Chapter 205

Chapter 205
RYKER’S POV

It had been two long days. Two days of waiting, of planning, of suppressing my rage every time I saw Varkas’s face. He didn’t suspect a thing, which was exactly what we all wanted until Lyra was safe. In those two days, I had done exactly what Dimitri advised. I had imagined a million ways to deal with Varkas for eyeing my mate. For thinking he could claim her for invading her privacy.

And now? He was on the move. He was restless. I bet because he was unable to mind-link with his beta. He probably thought his beta was stuck in there.
Dimitri had informed closed allys, warriors, and the army to move to strategic positions. We already knew where he was going. They were to have the pack surrounded. The alleys, the marketplace, the city center, the underground sewer, the palace walls, and around the portal points that had been created over the walls. Dimitri had performed some kind of ritual with his chief wizard with Varkas’ hair that Declan had brought to access the portals. Apparently, no one could access the portals without Varkas’ blood approval. His hair beng part of his body, had made the portal recognize us. We moved in swiftly and saw the moon crystal light shining in the center of a very large room with a huge bed in the center, but as we approached, we noticed Lyra was not in the room. I noticed the food untouched, and from the look of it, had been untouched for two nights.
“She’s not here.” My voice was rough, laced with urgency and fear.

“We need to search this part of the building,” I heard Dimitri say. “If she had tried to use her powers to teleport, it would have gotten her lost somewhere because her powers have been weakened by the crystal. The teleporting energy her wolf has doesn’t work under undue stress to its power source.” He hurriedly explained. We moved quickly. Dimitri, I, Lief, some warriors, and a wizard we took with us for backup.
We kept searching room after room, but couldn’t find any trace of Lyra. Not even her scent.
“Let’s split up,” I finally suggested. “He would be here soon. I need her out of here before he lays his hands on her. Then I turned to Lief, and we shared a nod with unspoken words shared between us. Before we got here, I had told him that once Lyra was found, he was to blow this goddamn place to pieces. The quiet nod was a reminder and a confirmation.

We all split. I was given a few teams of strong warrior and together we navigated the maze-like corridors.

“Stay close,” I ordered. “One could get lost in these things,” the men nodded and followed my lead, and together we moved in sync.

Unknown to us, Dimitri’s team had encountered members of the Vivarium sect, and a war had broken out. It was a war of wizards and werewolves against each other.
The war was brutal and intense, but they stood no chance against Dimitri. His powers were ancient, and his aura was untouchable.

While Ryker and the warriors he was with went through the maze, they came across a few Vivarium sect members who had managed an escape. And a fight ensued. It was a clash of fur, bodies, fangs, and claws. It was bloody and messy because the vivarium sect had their powers magnified with the blood vial of the Aethera that Varkas had fed them with, so they were supernaturally strong.
Two werewolves cornered Ryker, but Ryker was no ordinary Alpha. His aura was oppressive. It sent a chill down their spine but they went ahead to fight. Ryker moved with swift precision and ripped one of their hearts cleanly from his chest with his claw. When the other werewolf saw this, he faltered in shock. He had never seen such a level of brutality in all his years. The momentary pause in his actions gave Ryker the opening he needed.
Ryker flung him across the hall, and he hit one of the maze, and something happened with that. Blood spattered out of the mouth and body of the werewolf, and the maze disappeared.
“It was an illusion that could only be brought down with blood,” One of the men gasped.
As soon as he spoke, the air in the room changed, and Ryker felt the crawly sensation. A slow smile curled his lips, and he looked at the entrance to find a shadow standing there.
Varkas
Ryker shifted and lunged for Varkas, who did the same. The moment they clashed, they hit through a wall into another room, and a brutal fight ensued between the two beast men.

Ryker fought with the anger of a savage man who would do anything to save what was dear to him. His blows were swift, precise as he clawed and hit Varkas’ ribcage. Varkas roared and sank his teeth into Ryker’s shoulders. Ryker retaliated by aiming for his neck and managed to rip out flesh from Varkas’ chest the moment Varkas swerved to avoid his throat being ripped out.
Both Alphas rolled in the room, clashing through walls repeatedly. The Lycan warriors who were with Ryker witnessed the fight and were shocked. They had seen fights in their days, but had never seen something this brutal. This wasn’t a fight.

It was annihilation.

Varkas jumped at Ryker, and Ryker met him mid-air. Their fangs out and their claws out, aimed for each other. The force of their clash was explosive, the walls started breaking, and the building shook as if it was going to collapse. The fight was so brutal, they sank their claws into each other, gripping bones and flesh as they rolled through the walls until they hit a wall that threw them out of the building.
Meanwhile, the fight between Dimitri and his men versus the men from the vivarium sect had ended. They had heard the commotion and had wondered if an earthquake threatened the pack. Dimitri had ordered his men to round up the sect members, who were already bound with cursed silver, out of the place that connected them to the outside world, which would lead to the pack grounds when a force of energy sailed past like a ball of fur and fury and crashed through the walls, shooting right outside the walls.
Everyone hurried outside. Both the ones bound and the ones without.
“They will destroy each other,” Someone whispered.
“How does the Alpha King possess such raw energy? His aura is too strong. To be able to fight Varkas with such ferocity,” One of the vivarium sect members asked in disbelief.

The fight raged on. It was a clash of fangs, claws, strength, and might. Nobody moved. Even the armies that had been brought to lie in ambush outside the walls, should incase of any eventualities stood guard watching. By this time, Lyra had arrived with Lief supporting her, and the other men supporting the weak werewolves that had been trapped in the lab.
Seeing the ongoing fights, she motioned to some men to round up others and move the injured werewolves to the pack hospital for treatment.
“Father,” She rushed over to Dimitri, who held her tight. His eyes shone with relief, and just as quickly, he looked towards the clearing where Ryker and Varkas fought with so much ferocity that it shook the ground under their feet.
“You’re weak. You should rest,” Dimitri glanced at her briefly before looking back at the fight.
“No. I’m staying till the end.” She replied fiercely. Her eyes burned through the clearing as she watched Ryker and Varkas.