Wolves Without Hearts

☾ Chapter 49 ☾

☾ R Y D E R ☾

In one moment I felt the world slow down as I watched Calixa and Urza lunge at Aleana while Orion held Graceia back with his arm. Tyto tried to catch Calixa but my sister is much to fast and both her and my mate were upon Aleana in the blink of an eye.

It took me a moment to shake the shock of the attack off and I rushed towards my mate and my sister. I was too late though as they both had already shifted and tore into both of Aleana's shoulders. The witch must not have expected such an impulsive attack as she released her son and ripped herself away, raking her claws across Urza's face in retaliation. I let out a snarl as my mate cried out in pain and I didn't waste any time grabbing onto the witch.

She cackled in my grip, "You think I wasn't expecting you to charge, right pup? Think again, I would pay attention to my packmates if I were you Alpha."

I whipped my head around and gasped in shock.

In my haste I hadn't realized the army of undead wolves surrounding us. I watched as everyone else fought off the wolves and my mate clutched her face in pain. Aleana's son wasn't safe either. Although she had released him, she knew what she was doing because he was in the arms of one of her mindless soldiers.

I decided not to worry about him for the time being and focus on protecting my mate, who was still partially blinded from Aleana's attack. With the witch still in my grasp, I dug my claws into her already wounded shoulders and tore at her flesh.

"Arghhh" she groaned and I felt her growing limp in my arms.

I started to feel triumphant but I felt as though something was off. This was too easy. If this is the final battle, then why is the witch so easy to defeat?

Then I felt it. A slight prick of unease shoot through me and suddenly I was on the ground, my vision blurred and the witch cackling above me.

"Foolish Alpha" she laughed, lifting her foot and placing it on my head, "If you thought beating me would be that easy, you were wrong. I always come up with back up plans. My mate may have been easy to conquer but you will have to be a lot more clever to defeat me."

I groaned and tried to move any part of my body but to no avail. The witch must've done something to the air as all the other wolves were frozen as well, all except my mate who was still clutching her eye in pain.

Aleana stared at all the frozen wolves around her and laughed as though this was her crowning moment, "You stupid wolves. I released a potion with a potent smell that renders werewolves immobile. Only half-breeds like myself are not effected. Though I am confused as to why your precious mate is still writhing in pain, Ryder."

Urza, upon hearing my name, must've snapped out of her daze and glared at the witch. Without her hands covering her face I saw that my mate's face had three deep scratches running diagonal across her left eye. I tried to growl but it seemed my vocal chords also were failing me and I could do nothing but watch without blinking as my mate faced Aleana alone.

"Ah but little witch, you must've forgotten that I too share the blood of a coven in my veins," Urza smirked, "Albeit I am not capable of magic, it seems that my blood makes me immune to your weak potion."

Aleana, clearly enraged by my mate's words, lunged forward to attack. 

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Urza intercepted Aleana's attack and quickly retaliated, digging her half shifted claws into Aleana's left eye. But she wasn't done there. Then Urza pinned the witch's hands behind her back and held her in place.

"Little witch," Urza sung, "Do you have any last words? If not, I'll be taking your heart. Your body won't be needing it."

Aleana's once confident face turned scared and she visibly shook at my mate's words. She opened her mouth to respond but nothing seemed to come out and Aleana closed it in defeat.

Urza then dug her hand through the witch's back and ripped her heart from her body, "Time to die little witch, it was nice playing with you."

As quickly as Aleana's heart was plucked from her body, Urza crushed it in her hands and let the witch fall limp to the ground. When the heart was fully crushed, all of the undead wolves crumbled to the ground as well.

What would have been a long and hard battle was over thanks to my mate's mixed blood. I couldn't help but feel a bit proud of Urza and as soon as the paralysis wore off, I jumped to my feet and embraced her, softly stroking her hair.

"Good job my mate," I praised and she leaned into my touch.

"Thank you," she whispered, "but I only won because I was fighting for you."

My wolf purred at her words and I felt myself throb with the warmth of her affection.

Sadly our moment was interrupted by my sister and her mate.

"Ryder," Calixa spoke "since the witch is dead, we must return back to the council building and set up the new monarch."

Tyto nodded, "And I'm sure that little boy would appreciate it if we were not standing in a battlefield where his mother was just slaughtered even if she wanted to kill him."

I nodded in agreement, "Yeah, let's get out of here quickly. And once we get back to the council building, let's try to find Laxus a home."

"Excuse me," Graceia interrupted, reminding me that she and Orion were here, "If you don't mind, I would like to take in my nephew and raise him. I know that my sister was evil but I know she would want her son raised by her own blood."

I paused for a moment before nodding, "Alright, we can allow you to take him in but we will have to monitor his behavior as he grows up. This may have been traumatic for him and we can't take any risks with who his parents were."

Graceia shook her head in agreement, "I understand."

With that solved, we made our way back to the council to finish securing Tyto and Calixa as the rightful rulers of all wolves.

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