Wild by Sara Fields
Chapter 13
Revna
It took everything in me not to explode with fury at the man standing in front of me. I was still reeling from the discovery that my father was still alive, and I was even more disgusted to find out he’d been the one to steal me away and sell me for a fistful of coin.
The magic of the goddess crackled at my fingertips, desperate to break out and destroy the person that had been the source of so much of my misery throughout my life.
He cocked his head to the side, ignore the ruckus of battle behind me. I lifted my shoulders, not caring that I was naked. My skin was marred with mud and dirt. There was also a layer of ash that covered me. I wondered absently if I looked as wild as I felt.
“I want to tell you a secret, Revna,” he murmured, and a devilish light flickered in his gaze. I paused, taking a breath, and steeling myself for what came next.
“Your mother was a prize I couldn’t resist, but when I took her, I didn’t know she already carried you in her belly,” he spat, almost as if he was disgusted.
“You’re not my blood,” I scowled. I was almost relieved to hear it.
“When she gave birth to you, I stole you from her too. I fully intended to leave you to die in the harsh bite of winter, but then you opened your eyes and stared at me with those violet eyes,” he continued.
I glowered at him, saying nothing. I simply waited for him to finish.
“You only live to survive to this day because I granted you the privilege to do so,” he growled, and my legs shook from the effort to contain the primal fury swirling inside me.
“Why? Why did you let me live if you would do nothing but shun me for the rest of my life?”
“Curiosity. I wanted to know what the girl with purple eyes would amount to and I have to say, I’m not displeased,” he sneered viciously. “You’re going to make such a perfect gift for my superior. He’s going to worship the ground at my feet for bringing him such an omega like you.”
The magic popped and simmered at my fingertips and I took a step forward.
“I don’t belong to you. I’m not your possession to use as you see fit,” I shouted, and he smirked as if I was speaking nonsense.
“You’re an omega. That’s your purpose, daughter. It’s about time you accepted that,” he answered coldly.
“No. This is my life and I’m going to live it as such,” I yelled and with that, I dove toward him. There were no more words to be spoken. I’d learned everything that he would be willing to tell me. It was time for me to cut him down.
Almost as if he could read me, he was ready for me. He sidestepped and laughed at me, muttering something about the fact that I was unarmed.
That wasn’t exactly true though.
He didn’t know I’d thrown giants off the walls and torn apart the ropes that bound me. He didn’t know just how strong I’d become. I wasn’t a child that he could smack around anymore.
I was so much more than that now.
He knew nothing, especially not of the power of the goddess hurtling through my veins right now.
I rolled to the left, covering myself in mud and looking the part of a savage. I snarled and swung back in his direction, sweeping my foot out and catching the backs of his knees hard enough to make him fall to the ground. He roared with fury at being caught off guard and retreated several steps.
I didn’t let him get far.
I leapt in his direction, slashing at him with my fingers and digging into his mangled flesh. He tried to push me off, but he’d made the mistake of underestimating me. He grunted in pain as I fought him, taken aback by the ferocity and strength of my true nature.
I could almost read his thoughts. He assumed that because he was an alpha, he was unbeatable, that he couldn’t possibly manage to be beaten by a woman and especially an omega as small as myself.
With a pained grunt, he finally pulled me off him and threw me to the ground. My shoulder slammed into the dirt and I cried out as pain jolted across my body, but I didn’t let it keep me down for very long. I tumbled backwards and threw myself up so that I landed my feet, watching him circle around me as though he was a predator hunting his prey.
My chest rose and fell as I caught my breath.
“You don’t know what I really am, do you?” I asked carefully, smirking with the knowledge that for once, I had something on him.
“You’re nothing more than an omega whore who spread her legs for the first alpha she came across,” he spat, and I laughed openly with glee.
My father faltered.
“No. I’m so much more than that. All this time, and you didn’t know,” I chuckled. I dragged it out, enjoying the look of confusion on his face more than I cared to admit. Right now, I was in control. Not him.
“What is it, Revna,” he roared, and I stopped laughing only to stare at him with so much intensity that he took a step back at the sight of it.
“It is true that I am an omega, but that’s not all I am. You see, I’m an omega epsilon, touched by the hand of Edia herself,” I finally explained, and he gritted his teeth. He didn’t quite believe me at first, but I stretched my hands out to either side of me.
My core burned, but the arousal that had been there before had boiled away to be replaced with raw power. It pulsed once, then twice and I turned my head to the side to see a hazy apparition beside me.
It was a woman and when she faced me, I saw that her eyes matched mine. Pale blonde hair cascaded down her back in waves. Her body was covered in a silky fabric that was gauzy enough to reveal the shadow of her body beneath it. She reached for me and the moment that her fingers met mine, I knew that I was seeing the goddess herself.
A fierce jolt of magic coursed through me.
“Let me in,”she whispered and in the haze of my fear, I stilled.
She stepped forward. I sucked in a breath as she approached me. Her violet gaze captured mine and then she passed straight through me, taking a hold of my body and claiming everything I had left to give.
Violet fire and lightning practically exploded from my fingers. I’d always been prone to magical fits, but the walls inside me had kept it in. Edia tore every one of them down and when she was through, I felt like I was the most powerful woman in the world.
For the first time in my life, I accepted the fact that I was a witch.
I smiled in my father’s direction, thankful that I was getting a second chance to be the one to tear him down. There was real fear in his eyes now, raw understanding that he was about to lose the fight against his very own daughter.
There were so many times I watched as he abused my mother, so many times I fought him for doing exactly that, only to have him turn on me.
He was a monster, a servant of Odiyen himself and he deserved nothing less than death.
I threw my hands forward, releasing my power and letting it engulf him once and for all. He probably would have begged for mercy, but I didn’t allow him that. Purple fire blazed all around him while the violet arcs of electricity rendered him entirely motionless.
I stared at him as my magic poured from me and that’s when he started to scream.
His mangled flesh started to blacken and singe. My magic ate away at him and burned his flesh. Soon enough, the pale surface of his skin charred away and the red muscle of sinew of what lay beneath began to emerge. His arms stretched to either side and he wasted away to no more than a skeleton.
In the end, the only thing left of him was a pile of ash.
I stared at him for some time before my power receded. It tucked away inside me, safe under lock and key until I would need it again. The wind picked up and I watched the still-glowing embers rise into the air and sweep the ash away as an even stronger gust followed.
It swept him away until there was nothing left.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, only opening them when a loud thump shook beside me. I turned my head, only to find Ivar on his black stallion with two gigantic dragons by his side. I looked at them hesitantly, but then he vaulted off his horse and gathered me in his arms.
We’d survived.
For a moment, we just held each other, the bond flaring to life with love and happiness so intensely that he rendered me completely speechless. He squeezed me tighter, demanding my embrace and I gave him that and more.
“I’m so proud to call you mine, my little epsilon,” he murmured, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling softly at his words. I was surrounded with sudden happiness and when I lifted my head from his shoulder, he captured me in a kiss so thorough that I was left breathless and consumed by everything that was us.
“I’m proud to be yours, alpha,” I whispered.
I turned back to the city, looking back at the fallen walls with despair.
“We have to do something. We can’t let the people of Rosethorne all die,” I said quietly, and I felt his muscles tense against mine.
“We’re not going to let them,” he agreed. Without pause, he tossed me up onto the back of his horse and followed suit. His chest pressed against my back and I tightened my thighs around the stallion before he made a clicking sound.
“Vericus and Sangor, do you think you can gather the dragons together and clear the streets of what remains of those monsters?” he shouted, and I studied the way the dragons grinned with vicious intent.
“We will handle the giants. You take care of the people,” the rust-colored one answered and Ivar and I tore off on the horse’s back.
My gaze followed the dragons as they flew up above the city, circling over it with a ruthless roar. The ranks of the flying beasts had multiplied since I’d last seen them and several hundred of them of various shapes and sizes had arrived to rescue what remained of Rosethorne. All at once, they all dove down to the city streets. They tore at the giants with their claws, digging into them and flying up into the air before diving back down only to slam the giants into the ground. In their wake, the plains were set ablaze with fire.
The cackles of the unhinged monsters only rose in intensity before they transformed into terrified screams of burning agony. The dragons attacked the giants in the city repeatedly until there was not even one left.
Ivar and I rode on, slipping in through the crumbling walls that had once protected the people from monsters. We slowed, riding through the streets as it all grew quiet.
For a while, we saw no one except the bloody remains of those who had been unlucky enough to be found. In the silence though, the evidence of life soon began to emerge.
At first, I only saw the eyes of a few frightened individuals peering out of a window here and there, but soon doors opened, and men and women alike began to come out of hiding. We rode until we reached the center of the city and there before the temple was a group of women.
Lucina was at the center, dressed in a silky white dress. She was waiting for us.
I slipped off the horse and Ivar let me go. I walked to meet her with my head held high and stopped before her, waiting for her to speak first.
“When the goddess chose you as tribute, I had no idea it would amount to this,” she whispered. There was no anger beneath her words and as I gazed over the surviving group of maybe half a dozen omegas, I realized that none of them were looking back at me with hatred.
“When you could have run and saved yourself, you came back for us. We’re all alive because of you,” she continued.
“I couldn’t let you die,” I answered quietly.
Behind us, the city streets began to fill with people. Soon enough, there wasn’t much room to stand as the surviving population surrounded us.
“The city of Rosethorne has long suffered under the thumb of the demons that lived in the mountains. Through sacrifice, we kept them at bay, but many of us have died because of their reign,” she murmured.
“The giants are dead. You need not fear them any longer,” I answered. Far above us, the dragons circled in a massive formation before they flew off back toward the mountains. Their job was done.
Lucina knelt before me and the rest of the omegas followed suit. I rushed to help her up, but something else caught my eyes and gave me pause.
The entire city had taken to their knees. Men, women, and children bowed their heads as if they were giving thanks and I took a step back.
“What is this?”
“Hidden deep beneath the temple inside the vaults is a prophecy. It is one that every single inhabitant has heard and hoped for. We’ve prayed for its passing for so long that it soon began to look as if our salvation would never come.”
I stared hard at her and her eyes lifted to mine.
“When the goddess chose you as tribute, I had no idea you’d be the one that would save us from the demons that held our city captive for centuries, but now I know that it is you. You’ve risen from the fires and come to us covered in smoke and ash, but with you comes deliverance from those that seek to destroy us. It is you, Revna,” she said resolutely.
“What else does this prophecy tell you?” I asked carefully.
“It tells us that we are to follow you; that if we don’t, the world itself will end in a firestorm of ash as it tears itself apart. The gods have chosen you, Revna. Our lives are yours,” she finished, and I swallowed hard, unable to keep myself from looking around at the sight of Rosethorne on its knees for me.
When I’d first ridden into the city, they’d thrown trash at me, hurled insults my way, and spat in my face.
Now they were ready to follow me wherever I led them.
Ivar took my hand in his.
Lucina reached into her pocket and took out a small object. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a small envelope. She stood up and held it out for me. I turned it over and Ivar sucked in a breath.
“This is the mark of the Ghost, the leader of those I serve in the Alpha Brotherhood,” he whispered, and I traced my thumb over the wax insignia of a wolf. Without pause, I broke it and held it up so that Ivar and I could read its words together.
To my loyal Sage of Animus,
I must congratulate you on discovering the real reason I sent you into the wilds, but I must ask for your loyalty once more. After the Recruiter has been successfully dealt with and the city of Rosethorne is successfully freed from the ties that bind them, I have need of you and your mate in the north. The eve of the Second Great War is upon us and it’s going to break outside of the walls of Daneridge. Make haste and come as fast as you can.
Give my regards to the woman at your side. Welcome her to the Alpha Brotherhood as the Sage of Edia, as the one that’s been touched by the goddess herself.
We’re going to need you both for the coming battle.
The fate of the world depends on it.
The Ghost
I looked around and I knew at once what I was to do.
“The Alpha Brotherhood is in need of an army, Ivar, and we’re going to be the one to bring it to them,” I murmured.
“Then so be it,” Ivar answered.
I lifted my head and cleared my throat, knowing what we had to do.
“Tonight, we rest, but tomorrow we head to war. Together.”
The crowd erupted into cheers of excitement and the sound of my own heart beating was drowned out in the deafening roar that followed. The people rose to their feet, singing and dancing as they celebrated the glory that was to come.
