Rejected Queen by Meg Xuemei X.

 

 

CHAPTER 21

Tessa

 

 

 

 

 

 

Azrael ducked at the last second, and Loki’s fist flew past the angel. Azrael jumped out of the seat and parried the Demon King’s next sequence of hard blows with his forearms and crossed wrists. 

“You don’t touch her, prick,” Loki roared, his irises turning molten gold and burning with pure fury, jealousy, and possessiveness. His face was beastly and savage. “You don’t speak to her, ever!”

I looked at him icily. Like he had the right to demand that.

Assholes never admit they’re assholes.

“You don’t own her,” Azrael said, the perfect side of his face distorted with disdain. The shadow and flame side seared with rage. “Queen Morrigan isn’t yours. Even when she becomes the champion of your ridiculous Bride Trials, she can still take the money and leave with me. Her place was never in your Hell.”

“She’ll never leave with you or anyone!” Loki bellowed and his wolf joined in, as if the angel had hit a nerve. “I’ll kill them all, starting with you, punk!”

They traded punches and kicks as well as curses and insults. I was never a fan of being fought over like two dogs over a bone. But then, it might not be about me.

It was said that men enjoyed measuring the size of their dicks, and if they didn’t agree, they brawled.

The Demon King and the angel of death charged each other like two storms. They both moved so fast it was hard to tell where one strike ended and the next broke out.

They were superior fighters, but I wasn’t in the mood to watch them collide again and again in their resolution to end the world.

I’d had enough of both of them and this night.

I pushed another gold coin toward Ace, nodded at him in thanks, and strode toward the exit. Piles of ash, all that was left of the mercenaries, stirred and twirled on the floor. I prowled through the ashes that clung to my boots as I tried to avoid stepping on shards of glass and other broken sharp things. A third of the club was damaged, and half of the ceiling was gone.

No one stopped me. Whoever survived kept their wits about them.

My wounds bled, my bones hurt, and I was fatigued. Inside, I was colder than ice.

I was too numb to care about the cacophony of snarling and roaring from inside the wrecked nightclub as Loki and Azrael raged and battled.

I didn’t get too far before the explosion erupted behind me. Though I didn’t slow my pace, I glanced over my shoulder. The nightclub was now engulfed in flames against the red and gray sky. Beings fled the scene of swirling fire, smoke, and more blasts.

Two figures charged out of the flames and raining dirt and continued their battle on the cliff.

I dragged my exhausted, hurt body in the opposite direction of the cliff and the ominous black sea.

A pack of wolves howled in the distance, full of fury, bloodlust, and challenge.

Great, I had another bunch of foes to fight before I could pass out in my dome, I thought drily.

I pulled my sanjiegun from my boot, my fist tight on the long stick. Two sets of blades popped out of the armguards wrapped around my knuckles.

I’d give the wolves one chance to walk away. I did not owe them a life debt anymore after they’d lured me to the nightclub to try to get me killed. If they attacked, I wouldn’t blink when I sliced the throat of the last shifter.

A frosty breath escaped my lips. A plan settled in my mind.

I’d end the night with what was left of my ice magic. I wasn’t in my best shape, but I still had some juice.

Ahead, the pack charged toward me, and I sprang toward them, my sanjiegun whooshing and hissing in the air.

The leading red wolf shifted to a human woman, standing naked in front of me. Her human body was bloody and covered in cuts, illuminated by the reddened sky.

The rest of the wolves halted behind Raina, a few of them still howling in rage and grief. Their fur was soaked with the blood of vampires and demonesses, and their own blood.

I lifted the tip of my sanjiegun up before it thrust into Raina.

“We were ambushed by our enemies,” Raina growled. She was the alpha now. “They knew we chose a side. They knew we were coming to meet you in the nightclub.”

“I see,” I said. “They don’t like our alliance. They can’t object now since lots of them are dead.”

Raina gave me a once-over. “You look like shit.”

I grinned at her. “Look who’s talking.”

“Did anyone ever tell you that your smile is actually unnerving?” she asked, then shook her head. “Whatever. We need to get the hell out of here now that we found you. I’m glad you’re alive. We finished off a dozen mercenaries, but we lost Shannon in the battle.” She paused as sorrow choked her voice. “Briann was badly wounded. She won’t make it.”

Briann was the big wolf girl who had carried me to the canal and saved me.

“Where is she?” I asked sharply, as I didn’t see her. “Did you leave her behind?”

“We don’t leave our pack mates behind,” Raina answered harshly, her eyes glowing amber for a second. “But Briann doesn’t have much time, so we’ll have to part ways here. We’re taking her back to our quarters. She’ll die a warrior’s death amid her pack.”

The wolves howled in grief and fury.

“Bring her forward,” I said.

“What?” Raina blinked.

“Bring Briann to me,” I said, my voice brimming with commanding power.

The new alpha held my gaze for a long second before dropping it. When I let part of my Titan power or Morrigan power out, few beings could hold my alpha stare, even though I wasn’t a shifter.

Raina barked an order, and two wolves padded out of the center of the pack formation. Briann was draped over the back of a gray wolf, blood still gushing out of her side. 

“Lay her on the ground now,” I ordered. “Quickly.”

Raina rushed forward, lifted Briann from the gray wolf’s back, and gently placed her on a flat, heated rock.

I crouched beside Briann, and the wolves formed a protective ring around us.

A wave of uneasiness rippled over me. Usually, I showed my back only to my own team. But the wolves had helped me, and they’d been attacked because of me. I pushed away my anxiety and placed a hand on the big shifter’s chest.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, gathering my healing energy. If the wolves went for my throat now, there was nothing I could do, as I was placing myself in the most vulnerable situation to save a wolf.

Ice magic flowed out of me, my healing energy entering Briann. My Fae part could be nurturing when I didn’t turn it into a weapon. My ancestor, the King of the Titans, had been a healer before he started destroying worlds.

I felt the gaping wound in Briann’s left lung. She didn’t have long, but her spirit lingered. My frost encased her lung protectively as my healing magic sealed the wound. Sharp pain shot into my head in waves, and I swayed. That was always the cost of healing others—I took their pain into my body.

Shaking, I poured more of my energy into the wounded wolf.

“Stay with me, Briann. Stay!” I coaxed, wrestling her from death’s grip. “Your fight is not over. Your pack needs you. Everyone dies, but you don’t leave today.”

She clung to me. She didn’t want to die, and we worked together. When my magic departed her body, she was whole again.

Briann opened her eyes with a long gasp, and then she breathed easily.

I, on the other hand, felt as if burning sand had replaced my blood. Fatigue and pain soaked into my every cell. I ordered myself not to pass out, but I doubted I’d be able to get back to my dome in this condition.

The wolves stared at me with awe and gratitude.

I rose to my feet, but my shaking knees began to buckle. Raina rushed to hold me, and a brown wolf leaned against me to support me.

“I’m fine. I just need a moment. I—” I said.

A furious growl rumbled from outside the pack’s protective circle, making all the small hairs on my body stand on end. The biggest, baddest predator had arrived.

Every wolf froze.

A massive black wolf perched on a scorched patch of land, a twin set of hellfires burning in his molten gold eyes, shadows whirling at his paws, and a black wind surrounding him.

Primordial power and darkness rolled off him, whipping the air mercilessly. He was the most terrifying yet magnificent wolf I’d ever seen, and he wore dark magic like a crown.

A Wolf God.

His dark, golden gaze fixed on me, and he had no interest in anything or anyone else. The intention in his eyes was clear—he’d tear anyone apart if they dared to stay between the beast and me.

The pack around me whimpered. They seemed to want to kneel in front of the Wolf God and show their bellies. Yet they all closed in around me and the wounded wolf in a tighter protective ring, regardless of their palpable fear.

The black wolf stalked toward us as if he owned the universe. His power terrified the pack, but it excited me. I stared at the massive, gorgeous beast, not sure how to proceed. I held a grudge against the Demon King, but I had no argument with his wolf.

The beast was always on my side, and we had a connection.

“Move.” The black wolf opened his mouth and talked, his voice deep and gruff. “I came for my mate. Anyone who stands between me and my mate dies.”

The wolves whimpered again, but they all stood between the Wolf God and me. Raina swallowed in fear, looking between the Wolf God and me.

“Say the word and we’ll defend you to the death, Lady Tessa,” the new alpha vowed in a trembling voice.

The Wolf God’s power was too great for them.

“I appreciate it, Raina,” I said. “But it won’t come to that. I won’t let any of you die for me.” My gaze locked on the black wolf. “He might be a big bad wolf, but he won’t hurt me. It’s not in his nature to harm a single hair on my head. Let me go to him.”

The wolves parted and let me pass.

“You…are you his mate?” Raina whispered behind me.

They didn’t know the wolf was the other half of the King of the Underworld.

The black wolf snarled at the pack to warn them to stay further back as we reached each other.

I flicked his massive, white-striped snout. “Be nice to my friends; I don’t have many here.”

The wolf blinked, stunned that I had flicked him.

“You have me,” he said, rolling out his rough tongue and licking me.

I turned to glance at the pack over my shoulder. “He’ll guard me.”

The wolves stared at us in awe as the Wolf God lowered himself for me to climb onto his back. I climbed onto him, my fingers gripping his silky, shiny fur.

“Ready, mate?” he asked in a rumbling voice that sounded both like a purr and a growl.

Then he leapt.

One leap, and he crossed the expanse of at least fifty yards and landed softly on the other side of the rocky terrain. Then, like a black storm, he shot forward, leaving the black sea behind in a blur of motion.