Chapter 54

**Allister POV**

I saw her starting to fall down onto the ground as her words were still shouting loudly inside my head.
“Nerissa!!” We both called her name at the same time, still having each other’s throats held tightly.
‘Fuck it!’ I said to myself as I removed my hand off of Alex’s neck, feeling as he did the same thing I was at the exact same moment.
We were in sync as we both stood up and rushed towards her.
I retracted my razor-sharp nails as Alex regained full human form just in time as we both placed our hands under her head, preventing her from hurting her head. I wrapped my other arm around her as I picked her up and let her lean into me.
Looking down at her face, I could see sweat prickling on her forehead. I looked up at Alex and saw he was worried too. Not knowing what went wrong, I asked him, “What do you think happened? Why is she looking so pale?”
He was silent for a moment as he looked her over before he spoke, “I am not sure but hear heartbeats are pretty low.” 
He stood up and reached for Nerissa, saying, “Give her to me.” I looked at him with confusion and hesitation, not wanting to part away from her. Seeing my reaction, he said, “She needs to go to see Kiara. Give her to me.”
Before he could reach her, I asked, “Who is Kiara?”
He took her from me and picked her up in his arms, saying, “Kiara is my pack doctor and Nerissa needs her right away.” 
He made a step towards his packhouse but stopped, taking in a deep breath, watching at her for a moment before he turned his head to me and said, “Look… I don’t know what is going on but for some unknown reason, I can see that you care about her…”
I cut him off as I was fast to stand up and said, “I love her.”
His eyes narrowed as he heard my proclamation that even surprised me too, but I knew deep in my heart that it was the ultimate truth. 
Taking a step closer I added, “Nerissa is my mate, same as she is yours, but for now we shouldn’t waste more time discussing this because she needs to see a doctor.”
His eyes were wide hearing my words, but all he did as I finished talking was gave me a nod and we both headed towards the packhouse.
As we passed through the battlefield, our warriors stopped fighting, seeing us walk side by side with Nerissa in Alexander’s arms.
The fighting had stopped and injured ones were slowly gathered and carried the same way we were heading, but something felt so wrong as I could feel it coming but couldn’t see it anywhere, that is until I heard Warit shout my name, “Allister! Watch out!”
Alex and I both stopped walking, turning around to the sound of Warit’s voice, when in the next second, I saw someone jump right at Alex, pushing him down into the ground as he pushed Nerissa on top of him so he could take the full fall.
I was fast to move, looking ahead at a male who stood up growling, having his eyes set at Alex.
“Take her to Kiara, I will join you soon as I deal here with my dear brother,” Alex said, standing up fast with Nerissa in his arms. He gave her to me as he stood tall and faced Reynard.
Holding Nerissa in my arms, I looked at her disturbed features and back at Alex, who extracted his talons while growls grew louder as they came from both of them.
He turned his head to me, shouting at me, “Go! Get her to Kiara, now!”
I left Alex behind and ran towards his packhouse in search of the doctor as Warit followed right behind me.

*****

**Alexander POV**


With the corner of my eye, I could see Allister disappearing towards my packhouse as I turned my full attention to the person in front of me.
“The day has come, dear brother, a day of your end and my rising.” The words spoken out with so much venom in them came out from Reynard’s mouth. 
“We shall see whose end is it then, brother,” I answered to him, showing no fear, the only rage for being away from my mate in these times when she needed me.
Roaring, he charged at me, swaying his deadly talons at me, trying to cut my flesh as I dodged every attempt he made.
Swinging hard, I kicked him in his jaw, making him stumble back as his lip bled from the fracture I made with my fist.
Reynard attacked me once again and soon enough we ended up in a death grip as I tried to push him away, only for him to keep attacking me without stopping.
Ryder moved towards us, about to help me but I stopped him saying, “Don’t, this is between him and me only.”
Ryder nodded his head and stood aside, watching while Reynard and I tore into each other.
Having enough, I charged at him, slamming him right into a large tree while his talons dug into my back, drawing some blood as his eyes bore into my own, showing nothing but hatred.
Pressing him down into the bark of a tree, I couldn’t help but wonder why is my own brother full of hatred towards me?
Letting my thoughts consume me, Reynard took that chance and tore into my arm with one of his hands, making me lose my grip on him while he kicked me in the side and pushed me down into the ground.
I saw him swing his hand, aiming for my neck, but I managed to grab his arm and turn us around, moving so fast as my fist collided hard down into his face.
Not stopping, I aimed at his face, hitting him with all my might, hearing the bones crack as slowly his face became almost unrecognizable.
The images of betrayal by my own blood flooded my mind as memories and pain I never wished to admit, filled my heart, fueling my anger and my movements even more.
“Alex!” 
In the distance, I heard my name being called but I still didn’t stop, not until something grabbed my wrist and I looked up and saw Allister.
“That is enough. We can deal with him some other time but now Nerissa needs us… both.” Allister said, and just hearing her name made me snap back into reality.
Just as I was about to stand up and go with Allister, a dark shadow appeared in front of us, and a strong blast hit me and Allister as we both were pushed away from Reynard that was laying down, unconscious.
The shadows simmered down, but dark claws crawled over the ground right at Reynard, wrapping around him.
Looking up into the center where the dark shadows appeared, I saw the same witch I saw in the Dark Fae world.
Trying to get up but unable to because of the magic that was cast upon us all, keeping us frozen in place, I looked at Allister and saw he was also trying to fight against the magic but struggling with succeeding at it.
The dark witch walked slowly towards Reynard as her hands were wrapped in the dark shadows that kept playing around her.
Kneeling down, she caressed with one of her hands Reynard’s cheek, saying, “Now… now… the time has not come yet. I have big plans for us.”
Smiling, she said as the shadow cloak wrapped fully over Reynard as her eyes looked up directly at Allister and me.
Slowly she stood up, looking as we enchanted her. She took a few steps closer but stopped the moment she saw that Allister and I were both about to get free from her magic grip.
She moved fast, reaching where once Reynard was, looking at us with a strange glimmer in her eyes. She said, “The day will come when you will need me, so until that day comes, I will be waiting for you.”
Dark shadows raised up, swallowing her fully just in time as Allister and I broke free from the magic grip, Allister’s hands glowed with fire as he tossed a large ball right into the center of the shadow.
The dark shadow disappeared, leaving no trace of Reynard nor of the dark witch.
Allister looked at me for a moment as I called for my warriors and said, “Search around and make sure they are gone if they aren't. I want them captured and brought here in the dungeon.”
The warriors nodded their heads and moved fast to do as I ordered.
Allister gave the same order to his warriors and soon enough we were alone, standing and searching around when Allister asked me, “Who was that?”
I looked at him and said, “I don’t know. All I know is that she was there in the Dark Fae World when I recused Nerissa.”