Chapter 96
Chapter 96
Xander POV
The ruins are busy, everyone is waiting now and planning. My only orders are that no one goes near Serafine or Eryx. I can’t trust anyone else not to do something.
People are tense and they have a right to be. The Guardians from my pack are here, and people don’t typically see them. Most never see a guardian before they die because they stay hidden.
I always thought I did amazing, finding them and managing to get them to protect my pack. I didn’t, though. They were there for Serafine; they showed up ready for her, like they knew she would come.
The maps are spread across different places; each pack has a different point they will attack and go through. Gideon may be expecting me to show, but he won’t be expecting others to be coming with me.
The bonds are all burning; they were weak, but now, there’s so many that I can’t tell one apart from the other; they blur together almost. Usually, I can sense Serafine easily, I can normally tell how she’s feeling, but not now. It’s just noise, a vibration in my chest like everything is too much.
“We’re ready to leave,” one of the Alphas calls out. The others nod, and we begin to move. We’re on foot from here, well, most of us. The cars will come slowly behind. Vehicles will make others realise what’s happening.
We split up, each taking a point of weakness in the pack. My hope is that if we move quickly enough, most of his men won’t fight. They will see how surrounded they are and give up.
His pack isn’t big, well, the grounds anyway. Sure there’s a lot of people there, but the grounds itself is easy to get through.
Killian and Garrick move forward ahead of me, and I look behind me at the guardians, they are tense, and I don’t blame them. Yes we planned this, but we’ve no idea what we’re walking into.
Focusing, I shift, and Killian jumps.
“Warning, please!” His words are loud. “I was ready to die, just so you’re aware, I was ready to die.”
I nudge him with my snout and keep going. The aim is most of the soldiers stay in human form, we can’t all go in wolves, it will create panic. There’s no way to communicate. Hence Killian is going to stay human, Garrick won’t.
We need to make people aware they won’t be hurt if they stand down, that we’re here for three people. Serafine, the baby and Gideon. No one else, they can all live if they just just stay back.
There’s no one on the border, it’s left unmanned, proof he doesn’t expect me. Foolish of him not to have it patrolled at all times.
As we get closer I hear the screams and see people panicking and running as the other packs break through the borders. The grounds is in chaos, some of Gideon’s soldiers are fighting, others are standing with their hands raised.
Women and children are hiding behind anything they can find.
“Don’t let him through!” someone shouts, their voice rising above the chaos as a trembling arm lifts and points directly at me. “It’s Xander!”
I guess Gideon knows about the Threadborn, then/if he knows that it’s me and not a guardian.
The panic in their voice spreads like fire, and the wolves scramble to react. They’re too slow, one lunges as they shift mid–step, but I meet him head–on. My body slams into his ribs, and I feel the crack of his bones as he lands to the side. He’s knocked out of the way like he’s dead weight..
Another one appears and tries to intercept. It comes from the left. I twist as fast as I can, my claws tearing across his arm before I slam into him and send him sprawling into the dirt.
Blood now streaks across the grass, but i don’t stop to watch him fall; I don’t have the time to do it.
1/2
Chapter 96
The path leading to the main pack house is a mess. Wolves are shouting orders, but no one seems to be listening. Some are trying to hold the tin.
their hesitation costs them.
I don’t wait, or hesitate I run toward them, and I’m through them before they even register at how badly they failed to stop me from getting through
The house looms just ahead, its thick doors are shut. Two other guards stand in front of it now, both shifted into their wolves. They are crouched low with bared teeth. I don’t stop though or even slow down.
The first one leaps at me, aiming for my neck. I duck under their strike and slam them onto their side with the full weight of my body. He crashes into the wall with a sickening thud. The impact sends a crack spiraling up the brickwork.
The second wolf moves in now, but I’m already on him, and driving him backwards with a blow that knocks him off his feet.
Climbing the steps with powerful bounds, I reach the door and slam into it. It’s locked and heavy, but not reinforced. I run into thern again, and the impact is hard. The crack of the doorframe echoes around the open space.
The doors swing open, bursting under the force of my body, one slams against the wall as the other hangs loose on the broken hinges.
I rush inside, the chaos from outside fades, and some of the other wolves follow me. My claws leave streaks across the floor as I advance into the shadows of the house. I don’t even bother to look back.
The pull of Serafine is strong, and I rush forward to find her. My paws stam against the floor as I run through the pack house. It’s empty, but I’m not a fool.
Most are outside, and those who aren’t will be protecting Gideon. The closer I get to Serafine, the stronger a scent hits me that has my wolf clawing at my
mind.
Killian whinches and covers his nose as we turn into a hall. I stay shifted and run toward where Serafine is, where the scent is.
The moment I step into the room, rage overtakes me, and my body falls to the floor beside her. She’s not awake, I nudge her with my snout, but she doesn’t react.
Her body is covered in marks, cuts, bruise,s and the scents that surround her are driving both me and my wolf crazy.
My wolf growls low. Who did this to you?
It doesn’t matter, they won’t live now.
Using my teeth, I pull the blanket over her body to hide it, then turn and begin to trace the strongest scent from her body.
