Chapter 60: CHAPTER 60
ECHO XANDER SILVERBACK
The lights are heavy on the fields as we get ready to play against the Zayn, and his bands of misfits. As usual, the orb will be fired into the sky, and that leaves room for anyone to get to it.
That’s usually when the bloodbath begins.
The silver moonlight is at its peak, and when I turn to Lyra, I can see the green color of her eyes glowing in its reflection. My mouth slides slightly apart, but Dom’s voice echoing within the mind link, pulls my sight away from hers.
“Leave Zayn for me, guys. He and I have some bad blood to settle.”
A scoff rips from my throat, because I’m well aware Dom fucked his girlfriend when they were still together, and Zayn has never healed from that moment. Probably because she was a virgin, and he wasn’t the first guy to gain access to her.
“No, Dom,” Kyle’s voice breaks the barrier. “We all sticks together, no matter how they try to box in.”
I know why Kyle is talking like that, and that’s because of the girl standing close to him. The one with the glowing green eyes as if she’s about to wake up her wolf.
I look ahead to the opponents, and I can see the bastard’s eyes. But when I trace its sight to where it falls on, I realize he’s staring at Lyra.
Unwavering.
The silence waiting up the sound of the first gunshot to kickstart this tournament is louder than the thoughts flying through my head. The pull of something I have never felt before; like electricity, coursing through the naked wire and pulling everything it touches to itself.
That is what I’m feeling standing a few feet away from the raven-haired girl, this moment.
A pull that has no regard for my will.
I try to listen on in her heartbeat, and goddess, they are the calmest I’ve ever listened to. The steady rhythm as if she has been in this situation for a thousand lifetime. Even Kyle’s heartbeat is skipping once a time, because, like the rest of us, he knows what’s about to happen when those triggers are released, and the orb is sent flying meters into the sky.
“Karrrrhhh!!!”
The sound of the bullet leaving the barrel is all I can hear at this moment. The way its punctures itself through the fabric of the wind, pushing between each layer with minimum effort as it travels into space. It’s all I can listen to as the orb follows its path into the direction of the silver moon.
The next thing that breaks through my eardrum, is the sound of boots thudding heavily on the green fields as everything kicks into action.
My eyes bleed into a feral red faster than I can recognize as I share partial control with my wolf. I lift my eyes to the falling orb dropping from the depth of the sky, and goddess, I can already smell smoke and blood, even before any action commences.
“Thauuuccckkk!”
The sound ruptures and ripples through the air. I don’t need to know what causes it. I look ahead, but the sharp smell of iron wraps at the back of my nostrils before my eyes can catch the bloodbath happening in front of me.
The first thing I see is Duncan on Zayn’s shoulders, as blood gushes out of his nose.
“Bammm!!!”
A crack echo through the airway, and I know that’s Duncan’s spine at the end of it.
“Fucking Zayn,” Dom growls. “Going in for the kill I see.”
I look in front of me, and there’s someone heading directly for me.
Caleb.
Well, not today.
He dives in for contact, but my Alpha senses are triple his. My right hand comes connecting with his jaw before he can blink, sending him flying a few feet backwards. The impact is so heavy it draws blood out of his mouth.
But the real reason I decide not to go in full contact mode with him is because, somehow, magically, the silver orb is in the hands of the one person we all don’t want it to be.
Lyra!
“Echo, cover us!” I can hear Kyle’s voice thundering through the mind-link. “Take out the ones by your right.”
My feet are quicker than my brain can process, and that’s because we are nearing the opposition’s end. But what’s shocking and surprising, is the way Lyra moves as if she’s done this a thousand times before.
“I need a lift,” her voice comes tearing through the spaces, as Kyle slides in under her. She takes a step onto his back and leaps into the air, the orb in her right hand as she aims it directly into the post. Someone leaps into the air after air, but I had already expected that move, long before he does.
I’m into the air, spearing the bastard out of Lyra’s way as she shoots the orb with her feet, sending it racketing into the opposition’s net. Voices powers through the air, hands coming together, as they all applause the brilliance of Grimhowl going one up against Lunaris-claw Academy.
“Go, Lyra!”
Everyone begins chanting, and I swear to the goddess, if I didn’t know the raven-haired girl to be wolf-less, I’d sworn she had been powered by one at the minute.
“What was that?” Dom’s voice powers through the mind-link, and it’s a question we are all asking ourselves.
LUCIAN XANDER SILVERBACK
To say I’m in the least bit surprise isn’t exactly the right words I’d use in this situation. Questions are being thrown into the air by my brothers, but me, something within had already known the wolf-less girl has some secret power ups. One, I haven’t quite come to an understanding.
“Let’s just pass through this tournament’s round, first. We’ll talk about it, later,” I mutter, trying to get their head back into the game. Theirs is thirty minutes of game play to go on. And seeing the red beneath the surface of their cheeks, tells me where Zayn and his people are, emotionally.
I’m behind Lyra at all times, watching her movements, and those around her to predict the outcome, better.
The Orb is passed to Zayn, but he slows down, and let his minions take the lead before him. A very strategic maneuver to better protect the ball. But knowing Zayn, he’s never one for subtleties. He prefers a very direct confrontation with his opponents, rather than cowering behind Caleb, and the rest of his team.
That’s when the formation hits me light a train derailed form its tracks.
Seeing the whole view behind Lyra makes me map out his plans before he executes them. Each of his players are going for everyone surrounding Lyra. That leaves me and Adam standing behind the rest.
“Bloody bastard!” I retort within me.
Zayn isn’t looking for the back of the net. He has his eyes set on a particular target, and only me can see it from behind her.
Lyra.
I can see the color of his eyes bleeding feral even with the helmet over his head. See the way he positions his body to look like it’s heading for the post, while his eyes pierce the winds and lands on her.
Kyle and Duncan are the first to fall victim to Zayn’s attack. Kyle is brought down when claws rip his tendon in half, and I know that will take more than a few second to heal itself.
Echo covers up immediately, leaving the right wing exposed, and that is what Zayn wants.
No.
When Zayn’s eyes run past Lyra and find me behind her, a thought ripples through my mind, and I know what he truly wants. As long as I maintain my position solidly behind her, the fruitfulness of his plan is placed on probability.
He wants me out from behind her.
But not covering the space Echo left brings another problem entirely to my own defense. The space there leaves room for an attack.
I can see a bright smile stretching across Zayn’s face when an opposition takes up that space in a split second after Echo abandons it. It paces me on two fronts: attack the opposition, but that means leaving Adam exposed, and Lyra, too.
“Damn it,” I groan, and that’s because the chessboard has been moved, and it’s not in our favor.
But the minute Lyra moves into the right space, it moves the entire board into something of a stance. Yet, there’s still an issue with that piece of play…
She doesn’t have the physical presence to take on a wolf under the full moon.
I look ahead, and Zayn is almost breathing down my throat. I have less than a split second to decide on who I tackle.
I shut my eyes and allow the feeling to wash over me. There’s a scent in the air, wild and intoxicating, like chocolate wrapped in blueberries, and the warmth that accompanies it.
The second I open my eyes; I know exactly what to do.