Chapter 16

“Viktor—”

“If the next words to come out of your mouth are not an explanation, Princess, I can assure you that you will not like my actions.” Viktor’s lips were pursed in a straight line. Ophelia had never seen him this angry before. While she was not afraid of him in the slightest, she did not want to poke him enough for him to hurt Kane. She did not like the manner in which both men were sizing each other up.

“Don’t speak to her like that.” Kane’s voice was a mixture of irritation and anger. Ophelia did not see any way this would not end badly.

“Let’s just calm down—”

“A wolf hunter, Ophelia? Of all people?” Emmett spoke up for the first time, and Ophelia would have recoiled from the venom in his gaze had Kane not been holding her.

“It’s not like that.”

“I can see exactly what it’s like,” he said, lips curling in disgust. “You were kissing him.”

At that moment, a figure from the direction of the forest came marching towards them. When the figure got closer, Ophelia saw that it was a woman she did not recognize. She was dressed in black leather from top to bottom and on her waist was the inescapable glint of a silver arrow.

“Another hunter?” Emmett growled. “Now that Ophelia’s gotten into bed with the enemy, there’s no getting rid of them.”

“Fiona?” Kane’s tone was one of astonishment. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

He knew the woman, Ophelia thought. Were they friends? Why was the woman’s gaze glued so fiercely to Kane’s?

“You bastard,” the woman spat, coming to a stop. “After everything we’ve been through together, how could do betray us like this?” Her angry eyes came to rest on Ophelia, the unmistakable glow of fury burning in her gaze. Ophelia saw it before her brain processed it; Fiona’s hand dropped to the knife at her waist. Her blood ran cold. “This is the woman you chose over us? Over me?”

“Fiona,” Kane’s voice was a mixture of trepidation and anger. “Stop.”

“Eric will have your head on a fucking stake,” Fiona said to him. It happened so quickly no one had seen it coming. Fiona, her eyes wild with anger and fear, clutched the gleaming silver knife in her trembling hand. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she faced Ophelia. Fear gripped Kane. He’d seen Fiona angry and it was not a pretty sight. Right now, her anger was directed at Ophelia whose gaze remained steady, a mixture of determination and concern etched on her face.

“You,” Fiona spat at her, her voice laced with venom. “You've ruined everything! You and your cursed kind.” Her fingers tightened around the silver knife, the metal cool against her clammy skin.

Ophelia raised her palms, her tone pleading. ‘Fiona, please, you don't have to do this. There's still a chance for us to find a way to coexist. If you’d just listen to me.”

Fiona's eyes flashed with a manic gleam. “Coexist? After taking Kane from me and turning him into an enemy?” She lunged forward, the hand holding the knife lifted high above her head.

Just then, a figure lunged into the fray, his massive frame crashing into Fiona. It was Emmett, Ophelia realized in horror, his eyes wide with a desperate determination. “No, don’t!” he roared, struggling to wrest the knife from Fiona’s grip.

“Emmett, no!” Ophelia cried, her heart lurching as she lunged forward, her fingers clawing at Fiona's wrist.

“Fiona!” Kane yelled, reaching for her Fiona.

The stake slipped from Fiona's hand just as Kane grabbed her backward and, in the chaos, it found its mark, piercing Emmett's side. Time seemed to slow as a guttural cry tore through the empty street. Emmett's body shuddered, his eyes locked with Ophelia's, a mixture of shock and acceptance in his gaze.

“What have you done?” Ophelia's voice trembled, tears running down her cheeks, her grip on Emmett's arm tightening as she tried to stem the flow of blood. “God, no.”

Fiona's face contorted in horror, her eyes wide as realization dawned. “No, no, this wasn't supposed to happen! I didn't mean...”

Kane could barely breathe. With Fiona in his arms, he steadied her, his gaze glued to a crying Ophelia pressing her hands down to the knife wound, in a futile attempt to stop the blood flow. But Emmett was slowly dying. There was no way he would survive this. The knife had sunk too deep into his side. Sighing dejectedly, he let Fiona go. He was much too angry to be touching her right now or he would actually kill her.

Emmett's body slumped, and his once fierce gaze faded into an empty stare. Ophelia's eyes glistened with unshed tears as she gently lowered Emmett's lifeless form to the ground, lifting her hands. “You've taken too much from me,” she whispered, her voice a mix of grief and anger.

Viktor, a towering figure with eyes blazing that reminded Kane of a tempest, emerged from where he had been watching in dreadful shock, his chest heaving with rage. “You!” he bellowed to a horrified Fiona, his voice reverberating through the street. “You'll pay for what you've done.”

Fiona's head snapped up, and her expression shifted from horror to defiance. “He was one of your cursed pack! He deserved to die!”

Before Viktor could reach her, Ophelia stepped between them, her eyes flashing with determination. “Enough blood has been spilled tonight, Viktor. We won't let this cycle of violence continue.”

Viktor's breath was heavy, his fists clenched at his sides. “Step aside, Princess. No one kills a member of my pack and gets away with it.”

Ophelia shook her head, her voice unwavering. “Killing her won't bring him back. We need to find a way to break this cycle of hatred.”

Fiona, her chest heaving, looked from Ophelia to Viktor to Kane, her face a mask of terror and regret. “I didn't want to kill him,” she whispered, her voice choked with sorrow.

Viktor's rage seemed to waver for a moment, replaced by a haunted look.

As Ophelia knelt beside Emmett's lifeless form, grief and sorrow surged through her, threatening to consume her entirely. But within the depths of her despair, a newfound power began to awaken. It started as a subtle tingling, a sensation like electricity coursing through her veins. Her fingers trembled as she pressed them against Emmett's cooling skin, her grief-fueled magic responding to her overwhelming emotions.

Suddenly, the air around her seemed to crackle with energy, and a blinding light emanated from Ophelia's very being. It radiated outward in a shockwave of brilliant, iridescent hues, an ethereal display of her raw magical potential. The force of the wave rippled through the quiet street, and everyone within its reach was lifted off their feet as if caught in a tempest's gust.

Kane, defeated and filled with regret, was knocked to the ground, his body tumbling in the magical onslaught. Viktor, fueled by vengeance, was similarly overpowered, his towering frame sent sprawling. Even the very walls of the castle seemed to shudder in response to Ophelia's unleashed power.

As the wave of magic subsided and the street returned to a hushed stillness, Ophelia knelt in the center, her chest rising and falling with ragged breaths.

With a curse, she realized Fiona was gone.