Chapter 187: Last lap

Chapter 187: Last lap
Thorne’s POV

I try rising to my feet over and over, only to find that something keeps holding me down. Looking down at my frame, I find that my hind leg is sprained terribly and therefore difficult to stand on. That is what keeps me from standing to my feet. 

Shifting all my body weight to my forelimbs, I manage to lift off the ground. Garron is struggling to rise as well. 

This fight has been going on for nothing less than an hour now, and still no sign of letting up on either sides, even with all the injuries. 

Rhyder is long dead now, ironically having bled out due to Garron’s own claws. I may or may not have used him as a shield when Garron charged at me with his claws out, which resulted in his guts spilling out and him bleeding to death. But I was able to dodge his hit, and also give Rhyder what he deserved, so it was more like killing two birds with a stone. 

I found out my wife went into labor a while ago, and while that would have been the ultimate cause for celebration, right now, in this moment, it is a source of encouragement. I had been on the floor when Carlos told me through telepathy, that Ruelle had gone into labor. I had almost blacked out front how violently I hit the floor, until the thought popped in and I was immediately filled with the will to live. 

I had pushed up to my feet almost immediately and told him to get her mother immediately. If I can’t be by her side— which I would give anything to be at this moment— then she can at least have her mother near her. 

Garron Silvermane is only alive right now because of two things. One, I am still debating giving him a chance to see his grandchild before I kill him, and two, I am still wrapping my head around the fact that he wants me dead so much. Maybe if I can figure out why, I would maybe find a reason to spare him. I have so many reasons to kill him and not enough to spare him and I happen to need the latter. Just for the peace of my wife and her family. 

Garron and I were not meant to brawl today. He invited himself here, surprisingly with no army. As though he came here specifically for me. The fight around us had long died down. My soldiers won the fight against Rhyder’s warriors, but we were yet to win the one against Garron’s strength. 

Limping on my forelimbs, I wait for Garron to attack me again, determined to end this once and for all this time. 

He doesn’t wait a beat, but charges towards me like the wild beast that he is. I manage to dodge the clash by an inch, but not before raking my claws through his hind limbs. Next, I stab them into his forelimbs, causing him to fall to the ground. Without waiting another second, I rake my claws through his chest and back, pulling back flesh. Then his face, leaving a permanent scar. And while he is still nurturing the wound on his face curtailing the blood by sticking his tongue out, I use that opportunity to pounce on him, standing over his huge frame and pressing my claws to the sensitive part of his neck. 

Garron lets out a broken cough, writhing beneath me. But like every other wolf that has ended up in that position, there is nothing that he  can do to get out and he knows this. I see it in his eyes. They refuse to beg. And frankly I do not need that. 

“You are one bitter son of a whore.”  I spit down at him now that I have him at my mercy. It is my turn to make demands. “And you ruined your own life by your bitterness.”

“So what? Are you going to kill me, Thorne? Your wife’s father?”  He is taunting me, trying to get into my head. But unfortunately for him, this is a battle I have fought over and over again in my head. 

“She wouldn’t like that.”  I shake my head but press my claws deeper until a pool of blood starts to form around it. “But I’m sure she doesn’t except you to return unscathed either.”  With that, I scrape my claws along his stomach once, then twice. But I don’t make it deep enough to cut open. Only to scratch. 

The look in Garron’s eyes is fierce. But there is a tiny whine coming out of his throat. I doubt he even knows he is doing it. But he is. Because he is scared. 

“Just get it over with already!”  He barks, shooting his neck up. But I pull back. Then use my paws to slam him back against the ground. He grunts, but stays put. 

“I will give you to my guards to bound up. We would have an agreement that you must abide by if you want to see the sky outside of the Southern Reach. If by any chance you do not abide by the conditions, I will find  and kill you. Bear in mind that we are family so you would always be close.”

With that and a signal to the guards around, I step away from him and start walking towards the woods. I hear the shuffling sound accompanied by his grunts as my guards rush him like hounds. But only to bound him up and keep in the dungeon. For now. 

“Come back here, you coward! Come back and kill me! Where do you think you are going?!”  He roars from behind me, but I don’t spare him a glance. I crack a smile, pleased by the mere fact that me not killing him seems to frustrate him. 

But right now, I am going to meet my wife and child.