The King's Prey (Unedited Edition)

Chapter 40 : The Other Half

Serendipity • [seh-ruhn-di-puh-tee]
Finding something good without looking for it.

🖤

~+~

I don't look back as Samuel carries me out of the ring of Mylithian guards, Liam following close behind him. A crack echoes from nearby before I realize it's coming from my body forcing an unnatural groan to leave my lips. I feel myself go limp in Samuel's arms, struggling to separate my conscience from the pain.

We're dodging the battle around us, weaving through the wolf corpses and brawls. A wolf comes sprinting at us—something I don't notice until Liam swiftly grabs it by the neck and hurls it into a nearby tree. Its body slacks against the timber's roots at the impact.

As my bones continue to crack bit by bit, I yell out more, struggling to compose my sanity any longer. "Samuel," I growl at him to get us out of this hell faster.

"I'm working on it," he retorts. But then Liam is jumped by another wolf—one with a brown coat—as he's thrown to the floor. Liam swears under his breath as Samuel immediately turns to help him with me still in his arms.

But Liam objects after Samuel growls a warning at the rogue, managing to tackle the massive beast off of him. "Go! I'll be fine. I'll find you guys as soon as I can," he yells over the sounds of the battle. He turns back to the rogue who now stands ready to re-attack him, lunging at the creature as Liam digs his own claws into its shoulders, forcing it to cry out.

Samuel huffs out before leaving Liam to take care of the wolf himself. He continues his frantic search out of this bloodbath, zigzagging past more carcasses. Flesh and fur liter the blood-splattered stone and I nearly gag at the sight.

"Samuel..." I repeat more weakly this time.

"I'm going to get you out of here. Just hang on for a little bit longer," he reassures me. We're only ten feet away from the edge of the woods, but I don't know how much more of this I can take. It's agony enough to feel like my body is being torn in half. And suddenly, the pain starts to invade my thoughts.

Let me in, Anastasia...

"No!" I scream out, not exactly sure at what though.

Samuel glances down at me with worry. "What is it?"

My hands—now full-fledged claws—shoot up to my head, desperate to remove whatever voice is invading it. I yell out again as the lightning ignites in my brain a second time. Samuel quickens his pace.

"Listen to me, Anastasia. Your wolf is trying to merge with your conscience. You need to not resist her. It's the only way you can ease the pain," he explains.

"I can't!" I growl at him.

"Yes, you can. Just try to relax your mind. Don't block her out."

I'm about to yell at him again—infuriated with myself and how long this process is taking to complete—until a roar explodes from our right. Before Samuel can look and react, we both crash into the ground. He releases a grunt as his body hits the stone and I roll out of his arms as the blow lights up every nerve in my bones.

Now lying only a few feet away from him, my eyes crack open a bit more, numbly watching as he slowly recovers from the sudden attack. He looks at me before both of our eyes catch the grey-furred wolf displaying its canines at us. Its fiery eyes burn through my skin, forcing a shiver to race through my body.

The beast positions itself into an attack stance. While I'm unsure of who the wolf is, Samuel seems to instantly recognize him as he quickly gets back onto his feet but stays low in order to not alert the creature.