Chapter 171

Chapter 171
Ximena

“Thanks for believing in me,” Carmine replied with a smile as he took him up by his hands.

“Ouch,” Steven groaned in pain as Carmine pulled him up.

“You're not healing?” Carmine asked with creased brows.

“I’m too weak, my lord,” he replied, his voice deep and gritty.

“Right, come on, let me take you to a safe place,” Carmine said as he tried moving him out, but Steven wouldn't budge, making Carmine halt as he stared at him, trying to move him one more time, still to no avail.

“Come on, Steven, what are you doing?” Carmine asked with creased brows and urgency in his tone. “I'm not going anywhere, my lord, I want to stay here and fight with you,” he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

“What?!” Carmine exclaimed softly as he stared at him in disbelief, “it's like those soldiers just did a good job in taking your senses away from you, Steven, and now you can’t even hear yourself. Come on,” he urged.

“No, my lord,” he retorted, not moving an inch. Even in his weakness, his legs still stood firm on the ground. “I'm a soldier, King Carmine, and I've never backed down from any fight, and I don't plan to start now. It's either I die fighting beside you, protecting you, or I die trying. So you can either let me be, or go ahead and kill me right now, my lord. I've been saving my final breath for you; I don't want the enemy to do the honors of falling a soldier like me; they aren’t worthy of it,” he spat out sternly, his voice firm and strong, his eyes red and puffy as he stared at Carmine, his gaze unwavering before bowing down to him, clutching his hands to his stomach even in his pain.

“What manner of loyalty is this?” Carmine mumbled softly.

“The kind that’s rare to find,” I said, cutting in sharply. “Hey there, Steven,” I greeted softly, staring down at him.

He raised his gaze upwards to meet mine. He took a few moments, staring from Carmine to me and then back. “I'm guessing you’re the mate he went in search for, My Queen,” he blurted out, bowing his head again, making me smile lightly.

If only he knew I wasn’t just any mate, but the same girl he drew through that tiny gate that led to the dungeon a few months ago, before my fight with Dani, I thought.

“You're smart; I like that,” I began. “You said you can still fight, right?” I asked, shaking that weird feeling and thought of the past off.

“Protecting you two? I'll do that till my last breath,” he said, his voice matter-of-fact.

“Alright then…” I said, but Carmine quickly held my hands as he stared into my eyes.

“Are you sure about this, Ximena? He looks half dead,” he said.

“Then let’s resurrect him,” I cut in sharply before he could even finish, but he still looked skeptical. “Do you trust me?” I asked with raised brows.

“You know I do,” he replied.

“Then just do as I say,” I replied; he gave me a light nod.

I turned my gaze to Steven, with his head still bowed to the ground. “Rise, soldier,” I ordered.

He staggered his way up, with no help of any kind, as he stared at us both. “Carmine, please take his pain away,” I said softly.

Just then, he went behind him, supporting him from behind and placing his hands directly on his heart. He closed his eyes, which made the dark strands of pain escape directly from his heart. Steven heaved a deep sigh of relief while I held him on his cheeks, breathing a new air of strength into him, which hastened his healing process.

“Ahhh,” he said, letting out an audible sigh.

“You can stop now, Carmine,” I retorted.

Carmine removed his arms but couldn’t believe it was the same Steven who stood before him. “Wow,” he muttered softly. “How did you do that?” he asked, but I just gave him a light smile.

“How do you feel, Steven?” I asked with a smirk on my face.

“Energized,” he replied, grinning from ear to ear.

“Good,” I blurted out, “but you have to know that this is only for a while. My powers will fade after some time, and you might still need to visit the pack's infirmary if we all make it out of here alive. This is just temporary strength,” I cautioned.

“Noted, my queen,” he replied.

“Alright, as you can see, we're greatly outnumbered, so now will be a good time for that kicking ass spirit needed to protect your alpha,” I said, my voice firm and strong.

“Say less,” he replied, and with a swift motion, he swung his hands backward, catching someone’s hands in the air from behind who held a dagger aiming to hurt Carmine.

He turned backward as his eyes lit up in fury, and in a matter of seconds, his fist greeted the cheeks of the soldier behind.

“Oooohh,” I blurted out as I could almost feel the power in that punch, but at this point, I could only pity whoever came close to Steven, I thought.

“Ximena!!” Carmine yelled as he pulled me close to himself, wrapping his arms around me, catching a flying dagger that was heading my way. With fury in his eyes, he turned in the direction of where the throw came from as he locked eyes with no one else but Dani.

I turned to her, anger boiling within me as I stared at her with a tight jaw and clenched fists. “Don’t worry, Carmine, I've got this one,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Alright then, make sure you rip her apart as you finish what you started,” he whispered in my ear before going into the battlefield to stop the other alphas.

“You know, for a princess and leader of your pack, that was a really bad throw,” I said as I watched her approach me.

“Oh my love, trust me when I say, I missed that on purpose,” she spat at me, her voice firm and strong. “I only did that to warn you about Carmine… he's a weak and evil Lycan king. He has nothing to offer; plus, he's only going to use you and dump you like the piece of trash that you are,” she continued.

I let out a light laugh as I stared at her. “Do you mean like the piece of trash that you are? Because you are just as weak as him if we choose to go by that judgment, you know… Oh darling, I heard what he did to you, goodness gracious!” I exclaimed. “What I'm trying to say is, that's a whole other level of skill, you know? I mean, he won in the end, didn't he? He got his people and still didn't get married to you… and oh, I heard you also lost your father on the night of your painful rejection. Ishi, my condolences,” I spat sternly at her, my tone nothing short of mockery.

“How dare you?!” she snarled.

“Aha,” I sighed softly. “You know if you remember clearly, that was the exact same question I asked when you talked bad about my late parents before you earned yourself that cute scar on your face,” I spat sternly.

“What?” she muttered softly as she stared at me with furrowed brows.

“That's right, Dani, I'm the same omega you fought a few months ago,” I blurted out sternly.

“You?!” she spat at me, taking a closer look.

“Exactly, the same omega that single fight made her life take a whole other turn because of your greed and obsession,” I said, pausing for a while. “You know when I perceived that strength potion you took right before our fight, I became afraid, wondering how I was supposed to beat you,” I began, making her shift her gaze away from me in shame.

“Yeah, that's right, I knew you cheated the minute I was brought in from the dungeon,” I announced, “but little did I know that the only strength I needed were those words you just said, ‘How dare you’.” I continued, “my little advice - you had better go to whoever gave you that potion back then because trust me when I say, you’ll be needing it more right now by the time I put another scar on that face of yours,” I sneered through gritted teeth.

She stared at me with clenched fists, her knuckles turning white with fury in her eyes. I could perceive the anger in her from where I was, but hers was certainly nothing compared to the rage I was feeling right now.

“I'm going to make sure I kill,” she snarled. “I don't know what dark magic you used to turn yourself into this, but be rest assured that I won’t miss this time,” she added.

“I’d like to see you try!” I replied with a grin on my face.

Just then, my eyes caught some rebel alphas on the far end trying to escape through the backdoor with their Luna, but I was quick to use my powers, shutting all the doors to the hall.

“No one leaves until LUNA XIMENA SAYS SO!” I yelled, my voice echoing loudly through the hall as the scent of fear and the wind of death swept through the room.