Chapter 177 Friendly Enemy

Chapter 177 Friendly Enemy
Ian's POV

All through the wait for the council's president and his minions to arrive, I was restless. There was a feeling of immense sadness that settled over my heart. Shanty's face kept flashing into my mind. I just couldn't place my hand on what was wrong.

'Are you okay?' Rocha asked me. He must have noticed the way I kept sighing and wincing.

'I don't know. It seems as if something is wrong with Shanty,' I whispered back to him.

'How can you tell?' Rocha asked making sure he was talking as low as he could to avoid bringing attention to us.

'Her face keeps flashing in my head and I have this overwhelming feeling of sadness,' I replied.

'What do you intend to do?' Rocha asked.

'I will not be needed here once the battle starts. I will run to the Alpha house, check on her, and be back as soon as I can,' I answered, and Rocha nodded in understanding.

We were all surprised when Rocha's mate showed up at the site of the battle. I felt a little relieved that I would not be leaving Rocha all by himself.

Once I was sure the battle was going down, I took off. I wanted to wait for Dawn and Lucia since they were both supposed to leave the battle immediately after it started, but they might delay me, so I left when Torrent and her uncle were exchanging words.

I allowed my wolf on the surface as I ran as fast as I could to the Alpha house. When I got there I stood outside for a while to catch my breath. It's been a while since I ran like that. All I did usually was speed walk. It had always been the way I got around even when I was invisible.

I entered the house and it was very quiet. I hissed when I remembered that no one was supposed to be there. Everybody had moved to the pack house. The Luna and Beta female wanted rooms prepared in case there were injured soldiers that needed attention.

I turned around to leave but the sound of footsteps coming from upstairs made me turn around to see Shanty coming down the stairs with a desperate look on her face. She looked dirty as if she had been digging bricks.

What she was holding in her hand made me stagger a little. I looked at her with surprise as I was too dumbfounded to say anything.

'Where did you get that from?' I asked in a quiet voice. I was yet to recover from the shock of seeing her holding the golden wolf's bane. A knife I had protected all my life.

'This?' Shanty asked raising the knife as if she didn't know what I was talking about.

'Yes, that. Where did you get it from?' I asked again as I was beginning to get impatient. She was not supposed to go anywhere near it.

'It is none of your business,' Shanty said, descending the stairs to stand close to me.

'It is my business because all my life, I have kept that knife safe. It can not fall into the wrong hands. Hand it over now,' I said impatiently.

'No. You might have kept it safe all your life, but it is not yours to use but mine,' Shanty said.

'What are you talking about Shanty?' I asked as I was beginning to get scared because of the look in Shanty's eyes.

'I am going to kill the golden wolf and free my mate' Shanty said sharply.

'Are you mad? You call that blind idiot your mate? Has he ever treated you like one?' I asked as anger boiled my blood.

'Either he treats me as a mate or not, he is still mine. You are all lined up in twos. Even Rocha found his mate. Why can't I stay with mine?' Shanty said and I couldn't help but wonder if she was on cheap drugs.

'I don't care how you found the knife but you need to hand it over right now,' I said firmly.

'That will only happen in your dreams, Ian. I want a life with my mate too. You expect me to sit and watch all of you get your mates while mine languishes in the dungeon? You all are deluded,' Shanty shouted on top of her voice.

'I don't have a mate Shanty. All I have is you. We can make a life together under the rule of the golden wolf,' I said calmly baiting my time to attack her and get the knife out of her hand.

'No. You are a liar. The moment you meet your mate, you will forget about me forever. I will live a lonely and miserable life. If killing the golden wolf is the only way to have my mate, then so be it,' Shanty said with determination.

'Your craziness for mateship is disappointing Shanty. Mateship is more than the bond. It involves the heart. Your so-called mate feels nothing for you yet you are ready to destroy something that would benefit every wolf in the kingdom for your selfish gain,' I said bitterly.

'Get out of my way Ian. I don't want to harm you,' Shanty said without an iota of remorse.

'I thought you were Maureen's friend. They all accepted you. They took you in,' I said sadly. It was then I understood why I had that overwhelming feeling of sadness while on the field.

'I wouldn't exactly call myself friends with any of them. I was just an enemy trying to be friendly to get what I wanted,' Shanty said shrugging.

'A friendly enemy,' I said shaking my head in disappointment. 'You are a great disappointment, Shanty. I regret the day I met you, I regret the day I decided to take you in. I regret the day I begged the team to help me bring you back to me. You are worse than a snake,' I said with anger and bitterness.

'Go ahead and regret all you want but get out of my way,' Shanty said as if she had not heard a word of what I had said.

'If you kill the golden wolf, it doesn't secure your mate's life. The golden wolf team will come after you and your useless mate. Lance wouldn't let you live,' I said trying to see if I could penetrate the madness fog in her mind.

'They will be demoralized once the golden wolf is dead. My mate and his people can then thrive, and once he hears what I did, he will accept me, and we will be together,' Shanty said,d, sounding to my ears like a mad person.

'You are such a big fool. To think I thought so highly of an idiot like you,' I said getting more angry.

'Insult me all you want, Ian, but get yourself out of my way,' Shanty said,d, looking more angry and determined than before.

'No,' I said firmly.

Shanty looked at me silently for some seconds then said, 'You asked for it.'

'I asked for what?' I asked.

Shanty looked away for some seconds as if she was having a change of heart but she suddenly flew my way and stabbed me with the bane.

I staggered, hit my back on the wall, and slid to the ground, holding my stomach. I looked up in surprise at Shanty. I never would have believed in a million years that Shanty could harm me.

'I warned you not to stop me but you wouldn't listen,' Shanty said with no pity in her eyes.

I tried to talk but blood gushed out of my mouth instead as I coughed roughly. I stretched my hand but Shanty didn't look at me once as she strolled to the door.

Before she could get to the door, it opened and almost hit her in the face. Dawn and Lucia stepped in, looking shocked to see the bane in Shanty's hand with a blood stain on it.

'Shanty, what are you doing with the bane? Drop it this minute,' Dawn shouted at Shanty but Shanty stood there unmoving.

'Shanty, you need to drop that knife before you injure yourself more than you have already done,' Lucia said thinking it was Shanty's blood on the knife.

I grunted at that second to pull their attention to me. They both gasped in surprise but Lucia didn't take her eyes away from Shanty as Dawn ran to my side.

'Shanty, you must be really tired. Go to sleep. We will talk about all this when the war is over,' Lucia said, and like always, Shanty fell to the ground with the knife, making a loud sound as metal hit the bare floor.

'Ian, are you alright?' Lucia ran to my side but I pointed at the knife. Indicating that they should secure it first.

Lucia stood up and took the knife in her hands before coming back to me. She looked so distraught that I knew I was in a very bad condition.

'Stay with me, Ian. The golden wolf will soon be here,' Dawn said with tears in her eyes.

'I have mind-linked the clinic. They will be here soon,' Lucia said, her eyes wide with worry.

I smiled at them. Even if I died at that moment, I was not alone. I had thought I was going to die lonely but they gave me family. They gave me a home. Besides, I fulfilled my destiny. I saw and delivered the bane to the golden wolf.

'Ian, you must not sleep; you can't close your eyes. You understand that?' Lucia said as her eyes became alarmed. My smile must have scared her.

As Lucia said those words I suddenly felt something sip into my blood. I became more alert. I was tired and wanted to go to sleep but I couldn't. I closed my eyes as the pain hit harder. It was as if my insides were melting into liquid.

Dawn was wailing by the time the ambulance got to the front of the house. Lucia was crying silently. I was surprised that Dawn could lose composure. She was a tough one.

As the ambulance door closed, I took one last look at Dawn and Lucia standing together, holding hands as they cried, and I smiled. If that was the last sight before I breathed my last, then I was going to die a happy wolf.