Chapter 24 'Call Him Or Lose Him.'
Aurelia
Run. The word screamed in my skull, but my body refused to obey, because my legs were shaking, I was magic-drained, and every muscle in my body felt like lead soaked in fire.
I stumbled forward anyway, taking three clumsy steps before my foot caught a gnarled root hidden in the dark.
I pitched forward, rolling hard across damp earth and pine needles until the world stopped spinning in a painful jolt.
Loud laughter cut through the night, sending pinpricks of shivers down my spine.
“Look what we found here,” Varrick drawled, his voice dripping with mock delight. “Alpha Zhayad’s little plaything. Maybe I should just defile you right here in the dirt.”
I scrambled upright on trembling arms, dirt caking my palms, what was now left of my torn dress clinging to my sweat-slick skin.
Nine shifters flanked him, massive, shadowed silhouettes with glowing eyes and bared teeth.
There was no escape now, not unless I vanished into thin air.
“Step back,” I rasped, lifting one weak hand between us.
The magic inside me flickered, feeble, barely a spark, but I forced it anyway, willing it to rise.
Varrick’s grin widened, his fangs glinting in the moonlight.
He stepped closer, unhurried, his claws sliding free with a soft metallic scrape.
“I hear you’re quite the little magician,” he purred, his eyes raking over me, lingering on every exposed inch. “Maybe we should send you to the circus folk. You’d make me a fortune shaking those hips on stage.”
I took a stumbling step back, my brain scrambling for any plan, any lie, anything that didn’t end with me broken on the forest floor.
“You’re sick,” I spat, voice cracking.
He tilted his head, amused. “But at least I don’t pretend like your precious Alpha. Fucking you while hating you at the same time? What a hypocrite. He doesn’t deserve a seat on the shifter council.”
He advanced again, his claws fully extended now, gleaming like curved blades.
“Why are you here?” I demanded, trying to buy time. “Are you mad because I destroyed the vial before your scouts could touch it? Because I killed Dory and the other four shifters?”
Varrick laughed like I'd cracked a joke. “I have no sympathy for anyone from the OnyxFang pack. What I’m here for is the vial.”
“Too bad,” I shot back, forcing bravado into my shaking voice. “I’m too weak to summon it right now. I can’t get it for you.”
His smile turned predatory. “Oh, I plan on ravaging that sweet body until you do.”
He licked his lips, his gaze dropping to my thighs, my breasts, the places the dress barely covered.
“Right here, in the dirt. And if you still won’t give it up… I’ll just drag you back to my pack and torture it out of you. Slowly and eliciously.”
My stomach heaved. Nine against one, how could I fight them all when I had no strength left for magic?
I had no weapons either, not that I knew how to use one if I found it.
The mate bond flickered, it was distant, frantic, but too weak to reach him. Wherever he was, he was far.
Varrick took another step. Then another.
I backed up until my spine hit a tree trunk, the rough bark biting into my shoulders.
“Now,” he said softly, his claws flexing, “let’s see how loud you scream when there’s no Alpha to save you.”
The other shifters closed in, circling, growling, their eyes bright with hunger.
I lifted my chin, trembling but refusing to let them see the terror taking control of my whole body.
I couldn't let them see my weakness, it would only make this worse. I would not give Varrick the satisfaction of watching me break.
His clawed hand wrapped around my throat, tilting my head back so he could bury his nose against my neck and inhale deeply.
He let out a groan that bordered on sick.
“His scent is all over you,” he murmured, his lips brushing my skin in a mockery of intimacy. “But it doesn’t change anything.”
His free hand shoved between my thighs, forcing them apart roughly.
Claws grazed the inside of my leg, sharp enough to draw thin lines of blood.
My heartbeat was racing out of control, I was terrified of how this would play out. I needed to defend myself against him, but how?
“Let. Her. Go.” The voice rolled across the clearing like thunder from an ancient battlefield.
The last time I’d heard it was the night I ran from home.
My father was here.
Every shifter behind Varrick spun, snarling and baring their fangs.
Varrick’s fingers tightened on my throat for one vicious second, then he let me go. He snapped his teeth an inch from my face, a promise of violence deferred, before stepping back.
I blinked through the blur of tears and moonlight.
Cassian Varkis stood at the edge of the trees, tall, cloaked in black, his blonde hair gleaming like frost under the moon.
The region’s most feared warlock. The man who I'd called my father for sixteen years before I knew better.
His smile was thin and fake, it didn't reach his eyes. The calm in his voice was a lie wrapped in silk, my father was anything but calm.
“My daughter,” he said softly, spreading his arms as if we were reuniting at a family feast instead of a battlefield. “After so many years apart, we finally meet again.”
I stayed pressed against the tree trunk, the bark biting into my spine, every instinct screaming to run even though my legs wouldn’t obey.
My mind raced for an escape, a weapon, anything.
“I had great plans for you, Aurelia,” he continued smoothly. I forced a bitter laugh.
“I forgot you’re such an amazing event planner.” I told him, holding his gaze.
His smile widened, just a fraction, dangerous and indulgent.
“How do I make Alpha Zhayad come to you?” he asked, almost gently.
My heart stuttered, skipped, then slammed so hard I felt it in my throat.
He wanted to use me to lure out Zhayad so he could kill him. Or worse still, break him.
“You’ll call to him through the bond,” he said when he figured I wouldn't reveal how. “You’ll beg for help. You’ll make him come running. And when he does…”
He gestured lazily toward Varrick and the nine snarling shifters. “…we’ll be waiting.”
I shook my head. “No. I won’t.”
My father's smile didn’t falter.
“You will,” he said simply. “Because if you don’t, I’ll let Varrick have you first. Right here. While you scream for the mate who’ll never reach you in time.”
Varrick stepped closer again, his claws flexing, his eyes burning brightly with anticipation.
I had only a few seconds to decide whether to save Zhayad… or let him die in battle thinking I’d chosen my father’s side.