Chapter 216: She Put Him Down

Chapter 216: She Put Him Down
Evelyn's POV

When Brandon said those words, my first reaction wasn't fear.

It was annoyance.

That specific kind where someone says something so full of themselves you want to roll your eyes, but you can't because everyone's watching.

He doesn't actually think he's here to collect his bride, does he? my wolf said.

Brandon's people moved. Goal was obvious—clear a path straight to me so Brandon could walk right up.

Orion, Magnus, and Lucian charged out almost simultaneously.

Orion hit the biggest guy in Brandon's front guard. They collided head-on. Orion didn't back up—just took the hit with his shoulder, then used the guy's own momentum to spin him sideways. He crashed into two teammates. All three went down together. Orion was on them before they could recover, pinning all three at once.

Took maybe eight seconds total.

Magnus and Lucian were working together.

Magnus held the front, straight pressure—all strength and aura, forcing their attention on him. Lucian moved along the edges, slipping through every gap Magnus created. They ripped a hole right through Brandon's formation.

I watched them for a second. Moved like they'd done it a thousand times before.

Freya came in from the west with those former followers, cutting off Brandon's escape route.

They were still half-shifted, hadn't figured out full control yet. But following Freya forward, that worked in their favor—messy and raw, like young wolves learning to fight. Not clean, but effective.

I caught what Freya told them. One sentence: "You know what he did. Come with me."

She walked. They followed.

No speech. No motivation talk. That simple.

Mark held the outer ring, using size to stop anyone trying to break through. Milo cut through the battle line too fast to track properly. Elliot locked down the north side, blocking the flanking attempt.

Sophia worked the back—handling wounded, but also doing something more important. Tracking the people waking up from Brandon's control, figuring out who was actually clear versus who might still be compromised. She kept it quiet, but it mattered.

Brandon stopped moving.

He looked around. His expression changed—just slightly, like recalculating.

I stepped forward, pulling my aura back from the outer edges and concentrating it.

Juniper stayed close behind me, ready if I needed backup.

Brandon spoke, tone shifting lower. Probably thought it sounded reasonable. "You're smart enough to know you can't win this. Instead of wasting energy, why don't you—"

"You talk way too much," I cut him off. Kept my voice flat. "And it's all boring."

Someone made a choking noise through the mind link. Sounded like Mark.

Sophia said, Shut up.

Mark said, I'm not—

Sophia said, You are.

Mark said, Fine, fine.

Brandon kept going. Something about my aura collapsing first, consequences, smart choices.

Lucian came through the link: He thinks we'll break faster than we will.

Magnus said, And he's overestimating what he's got left.

Orion said, Can you guys not? She's working.

Lucian said, We're helping.

Orion said, She doesn't need help. She needs quiet.

I said, I need you all to stop talking. I've got something to say.

The link went silent.

"You didn't choose to come here," I said, pushing my voice out toward Brandon's controlled fighters. "The guy controlling you treats you like tools. Your will's still there. Just buried. Push through it."

Milo said through the link, She's breaking control mid-fight.

Nadia said, Yeah.

Milo said, That's just—yeah. Impressive.

Brandon caught on fast. Tightened his grip on the people around him. But doing that meant pulling energy away from the wide suppression field.

Juniper's voice came low behind me. His big magic's shrinking. Keep going. Keep him focused on you.

Brandon felt the shift. Raised his hand, gathering magic—

I didn't wait. Pulled my aura back deliberately, made it look like an opening.

Brandon moved.

Shifted and came at me. Faster than I'd thought. I dodged most of it, but his claws caught my arm. Three lines, bleeding immediately.

Hurt. I kept going.

He landed and I went straight at him, drove into his side trying to knock him off balance. Didn't work. He was twice my size. Just bounced me back.

If you can't take him, run, my wolf said.

Not yet.

Brandon came again, going for my throat this time. I shifted last second, used my speed to slip past. Got my teeth into the fur at his neck and yanked hard sideways. His balance broke completely.

He went down, rolled once, got back up. Shook dirt off.

Everyone was watching now. Fighting continued around us, but nobody pushed into the middle space.

Orion stepped forward.

Don't, I said through the link.

He stopped. Didn't step back though.

Brandon lunged from an angle. I didn't dodge all the way. He got me, pinned my back to the ground. Claws dug into my spine, heavy pressure making it hard to breathe.

I didn't fight it.

Pressed myself flatter instead.

Then right when he thought I was done, I kicked off hard with my back legs. Launched us both up, flipped mid-air—went from pinned to pinning.

We hit ground and I shifted back, used all my weight on his back and spine. Drove my Beta aura straight down into his will layer. Everything I had left.

Brandon held maybe ten seconds.

His body shook—that's what happens when someone forces your will down. Claws scraped the dirt, trying to push up. But my aura and weight kept pressing. Every time he almost made it, I pushed deeper. He sank back down.

His arms gave out. Stayed down, breathing hard.

I stood up, stepped back. Breathing hard too. Arm still bleeding. But I was steady.

Shifted back to human. Looked down at him.

"That's it."

Around the field, Brandon's guards saw him go down. Fight went out of them instantly. Some shifted back. Some dropped. The whole battle just stopped.

Mark said through the link, She put him down.

Milo said, I saw.

Elliot said, Me too.

Freya said, You two are doing play-by-play again.