Chapter 186

Dylan POV

My blade sliced effortlessly through the paw of the lycan that was about to cause some serious damage to my body, and a howl of pain to sounded out from its lips. 

I instantly had blood dripping on me from the wound I had created in the wolf, and I all but scrambled out from underneath him. I needed to find another gun. 

My head darted around the battle grounds in an attempt to find an abandoned pistol lying on the floor, only the wolf I had previously injured seemed to effortlessly jump over my body and land directly in front of me with a snarl. Slobber dropped from its mouth and goosebumps formed on my arms. 

I was terrified. 

I froze in place, staring at the Lycan who was obviously solely targeting me. My eyes widened, and a loud gasp left my lips as he once again charged at me. 

I always thought it would be the king to finish me off, but as the wolf closed in on my already exhausted form, I couldn't help but brace myself for impact... which never came...

A large recognizable wolf crashed into the one charging at me with a force that knocked both of them completely off kilter. 

Gilliards paws skidded on the ground below him, flicking grass and dirt all over me as he slid to a halt, baring his teeth at the other beast before attacking once more. 

All these lycans truly were a force to be reckoned with. 

I always knew they were stronger than us, but seeing the fully in action was humbling to say the least. The sheer power of Lewis alone was mesmerizing, however the likes of Oliver, and now even Gilliard, we're what really made me realize just how inferior human physical strength was. 

A loud whimper left the wolf that was Gilliard and he fell to the floor on his side, all the while I remained scrambling for a gun. Shit... 

I threw my knife with as much force as I could directly at the Lycan stalking towards The Alpha and landed a direct bullseye into his left pupil, instantly blinding him in the one eye. 

The thing about knives is, that no matter how accurate you can be with your aim, you'll never be able to throw them with enough force to actually fatally penetrate a Lycan, whether they are made out of silver or not. Sure you can do some damage, but you certainly can't maim or fatally injure them. The most you can do is cause enough damage to slow them down. 

"Riley!" I heard from behind me only to turn around to find Ryan throwing a gun to my hand. 

I caught it and span around aiming it at the large aggressive Lycan when a sickening crack sounded out and with it my heart sank. 

The attacker had clamped its strong jaws around Gilliards wolfs torso, snapping his spine from the impact of his teeth. I felt bile rise in my throat as I watched my friend shift back into a human, while blood poured from the puncture wounds that had been created. 

I fired the gun, directly at the wolfs chest and watched him howl and turn his attention to me. He bared his blood coated teeth and charged at me again, most likely in searing pain, while I fired two more bullets into his furry flesh. 

The lycan crashed to floor in front of me, dead! His wolf transforming into his deceased human body, and my gasp sounded out in shock at who I had just killed. 

The kings father! 

I had killed the man who had usurped the throne in first place, the one whose rules were created 5 and half years ago, the one man that started the world on this specific path of war, and rebellion. My heart raced in my chest as I fully grasped the impact his death would have on king Josh. 

3 silver bullets were embedded into the late usurpers chest while my own heaved up and down out of relief as i holstered Ryan Clarkes gun. 

"GILLIARD!" Without missing another beat, I ran over to the man who groaned in pain while lying on the floor, blood was pooling underneath him and it was pretty obvious he was in a bad way. I had to get him medical aid. I attempted to pick him up off the floor only to fall directly onto my ass. There's no way I could get him to the safe haven alone. "CLARKE?!" 

I shouted my friend over who was already running towards us, with shock on his face. 

"Oh my God... is he?.." Ryan's thought process was cut short when the alpha groaned loudly, however the alpha remained unmoving. "God... we need to get him to Vee!" 

"I can't move him on my own, Clarke!" Ryan nodded and quickly helped me. He placed Gilliards arm over his right shoulder while I did the same on my left. 

Gills body was floppy, and bleeding badly. The rest of the battle continued on while me and my friend attempted to get him to some medical aid. We were slow, very slow, lycans aren't known for being very light, however we were making progress. 

"Shit!" Ryan shouted as yet another wolf surprised us from behind, the Lycan sent me  tumbling straight to the floor, my head made contact with the grassy ground below and I instantly began bleeding. Urgh, I should have known my head would get injured, I wasn't the best at protecting it during fights. I gripped my knife and stabbed it into the side of the wolfs neck before Clarke shot a bullet into his head. "You ok?" He asked slightly breathless at the quick actions we had just taken. 

I sucked in a breath through my teeth and wiped my head clean with the back of my hand. I'm sure the moon goddess would heal me yet again, and even if she didn't a single blow to the head wasn't going to slow me down too much, not with all the adrenaline running through me. 

"I'm fine, it’s not the first time I’ve cracked my head, I doubt it’ll be the last…” I had no idea when I became so used to feeling pain. It actually kind of freaked me out a little that I was so nonchalant about it. “…let's just keep moving." 

It was a tough walk to the place that was being used as a makeshift medical camp. We were often forced to drop the alpha in order to both defend ourselves and to fight for Gilliard who had now fallen unconscious from his injuries. 

"YGRITTE!?" I called out as soon as we came to the wolfsbane entrance of the temporary hospital, where Ygritte and a couple of other people waited. Both myself and Clarke were physically exhausted by the time we collapsed outside. Our breaths came out in pants, as we gently dropped alpha Gill to the ground before falling ourselves. "Get a gurney!" 

"What happened?" The alphas aunt asked as she ran over with a wheeled gurney, there were clearly multiple casualties that had made their way here however Gilliard was the worst injury so far. 

"The kings father attacked me, Gill, he jumped in the way, and took on the fight himself." I gave a quick explanation as some other people rushed out to help the man into the bed. "I think he's broken his back." I was fairly certain that his floppiness paired with the almighty crack that I had heard was the result of his spine being snapped. 

"We will do what we can. Thank you for getting him here…” I watched in guilt as the once proud strong man was wheeled away, unconscious and fighting for his life. “It’s not your fault, Dylan.” Lewis’s mother was quick to place a hand on my shoulder causing me to turn my sight away from the disappearing alpha. “Everyone here knew the risks, you lead them, you didn’t force them. This isn’t your fault.” I knew that, everyone had their own free will to either fight or stand down, and I was humbled so many people wanted to fight along side me. 

That knowledge didn’t help me feel any less guilty though. 

“I know!” I stated simply as one more fighter came running over helping to carry someone else who was quite badly injured. “God, pretty soon you’re going to be inundated with people all needing help…” I began mumbling to myself as I saw a human running over clutching her head while blood trickled through her fingers and down her hand. “Ok… make sure everyone is ready for more drastic cases like Gill, double the people guarding this place, and keep gurneys and wheelchairs available on command at the entrance, oh also get some extra able hands to help you with the injured people." I quickly began to run back to where the main action was, completely intent on finding both Lewis and the king and ending this whole slaughter once and for all. 

“Don’t leave yet, Dylan. Your going to need stitches in that head." She gently gripped my wrist and began to pull me into the area only for me to pull back instantly. 

"I'm ok..." she looked at me skeptically and opened her mouth to object however, I really didn't give her the chance. "Honestly I'm fine, it’s nothing I haven’t felt before, in fact it’s pretty mild compared to other bumps I’ve had it’s not even bleeding that much.”

"Don't be foolish, you need to think about your health more than your hunger for the fight!" Lewis's mom tried to reason with me, while nothing but concern clouded her features, I already knew she was a woman who liked getting her own way, but this time, I had no intention of staying put. 

"I don't want to fight, and I certainly not we shouldn't even have had to do all this..." I pointed to the open space around me that was filled with screams and grunts, hating everything about the situation... "People are out there right now fighting a war that I helped to orchestrate, what sort of person would I be if I left them to fight but I stayed away myself for something as mild as a surface wound. "Lewis is taking on king Josh as we speak, and I have no intention of leaving him alone… I love your son, and I’m not afraid to admit it, but I am afraid to lose him… If I do lose him, and I can’t say with certainty that I did everything I could to prevent it, I’ll never be able to live with myself.” God, lewis may have shown and expressed his feelings towards me much sooner than I had him, but it was extremely clear to me that I had without a doubt, fallen harder for him. 

Ygritte looked like a fish out of water as she stared at me with nothing but surprise on her features. 

“Clarke… stay here and help out. Make a list of everyone getting treated so if someone comes looking they can be pointed in the right direction. You’re great at talking to people, grieving families are going to need that natural ease you create.” Ryan nodded, already knowing exactly what I was asking before I spelt it out for him. 

Ryan had the gift of the gab. 

I nodded, and turned around, running straight back to where the battle was taking place. I was ready…

I was undeniably out for blood. 

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**Thank you so much for all the love and support you have given this story so far, I am hoping this will be complete by the end of January 2025. I am very grateful to everyone who has taken the time to read, comment and like each chapter.** 

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