Fifty-three
SIN
I panted whilst hopping over several logs of wood.
My throat felt parched as I had barely tasted anything. I was also weak.
A lot of us from the group that went in search of intruders had resulted feeding on the animals they could get hold of.
But, I was trying my best to discipline myself. Even when Laurent had come with the deer he was feeding on, I had willed myself not to think of how juicy it was going to taste.
And I succeeded. But then, I got hungrier as well as weaker.
It was a surprise I was able to transform into my wolf form whilst the news of the palace being under attack came to us.
I grunted whilst channelling my inner strength.
Getting to Artemisia was all that was on my mind, and I would do anything to get to her.
I didn’t know how long I had been running, but I knew I was getting exhausted. I glanced back and noticed the others were behind. Even though I hadn’t partaken in the animal feast they had, I was still ahead and seemed more agile.
Maybe self-control and discipline were what the moon goddess glimpsed before she made me an Alpha. But I doubted it.
My eyes narrowed as I glimpse something coming at me at a high speed.
I managed to swerve on time before I saw what it was. I growled as I gaze at the arrow that smacked the floor.
My eyes travelled around the forest as several arrows were shot in the air. It got some pack members and I saw them desiccating as soon as it hit them.
Shit! Wolfsbane.
That was only what could incapacitate a werewolf and quicksilver too. But using wolfsbane was the easiest way to kill off a werewolf.
I dodged an arrow that was shot at me. Luckily, I glimpsed the shooter and leapt to meet him.
I tore the arrow and bow away from his hand and proceeded to claw his face.
I didn’t stop until I was certain he wouldn’t be able to come after us.
“Good,” Laurent whispered.
I glanced at the werewolves who were not shot, some had shifted back into their human form and were helping the injured ones. Fortunately, I had let two healers follow us per my mother’s order.
She had insisted we took them along, as if she knew it would be this way.
“We’ll take care of things,” Laurent growled.
He rammed into another arrow shooter, whom I realized were hunters because of the tattoo on their arms- a werewolf with a lot of arrows stuck in its head.
I nodded, then motioned to the werewolves that were still in their wolf forms to follow me as I proceeded towards the palace.
★★★
As soon as I got to the palace opening, I glimpsed several werewolves who weren’t from our park surrounding the house.
Some had transformed whilst others were in their human form, and I counted twenty in total as my eyes darted around.
The ones that had transformed were overly large, and I noticed a girl with them that had a smirk on her face.
The spell Mila had cast had been broken by her and I could see some Omegas writhing in pain whilst the others, the Etas, were trying their best to fight despite being with opponents who seemed stronger than they were.
I groaned inwardly whilst thinking of a way out. Despite wanting to get to Artemisia on time, I couldn’t make a decision that would cost me my life or the other werewolves behind me.
Werewolves weren’t immune to magic. Aside from wolfsbane and quicksilver, magic could kill werewolves, especially when the heart was the main target.
The heart didn’t need to be extracted, only a little concentration from a powerful witch could desiccate each of us.
I was certain Mila could face the girl, but then her werewolf gene was more dominant than her witch side.NôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.
So, she could only do a little magic.
But then Adrina was a pure witch, and a very powerful one at that. I was sure if she was here, the enemies would mean nothing to her.
However, it had been a while since I last saw her after she had flirted with me.
Maybe she had finally known that we wouldn’t be together no matter what she did.
I groaned as I watched more of the Omegas and Etas go down on their knees.
If I continued to stay in hiding, they would take down the whole werewolves we had left behind.
The witch girl halted, her eyes narrowed, and I heard her whisper something like ‘another witch is here’ to a guy with toned muscles, who seemed like the leader.
His eyes travelled around and stayed in the hole where we were. I did a silent prayer for my scent not to give me out.
I held my breath as I heard his footsteps, I wrinkled my nose as his foul fragrance wafted into my nostrils.
For a few seconds, I thought he had discovered me as he began to chuckle until he shouted, ‘No one here and nothing seems out of the ordinary.’
I breathed out, watching as he stepped away.
I flinched as I felt a nudge at my side.
“Go,” Mila murmured. “I’ll try to keep her busy.” She nodded towards the witch from the enemy side, who wasn’t convinced that another witch wasn’t there.
“I’m controlling the mist until you get into the palace.” She said and I nodded.
No wonder we weren’t caught.
“If you are not convinced, maybe we should finish them off quickly and be on our way with what we came for.” The muscled guy said, walking towards the palace entrance, he booted the door, moving inside.
“Just be fast with it, Murphy, and not fool around.” The girl said.
The muscled guy, Murphy, smirked, and she rolled her eyes.
I scampered towards the entrance as well. Mila could teleport me if she wanted, but she seemed exhausted already from the fights in the forest.
Also, she was trying her best to keep me hidden, and I didn’t think asking her to teleport me would be any better.
Weird fragrances saturated the air as I bounded up the staircase towards the room I shared with Artemisia.
It wasn’t only Murphy from the enemy side that was here, I mused, eyeing the five more werewolves in front of me.
Also, I realized my cover was blown.
I wasn’t invisible anymore, and they could see me.
Perhaps, Mila had collapsed from wasting too much energy. That was what she did whenever she was weak.
“Hey!” One yelled, glaring at me. “Where the f**k do you think you are going?”
Well, they didn’t know I was the Alpha, which was a good thing. Oh, I forgot to add Mila had a lot of powers, and controlling the mist was one of the many things she could do.
She could teleport any being as well and even put them in a disguise- I mean, making them look like a normal human and concealing their scents for werewolves. Because werewolves had a stronger scent, especially the Alphas.
I walked towards the man who had halted me. He was an inch shorter than I, and he was scrawny. His dark brown eyes narrowed as he gazed at me.
I accessed the others. The remaining four had toned muscles and looked stronger than the scrawny werewolf.
However, since I began fighting, I had learnt never to underestimate the scrawny-looking ones. They could be the strongest.
Before I got to his side, I had already planned what I was going to do, and I wouldn’t waste any more minutes because I was sure Artemisia would be gone if I did.
I heard screams from my room followed by silence. I strained my ears to hear more, but nothing came.
More so, wonder who had screamed and what was happening in the room now.
“You are not wanted here.” The scrawny-looking werewolf snapped and proceeded to shove me.
Although I was almost out of strength, I had little I could use to defend myself and also attack.
I snarled at him, and he did the same. We both leapt in the air, but I slashed at him with my claws before he could do so.
The others came at me as he howled in pain.
“Shit.” I groaned as I noticed a terrible-looking gash on my arm.
It must have happened whilst fighting off the others. Though I was in pain, I was glad it was over, and I’d live.
The pack healers would deal with it. Also, werewolves could heal fast.
“I’m coming for you, Artemisia,” I muttered, darting into the room.
My eyes widened as I saw Rhoda writhing in pain on the floor.
“Alpha Sin.” Rhoda groaned. “My lady is in trouble.”
I rushed towards the direction she pointed to without asking more questions.
I searched around the bathroom as I stepped into it. No sign of Artemisia but her scent was everywhere in the room which meant she was hiding somewhere.
I grimaced as I caught the whiff of another scent. It was Murphy’s.
I balled my hands into fists as I wondered what he could be doing to her.
I winced as I felt a crack in my heart, and my ears twitched as many voices entered at once.
Likewise, I could hear Laurent’s voice and the others’. I was certain they’d take care of the situation outside now.
I only needed to focus on finding Artemisia.
On instinct, I stepped towards the storeroom. It was one of the many places I rarely frequented in the house because I had no business with it.
I didn’t know how, but I believe Artemisia was in there, and I feel drawn to it too.
I gripped the handle of the door, and before I could twist it, it swung open.
Furthermore, I staggered backwards as a body rammed into me and I heard a groan. I glance to my side to see Artemisia sprawled on the ground.
For a few seconds, I thought she had passed out until she moved.
I tried getting to Murphy, he sped into me, gripped me, slamming me into the bath cabinet.
He growled and bared his teeth at me. I did the same and headbutted him.
But he didn’t relent.
Normally, he should be small fry for me. I mean, after assessing his strength for a few seconds whilst in human form- hand-to-hand combat- I’d take him out in less than a second.
But now, I was almost out of strength. I could feel myself losing to him and him taking Artemisia captive.
As I felt myself falling deeper into the darkness, a voice snapped me out of my daze and I glimpsed the Murphy howling while clutching his head.
It wasn’t long before I started feeling that way too.
I creased my brows, staring around to see if Mila had managed to come in because she was the only one that could give me a blinding headache like this.
Adrina too. Maybe all the witches.
My eyes flickered to Artemisia and I noticed her hands were outstretched and blood was dripping out of her nose.
Was she the one doing this?!
My eyes widened as more blood surged out. I noticed when she let down her hand, the headache stopped and when she raised it, it began again.
What was going on?!
Even though many questions were running through my head, I was glad whatever she was doing had slowed Murphy. And I could kill him easily if she continued because it would weaken him, making it easy to pull out his freaking heart.
“Do whatever you are doing, Artemisia!” I grunted as she stopped.
Murphy sprang to his feet, walking towards me menacingly.
“Artemisia!”
She jolted, and her eyes widened as they flickered to mine.
“Bitch!” Murphy winced, clutching his head. “I’m going to kill him and have you to myself. Then have your head on a f**king wooden stake!”
“Artemisia, you need to do whatever you were doing!” I said again to get her attention.
Artemisia stared at her hand in confusion, then at me.
“I’m killing this whore!” Murphy said, darting towards her.
I clutched Murphy’s hand, tugging him back and stared into Artemisia’s turquoise Blue eyes, “F**king do what you had done before.”
She scowled, then stretched out her hand.
“Stop this!” Murphy sputtered, clutching his neck as if she was choking it.
She didn’t stop, despite the plea from him.
I let out a growl as I felt an intense pain within me. I managed to stand on my feet, stepped towards Murphy and clutched him by the neck.
He gasped as I thrust my hand through his chest, extracting his heart.
I shoved his lifeless body sideways and collapsed to the floor.
My head pounded and my eyes dimmed. I sensed Artemisia by my side, resting her head on my chest.
“You are safe.” She mumbled and I felt her still. But I could hear her heartbeat.
I was safe and she was as well. Everything else didn’t matter, and I let the darkness take over me.