The Survivor ( #2 Eastern Werewolves Pack Series)

Adeline carried Kaya out of the battlefield. Even with Stefano’s soldiers came from the other realm to help, this battle was far from over. There was no telling the ending of this battle. The creatures kept pouring out of the portal. And, she knew Jaxon wouldn’t let anyone sacrificed their lives to bring him back. He would rather die than living on, knowing someone died for him. But, even if they didn’t sacrifice their lives for him, right now they fought for him. Many had perished. Many wounded severely. The healing teams came in and out of the administration building, carrying the wounded to the medical rooms. Dead bodies were piled in the lobby of the building - those who didn’t survive their wounds during the treatment.

Adeline set Kaya down on a bed. No wonder the previous Councilors of the Witches and Warlocks wanted this woman dead. Her power activated by harvesting the lives of those who practiced magic. She was a true threat to the magic world. That explained why they sent Alaric to kill her. Only to end up with him falling in love with her. Adeline didn’t understand. What did Alaric see on Kaya’s future? The daemon woman met him once when they accidentally crossed path during her entrapment in the time traveling because Stefano was trying to protect her from the Knights of Death.

Alaric definitely saw something - that wasn’t as catastrophic as Kaya’s power. Could it be their daughter? No, Adeline shook her head. Camilla was just like Kaya. They shared the same power. One acted as the harvester. Another acted as the user. But, both of them couldn’t be the users at the same time. Adeline pinched the bridge of her nose. She needed to focus on retrieving the Chalice of Life or there would be another catastrophic event.

People ran back and forth at the hallway. Adeline came out to assess the situation. People were shouting at each other to get the orders through. Everyone was too focused with their tasks until they forgot they had a mind-link ability. Adeline walked past them, didn’t want to get into their way. She went to the room next door where Stefano was. He was still sitting on the floor, in between the two beds. His eyes were closed, but his lips were moving as if he was speaking to someone.

Roars and screams came from outside the building. Adeline looked out. The werewolves were holding for as long as they could with the aid of other species. Adeline was amazed by Mira’s hard work to bring all these species under one government. It wasn’t an easy task to unite the werewolves, vampires, Lycans, witches and warlocks together. But, her efforts were paid off. As much as everyone agreed to the new government, there were some who still didn’t want to. Well, couldn’t expect everyone to agree with everything.

“Stefano, you must rest,” Adeline said, wiping his sweaty forehead with a dry towel. She grabbed a glass of water and offered it to him. “Here, drink this.”

“I need to get them out of there as soon as possible. Then, I need to retrieve the Chalice,” He answered, taking a long sip of the water that she offered to him.

“I will retrieve the Chalice,” Adeline responded, crouching next to him. “You’re weakening. The more you try to get communication to the other world, the faster your energy will drain out.”

“My love,” he called her nickname.

Her heart fluttered at it. Guess, certain feeling never changed after all. Despite they had been married for over a thousand years, she still felt like they were newly married.

If only they could find a solid reason to reconcile.

Just because they couldn’t find a solid reason to reconcile, it didn’t mean she stopped care about him. Stefano would always be the man she loved. What she did to the Southern Luna had put Adeline into a bad position although everyone forgave her for it. But, she couldn’t forgive herself. She almost killed Mira and Alistair almost got what he wanted.

Adeline and Stefano were never divorced. They were just separated for the moment. Even if she asked him to divorce her to save his good name, he wouldn’t have done it. She brought disgrace to his name.

“I do not want to put your life in danger.” His eyes still held the same look he had on the first time they met.

“Stefano, there will be more dangers if we don’t split the task. You’ll be too occupied to help Jaxon and Camilla out of the other world. We don’t know how long it will take. Let me go after Emmett Balthazar and retrieve the Chalice.”

He sighed. “There were six Necromancers went into the portal. They were after Jaxon and Camilla in the other world. But, I lost contact with them when Emmett came here. I traced the energy that the Necromancers had.”

“Where did it lead you to?”

“A ruined castle, far North of here. In between the snow mountains.”

“I will go and investigate, but don’t push yourself too hard.”

Stefano placed his hand on hers and smiled. “Don’t do anything reckless. I don’t want to lose you.”

Adeline kissed his cheek. “I will be back.”

She left the room and headed to the direction that Stefano had told her. Since what happened a year ago, Adeline spent her time to travel around, helping people, and atoning herself for what she did wrong back then. She was weak and easily manipulated. Now, she was different. She had become a different woman—stronger, smarter, and wiser.

She ran straight into the woods, leaving the battlefield behind. They would keep the creatures busy while she went to investigate the ruined castle. She heard the sound of footsteps came closer to her position.

“I thought you could use some helps.” Colin ran next to her.

“Wouldn’t hurt, I supposed,” she replied.

Adeline closed her eyes briefly and when she opened it, her irises mimicked an eagle’s irises. Not far from her left, an eagle flew above the forest, heading to the direction she was heading. Instead of seeing what was ahead of her, Adeline saw through the eyes of the eagle. Emmett Balthazar wasn’t a regular opponent. Stefano spent his time to hunt him down even before Adeline married him. Then, his attention shifted when the Knights of Death became more active.

The journey seemed forever before they spotted the tower of the ruined castle in between the mountains. There was an easier way to get to the ruined castle. These mountains were once used as a fortress by one of the vampire noble families. The tunnels ran underneath the ground to supply humans in as blood bank and also acted as escape routes in the case of a siege. Thousands of humans died before the fortress was dismantled by the werewolves.

The eagle flew across the mountains. Adeline saw the complete picture of the ruined castle. It was crawling with Necromancers and shielded by a very strong spell. There was a glass dome covered the ruined part of the castle. People in black robes and hooded were standing in a circle. A woman was praying to the altar of skulls and blood. A casket was in the middle of the place. Emmett was holding the Chalice of Life and a scroll. The way the gems on the Chalice glowed, the scroll must be part of the destroyed Book of Resurrection. But, the spell was never completed. Adeline knew Stefano was the one who completed it, but he never wrote about it on anything. It was just inside his mind. That was how he brought Mira back to life. Only Stefano knew the complete version of the spell.

“What did you see?” Colin asked her.

“Balthazar wasn’t only coming after the Chalice,” Adeline murmured. “He went after Stefano’s knowledge, too.”

She didn’t understand how Emmett could infiltrate Stefano’s mind without him noticing it. And to think that Stefano fell for his trick, Emmett wasn’t an easy opponent to take down. If Stefano was easily deceived by that Necromancer, it would be hard to tell what would happen.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means they’re going to resurrect Alaric Konstantin back to life.” she stood up. “And they’re already have two lives ready to be sacrificed for it.”

Two photos were placed on the altar of skulls and blood.

A realization hit Colin like a brick. “Jaxon and Camilla.”