Chapter 110 - 111

Chapter 110: Chapter 111

Chapter 111

I coughed out blood as I forced myself to stand. The copper taste flooded my mouth, thick and warm, sliding down my chin in slow trails while Nathan’s voice cut through the chaos around us. The whirlwind still tore at the ground, whipping dirt and broken branches into the air, yet his words carried clean and sharp over every scrap of noise.

"Now that I’ve claimed the Aetherblood, my powers will intensify." He started, his voice easily carried over the whirlwind. "Don’t fret, this increment isn’t to simply destroy the world." Then his eyes threw themselves to me, cold and certain. "I’ll begin with you, Alpha Kai. Once I capture SilverFang under my fingertips, I’ll spread the word of my salvation to the entire world. All shall bow to me, and the entire world’s leaders, all Alphas, all Royals, and Councilpersons, shall all serve me."

The smirk that spread across his face served as the finality of his speech. It sat there like a brand, satisfied and patient.

As I curled a hand over my ribs, Marcellan and Clawface at my sides, I spat blood onto the ruined earth. "No one will follow a bastard like you."

"Oh, Alpha Kai, I shall have you know that the day of our last battle is soon to arrive. Prepare your men. Have your Pack ready to face my wrath. All those who remain behind you and plan not to bow to me will burn. And then, we’ll know if I’m a bluff or not."

"I’ll be the end of you, I swear it." I said, my eyes carrying the death I envisioned for his demise. The promise sat heavy in my throat, raw and unfinished.

"Then prepare, and prepare well," he said before turning back. He floated through the waves and just as he passed through the opening, it sealed shut and became charged once again. Sparkling and electric. The light of it stung the eyes.

"No, no, Kai..." Marcellan pulled me back, causing me to seethe at him. The grip on my arm was firm, almost desperate. "Trust me, Alex can’t have you helping him if you’re torn to pieces. You’ve got to think."

"He’s got him, and he’s leaving." I growled, tearing Marcellan’s grip from me. The loss of that contact left my skin colder than it should have been.

I sped forward, yelling the bastard’s name into the closing space. "Nathan! Come and face me, you coward!"

"As I said before, Alpha Kai," he sounded too calm, too composed as he spoke, "our last battle will be well arranged. Not in a neighbourhood, not in a stinking swamp...like nobles. Like true men with subjects...knights. Like actual Alpha Kings. Have your men at ease, or I shall take your Pack from you and the rest of the world."

I stood there, watching as his figure faded behind the chaos. The wind kept howling long after the opening sealed. My lungs burned with every breath. Blood still dripped from my lips onto the dirt.

Marcellan touched me from behind, his hand on my shoulder. The weight of it was steady, almost grounding. "If there’s one thing we know, he wouldn’t kill Alex. He needs Alex for his powers, to steal it, and if there’s one thing I’m most certain of, Alex won’t give him an easy triumph to steal the power of Aetherblood."

I turned around, and Marcellan continued. His voice stayed low, careful. "So, let’s bank on that and make a plan. We are not losing this fight yet."

The words sat between us for a long moment. I said nothing. The blood on my tongue had gone cold.

???

I stomped through the door only to halt abruptly at the sight layered before me. A procession of my councilmen, which involved the Counts, advisors and other nobles. They had gathered in a meeting, their arguments and counterarguments an annoying tune to my ears. The sound of their voices bounced off the high stone walls and came back thinner, smaller.

All went silent once my presence reached the crooks and crevices of the large, tall space. Vast in its design. The air itself seemed to hold its breath.

My boots made soft clicks against the cobblestone floor of the war chamber. My sight captured the maps set on the table, carved stones placed upon targeted areas. It made my brows crease. Dust motes drifted through the shafts of light that cut across the room. No one moved to clear them.

"A meeting without my presence." I tasted their fear on my tongue. It was sharp, metallic, almost sweet. "So, what do you have?"

My eyes darted from the first member to the second, and eventually to the very last. Neither of them could speak. I didn’t blame the nobles. Each of them merely wanted to save his own life and that of his family, even if it meant being stupidly egocentric and selfish to the throne.

In times of war, such behaviour had been witnessed countless times. I wasn’t in the slightest stirred. Their silence stretched longer than it should have. The maps on the table looked almost childish now.

My hair messily styled, my eyes sore and sunken, creases etched at their edges. My Alpha scent poured like water from a hose, unceasing, unlessening. Surely, they knew even their Alpha King was unstable. The weight of it pressed against the walls.

"Speak!" My tone vibrated the room. The earth shook beneath the stones.

"We...we are only aiding your motives, Your Highness." One of the Counts spoke, his tone defiantly measured. The words came out careful, as if each one might crack under the pressure.

I couldn’t see. Rage blinded me. It sat behind my eyes like a second pulse.

"Get out! All of you. Useless. Futile attempts from fools like you won’t save the Pack, much less the entire world. Leave!" I shooed them out. The men scurried from the room, not another minute spent debating or countering my statement.

They knew better. The door closed behind the last of them with a soft, final sound. The chamber felt larger without them. Emptier.

Once the war chamber was empty, I settled into my seat, my hands draped over the edges. Something was broken in me, hinting at tears, but more of it just couldn’t come out. I watched the window, the sunlight pouring through the opening, and I craved to feel it against my skin.

But to move felt impossible, like I was an immovable mountain. The light stayed where it was, distant and clean.

"Forgive me," I whispered to myself.

There was not much else to say. My eyes settled on the goblet before me on the table, a blackberry wine peacefully contained within, and even to stretch forth my hand felt like too much.

Felt like failure.

As though to even do the slightest thing would lead to failure and remind me just how I’d failed to save my love.

The mother of my kids.

How he fared, I knew not. How he was surviving, I knew not.

Yet it had been days. It had been fucking days.

My fingers dug into the wood, scraping out the grain of the timber as its texture flattened beneath my anguish. Splinters caught under the nails. I didn’t feel them.

Just then, the door creaked slowly, and Marcellan and Clawface entered. They sat next to me on either side. The quiet that came with them was heavier than the one they had interrupted.

I darted my eyes from Marcellan to Clawface and back to Marcellan, and the silence they carried proved fruitless yet telling. I exhaled softly and asked the question that had been weighing on me.

"How did it go? The meeting with Moonblade—what did Alpha Frederick say?"