Untamed - Book 2

Coralie

It took us nearly three hours to unveil our entire plan, but thankfully, no one disagreed with what Darius and I laid out for them. As we leave the war room, I have one task left to carry out, something I did not tell the others. I make sure the others are settled before taking off into the woods, heading for the northern border. As I rush past the trees and brush, I find myself thinking about the way Jordan had stood behind me, only feet away but feeling as though it was miles. Will he forgive me for what I have done in the past? Will I ever forgive myself? I find myself smiling as I cross the northern border, knowing that I will have hell to pay if Darius finds out I left the pack lands alone. I quickly pick up the scent of the men I am looking for and follow it deep into the strange forest of the rogue’s territory. I reach the small camp, seeing no movement as I take cautious steps forward.

“Hello?” I call out into the darkness, but no one answers. As I reach the other side of the camp, a nauseating stench wafts through the air, being carried by the gentle night breeze. I begin walking toward the smell, cursing myself for doing the one thing that no sane person would dare to do. I reach a small clearing where I can see a blanket of darkness covering the ground, but my heightened senses reveal the truth that the darkness tries to hide, the metallic stench of blood is unbearable. I turn to leave when I slam into a cold hard body and arms fly around me.

“Coralie, it’s okay.” He guides me back toward the camp where his men are waiting along with Danny and Jordan, who looks like is about to explode. His anger doesn’t even affect me as my mind is too preoccupied with what I just witnessed.

“They…oh goddess.” I bury my face in Darius’s chest, hoping to hide from the truth of it all. After several minutes I pull away, forcing myself to push back everything. I saw blood, not bodies. There might be survivors. I repeat this several times in my head before steeling my nerves.

“Tell me what you need me to do.” Darius speaks with a confident tone and his shoulders squared.

“We need to search for survivors.” He nods before walking over to his men and giving out orders to search the area. Danny walks up to me and nudges me gently with his shoulder.

“We are going to have to talk about this queen thing later, but for now, let’s see if we can find anyone who made it out alive. I can feel Jordan behind me, but he doesn’t speak and for the life of me, I can’t. I lead them to where the blood-soaked ground is then follow my nose to the west, noticing a trail of blood. We follow the trail for over five hundred yards before finding the mutilated bodies of more than a dozen rogues. I feel my beast pushing forward when she suddenly stops. I hear a faint sound of several heartbeats not far from us. I push her forward, letting her lead us toward the sound, unconcerned with anything but the possibility of finding survivors. We reach a small cave that is shrouded in darkness and my beast retreats, likely to not frighten whoever is inside.

“My name is Coralie Velsire and I am here to help you.” After a moment, shuffling sounds echo through the cave and five men emerge, two of whom had been in the group that invaded the pack on orders from Laurent.

“He…he killed them.” One of the men stammers out. They are all trembling and all but one have fairly significant injuries.

“Laurent?” The man shakes his head, his eyes filled with unbridled terror as he speaks.

“Altier. He is a mad man!” I place a hand on his shoulder and channel some of my energy into him, calming him and encouraging his own fast healing to move more quickly. Once I have aided in healing each of the men, I lead them back to the camp where the others are waiting. To my surprise, Darius has found more than a dozen others that are all now sitting in the center of camp. While it is exciting to have found so many alive, the depth of their sadness casts a darkness around us that has everyone sitting quietly as we all contemplate what to do next. I feel my neck growing warm and glance down to see Luca’s amulet glowing brightly around my neck, but no one else seems to notice, no one but Darius. He grabs my arm and leads me away from the group to a small clearing out of ears reach. I pull off the amulet and set in on the ground, watching as Luca slowly appears in front of me.

“Cora? What’s happening?”

“Luca! We are coming for you! I have so much to tell you!”

“Cora? Cora! RUN!”

I look at Darius and see his eyes focused just beyond me then turn to follow his gaze, spotting several wolves, their eyes glowing in the faint light of the moon.

“Cora, how nice of you to save me the trouble of coming for you.” The unfamiliar man’s voice grates on nerves as he steps forward.

“Who the hell are you?” I snarl at him.

“Oh, where are my manners?! My name is Jacob Laurent. My daughter told me a great deal about you. I have someone who will be very excited to see you. He has been…anxious to get in touch with you.” I feel my wolf standing at the edge, but she is restraining herself and, for once, I wish she would tear free. She sits there as if she is waiting for something that I am not yet aware of. He takes a step closer and that is when I feel it. A sudden surge of energy shoots through my feet and spreads to every cell, bringing them to life with a power unlike anything I have ever known. The air crackles with energy as it begins to overflow, leaving me feeling much like a volcano on the verge of erupting. Jacob motions for his wolves to move in and my energy finally reaches its breaking point. A soul shatter scream explodes from me, my arms fly out to the side reaching for something, anything to ground myself as the energy draws down countless bolts of lightning that strike the ground, trees and wolves around me. Once the energy dissipates, Darius helps me to my feet as Laurent stares at his wolves, all laid low on the forest floor with scorched fur.

“But…but my daughter said you were some weak, covenless witch!” I feel the familiar tinging of the person I once was resurfacing, murderous and cold. I stalk toward him, chuckling darkly when he stumbles over the corpse of one of his wolves in his attempt to retreat. I take him firmly by the throat and slam his back to a tree with his feet barely dangling off the ground. I hear the sound of footsteps approaching quickly before the familiar dark voice calls out to me.

“Cora, stop!” I don’t take my eyes away from the disgusting man in front of me.

“Why? Why should I stop? Give me a single reason to let this piece of shit live.” I can feel the emotions rolling off of him as he slowly walks toward me.

“Cora, you don’t have to do this. This isn’t who you are.” The embers of my anger spark back to life and I let out a low growl, causing him to stop, but I can feel how close he is.

“Is that why you were so angry? Because this isn’t who I am? Or maybe it was because you finally saw me for what I am? I don’t have to do this, but I definitely want to.” I tighten my grip and smile as Laurent gasps for air.

“You’re right. I was mad, I was confused and I was worried. I was worried that if you were once this person, you might still be this person. I am begging you, Cora, prove me wrong. Lay my fears to rest. I can’t hate you or even be angry with you for your past because mine is just as dark. I love you, Cora.” I release my grip, sending Laurent crashing to the ground as I take several steps back, trying to reign in the darkness that was taking hold.

“You…are…weak.” Laurent chokes out the words as he gasps for air.

“You should have let her kill him.” Darius grumbles out.

“Cora, look at me.” I try to look at him, but my eyes refuse to meet his gaze, fearful of what I will see. He grabs my chin gently and begins turning my head, but my eyes catch movement, a blur of something rushing toward Jordan. I shove him out of the way and my beast takes over, catching Laurent mid air as he tried to plunge a silver dagger into Jordan’s back. Unlike me, my beast does not stop. She squeezes his neck so tightly that his eyes bulge and his neck quickly snaps before we drop his lifeless body to the ground. We look up at Jordan and the terrified look in his eyes shatters us both. Without waiting for the feelings to intensify, she moves quickly, leading us through the forest and away from the others, away from him.