Chapter 133: Chapter 133

Elena and her allies were outnumbered. The scene she was confronted with might have scared her old self—Jacob’s hateful stare would have made her cower away in fear. However, she had changed and found confidence in herself and her abilities. Thus, she kept her chin up and met Jacob’s glare with a staunch defiance that fueled the vampire’s hatred. He lost his composure.

His unbothered expression cracked open and unveiled his thoughts—Jacob despised her for standing in his way, for defying him again and again, and for making him look weak in front of his clan. She had managed to hide from him for years, even though he was the best witch hunter his clan had to offer, and now she continued to taunt him with her actions. He didn’t acknowledge the intruders she had brought along—his attention was focused solely on her. How easy would it be to rip open her neck and let her bleed out in front of her precious clan members?

Much like Jacob, Louis didn’t hide his contempt and sized up the group of intruders that threatened to ruin his plan. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have never believed it was true, but the council had found him and freed his prisoners. It was completely absurd—the council shouldn’t even be aware of his plan, and yet they were here, teaming up with a bunch of witches. Had it not been so utterly irritating, Louis would have laughed at the irony of it all.

The silence in the spacious dining room was deafening, and the tension thicker than blood. Louis and his soulmate Angelina stood behind a large mahogany table. More than 15 of Louis’s clan members were assembled between them and the intruders, so Louis wasn’t worried about the outcome of the inevitable fight. However, if his precious sacrifices lost their lives in the chaos, he would have to start his search from scratch. Witches and wizards were hard to find. They could hide like rats in the sewers thanks to their magic tricks.

“How dare you enter my home and destroy everything. You will pay for this,” Angelina hissed and glanced at her soulmate. “Louis, what are you waiting for? Have them killed. I want to see all of them dead.”

“Patience, darling. You will get what you want, but I’m afraid we can’t kill all of them yet, as it would ruin my plan,” he replied without taking his eyes off the intruders. Their scarlet hue reflected his rage, his hunger for destruction. “This won’t take long.”

“We’ll see about that, fucking bloodsucker,” Alex yelled, earning a look of surprise from Alan.

“Shut up, you little rat.” Angelina spat and pierced him with her glare. “Pathetic beings like you should hold their tongue—you’re inferior to us vampires.”

This was the moment Ryder’s patience ran out. He had been seething ever since he had laid eyes on Louis and his arrogant soulmate. There was no way he could listen to this sick person’s rambling without losing his temper. The atrocities these monsters had inflicted on his soulmate and her family flashed before his eyes, triggering his bloodlust. Unbridled anger boiled within him, so strong that Elena felt its heat through their bond.

He let out a frightening roar and attacked the very first vampire within his reach, setting off chaos. His clan followed him without hesitation and flooded into the room, confronting the vampires standing between them and Louis. Not wanting to be separated from her soulmate, Elena pursued Ryder, fixing her eyes on his black hair so as not to lose him in the fray. As she caught up with him, a ball of fire shot past her, and lightning struck one of their enemies.

“Ryder,” she screamed. It was a wonder he even heard her voice over the noise around them, but he stopped his opponent’s fist and threw her a glance over his shoulder. “Wait for me, damn it. I’m not as fast as you,” she huffed. Her words reminded him to be more careful. He couldn’t forget about his most important duty—protecting her. Allowing his anger to lead his actions had been reckless of him, and it wouldn’t happen again.

A dangerous smirk played with his lips when his attention returned to his opponent. “Sorry, buttercup, but I couldn’t stand listening to that bitch any longer.”

The other vampire glanced at Elena, taking note of her scent. He connected the dots in seconds, realizing they were soulmates. Devious as he was, he planned on using this to his advantage and changed his target. He pretended to attack Ryder, but then lunged past him. Or at least, he tried to—Ryder didn’t let him go near his soulmate. He caught the vampire’s arm and held it in an excruciatingly tight grip.

“Ah, ah, not so fast. I can’t have you anywhere near her,” Ryder snarled.

“Fuck you. You and that witch won’t leave this house alive.”

Ryder’s response was a devastating punch followed by a well-aimed kick to his stomach. The force sent his opponent flying into the wall, past Chump and Alex, who had teamed up and fought together. Vampires truly possessed a bizarre amount of power—had Elena ever seen Ryder use his physical strength like this? Surviving such a vicious attack would be a miracle. Was it impossible…. right?

Unfortunately, vampires were quite resilient and not easy to kill. Ryder’s opponent got up as if nothing had happened. He cracked his fingers, rolled his shoulders, and ran at Ryder. They collided, punching each other, dodging, evading, kicking. Elena couldn’t tell who was winning since they were too fast—she hoped Ryder caused more damage than he received.

However, she wasn’t about to watch as this man attempted to kill her beloved soulmate, so she decided to interfere. Protecting Ryder was one of her objectives, after all. Her green eyes gleamed as her magic came to life, concentrating on the vampire. Suddenly, a vine coiled around his neck. It was wolfsbane, containing a particularly potent poison. The vampire hissed, trying to remove the plant from his neck, but it burned his fingers and made it hard to breathe. It was impossible to fend off Ryder’s continuous attacks while simultaneously getting rid of the plant.