The Last Spirit Wolf (Elena Norwood)

-Noah-

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice said from behind the tree line.

I turn in the direction of the voice, and to my surprise, Sadira steps out of the woods, followed by her men.

How the f**k did we not hear or smell them coming?

I turn back to my human form, not giving a f**k that I'm still naked.

Sadira eyes me up and down with a seductive smile, which, under the circumstances, makes my blood boil. And yet, I have to reign in my temper.

"Why's that?" I ask.

Her eyes finally meet mine.

"I have scouts everywhere, Your Highness. It's an essential part of our survival; and my scouts would rather lose an arm and a leg than be sent over to that mountain." "Why?" Eli asks next to me.

My warriors and scouts have come to stand behind me in their lycan form. They're unfamiliar with these people and it's better to be ready in case of a fight.

"Well, nine out of ten men simply never come back. They just..." she gestures with her hand in the air, "vanish."

Vanish. There's that word again.

Behind Sadira, I sense movement.

Coming from behind her men, Liam steps around them and towards us, this time without the fear façade.

"There are rumors of witches beyond the mountain range. If that's where they took Vera, you'll definitely need a better plan," he says.

I raise an eyebrow at him.

Isn't he supposed to be undercover?

Almost as if reading my mind, he says,

"I got caught," he shrugs.

Sadira huffs loudly.

"He almost ran after you at the clearing; it's clear to me where his loyalties lie," she rolls her eyes, "but, he also told me everything. I'm very sorry your mate is missing." she says, sincerely. "Thank you." I say, trying to keep this conversation short. I really don't care about any of this, I just need to find Vera and bring her back home safely.

"How do you know what's going on over there if your men are just getting killed?" Caleb asks after a while.

"I said nine out of ten. We have useful information from the ones that have survived," she says, not once taking her eyes off of me.

This is all too good to be true and I have no time waste, so I decide to be straightforward.

"Why are you here?" I ask her bluntly.

"I want to help you. If you want to plan an attack, you can't go in there blind, much less if the rumors are true."

"And what do you want in exchange for this information?" I ask her, doubtful of her intentions.

"I want your Throne," she says forthright with a smile.

Behind me, I can feel everyone's tension like electricity in the air.

"Done." I tell her immediately.

"Noah..." Caleb warns behind me.

"The Kingdom, the throne, the Castle, take it all. I need to find her," I tell her, resolute.

She turns serious for a moment, trying to read me. It doesn't take her long to figure out that I'm being completely serious. Afterall, this is my mate we're talking about. "Let's regroup at that famous Castle of yours then, might as well get to know our future home, right boys?"

Behind her, her men start to howl excitedly. I see Liam noticeable cringe.

"Let's go then." I say, walking a few paces away from everyone in the direction of the Castle.

Everyone follows behind me and when Sadira is close enough, I smirk at her.

"I lied," I tell her and she turns to me looking rather serious, "there isn't actually a throne," I say, turning into my lycan, but not before I see her narrow her eyes at me.

On the run back I think about what I just committed to.

The entire Kingdom. My birth right. Everything Vera and I and everyone else have been working for for the last half a year almost. But if that's her condition, I'll take it. Time is of the essence and, quite frankly, the single most important thing to me is Vera. Without her, life isn't even worth living anymore.

I have the confidence that she's still alive; I can feel it. I just need her to hang on for a bit longer.

Once we approach the Castle, the sun has vanished and I'm in a hurry to get everyone together to plan out a strategy with Sadira's information. Before we even approach the entrance, I'm already making a mental list of the things we'll need.

First of all, we need a map to set up our strategy clearly. While most of our forces march, we'll need an initial scouting party to leave as soon as possible and meet us back halfway to report to us. If what Sadira said is true, we'll need a big enough scouting party to ensure at least one of them comes back alive.

Putting my men at risk like this in not only uncharacteristic of me, but it also really sets a bad precedent. If this were anyone else, I wouldn't even try to rescue them at the cost of so many lives; but Vera is not just anyone.

When I snap out of my thoughts, something grabs my attention before stepping out of the tree line. There are no guards. Not in the perimeter, not at the entrance, and not up in the wall posts. What the fuck is going on?

My lycan's ears perk up, trying to hear anything out of the ordinary; but the only thing not normal is just how quiet it is.

"Watch out!" Someone yells behind me.

Cassia.

Out of the forest surrounding us, right in front of the Castle, an army of lycans come pouring out, attacking us.

The struggle soon follows, with my men launching themselves in front of me to take care of the first wave of attackers.

My heart is beating fast, and even though lycans don't sweat in our best forms, I feel sweaty and feverish. All of the hairs in my body rise and my chest is huffing and puffing with labored breathes. I start shaking. I don't have *time* for all this bullshit.

My blood is boiling just imagining what those witches are doing to Vera, and the longer this goes on, I'm less likely to find her alive.

Then, I feel it coming.

Whatever that *sensation* is that I've been feeling lately looming just below the surface is coming now and I can't stop it.

In fact.

I don't want to stop it.

Not anymore.

I growl inwardly, letting it free.

Then, I see red.

I let out a big, deafening howl into the air, and for a brief second, everyone stops, shaken; even my guys.

Then, quickly, I start ripping through the enemies, one head and limb at a time.

This has never been easier. I'm moving through them as if I can move twice as fast as they can. I'm biting down on their necks, their limbs, their chests, as if they were prey animals. When I swing one in the air, another one quickly follows. All I care about right now is ending this. Now.

Slowly, I notice all of their efforts are now targeted towards putting me down, but it's useless.

I see them coming almost as if they're moving in slow motion. I take them down one by one.

Limb after limb.

Head after head.

Occasionally, I even plunge my arm into their chest, effectively stopping their hearts.

After several minutes. It's finally over.

I have either killed the enemies or frightened them enough so that they won't dare continue the fight; those are the lucky ones.

Once I come to again, everyone is looking at me in terror, even my own warriors; Sadira has her hand over her mouth, shocked and terrified.

I'm breathing heavily from the exertion and my fur feels heavy, no doubt soiled with blood.

I look around me and realize... I really may have overdone it.

The ground around me is littered with bodies, and I'm sure most of them died by my hand. And the truth is, I couldn't care less.

*I need to find her*.

I turn back to my human form, stepping away from the stunned group of lycans behind me.

When I reach the Castle, the remaining Council members are waiting for me at the entrance, having witnessed the fight; if you can even call it that.

Council member Caldwell is gaping at me, fear evident in the sweat dripping from his forehead.

He stares at the pile of bodies and back at me several times.

"Ah I I..." he stutters.

No one else says a word, too stunned to react. But something inside me, that *thing* I just let

free back there, speaks for me.

"Kneel." I tell him.

"I Wha..." he stutters more.

"Kneel." I tell him, again.

Behind him, every other Council member kneels without a second thought. In a few seconds, my request registers in Caldwell's mind and he, too, kneels.

Beside him, I turn to a man I had never seen before. He looks rough, several scars on his face and arms. He's staring at me defiantly and I come to stand in front of him.

I don't care who he is. I don't care what he's doing here. All I want is for him to...

"Kneel," I tell him.

He gulps.

All the other men here have already complied, even his men from what I can tell.

My lycan begins to swirl in my eyes.

I will not tell him again.

As if reading my thoughts, this man kneels, too.

Once I'm satisfied, I make my way into the Castle, headed straight to our room to quickly clean up and put some clothes on.

Now the real work can begin.

"Vera, please hang on."