fear of my state. They haven’t seen a beast like me, especially holding it for this long period of time.

Caspian and I felt a pain in our torso. Sadie.

Sadie was hurt. We let out a loud howl and ran to the pull. It was getting stronger as the cave grew closer. I could no longer feel her bond as I reached the entrance. She was fading. Several wolves were holding the witches and weren’t paying attention to their surroundings, so they were dead with a quick grip around their necks. Marcellus stood holding Sadie’s hand. She was naked, eyes closed and her hands around his. The glow in her wrist started to fade until it completely died out.

Marcellus gritted his teeth and threw her hand on the floor. “NO! IT CANNOT BE!” He bellowed. His hands went straight to his hair and started pulling the dirty strands. “ALL THIS TIME!”

I tried to listen to Sadie’s heart, but I couldn’t find any. If it was beating, it was barely there. Caspian and I let out a roar as loud as when I first found my Sadie by the lake. It shook the entire cave. Bits of rocks and debris fell from the cave walls. Marcellus glanced back and saw me.

“Dammit,” he breathed as he faced me. “I can still kick your a*s pup, even without my damn wolf.” I didn’t bother with a reply. I simply charged the bastard.

We were the same height, but my body was larger and stronger. His veins started protruding from his neck as he struggled to hold my arms away from his chest. I scratched his chest as b***d started to pour from his wounds. My muzzle snapped around his neck as he tried to push me back, but I grazed his carotid artery. B***d started oozing quickly as he tried to cover it with his hand. He grabbed my arm, but I could easily rip it from his grasp.

I heard Orion, Marcus, and Sadie’s parents come to the cave as they started yelling for her. Looked at Orion, who nodded quickly as he took his sword and started swinging to Marcellus. King Emilio and Marco followed. They both surrounded him and began attacking. Once I saw everything was under control as they began to mutilate him, I ran to Sadie. She was the only thing on my mind. Not caring for my revenge, I came to her, and Caspian calmed down as we shifted back into our human form.

My body was exhausted, my shoulders slumped over, and the adrenaline running through me was calming down. I pulled Sadie to me while Sadie’s mother pulled her hair away from her face. She was covered with b***d and dirt. I put my ear close to her heart, and I could still hear it beat. Her breathing was slow but still there. I gripped her tightly in my arms.

“Baby, come back, come back to me, baby,” I cooed at her. A slight movement of her head to my chest made my heart swell. I could still feel her and the bond. She was weak, I’ll give her that, but she was strong. She will come back to me.

The witch that the two rogues were holding approached us with caution. I pulled Sadie into my arms while Estar stood up in defense. “I am a friend of the princess. She saved us after I helped with her powers.” Estar released her defensive stance and nodded for her to continue. “We need to get her to a safe place. She has a long journey ahead of her. She used almost all of her power and physical strength to save us all.”

Estar gave a quick nod and looked for her husband, Emelio. Marcellus was no more as they threw his body into the fire of the cave.

“King Orion, we need to leave here quickly to save her.” Orion ran out of the cave to give two long blows and one short out of his horn. All the commotion outside the cave came to a complete silence.