Chapter 151: Final Stand

Calix Pov

I did not think. I just moved. I used my left arm and I reached out across the hot ash. My fingers caught the edge of his boot and I gripped his ankle with everything I had left in my body. I dug my fingernails into the leather.

"Not her," I growld and I pulled on his leg hard.

My father stumbled backward. His boot slid across the charred floorboards and he let out a sharp grunt. He looked down at me and his face was full of anger. He kicked his foot forward and his heel hit me right in the mouth. I tasted copper and my head bounced off the floor.

"You are a disappointment, Calix," my father said and he pulled his leg free. "You always were too soft for this position."

I tried to stand up but my pinned arm felt numb. I could feel the stone in his hand pulsing. It was trying to get back into my brain. The black fog started to creep into the edges of my eyes again. My vision went blurry.

"Leave him alone," Maddie screamed.

She did not wait. She shifted into the White Wolf in one second. Her fur was completely white now and it was glowing very bright. The light was so strong that it made the orange fire look dim. She launched herself right at my father's chest.

My father was fast for an old man. He shifted his upper body just enough to hit her with his shoulder. Maddie hit the stone pillar and slid down into the embers. She let out a small whimper but she got back on her feet before he could move.

"The curse was always mine to control," my father said and he laughed. "I found the stones before you were even born, boy. You cannot beat the man who made the rules."

He raised the silver dagger high above his head. He was looking right at my chest. He was going to slide the metal into my heart and end it.

Maddie did not let him. She did not look at the knife. She just launched her body between the two of us. She covered my chest with her own wolf body. Her white fur was blazing like a sun right in front of my face.

My father brought the stone down. He hit her right in the center of her chest.

There was a loud sound like a glass window shattering against a rock. The purple stone did not pulse anymore. It broke into a hundred tiny pieces that flew across the burning room. The dark light went out instantly.

I felt a sharp snap in my head. It was the mate bond. It did not feel cold or purple anymore. It felt warm and thick like wool. It snapped right back into place between my heart and hers. The black fog in my eyes disappeared completely. My vision came back and I could see every line on Maddie's face.

"Maddie," I said and my voice was regular again.

She shifted back into her human form and she fell onto my chest. She was breathing very fast but her eyes were blue and clear.

"I've got you," Maddie whispered.

My father stepped back three steps. He looked at his empty hand where the stone had been. His skin was turning a strange grey color and his eyes looked hollow. He looked like he was shrinking inside his own clothes.

"How did you do that?" my father asked and his voice was barely a whisper.

Maddie did not answer him. She just held my hand tight.

My father looked at the pieces of the stone on the floor and then he looked back at me. A small smile came onto his face and it was the scariest thing I had ever seen.

"Then take the pack," my father said and he coughed up something dark. "Take it... if you can survive what comes next."

His knees buckled and he hit the floor hard. He did not move again. His eyes stayed open but they were completely blank. He was dead for real this time.

"Calix, we have to get you out," Maddie said and she grabbed the big beam on my arm.

"Help me lift it," I said.

She pulled on the wood and I pushed with my left hand. My muscles hurt so bad I wanted to stop but I kept pushing. The wood moved three inches and I slid my right arm out. It was bruised and covered in soot but it was not broken.

I crawled out from under the roof. Maddie helped me stand up. My legs were shaking like a newborn pup but I kept my weight on them. We walked toward the front door together. The whole house was falling down behind us.

We stepped out onto the front lawn. The fresh air hit my face and it felt very cold compared to the inside. The pack was still there. Elara was holding Marcus up and the other elders were standing in a circle. Theo's remaining wolves were on the grass. Some of them were dead and some of them were tied up with ropes.

"They stopped fighting when the stone broke," Elder Thomas said and he walked over to us.

"Where is Simone?" I asked.

"She ran into the woods when the roof came down. It's quite unusual because Simone will never leave a fight like that," Thomas said.

Maddie looked at me and I looked at her. We had won the house but the house was just a pile of black charcoal now.

Suddenly, the air went very quiet. The wind stopped moving through the trees.

Then a howl started.

It was not a regular howl. It was loud and deep and it came from the north. Then another howl started from the east. Then another from the south. The sound filled the entire valley until the ground under my boots started to vibrate.

"That is too many wolves," Marcus said and he dropped his spear.

I looked toward the tree line. I saw eyes. There were red eyes and green eyes and yellow eyes shining in the dark under the trees. There were hundreds of them. They were not Silverthorn wolves and they were not Keane wolves. They were wild wolves from the deep mountains.

"What do we do, Calix?" Elara asked and she came close to my side.

I looked at my pack. They were tired and bleeding and they did not have a home anymore. I looked at Maddie and her hand was still steady in mine.

"We stand our ground," I said and I bared my teeth at the forest. "We are still here."