Chapter 131 Chapter 131: Attack the Nobles

Chapter 131 Chapter 131: Attack the Nobles
Kalev’s POV

We tore through the flame filled forest, following Verity. I knew that she had lit that fire. She wanted us to follow her to the beach, but I didn’t know why. Orrin was fast and he was able to keep up with Verity. The others ran as fast as they could too, but they were behind us.

The fire raged. We barely made it to the beach alive. Everyone emerged from the forest onto the beach, coughing and taking in the fresh beach air. The smell of smoke was heavy in the air.

Verity turned to face us. Her fur shone in the moonlight. She was so beautiful. Orrin howled. Then he lowered himself down onto his haunches.

“I won’t fight her,” he said.

“I know,” I told him.

“She is being controlled,” he told me. “I can feel it. She’s fighting, but she can’t fight forever. If Viktor overtakes her, she’ll kill us all.”

“I know,” I repeated. What could we do? We couldn’t kill Verity. But we couldn’t just let everyone die. The moment Viktor managed to overtake Verity, he’d use her to tap into the island. We’d be powerless against Verity and the island.

Orrin and Verity stood face to face. Everyone else was silent. They were all waiting for my instruction. The nobles didn’t know what to do. They were relying on Viktor to fight their fight for them. They were weak on their own. We could take them down easily.

It was Viktor we had to worry about.

Just then though, something strange happened. Verity disappeared. For a moment, Viktor appeared in her place, a shocked look on his face. We all watched in utter disbelief.

But Viktor was only there for a moment before a different wolf emerged.

The wolf was small and weak. It stood on its legs like baby deer learning how to walk. It paled in comparison to Orrin’s large frame. I realized that I’d seen that wolf before.

My mind flashed back to the waterfall cave.

That was Kalen’s wolf. He’d shifted to show us his flora wolf. Verity had protected it.

But how was that possible? How had Kalen’s wolf appeared in place of Verity? My mind reeled. We all stared at the wolf.

“Flora wolf,” Orrin said, sniffing the air. Then he turned around and saw Verity.

She was standing behind us, where Kalen had been. The puzzle pieces started snapping into place. Verity had somehow switched places with Kalen’s wolf.

Spinning back around, we looked at Kalen’s wolf. Now that Verity was free from Viktor’s hold…she was free to use the island again.

“Oh my god,” I whispered. It was brilliant. The swap had thrown the nobles for a loop. They realized what had happened and began walking backwards, towards the forest. But the fire was burning so hot. They had nowhere to go.

Isolde lifted her bow and pointed it right at one of the nobles.

“No, please,” he said, holding out his hands. “I don’t want to die.”

“And neither did any of the sector borns you sent to this island for years.” Isolde drew back the arrow.

“Have mercy,” he cried at her.

Isolde narrowed her eyes. “No,” she said. “You don’t deserve mercy.” Then she released the arrow. It hit the noble square in the chest. His eyes flew open in shock. He clutched at the arrow in his chest. Then he fell to his knees. He gargled, blood spilling from his mouth. Then he fell face first into the sand.

The others nobles watched him die with terrified eyes.

The sector borns started to approach them, their weapons clutched in their hands. Their eyes were full of vengeance. The nobles, realizing they were about to be attacked, grabbed their weapons. One of them ran back into the forest. We heard his screams as he lit on fire. He stumbled back out, his clothes ablaze.

Within minutes, the sector borns were on the nobles. They pounced on the nobles like fresh prey. The nobles didn’t stand a chance. They were out-numbered. They didn’t know how to fight. Several of them tried to shift at the last minute. But it didn’t matter.

The sector borns attacked the nobles with a savage cry. The sound of flesh being torn and noble screams filled the air. Orrin stood and watched, as did Kalen’s wolf. Verity came and stood beside us. It was a blood bath, but it was over fast.

With all the nobles dead, the group came back to us. Their knives dripped with blood. They all had satisfied smiles on their faces.

The only one left was Viktor. He could have shifted back to human form. But Viktor was a coward. He wouldn’t let Kalen’s wolf shift. So the wolf stayed exactly where she was. She lowered herself onto her hind legs, and rested her head on her paws.

She was surrendering. It was as though she was saying, ‘it’s okay. You can kill me. I understand that you have to.’

Everyone paused. Isolde lifted her bow. She made eye contact with the wolf. But then she lowered it.

“I can’t do it,” she said.

Korrigan gripped his knife. He walked towards the wolf but then stopped. The wolf was so small, so vulnerable. He turned back to us.

“I can’t either.”

“Well someone has to,” one of the sector borns said. “Someone has to kill that wolf.”

Orrin shook his head. He couldn’t kill a flora wolf. Verity was his mate and that wolf was from Verity’s line of wolves.

The fire raged behind us. Smoke billowed out of the forest. The nobles lay dead behind us in a pool of blood.

All that was standing between us and victory now was a small, weak wolf. But even so, none of us had the strength to kill her.

None of us except for Verity.

Beside me, Verity shook. She howled. Then her eyes locked on the small wolf. The small wolf gazed at Verity with steady eyes, her head still on her paws. Verity stepped forward. Behind the wolf, a massive wave swelled. It grew and grew to an impossible height. We all watched as the wave rose and rose. Then he barreled onto the shore, completely covering the small wolf.

The wolf didn’t even make a sound as it was swept away. Within seconds, she was gone. The beach was empty where the wolf had once stood.

I reached out to touch Verity’s fur, to console her. But when I turned my head…

…Verity was gone too.

Kalen stood beside me, his eyes wide and fixed on the dark ocean that had swept away the wolf.