114: No more killings.
**Aife pov**
Everything had turned into pure chaos. Nothing in my world felt sacred or pure anymore, only trained and broken.
The attack had caught me off guard and that was bad enough, but the sudden appearance of Zion and Kala in the lion camp? That was something I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams, let alone reality.
But the moment Kala ran to me and embraced me in one of her warm, tight motherly hugs, the world faded for a moment.
I had enough time to breathe and relax, if only for a little, it still felt like a blessing from the Goddess herself.
Kala opened her mouth, but the words died on her tongue as a loud growl shook the camp.
Her hold around me tightened as she looked in the direction of the vicious sound, accidentally distracting herself for long enough to give Zion a chance to run.
And obviously, the hothead he was, Zion took off and headed straight towards the heart of the battle, where I knew, I damn well knew with my entire heart and soul, it was Bane.
I couldn’t utter a single word as I stared how Zion disappeared from view, and neither could Kala, just as horrified as I was.
I knew we had to do something, but what could be done when it was already too late?
From there, everything happened at lightning speed. First, there was a roar, followed by a wail of pain, and the next moment, Kala dropped to her knees next to me, clutching at her ribs, screaming in pain.
“No, Zion,” she gasped as I dropped down next to her, grabbed at her shoulders and tried to pull her in my embrace.
I had no idea how to provide any comfort for her, how to make the pain go away, and worst of all - I knew her suffering, the same as Zion’s, was my fault.
All I had to do was face Babe myself instead of running away from him. Maybe then, he and the monster that resided within him would stop terrorizing everyone around us.
The lion women rushed in, surrounding us, trying to help Kala up.
“Help Khan’s daughter’s friend!” Someone called out frantically as more lions rushed to our side.
“We need to bring her to the medical tent, our men are holding back the attack, we have enough time to help her,” a woman closest to me said frantically, pointing her finger at the tent while others helped Kala up.
Someone grabbed me from the back too and pulled me to my legs. My whole body felt like a giant jelly, so I had no idea how I managed to stand upright.
“Cub, you need to follow us, yes? Your fathers will raise hell if we don’t protect you from danger. Come, follow us,” the woman who was holding me upright said, dragging me towards the medical tent where they took Kala.
As soon as we stepped in, my stomach twisted with nothing but raw, intense guilt. Kala laid on a bed, multiple lions ran around her frantically, calling out something about medicine, but I couldn’t hear a thing.
All I could focus on was the look of agonizing pain on her face and the thoughts about how bad it had to be for Zion.
As soon as the woman who led me into the tent stepped away to help others tend to Kala, I took a decision I knew I might regret for the rest of my life. At least the rest of the life I still had, regardless how short I might cut it now.
Slowly, I started backing out of the tent, using the panic inside and the fact nobody was even glancing my way.
One step at the time until I emerged from the tent. I stood there for maybe a few seconds, listening to the ruckus inside, double checking they didn’t notice me slip away.
Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep, greedy breath, placed a hand over the baby bump and exhaled slowly. “Hold on, little one, we’re about to do either something insanely brave or absolutely stupid.” I whispered under my breath, opened my eyes, spun on my heel and started walking towards the sound of the attack.
Lions were rushing through the camp, screaming and handing out weapons while I moved through the bodies like they were nothing but maze.
My knees nearly bucked a couple of times, but I kept pushing myself to keep walking. This was no time to prove myself to be a coward.
After a while, I reached the area and took it in. Men, covered in blood, panting and screaming - there was Khan and Enzo, standing against a beast that didn’t look human or wolf.
Both men that had claimed me as their child were holding hands, putting their lives on the line for someone who was essentially a stranger.
Next, my eyes landed on Zion. He was laying still in the snow, blood surrounded him, still in his wolf form.
My breath caught in my throat, hands started sweating and my entire body shook with both fear and anger.
Just then, my eyes focused on the figure of the beast, who was stomping towards Zion. He moved too fast, like he was on a mission and his only target was the very man Bane had once called his best friend.
The beast stopped right in front of Zion’s unmoving body, roared and lifted his leg like he was about to stomp on him.
“Stop!” I screamed at the top of my lungs and somehow, startled the beast.
His head snapped up, nostrils flared and he instantly made a b-line for me.
Khan and Enzo were the first ones to jump in his way, followed by the other lions, screaming at me to hide, but I had enough of hiding.
“Let him come,” I screamed. A part of me didn’t believe they would listen to me, so seeing them trust me so completely that they did was surprising.
When the beast got so close I could feel the stench of his rotten flesh, I raised my hand to stop him.
To my surprise, his steps halted and he did stop right in front of me. “There, you found me. No more killings,” I hissed, looking up at the dead eyes staring back at me.
We stood there for what felt like ages, looking at each other until the beast took the last step towards me and my palm pressed against his chest.
Something flickered in his eyes and the large claw covered my hand, holding it in place. As I felt the drumming of its heartbeat against my hand, I looked up again and gasped, seeing Bane’s eyes. The eyes looking back at me were his, not the monster’s, not the beasts - his.
“Don’t pull away,” he choked out, sounding both like the monstrous creature and himself at the same time. “The monster is silent when you touch me.”
***THE END OF BOOK 2***
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