Chapter 217: Betrayed

Azura’s POV

"So, so incredibly, extremely dumb," Amanda whispered, her eyes glowing with a terrifying, blue light as she took a final step back.

"And now... you are going to die in this isolated place because of it."

The echoes of her cruel laughter still hung in the heavy air when a sudden sound broke the silence of the environment.

It was the distinct, rhythmic thud of heavy leather boots striking the ground beside me.

I whipped my head around, my heart leaping into my throat.

Rhydor was walking out of the trees, stepping into the dim light of the isolated area.

His massive battle axes were already gripped tightly in his large hands, the metal gleaming with a cold, unforgiving edge.

His jaw was set, and his amber eyes were fixed entirely on me with an unreadable, intense focus.

Relief flooded my chest so fast it made me dizzy. He had found a way into the barrier.

He had broken through this place to get to me.

But why couldn’t I feel our bond? Maybe he blocked it.

A breathless smile broke across my face, and I turned my torso sharply back toward Amanda, my confidence returning in a sudden rush.

"Since you do not want to come with us willingly," I said, my voice firm and echoing in the space, "then we will just have to take you back the hard way."

Amanda didn’t flinch. She didn’t look worried at all.

The mocking smirk remained frozen on her features, her gaze drifting past my shoulder to look at the approaching Alpha.

A cold trickle of dread slowly crept down my spine. Something felt entirely wrong.

The air didn’t ripple with his usual protective aura.

Before I could puzzle out the strange feeling, a sudden, violent rush of air disturbed the space behind me.

I spun around on my heel just in time to see Rhydor lift his right arm high above his head.

The heavy blade of his battle axe caught the bright light as he swung it down toward my chest with terrifying, lethal force.

My instincts took over before my brain could even register the horror.

I threw my weight backward, sliding across the ground as the heavy blade sliced through the empty air where my throat had been just a millisecond before.

The sheer force of the swing sent a localized gust of wind slamming into my face.

"Rhydor!" I screamed, my voice cracking as I scrambled to my feet, my chest heaving with sheer disbelief.

"What is wrong with you? Look at me!"

He didn’t offer a single word in response. His expression remained completely dead, a hollow mask of stone.

Without a moment of hesitation, he brought his left arm around, rushing at me with a terrifying speed that only an alpha could possess.

He launched into another brutal assault, his axes blurring in the light.

I flung my right hand out, my fingers twitching as my magic flared.

The silver ring blade materialized instantly in my grip, the weight of the weapon anchoring my trembling stance.

I raised the curved edge just in time to catch his downward strike.

A loud, metallic clang reverberated through the environment as his axe clashed against my blade.

The sheer power behind his blow sent a painful shockwave traveling up my arms, vibrating right into my teeth.

We traded blows in a desperate, chaotic rhythm. He was impossibly fast, his strikes calculated and deadly, driving me backward across the space.

He twisted his torso, driving the edge of his remaining axe directly toward my exposed neck.

I dipped my shoulder, dodging the lethal blow by a mere fraction of an inch, the wind of the blade whistling past my ear.

During the brief opening, I glanced over at Amanda. She was standing a few yards away, her arms crossed casually over her chest as she watched the display with a sickening, delighted smile.

I looked back into Rhydor’s face as our weapons locked again. His amber eyes were completely devoid of the warmth I had seen in the clearing.

They were cold, lethal, and entirely foreign.

"What did she do to you?" I pleaded, my voice breaking as I struggled to hold against his massive weight.

"Rhydor, stop this! Fight it!"

He remained completely silent, his chest rising and falling in slow, rhythmic breaths.

He lifted his arm for another crushing blow, but this time, the desperate panic inside me transformed into raw survival instinct.

As his axe descended, I adjusted the angle of my ring blade, channeling my energy into a sharp, upward swipe.

The curved metal sliced cleanly through the shaft of his weapon, cutting the heavy iron in half.

One side of the broken axe clattered against the invisible floor, splitting into two distinct pieces that slid away into the darkness.

Rhydor froze for a fraction of a second, his gaze dropping to the shattered weapon in his hand before his eyes slowly traveled back to my face.

A sudden, deep crimson hue flooded his irises, his amber eyes shifting into a blood-red glare that radiated pure, unadulterated hatred.

Before I could brace myself, a sudden, blinding force collided violently with my ribs from the side.

A heavy boot caught me squarely in the flank, knocking the breath completely out of my lungs.

I flew sideways, my body tumbling across the slick surface of the void. I rolled several times, coughing as I desperately threw my hands down to anchor myself, finally stopping on my hands and knees.

The jarring impact disrupted my concentration, and with a soft hum, my ring blade dissolved, transforming back into the innocent silver bangle resting against my wrist.

I gasped for air, clutching my aching side as I forced my head up to look at my new attacker.

Isadora was standing there, her hands resting confidently on her hips.

A cruel, mocking smirk distorted her usually quiet features, her eyes glittering with a strange, dark amusement.

My mind spun into a chaotic web of utter confusion. My chest ached, and my throat felt completely tight.

Why was this happening? Why were the people who had walked through the portal with me suddenly turning their weapons against my flesh?

Rhydor slowly walked, his heavy steps deliberate as he approached Isadora.

He didn’t spare me a single glance. When he reached her side, he wrapped his massive, muscular arm securely around her slender waist, pulling her flush against his broad chest.

Without a single second of hesitation, he leaned down and pressed his lips firmly against hers.

He kissed her with a raw, deep passion right in front of my face.

The sheer intimacy of the gesture, the way his fingers tangled into her hair as they embraced in the center of the space, felt like a physical blade ripping through my chest.

When he finally pulled back from the embrace, the terrifying crimson glare vanished from his eyes, replaced by a warm, tender smile meant only for her.

He then turned his head slowly in my direction, the warmth instantly dying as the blood-red hue flooded his irises once more.

Amanda walked closer to the pair, her knee-high boots clicking softly against the floor as she looked down at me.

"Did you honestly think he would ever end up with someone like you?" Amanda asked, her voice dripping with a cruel, mocking amusement that echoed off the empty boundaries of the environment.

"Was that actually what you believed in that pathetic little heart of yours?"

I shook my head frantically, my fingers digging into the surface beneath me as tears finally spilled over my eyelashes.

"This is not real," I whispered, my voice trembling violently as I tried to block out the sight of them. "This is not real. It can’t be."

Amanda took a few steps forward and crouched down, bringing her face level with mine; her cold, blue eyes studied my panic.

"That is just what you are desperately telling yourself to keep from shattering," she whispered evilly.

She stood back up to her full height, her features twisting into an expression of pure malice.

"You are going to die in this place at the hands of the very man you love," Amanda said, her voice rising with an eerie authority.

"But before that final blow lands... why don’t they show you exactly how worthless your little love truly is?"

On her command, Rhydor reached down and pulled Isadora back into his arms, his grip tightening around her waist as he kissed her even deeper.

He pressed her frame firmly against his chest, his large hand sliding down from her waist to the curve of her thigh, lifting her leg slightly as his fingers brushed against her exposed skin.

A sharp, agonized sound tore from my throat, the sheer weight of the psychological torture breaking through my remaining defenses.

"Stop it!" I screamed, the sound echoing hoarsely into the endless void.

"Please, just stop it!"

The pair slowly pulled apart at the sound of my scream. Rhydor looked over his shoulder at me, a cold, satisfied smirk playing on his lips as he kept his arm looped loosely around Isadora’s shoulders.

Isadora broke away from his grip, taking a few slow, deliberate steps toward me.

She swayed her hips lazily, her movements entirely foreign and predatory as she stopped a mere two feet away from where I knelt in the dirt.

"I let you have his attention all this time," Isadora said, her voice dropping into a cold, venomous register.

"And you honestly thought the best thing you could do was play your little, pathetic hard-to-get game with him?"

She threw her head back, a harsh, grating laugh spilling from her lips.

"Well, your little game is officially over now," she continued, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits as she leaned forward.

"This time around, let us see how you plan on defeating me when you have absolutely nothing left to fight for."

Without waiting for me to respond, she rushed forward, her speed blurring in the bright light of the domain.

As she closed the distance, the fingernails on her right hand instantly elongated, transforming into long, razor-sharp wolf claws.

She swung her arm in a brutal arc. I tried to throw my torso backward to dodge the attack, but my movements were sluggish, weighed down by the suffocating grief paralyzing my limbs.

The sharp tips of her claws sliced cleanly through the fabric of my sleeve, tearing into the flesh of my upper arm.

A sharp, burning pain flared across my skin as bright red blood immediately welled up from the deep score marks, staining the dark fabric.

I clamped my left hand over the wound, stanching the flow of blood as I frantically scrambled backward across the slick floor, trying to put distance between us.

My chest was heaving, and my vision was blurring with a mix of tears and physical exhaustion.

"No," I begged, my voice dropping into a desperate, broken whisper as I looked up at the three figures. "Please. Just make it stop."

Rhydor, Amanda, and Isadora stood in a loose semi-circle beneath the light, their features locked into identical, hard, and utterly evil smiles.

They offered absolutely no mercy, taking a sick pleasure in watching me unravel in the dust.

Isadora took another slow step toward my trembling form, her long, sharp claws tapping rhythmically against her thigh.

"I will make it stop permanently," she whispered.

Before the words could even register in my mind, she launched herself forward again, her body twisting mid-air.

She delivered a devastating, precise kick directly into the center of my chest, striking the exact, sensitive spot where I had been hit during the grueling pack trials.

The breath was violently driven from my lungs as the sheer force of the impact lifted my body completely off the ground.

I flew backward through the empty air, my limbs flailing as the momentum carried me out of the bright sunny place.

Then my skull collided with a sickening, heavy thud against a massive, jagged rock.

A sharp, white-hot explosion of pain flared at my temple, radiating through my brain in a fraction of a second.

The strength instantly drained from my muscles, my hands dropping uselessly to my sides as my body slumped against the cold stone.

The mocking faces of Amanda, Isadora, and Rhydor began to warp and stretch into grotesque shadows, their cruel laughter fading into a distant, muffled ringing.

The bright light of the domain rapidly flickered, shrinking into a tiny, pinpoint star before the surrounding darkness rushed in from the edges, swallowing my consciousness whole and plunging everything into silent blackness.