Chapter Thirty-four

Ace and his squad stood nervously, forming their barrier around the house. The battle had started, and they could hear the wounds of gunfire and wolves growling.

‘I love you, Alexia Luther.’ The words kept replaying in her head as she recollected the moment they shared a while ago.

She should have seen it coming. She really should have. It was obvious in his behaviour. He was always touching her, petting her or stroking her. He would help her with her hair and her outfits. When she woke up, he was awake before her, staring at her with a strange expression in his eyes. He did those little, little things and…oh!

Then her thought veered her in another direction. What if he didn’t actually love her, but it was just the mate bond? She knew that she liked him a lot, but love? Wasn’t it too soon for that? It has been only a few months and…

“Just stop, Alexia, okay?” she whispered fiercely to herself. There were more important things at hand.

Suddenly, her senses went into hyperfocus and her pupils narrowed. She spoke into the comms device anchored on her shoulder, “Guys…some people are coming towards us. Get ready.”

Ace’s voice buzzed in her ear, “I feel it too, Alexia. Stay on your toes, everyone.”

Suddenly, static filled her head and she could not hear any other thing. Time seemed to slow down as her eyes focused on a bullet cutting through the air and headed straight for her. she watched the bullet until it came closer and closer, barely a hair’s breadth from her. She veered at the last minute and she watched travel past her and bury itself into a tree behind her.

“Alexia, everybody. They’ve started shooting at us. Stay alert,” Ace’s voice buzzed in her ear, jolting her out of her trance. Everyone replied, but she didn’t.
“Alexia! Alexia! Alexia, do you copy?” Ace asked but she didn’t reply.
She was too fixated on the figure all-clad in black, emerging from the woods in front of her.

***

Cole and Vanessa were perched in the same tree, keeping a watch of the area below the. Then Cole spoke, “Vanessa. Are you and Ace dating?”

“No.” she answered curtly.

“Are you having sex with him? Is he your friend with benefits?” he pestered.

“No, Cole. Stop asking personal questions. There’s nothing between Ace and I. Now focus,” she seethed.

Two figures walked past below, and Vanessa lined up her sniper. She checked their faces, and noting they were the enemy, she fired two shots into their heads in succession.

“We could have missed them for your silly questions, Cole!” she snapped at him.

“Answer the questions, Vanessa. You say he’s not your boyfriend, and neither is he your fuckbuddy. Yet I saw you guys snuggling twice. That day, and today. Do I have to catch you two fucking before you tell me the truth? Answer me, dammit!” he yelled.

“It’s my personal business not yours, Cole. Stop prying,” she scolded him.

“Fine. It’s not my business, but it will definitely be the coven’s business when I report that you have been sleeping with a werewolf!”

Just then, they heard heavy footfalls coming from the direction of the clan’s territory lines.

“Damn it!” Vanessa swore, “Athena and Lykiaos must have expended all their magic.”

Then she spoke into the comms device on her shoulder, “Everyone, Do you copy?”

“Yes, we copy,” they all replied in her ear.

“The barrier has been breached. Repeat, the barrier has been breached. Our attackers are in clear sight. Shoot at random, I repeat, shoot at random.

Celia, Stephan, Augustus. Is there anything that you can do for us?” she asked the warlocks.

“Yes, Vanessa. We’re on it,” Celia replied.

Vanessa and Cole started shooting in earnest. “This discussion is not over, Vanessa. We’ll still talk about it later,” Cole said.

Looking through her scope and firing as rapidly as she could. “It is over, Cole,” she replied calmly.

***

Hayden was in the thick of battle, fighting in his wolf form. He leapt on one of their attackers, tearing his head off him.

Another came close, trying to shoot him, but he swiped at him with his huge paw, tearing open his chest cavity. He crumpled to the floor, bathed in blood.

A warrior mind linked him, “Alpha. They’re a lot. What should we do? We’re starting to get overwhelmed. Can the others in the midline come to help us?”

“Keep fighting, and don’t let them reach the packhouse. It must be safe at all cost,” he replied.

Another wolf mindlinked him, “Alpha. We have a problem. One of the assailants snuck past our line of defence. She used a phasing charm so we didn’t see her. What should we do?”

Hayden swore, still fighting, “Dammit, Terry. How could you let that happen? Anyways, I’ll tell Ace about it, don’t worry. Just keep fighting.”

“Okay, Alpha.”

Hayden put up all other mind barriers and mindlinked Ace, “Ace. Unsub coming towards you. Be alert. And watch Alexia, please.”

“Yes, Hayden. Copy that,” Ace replied.

Suddenly, Hayden saw a face that made him stop in his tracks. It was the small man from the prison the other day. And he was coming towards him.

Hayden shifted back into human form, and found a pair of camo trousers to wear. Then he came face-to-face with him.

***

“Hey, Alexia. Remember me?”

Alexia felt like she was dreaming. Everything slowed down as her brain tried to process what she was seeing.

The icy blue eyes that stared at her so intently, the pin-straight black hair, that drawl that pronounced her name so casually, the cocky way she stood back on one foot.

Her eyes rounded, and her arms fell to her side limply.

The person chuckled, “So you don’t remember me. I’ll tell you. It’s me, your favourite Werewolf friend, Delilah.”

Something clicked inside her and her emotions went zero, except for anger. Her voice was calm, almost deceptively so when she replied.

“I remember you, Delilah. I remember you well,” she replied.

Ace spoke on the comms device trying to get through to her, but she reached up and turned it off.

Delilah walked closer to her until they were at arm’s length. Then she smiled. Alexia could see her eyes, and the gayness in her smile was reversed into pure hatred that reflected in her eyes. Alexia gave a small, fake smile of her own.

“So, how have you been? I see you’re in the werewolf clan, why?”

“No reason for you to know. Why are you here?” Alexia asked calmly.

Delilah waved her hand flippantly, “Oh, you know. Freelancer, working for anyone who can give me money. It’s been quite a while, and I need to survive. By the way, what about your parents?”

“They’re fine, thank you.”

“And your grandparents?” Delilah asked, smirking. Alexia cocked her head, staring at her.

“Oh, right. I killed them. Am I sorry about that?” Delilah pondered, then she shrugged, “No, not really. I’m not sorry at all.”

“I know. I know you’re not sorry about it. You don’t need to tell me that. I saw the glee in your eyes as you brought your friends over, attacked their community, slit their throats and maim their corpses. That was the happiest I’ve ever seen you.”

“There was this…madness in your eyes as your friends held down my grandparents and you slit their throats while I watched. Then you beat me up and left me for dead. Your blue eyes haunted me a lot. They still haunt me,” Alexia narrated. Her eyes were red-rimmed and shining with tears. Delilah smirked.

Alexia started walking around Delilah, “You know, I trained hard after then. I trained for two main reasons. To prove the Council of Hunters wrong, and so that when I find you, I’ll be ready; I’ll be strong enough to rip your head off your body. So that a hit from me will shatter your bones and bruise your internal organs.”

She stopped in front of Delilah and got in her face until there was no more than a hair’s breadth between them. She towered over her, so Delilah had to tilt her head to make eye contact with her.

“Now, I am ready.”

***

For Hayden, the battle around him no longer existed. It felt like déjà vu, looking into the small man’s hate-filled eyes like that.

“Hey, Alpha Hayden? Miss me?”

“You!” was all he could growl.

“Yes, Alpha. Me. You recognise me now, don’t you? Let’s see if you still do,” he said in his high, whiny voice. Then he whispered something under his breath, and in the next instant, he was a tall, hulking man as big as Hayden himself.

His shaky blue irises transformed into a steady, intense red. His pupils were merely slits of black.

Hayden growled, “It doesn’t matter whether you’re tiny or huge. Your size nor what you are matters. I’ll kill you myself.”

“No, you won’t. Not unless you want to hear what I have to say about Helena.”