Chapter 147: Burning For Her

Calix Pov

The air was very hot. It was so hot that it felt like it was sticking to my skin. I stood in the middle of the main hall and I watched the wood turn black. The big rug in the center of the room was gone.

It had turned into a pile of grey ash. I looked at my paws and they were covered in soot. I was a black wolf in a black room.

I still had Elder Thomas pinned to the floor. He was not moving much anymore. He was just breathing in short and shallow gasps. I could feel the stone in my head pushing me to finish it, it felt like a heavy weight was sitting right behind my eyes. It was a purple feeling. It was cold and it did not care about anything.

"Calix, please," Thomas whispered and he looked at me with his one good eye.

I did not want to do it. I tried to pull my claws back into my paws. I tried to step away from him. But the stone made my muscles stay tight. It was like I was made of stone myself. I was a statue that was forced to kill.

Then I heard the sound of the front door breaking again. It was already splintered but someone was hitting it from the outside. I turned my head slowly. My neck made a loud popping sound.

I saw a flash of white. Then I saw a flash of red.

Maddie came through the flames like she was not afraid of the heat at all. She was a wolf but she did not look like the White Wolf I remembered. Her fur was white in some places but it was deep red in others. The red looked like paint but it was glowing. It was a bright and angry color. She looked bigger than she used to be.

She skidded to a stop on the charred floorboards. She looked at me and then she looked at Thomas on the floor. Her eyes were not blue. they were a dark and burning orange.

"Calix, stop it!" Maddie shouted and her voice was a loud howl in my mind.

I felt something inside me break. It was not a bone. It was the purple grip of the stone. For one second, the weight behind my eyes went away. I could see the room clearly. I could see the smoke curling around the ceiling. I could see the fear on my pack's faces as they watched from the edges of the room.

I looked at Thomas and I let go of his chest. I stepped back two feet and I looked at Maddie.

"Maddie, run!" I yelled and I hit my chest with my paw to show her the way out.

I wanted her to go. I knew what was coming. I could feel Simone at the top of the stairs. I could feel her anger, it was a sharp and pointy feeling that was directed right at me.

"No!" Maddie said and she took a step toward me.

"You have to go," I said and I shook my head hard.

"I am not leaving you again."

"She will kill you," I said and I tried to point toward the door with my muzzle.

"She can try," Maddie said and she bared her teeth.

I heard a loud laugh from above us. I did not have to look up to know it was Simone. She was standing on the balcony and she was looking down at us.

She was holding the purple stone and it was pulsing like a heart. Every time it pulsed, the air got colder around her.

"This is so touching," Simone said and she leaned over the railing.

"Let him go, Simone," Maddie said and she looked up.

"I don't think so. I worked too hard for this weapon. And now I have two of you in the same room. It is like a gift," Simone said and she smiled.

"I will kill you if I have to," Maddie said.

"You can't even kill a squirrel, Maddie. You are too soft. You are all heart and no teeth," Simone said and she raised the stone high above her head.

I felt the purple light hit me. It was not like a light you see with your eyes. It was like a bucket of ice water being poured into my brain.

I fell to my knees and I let out a sound that was not a bark or a growl. It was just a sound of pain.

"Calix!" Maddie screamed and she ran toward me.

"Stay back!" I tried to say but the words got stuck in my throat.

The stone was pushing harder than it ever had before. I could feel Simone's mind inside mine. She was digging around in my thoughts.

She was looking for the parts of me that loved Maddie and she was trying to crush them. It felt like someone was stepping on a bug.

"Kill her," Simone commanded.

I fought it. I dug my claws into the floorboards until they bled. I bit my own lip until I tasted salt. I tried to think about the first time I saw Maddie in the woods. I tried to think about the way her hand felt in mine.

"Do it now!" Simone screamed.

She pressed her thumb into the center of the stone. I heard a loud crack. It sounded like a mirror breaking. The purple light turned into a dark black smoke that flowed down from the balcony and into my nose and mouth.

I couldn't feel my heart anymore. I couldn't feel the love. I could only feel the command.

I stood up. I was not shaking anymore. My body felt strong and cold. I looked at Maddie. I did not see my mate. I saw a red and white wolf that was in my way. I saw an enemy.

"Calix, please look at me," Maddie said and she stopped moving.

I did not look at her eyes. I looked at her throat. It was white and soft, it would be easy to bite.

"He is gone, Maddie," Simone said and she was laughing again. "There is nobody left in there but me."

Maddie let out a low growl. The red glow on her fur got brighter. It started to spread until there was almost no white left. She looked like a wolf made of fire.

"I will bring him back," Maddie said.

"You will die trying," Simone said.