James.
When Damian was killed, I felt like a piece of me had been ripped away. I wasn’t sure how it had been possible, but my brother had been taken from me, and I let out a howl of despair into the air.
Ivy’s scream shook all of us and not just the wolves of her pack but those of our enemies as well. I never heard anything like it before, but watching her drop to her knees next to Damian, crying, nearly killed me.
‘They will all die for this.’ Talon said through our link.
‘Kill them all.’ Hale replied with a snarl.
War had come for us, and regardless of the situation, we weren’t going to let them get away with killing Damian. We weren’t going to let them get away with anything.
Before I could step forward, a force surrounded me, holding me in place. I tried with all my might to move, but I could not. And suddenly, a shift was forced over me, turning me back into the human body I usually held.
‘What’s going on?!’ I yelled through the link. ‘Something made me shift back.’
‘Me too.’ Talon growled.
‘It seems it has for all of us. Something is happening.’ Hale replied.
He wasn’t wrong. Something was happening.
A buzzing under my skin started to burn like fire, and a voice deep inside me spoke with it. ‘It’s almost time.’
What was almost time? Was this the beast Ivy freed?’
I tried to fight against what was happening but was unable. A force pushed against me, and the beast came forward snarling. Watching, I saw the wolves of our enemies stepping backward. Their ears lay back as they seemed to look at each other with confusion and uncertainty.
It was obvious I was something to fear. Something they shouldn’t get involved with, and I would tear them apart with my new form.
My eyes cast towards where Ivy was, and watching, I saw the power building within her. She was magnificent, and though I couldn’t hear what she was saying, the moment a roar sounded and the wolves started the battle once more, she shot a source of power toward the man in front of her with fury.
“Kill them all.”
My beast growled before he threw himself at our enemies, slowly tearing them apart. His hunger for blood was a feeling I would never be able to forget.
Ivy.
When Damien died, chaos consumed my soul like nothing I had ever felt before. A scream ripped through me I wasn’t sure belonged to me. As the tears streamed down my face, I fell to my knees before him.
The light from his eyes had slipped away, and with it, my heart.
“Why?” I cried out softly, trying to understand why someone would want to kill him. Trying to understand why they hated us so much. Just because we were different. “What have you done?”
The echoed howls of mourning from our pack members and Damian’s brothers resonated through the air. The moment his heart stopped beating, we felt the snap of his bond, and with it, the snap of my mind.
“You had to be controlled, and with him gone, the circle is no longer complete.”
The circle… that was what this was about?
My mate was killed because they thought it would cut the circle and diminish everything. They were fucking idiots. As my eyes snapped to him with hatred and anger in my gaze, I contemplated his words. “What do you mean, the circle is gone?”
“With his death, the portal shall forever be closed, and nothing you can do will open it.” His words were riddles, and I was honestly over listening to riddles.
I had no idea what portal he was talking about or why this man would act the way he did, but as I tried to calm my racing mind, I attempted to push back the power, craving to break free. “What portal?”
With a sly grin, the haze washed over him like a waterfall, washing away debris. He changed before my eyes, and as he came back into view, the man standing before me was not Alokaye.
Onyx eyes as black as night with midnight blue hair hung loosely down over his shoulders were the first things that caught my attention. The man before me stood with pale skin covered in black and green intricate tattoos.
Something about him was familiar, and his mischievous grin let me know he had expected this reaction. “The portal that I came from.”
“Who are you, exactly? Because nothing about you is familiar.”
“Well, that’s a shame,” he replied with a smirk.
This was enjoyable for him. While I was here falling apart at the loss of my mate in front of me, he was relishing the destruction he caused. Standing to my feet slowly, I let the power within me build up. My heart raced, and my fists clenched so tight that my knuckles turned white.
I was going to kill him. “You have no idea who I am, do you?”
Cocking an eyebrow, the corner of his lip twitched at my response. “You’re the goddess of Earth… or so they have proclaimed. But now the circle is broken, you will never reach that potential. The portal will never open, and I will rule over this realm. Everyone you love will die at my hands.”
With his words, a roar sounded, and the battle commenced again. Some of my warriors were caught off guard as more wolves pushed from the treeline. Richard included.
“That’s what you think,” I snarled as my eyes washed over black, releasing the power inside me. A power that had been slowly growing over time. Slowly leaking out and infecting the people around me.
Perhaps I was darkness… perhaps I was light.
At this moment, I didn’t care. The only thing I wanted was revenge for my fallen mate. Revenge for the man I lost and the men I loved.
With a swish of my hands, I thrust my hands in front of me and directed my power at him. It caught him off guard, and as it did, he tried to shield himself and failed. Step by step, I moved closer, watching him struggle under me before a hit from my side sent me spiraling through the air, hitting the ground with an intensity I hadn’t expected.
It was Allison. The stupid cunt had stopped me, and as I turned, I growled at her, watching as she stared at me, baring her teeth. Her golden wolf was ready to rip me apart, yet I welcomed it. “Oh, you fucked up.”
She charged at me, and as she did, I slid past her, twisting and turning with every snap of her jaw. I wasn’t going to let her get me, and movement after movement, I pushed forward.
Bursting through the masses with her hot on my tail. I wasn’t sure where the man had gone, but after I dealt with her, he was going to die as well.
Another hit to my side sent me flying to the ground, but as I turned on my knees, I stared at the salivating wolf with golden eyes. “Are you ready to die?”
She let out something close to a snort, and as she did, she lunged, which was her biggest mistake. Grabbing her, I jumped onto her back, wrapping my arms around her neck, slowly crushing her windpipe as she tried desperately to throw me off her.
She fell to the ground with a pop and a yelp, and I stood staring down at her slowly shifting body. She lay there, eyes wide, gasping for air as she clawed at her throat.
“I told you I would kill you,” I muttered with venom. “You have caused far too much damage to my family for me to allow you to go free. This time, I will make sure that you have no way to come back.”
Thrusting my claws down towards her chest, I plunged my hand in deep, grabbing her heart. As I stared down at her, the look in her eyes fed the primal animal inside me. Blood lust filled me, and her fear made a sadistic smile cross my lips right before I ripped her heart from her chest.
Allison was dead, and killing her caused a loud roar of anger to fill the air.
It was the man, and his glaring gaze stared at me with hatred.
“What did you do!” he yelled furiously as he jumped down from the rock he was standing on, stalking me. “She was my favorite.”
“And Damian was one of mine,” I snapped. “He was my mate, and you took him.”
“I am Loki, one of the gods of Asgard, and you will pay for your crimes.”
So that was who he was. The Loki of Asgard, God of mischief.
Running at me, a staff appeared in his hand that he swung at me, causing me to jump back, avoiding getting hit. The man was powerful, but one thing he didn’t realize was I was never alone.
Hit after hit, we went toe to toe until Hale and Talon grabbed him long enough for me. A hand of dark swirling matter grabbed him by the throat, pushing him to his knees.
“Frigga has been searching for you,” The coldness of my voice caused him to narrow his eyes in response to what I said.
“That bitch can kiss my ass,” he gasped as I held him in place.
A deafening crack of lightning sounded through the air, and as it did, a swirling mass of wind let through a glimpse of shimmering light in the air. Hale, Talon, and James howled in response to it, and as he did, the enemy wolves moved nervously before they retreated to where they had come from.
The battle was over for now, but the damage wasn’t done.
Through the light, I watched the hazed figures of two people step forth, and with them, my breath was almost taken away. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but looking at my mates, they knew. Even Loki seemed to know as fear radiated from him.
“Ivy,” A soft voice said as I spotted Frigga stepping onto the grassy clearing.
“Frigga?” I replied with confusion. “What’s going on?”
“We have come to bring Loki home,” she smiled. “Your pain unleashed the power that was needed to drop the veil and open the portal. It allowed us to come through to take Loki.”
My pain… my pain dropped the veil.
As if someone turned on the faucet, my eyes filled with tears, slowly slipping down my face. “He’s gone.”
She shook her head with a sad smile. “Maybe not.”
“What do you mean?” I asked quickly. “He’s dead. You can’t come back from death.”
As I stared at Frigga, another large burly form stepped through the portal, and as he did, my mates dropped to their knees, bowing their heads before him as if a force made them submit. I wasn’t sure who the man was, but I felt safe as I looked into his blue eyes.
“There is a way,” he said as he stepped toward me.
“What—” I gasped, “who are you?”
“Forgive my manners, sweet child. I just have been so looking forward to meeting you. My name is Odin, and I am your father, Ivy.”
Holy fucking shit.
