Chapter 108:

Pythia POV:

For a few seconds we were having a standoff, Bartholomew wasn't thrilled with how I talked to him and I didn't care. "Open the shield and come with me." Bartholomew mused. "Now why would I open the shield? Your lap dogs would try to kill me the second they could." I replied crossing my arms over my chest, I needed to stall a little longer so the sun could give us more light. The two beasts standing on each side of Bartholomew pulled their lips back and snarled at me. "Bartholomew won't let them touch you." Jaspers voice rang out in my head. "He would kill them if they tried." Jenson added. "What if I promised they wouldn't even get near you?" Bartholomew asked. "I'd still tell you to go fuck yourself. I belong here with my family and my people. Not a power hungry egotistical asshole.  I'm giving you a chance to leave on your own and stay away from my family." I replied dropping my arms, I started feeling heavily defensive. 

I watched his body language change, he was getting really mad. "You just royally pissed him off." Jenson whispered. "He is about to beat on the shield." Jasper said with an edge to his voice. "Everyone prepare, we are about to open the shield." I said quickly. "Where is everyone? I know you are not out here all alone and I know Delilah wouldn't allow this." Bartholomew said. "They are of no concern to you. Even when I do open this shield you will come straight for me." I replied. I heard Delilah growl loudly and I knew there was no hiding that. Bartholomew laughed and his features started to change. "Now! Alley now!" I screamed through the link. When Bartholomew raised his hand and slammed them down he tumbled forward. He growled and looked up at me, I stood a step back and smirked. "You little bitch." Bartholomew growled out. I took steps backwards as he got to his feet and all hell broke loose, beasts were running full charge but they didn't know what they were about to enter a maze. 

I raised my arms just as the first round of beasts broke through the opening. I turned on my heels and ran straight back to our hidden trap. I still kept Delilah hidden as I ran but I knew the twins and Tye were beside me. I looked over my shoulder to see Bartholomew had gotten to his feet and he was now chasing me with the two beasts at his sides. I could hear them crashing around on the inside and the growls that erupted sent chills down my spine. "Show yourselves!" I screamed out. Within seconds A huge fight was happening inside the maze. I could see flames being thrown around and people were screaming. I didn't have time to stop and look. I had to get to the back quickly. I was forcing my legs to move as fast as they could. I looked over and saw Rex was on full display so I reached out and grabbed on to him and struggled to get positioned enough to hang on. I looked over my shoulder and the look on Bartholomews face was nothing but pure anger.

We rounded the corner only to be met with a beast that had broken loose. He tackled us to the side flinging me off of Rex. I hit the ground hard and rolled, I heard my ribs crack and I felt like the wind was kicked out of me. Rex was on his feet and didn't let a second get away from him. "Rex!" I screamed. "NO! Go! Get to the back!" Rex roared out. I jumped to my feet and kept running. I had Jaspers wolf running beside me while Jenson stayed back in human form to use his elements to help Rex. When I rounded the corner I seen our hidden trap. I got behind it and turned around and got in a defensive position as if I was now waiting to collide with Bartholomew. His eyes never moved from mine as he ran directly towards me. The second he was in the trap the door slammed shut and he hit the wall. I raised my hand so that he could see exactly what we had waiting for him. His growl was deadly and his eyes narrowed. "You think this will hold me?" Bartholomew asked. "No, not all night. Consider yourself in time out for now." I smirked. 

Bartholomew tried to break the walls but every time he moved they closed in on him until finally a thorn pierced through his skin making him growl viciously. "You bitch! You'll be lucky if I keep you alive after this!" Bartholomew roared. I started to run back towards Rex, I needed to make sure he was safe, I heard a growl coming from my right side. I stopped and looked over to see another beast staring me down, I turned my body to face him. I knew Delilah was still beside me but she couldn't step in this. "Delilah get back, you can't be seen yet!" I yelled through the link. I couldn't look at her because I didn't need anyone figuring out that she was actually here. Slowly the best started stalking towards me, he was bigger than the others which told me he was a beta. Deep breaths Pythia you can do this. I trained for this. I kept my hands close to my sides where my knives were hidden. I was ready to pull them at any second, I started stalking towards him while listening to all the chaos happening around me, I could hear screaming and the alphas were calling out what it did.

I could hear the fire flying through the air, roars of the beasts but my eyes were focused on the one in front of me, we started circling each other and I knew I had to do something. I started closing our distance and before I knew it he had lunged at me, I ducked and rolled under him pulling a knife from my side pocket and stuck it directly into his stomach. As he continued to move forward I held firmly to the knife in place. I could feel his blood slide down my arm. He let out a weak growl and I slid to my feet before lunging at him again. There was no way I was going to let this one take me down. Not today, I jumped on his back and held on like my life depended on it because it did. I pulled another knife from my side and stuck them both in his side before I jumped down dragging the knives with me. He started stumbling to the side and that was what I had needed. I put my knives away and felt the heat from my fire on the palms of my hand, I raised both my arms releasing the fire on to his body before I ran off again to find my wolf. 

"Pythia! On your left! MOVE!" Jenson roared out. I didn't even have time to blink before I was literally thrown backwards. I landed on my back hitting the ground so hard I flipped. I groaned and looked up to see that damn beast running straight at me. "Don't touch her! She is mine!" Bartholomew roared. "I am not yours!" I yelled and stood to my feet. I had fire displaying around both my hands and I readied myself for him to get closer when he was knocked to the side by my Rex. I have never seen him this mad before. "That must be your mate." Bartholomew mused. I turned to face him fully enraged at his tone, I let the fire seep through my hands and watched as it started wrapping itself around his feet. He swung his arms down trying to put the fire out but I was not having it, the more he moved the more the cage closed on him. More thorns started piercing his skin and I knew I was doing nothing but pissing him off more which is exactly what I wanted....

**Tye POV:**

The more I stared at Bartholomew standing on the other side of that shield the more I was getting angry. He honestly thinks he is going to walk away with Pythia like it will be just that easy to make her go with him. Her snappy comebacks amused me. I knew she was quick with those and her words sounded like sheer glass cutting through. I could tell he was angry and Jasper and Jenson confirmed it. "Alley, Stephen hang on just a little bit longer." I said through the link. "We will be fine, he is a lot stronger and if fully hits it then we will deal with it." Alley grunted back. Rose started getting out of control but Delilah had gotten a handle on her thankfully. The moment Delilah growled the way she did I knew it was time to open the shield. Bartholomew raised his arms and I tensed up. "Now! Alley now!" Pythia screamed through the link. I didn't need to know what was about to happen because it was already in motion. 

The shield was opened slightly and Bartholomew hit the ground face first. He looked up with pure anger, "You little bitch." He spat. Pythia took a step back before she turned on her heels and darted to the back, she looked around to make sure we were still with her, "Show yourselves!" She screamed out. It was a matter of seconds before I could hear shouting from all directions, growls had erupted everything and I could smell when the fire started hitting all the beasts. They now knew they were in a maze and soon they would know that they would be trapped. Pythia was moving as fast as her legs would carry her and I knew it was time to shift. "You're up Rex." I said. "About damn time." Rex growled back before he shifted. Rex ran close to Pythia and she looked over at us before she grabbed a hold of our side and started scrambling her way to our back. 

Once she was settled I could feel her hanging on and as soon as we rounded the corner we were hit by a beast. Pythia was thrown off which entirely angered Rex. He went into a frenzy and didn't give the beast a chance to get up before he pounced on him, Rex sunk his teeth in anything he could. I saw Pythia get to her feet and looked directly at us. "Rex!" She screamed. "NO! Go! Get to the back!" Rex roared. She jumped and ran for the trap that was waiting with Delilah and Jasper at her side. I felt a sudden heat pass by and I noticed that Jenson had stayed and was helping. He moved quickly and together we worked as a team to take this beast down. He was smaller so that meant he wasn't a beta but he was still large enough that it took us both. He made the mistake of rotating his head to the side which gave Rex the opening that Rex needed. He latched his teeth around his throat and slammed his jaws shut before pulling back ripping his throat right out. Rex raised his head and nodded at Jenson.

We started running towards the back keeping our eyes open. I seen the Jasper was in wolf form having a standoff with a beast but I didn't seen Pythia until I started coming around the corner to see that she was sitting on top of a beast, I watched as she pulled a knife from her side and stick it directly in its side before she jumped down, the beast stumbled and Pythia took the opportunity to use her fire before she turned on her feet and started running, I knew she would be looking for us so we started running towards her. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and panic shot through me. "Pythia! On your left! MOVE!" Jenson roared but by then it was too late. She was hit and flung backwards, I watched as she hit the ground back first so hard she actually flipped over. Rex flew into a rage. He darted straight for the beast that was now running straight at our queen, she readied herself but her eyes found mine. Just before he got to her Rex met him halfway knocking him to the side. 

Rex was clawing and biting anything he could, I felt claws on our stomach just before we were thrown backwards. We rolled a few times before we got to our feet. We collided in the middle like two furious storms clashing together. Rex was relentless in his attacks, we needed to kill him and get back to Pythia. I could hear the other alphas shouting instructions and we already had a few people that were hurt. Ambrosia was on a kill mission but I didn't have too much time to focus on them. I just needed to know if they were all okay. Rex pulled back his paw and dug his nails into the beast's face taking a large chunk from his face. He stumbled backwards and Rex used his head and rammed it into his side until we finally heard the familiar cracking of ribs.

The beast turned and growled at me and Rex kept glancing to make sure Pythia was safe. Jenson was using his elements the best he could while Jasper had shifted and was using his to help the others I had placed around the back. “Tye, we are finally getting the upper hand here!” Alley said through the link. She sounds breathless and I knew she was pushing herself to the max. We focused back on the current beast in front of us, Rex lunged forward sinking his claws into his side while he clamped his jaw around his shoulder blade. Once he got a good enough grip he pulled his head back ripping his arm clean off. The beast wailed and fell to the ground and that’s all Rex needed before he swiped his claws across his throat.

We turned and glanced and saw Pythia was using fire to make Bartholomew move. The trap walls were closing in on him and the thorns started piercing his skin and I could tell he was getting mad. He latched his hands around the bars and he started pulling and tugging erratically but there was no point. They wouldn’t budge for now. We needed to help everyone in the maze to take out as many as we could before he broke loose. Rex let me shift back and I ran straight for her. Bartholomew looked up and smirked at me. “He is going to taunt you.” Jasper grunted out. “Don’t let it get to you. He is hoping it’ll cause you to lose control and break him loose.” Jenson added.

Oh great, so he wanted to play those kinds of games. Fine then, let’s play.