Chapter 44: No Mercy

***\--Dax’s POV--***

Alina barely stirred when I left.

I should have stayed. Should have been there when she finally woke up. But if I had, the fury inside me would have burned through my chest like wildfire, and I would have torn apart the entire camp with my bare hands.

I couldn’t stay.

Not when he was still breathing.

The camp was silent as I left. Not because the warriors didn’t know, but because they did. They saw the fire in my eyes, the way my hands clenched into fists at my sides. They saw the predator unleashed.

Kael had made his choice. Now, I would make mine.

Kael’s camp was hidden deep within the ruins of an old village, the scent of blood and rot thick in the air. A fitting place for cowards to hide.

I didn’t wait. Didn’t strategize. Didn’t care. I tore through the first line of guards without hesitation. My blade was swift, cutting through flesh like it was nothing—because they were nothing. The first wolf barely had time to scream before I sliced his throat open.

The second tried to run. A mistake.

I caught him by the collar, my claws sinking into his flesh, before slamming his skull against the stone wall of the ruins. Once. Twice. A sickening crack echoed through the night, and the body crumpled to the ground.

Then I moved again.

And again.

No mercy. No hesitation.

They had freed Kael. They had stood by him. They had let this happen—let her be taken.

For that, they would pay.

The warriors in the camp began to rally, drawn by the chaos, but it didn’t matter. I welcomed them.

Let them come.

Let them try.

I met them in the center of the ruins, a whirlwind of steel and fury.

They fell. One after the other.

Limbs broken. Throats torn open. Blood soaking the ground beneath them.

Some begged. I ignored them. Did they beg for Alina’s mercy when they had her in chains?

No? Then neither would I.

Kael was waiting. I knew it before I saw him. Knew it from the way the remaining warriors hung back, unwilling to stand in my way. Knew it from the scent of his blood-tainted arrogance in the air. Knew it from the silence.

Then—

The bastard stepped into view.

Kael smirked. Smirked.

“I was wondering when you’d show up.”

I tightened my grip around my blade. My voice was deadly calm.

“You took her.”

Kael shrugged, as if none of this mattered. As if he hadn’t crossed the one line he could never come back from.

“You got her back, didn’t you?”

A mistake.

A fatal mistake.

I lunged.

Kael barely had time to brace before I slammed into him, the force sending us both crashing through the remnants of a ruined wall. Dust exploded around us as we hit the ground, but I didn’t stop.

Didn’t give him a second to recover.

I pummeled him.

Fists striking flesh. Bone cracking beneath my knuckles. Kael grunted, tried to fight back, but it didn’t matter. Not now. Not after what he had done. I slammed his head into the ground, pressing my forearm against his throat.

“You think this is a game?” I snarled. “You think you can take what’s mine and walk away?”

Kael coughed, blood dripping from his lips, but he still had the audacity to grin.

“That’s exactly what I think.”

I punched him. Hard.

The grin disappeared.

“Do you know what I almost found when I got to her?” My voice was lower now, lethal. “She was chained, Kael. Weak. Barely breathing.”

Kael chuckled—actually chuckled.

“You should’ve seen her, Dax. She put up a fight.”

I slammed his head into the ground again. Harder this time.

The grin finally disappeared.

Kael choked on his own blood.

“I should have killed you the first time!” I growled.

Kael’s eyes gleamed despite the pain. “You still can.”

A challenge.

One I was more than willing to answer.

I raised my blade—

And then Gideon’s warriors arrived.

I barely acknowledged them. They were nothing. Background noise.

My focus was on Kael. On the way my brother had the nerve to smile even now.

The warriors surrounded me. Twenty, maybe more. Their weapons were drawn, but none dared to make the first move.

I stood. Rolled my shoulders. And welcomed the fight. Because after this, there would be nothing left of Kael. Nothing left of Gideon. Nothing left of anyone who had touched Alina.

This war wouldn’t end with negotiations. Wouldn’t end with alliances.

It would end in blood. And I would make sure of it.

The warriors circling me were nothing more than obstacles—dead men still pretending they had a chance.

The first rushed forward, swinging his blade. Too slow.

I sidestepped, driving my own sword through his gut before ripping it free in a spray of blood. He crumpled at my feet. Another lunged. Amateur.

I caught his wrist mid-swing, twisted until his bones shattered, then slit his throat before he could scream.

The rest attacked as one.

Good. Let them come.

I became a whirlwind of claws and steel, cutting down anyone foolish enough to step in my way. They fell around me, one after another, blood soaking the ruined ground beneath us.

I barely felt the scratches they landed. Pain was nothing. Not compared to the rage. Not compared to what they had done.

Kael was still on the ground, coughing up blood, watching as his packmates were butchered.

His arrogance had finally faded. I wanted him to see this. To watch as I destroyed everything he had built.

He had taken her. He had left her chained and bleeding. He had crossed the line. And there was no coming back.

A blade whistled through the air behind me.

I spun and tore out the throat of the fool who thought he could sneak up on me. His body dropped, twitching, as I turned back to Kael.

Gideon’s warriors were hesitating now. Good. They should have run the second I arrived. Now it was too late.

I stalked toward Kael, stepping over corpses, barely sparing the rest of them a glance.

He struggled to stand, using the wall for support.

"Give it up," I said coldly. "You're done."

He spit blood at my feet. "You—" he coughed, his voice hoarse. "You think you can just kill me, and this all ends?"

I clenched my fist, my claws itching to rip him apart.

"It does for you."

His breath hitched just slightly. He knew.

This time, I wouldn’t stop. No more second chances. No more mercy.

I raised my blade—

A howl cut through the air. Not just any howl. A warning.

I didn’t falter, didn’t lower my weapon, but I listened.

Then—

The ground rumbled. Distant at first, but growing stronger. More warriors.

I could smell them now, the heavy stench of Gideon’s forces. Too many.

Kael grinned through bloody teeth.

Bastard.

I should have slit his throat the second I walked into this camp.

I looked around. The bodies of the fallen lay around me, my own warriors outnumbered, outflanked.

They’d fight. They’d die for me. But not today.

I turned back to Kael, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him into the nearest wall.

His breath caught.

"You’re not walking away from this," I growled.

His smirk faltered, just for a moment.

Then I threw him aside and turned to my warriors.

"Fall back."

They hesitated. They wanted blood. But they obeyed.

J ust as my warriors started to fall back, the ground shook under the weight of another arrival.

I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. Jack, my father, and Alpha, with more of our men, had finally arrived.

The battle was about to change.

The warriors who had begun to retreat now rallied with renewed energy. They weren’t running anymore. They were fighting, and with my father leading them, they charged forward, sweeping through the remains of Gideon’s forces like a storm.

Gideon’s warriors didn’t stand a chance. My father’s presence had shifted the tide, and the chaos of the battle now had a focus—Gideon would fall.

The first few minutes were a blur—blades clashing, screams, and the sickening thud of bodies hitting the ground. My eyes never left Kael. He struggled to push himself up from the ground, but he wasn’t going anywhere.

Gideon’s forces crumbled under the combined strength of our pack. Our warriors cut through them with the precision of a well-oiled machine, their bloodlust tempered by the need for victory.

The air was thick with death, but I could taste something else in it now—a bitter victory.

Gideon and his pack were falling apart. Every blow we struck, every life we took, was a message.

We wouldn’t be controlled. We wouldn’t be broken.

Gideon’s warriors had started to retreat, but it was too late. The destruction was complete. They were cornered. And as my father’s blade met Gideon’s in the final moments, the Alpha fell.

Gideon’s body crumpled to the ground with a finality that echoed across the battlefield. The remaining men who had once stood with him watched as the mighty fell, their spirits broken.

And then, as I looked down at Kael, I knew.

The battle was over.

But this wasn’t just about winning. 

I turned to my warriors, the battlefield still echoing with the aftermath of the slaughter.

"Finish them," I ordered.

They moved with deadly efficiency. No mercy for those who had aligned with Kael, who had dared to take what was mine.

But the blood still churned inside me. It wasn’t just the battle. It was Kael. I had to end this, once and for all.

I turned back to him.

"You really think you’ve won, Dax?" Kael spat, his voice hoarse.

I took a step toward him, unsheathing my blade.

"It’s over, Kael," I said quietly, but there was no mercy in my tone.

I raised the sword.

My warriors gathered around me, breathing hard, their eyes weary but victorious. They had fought for me. For us.

But I wasn’t looking at them. I wasn’t looking at anyone.

My mind was already elsewhere.

Alina.

I had a promise to keep.