Chapter 172 Breaking the Web pt 1
Julian
Hybrids ran at us from the trees. They made no sound except the thunder of their feet against the earth. It was eerie. The line shifted around me, preparing to meet the oncoming threat.
Kayla was by my side, determined to do her part. I loved her for it, even as I feared for her. She’s come so far since she left this horrible place, but the threat we were facing exceeded even my skills.
I didn’t have much more time to think as the line of enemies charging at us finally reached us, bodies slamming together as they pushed through. Grunts and groans sounded as fighters around me began to engage. I saw a chunk of dirt fly past my face and glanced at my mate, who had buried the first hybrid to reach her by opening the ground under his feet.
‘Well done,’ I linked her, sending a warm wave of love through the bond as I engaged the foe in front of me.
We traded blows, each of his feeling like a ten-ton hammer. These hybrids were beyond strong. He didn’t tire, didn’t slow, and that was terrifying. I was drawing on Nemo’s speed to meet him hit for hit, but it wasn’t sustainable. We needed to find some kind of weakness if we were going to win this.
Another hybrid barreled into me before I could recover fully, claws slashing across my shoulder. I caught his wrist and twisted, bone grinding under my grip. He stayed silent, his eyes fixed on me, empty and black. He didn’t scream or call out. There was no pain response. That chilled me more than the strength.
To my left, a Forest Lake warrior went down under three hybrids at once. They didn’t fight like wolves. They fought like a single organism, shifting and compensating for each other’s openings. One went low while another went high, the third circling for a blindside strike.
It was coordinated. Not instinct. Directed as if they were extensions of something else.
I drove my fist through one hybrid’s sternum and shoved him back, but another immediately filled the space he left. They came without hesitation, without fear—without anything human left in them.
A spike of alarm threaded through me. If this kept up, we wouldn’t just be overwhelmed by strength. We’d be dismantled piece by piece.
The hybrid grabbed me by the throat, squeezing tight, lifting me off the ground. I heard Kayla shout, but she was engaged and too far away to be of any help. I called the earth, bringing vines and roots to me. They slithered up to wrap around his arms, breaking his hold, and I dropped to the ground. I pushed them further until they reached his neck, and they tightened like a noose until he fell, silent, black eyes staring sightlessly into the sky.
At least they still need air. That’s a weakness, I suppose.
I’d just turned back to Kayla, who was finishing off the enemy she was fighting, as I heard the shout.
“James!”
I whipped my head around, looking for the rotten former alpha of this territory, and found him.
He stood just beyond the surge of bodies, black-veined and composed, issuing quiet signals with lifted fingers. Hybrids shifted at his command, calm, quiet, and focused. Just an organized group of soldiers lining up to do their part, getting ready to bring devastation to the world.
Kayla went still beside me.
There was a brief spike of fear through our bond, but it was covered quickly by determination. She glanced at me and turned back to where James was standing. I felt the shift in her—the grounding of her power beneath the surface, the tightening of her resolve.
We took off, almost as one. I ignored Duncan’s shout behind me. He’d understand, and he’d fill in the gap. We raced forward, ducking and dodging bodies as we closed the distance between us and him.
James turned. His gaze landed on her first, and he smiled.
“Well,” James called over the clash of fangs and bone, “if it isn’t my ungrateful little omega.”
The world narrowed to a single point. We moved together, still charging forward, focused on the prey in front of us.
The first hybrid lunged between us and James. I broke his jaw with a single strike and shoved him aside without slowing. Kayla’s power cracked the ground beneath another’s feet, sending him sprawling. Each move was calculated to deliver the most damage, each movement economical as we fought our way to him.
James watched us come.
“You always did overestimate yourself, thinking you were special, the head omega’s daughter,” he said, flexing his hands. “You forget who taught you your place.”
Kayla stopped ten feet from him. “I remember exactly what you taught us,” she said.
He moved first, and he was fast. Faster than any wolf had a right to be. He hit me with enough force to send me skidding back, boots carving through blood-slick earth. I tasted blood.
He was on me before I could regain my footing, claws flashing. I blocked one strike, but the second sliced deep across my side. Pain flared along my ribs where claws raked across them. I staggered, and he drove a knee into my ribs hard enough that something cracked.
He grinned. “You think I didn’t grow stronger?” he asked. “You can’t imagine the power surging through my veins now.”
The wound on his forearm—the one Kayla had opened when she cracked the ground earlier—began to seal.
It wasn’t instant, but it was unnaturally fast. Corruption crawled beneath his skin, black threads knitting muscle closed. Hybrid healing.
Of course.
Kayla saw it too. Her power surged, cracking the earth again, but he twisted away before the stone could fully trap him. He moved with vicious precision now, adapting to us as quickly as we adapted to him.
He wasn’t just strong. He was learning, and fast.
Before I could recover, he pivoted and struck Kayla across the face. The crack of it snapped through me. She hit the ground hard.
My control splintered.
I surged forward, but James caught my arm and twisted, his strength monstrous beneath the corruption in his veins. He slammed me down and planted a boot against my throat.
“You see?” he snarled at Kayla. “You needed structure. You needed discipline. Without me, you’re nothing but a soft little girl playing at power.”
Kayla rose slowly. Blood streaked her lip, but her eyes were steady. “You always did mistake cruelty for strength,” she said quietly.
The earth shifted. It was a light rumble, nothing more than an aftershock, but it was enough.
James’ balance faltered.
I tore free and drove upward, locking my arms around his from behind, hauling him backward with every ounce of force I had. He roared, elbowing back, catching my jaw hard enough to make my vision flash white.
Kayla didn’t hesitate. She stepped in close. Too close for him to generate momentum. He thrashed, claws scraping against my forearms as black veins pulsed wildly along his neck.