Chapter 74

Chapter 74
{Nox’s POV}

Just to taunt Ali even more. Rohan’s tongue dragged slowly across his blood-slicked claws again, eyes fixed on him the whole time.

Ali’s body trembled under the weight of the incision torn through his ribs, as he lay ought on the ground. His fur was covered in blood along his side, bubbling with every shallow breath.

But he didn’t cower.

The bastard screamed.

Loud, full-bodied, defiant.

‘He's got spirit.’

I had to consciously relax my body which had gone tense from watching basically at the edge of my seat, the scent of blood rose fast around me. The fight wasn’t over. If anything, it was just beginning.

Ali’s growl cracked from deep in his chest, and with a snarl of pure rage, he lunged, charging like a battering ram, teeth wide and claws ready to drag Rohan to hell with him.

He didn’t make it halfway.

Rohan took a half step forward and slapped him out of the air with a casual backhand, his paw catching Ali across the face so hard it echoed like a thunderclap.

Ali's body flipped midair, barreled through two trees…no three trees, and crashed into a boulder hard enough to split it.

The crack of impact was sickening. Bark exploded. Stone groaned. His limp form bounced once before crumpling on the fractured slab, breathless and dazed.

Rohan was already there even before the echo disappeared. Mounting the pressure without pause. 

He landed on Ali with the grace of a ghost, one massive paw pressing into Ali’s chest.

And then—

Snap.

The rock beneath them shattered.

The sheer force from Rohan’s foot, combined with the momentum of Ali’s fall, split the boulder clean down the middle.

Ali coughed, his muzzle twitching as he tried to move. The coughing calmed for a bit… Then he broke into a violent coughing fit. I couldn’t tell whether it was due to the dust or the blood flooding his lungs. Maybe it was both.

He perched forward again, attempting to move.

He couldn’t as Rohan leaned closer; "You know what they say about omelettes," he said, voice unnaturally smooth even in his wolf form. His claws flexed into Ali’s flesh.

"You want something better? You break a few eggs. Burn a few things down. Clean the rot. You, Ali, and your little shadows, you're the eggs. And we're getting close to breakfast."

Ali bared his teeth, breathing hard. But even now, broken and bleeding, his eyes weren’t full of fear.

Just honed battle clarity.

"You think you're not an egg too?" he spat, blood staining his tongue.

"Aurelius is just using you. Like he used us. Like he’ll use everyone, after you, and after your replacement. The cycle will never end."

Rohan didn’t reply.

Ali pushed himself up, trembling under Rohan’s weight, and locked eyes with him.

“You’ll be discarded like the rest. You and your loyalty.” He dragged the word, letting the disdain sip into his every utterance.

Still, it got no response.

But then Ali smiled.

Not warm. Not hopeful.

Wicked.

“Your daughter will hate you one day too,” he hissed.

“Just like her mother did.”

That struck.

Rohan’s entire body stiffened. The amusement in his eyes vanished. If the loyalty talk was something he had heard a hundred times, then the one about his daughter was one he didn’t hear as much, if at all.

I felt the air shift.

His claws lifted, sharp, silent, ready to come down in a finishing blow.

But that was the moment.

The exact moment.

From the shadows, two shapes crashed into Rohan like twin bolts of lightning — Ali’s help, finally moving, finally done waiting.

One of the wolves latched onto Rohan’s side, and the other sank its fangs into the base of his shoulder. The three of them fell across the clearing in a flurry of snarls, claws, and limbs.

It was a total disarray.

Teeth flashed. Blood flew. Everything was painted in the eerie blue tint of the moon overhead. In an instant, they were already at a distance.

Ali rolled away from the shattered rock, dragging himself into the tree line, coughing blood with every step.

This was it.

The moment I’d been waiting for.

I slipped down from my vantage point, keeping low, silent. My ribs screamed. My leg nearly gave out. But I didn’t stop.

Ali wasn’t out of this yet.

I needed to get to him.

Now.

I trailed his blood through the trees until I found him squatting under a fallen log, he was slightly conscious but still standing. He was focusing all his energy on healing. Then his eyes met mine. Emotions flashed within them for a second. First came dread, then wild rage, then uncertainty, and finally, resolution.

He opened his mouth to growl, but I cut him off.

“Don’t. You’ll waste breath you don’t have.”

He slipped backward and then staggered.

“There is no time to explain,” I said, if you want to live then follow me, now.”

He didn’t budge. 

Of course, he didn’t.

Too much pride. Too much instinct. Too much pain. And too much loyalty to his aids battling Rohan as we spoke. 

I stepped forward.

“If I have to knock you out, I will,” I growled. “But that won’t stop Rohan from catching your scent once he's done over there.”

Ali’s eyes narrowed.

He was weighing it. The insult. The threat. The risk.

Then— snap.

The sound shot through the air louder than it should’ve been.

It sounded like… bone.

I spun toward the clearing, just in time to hear the sickening thud of a body hitting the ground.

One of Ali’s men was down.

The neck was twisted unnaturally.

Lifeless.

Rohan stood over the corpse, fur matted and slick with blood, none of it his.

Ali’s scream shattered the trees.

“TEVINNNNNNNNNNN!”

It was guttural. Raw. The kind of scream that stripped your soul out of your own throat till you felt that itch that said “stop”.

I didn’t wait anymore.

Rohan had already seen me. Escaping wouldn’t be much of an issue now. But I couldn’t leave without what I came for.