Chapter 77

Chapter 77
{Nox’s POV}

‘This fight is far from over.’ He sneered, mocking. 

As if to say: “This was the beginning of the end.”

But we could barely focus on that because of the monstrosity before us.
It was tall. Taller than any werewolf I’d ever seen. Even Osiris... Its limbs were too long, its joints bent the wrong way.

Multiple gashes lined its body where the flesh of the wolves refused to meet… thick yellow oozed from the gaps, dripping as it growled.

Its eyes — if one could call them that — shifted colors, flickering from blue to gold to pitch black. It didn’t snarl.

It smiled.

Then it moved.

I didn’t even get time to shout.

Eva barely turned her head before it was on her. Its claws struck in one swipe, and her throat split open, torn clean through.

Everything from her neck down was painted with red, soaking her fur and skin as she dropped like a puppet cut from its strings.

Ali roared and threw himself forward, fangs flashing as he slammed into the thing.

For a second, I thought he could do something against it… But I forgot that wasn’t how this world worked.

They clashed with a deafening crack, bone on bone, claw on claw. Ali's movement was swift, faster than I have seen him, he matched the beast step for step, dancing in and out, slicing at its limbs, bending under its monster arms. Ali fought like a wolf who was ready to die, but decided to take the devil with him.

And still, it wasn’t enough.

The beast caught him mid-leap with a backhand swipe. Ali’s body flipped twice before slamming into a tree, his yelp sharp and choked.
He tried to get up. One leg folded under him.

Then the slash came.

A single, brutal tear across his side.

It cleaved through muscle and into bone.

Ali collapsed again, groaning, trying to push himself up on trembling paws. His breath wheezed. He looked over at me.
And in that second, he wasn’t looking at a fellow fighter.

He was looking at someone who might remember his name.

I tried to move. I did.

But the beast was already there.

Its claws slashed once more.

And Ali’s head rolled across the dirt.

His body followed a moment later.

I stared, as cold spread through my limbs faster than blood. My jaw locked. Every part of me screamed ‘run’, telling me to escape, anything but wait like a sitting duck…
I didn’t listen. Not yet.

I watched as it clawed Ali's head with one finger, picking it up and chomping down a moment later.

And finally, the beast turned to me. 

It bared those wet, ragged fangs at me.

Blood soaked its claws. Its tongue rolled out, twitching as it grinned.
‘Oh, man…’

It ran towards me, so fast it looked like it disappeared and was before me a second later. I didn’t attempt to move or evade.
I stood still, not knowing the next move to take as it smashed into me like a battering ram, it took me off my feet and slammed me through the first tree. Then another. Then a third.
And many more after that.

My ribs cracked after the fourth. Splinters dug into my skin and I gasped in pain.

But my hand stayed clenched.
And right before its jaws closed over my throat, I shoved the vial into its mouth.
It bit down, scrunching the metal with ease.

‘Perfect.’

The beast convulsed instantly.

The effect was violent. Its body twisted, shook, and howled from deep in its malformed belly. It staggered backward as black foam came out from its mouth, groaning as its skin peeled off.

A second later, I witnessed a horrifying sight.

It looked like the two wolves that merged to form this abomination tried to escape from it. Its flesh stretched in two opposing directions, forming an image of what looked like two faces frozen in fear…

‘What in god's name…’

And finally… its ever-changing eyes dimmed. Their light went out as it collapsed.

Dead.

I stood there, swaying, shoulders heaving, vision doubling.

My face hurt. My arm wouldn’t move. Everything throbbed.

But I was still standing.

I turned toward Rohan, ready to finish it.

But he wasn’t there.

I blinked.

Scanned the clearing. The bodies. The blood.
Where was—

Pain exploded through my chest.

I looked down.

A hand. A real one.

Sticking with me.

My knees buckled as I coughed blood….

‘No.’
×××

{Ryanna’s POV}

“What are you planning?” I asked him.

He looked like he was lost in thought.

I waited and waited… and nothing.

Why wouldn't he tell me? What did he have planned? How would he prove Aurelius was responsible? 

I didn’t need an answer to guess why. He thought I was weak… that I couldn’t handle whatever he would do.

‘I know you think I'm a burden now.’ I wanted to say, but controlled myself.

His heart was in the right place.

He turned, facing Casper's bed. 
Nox’s remaining actions blurred in a haze for me. And then he was gone.

Just like that.

I should’ve felt something. Hope. Maybe relief.

But all I felt was the quiet ache pulling me back toward Casper’s bedside.
I stood there watching him… Then I dropped to my knees.

I didn’t cry. Not right away.

It was more like something inside me crumpled. Softly. Quietly. Like a soul folding in on itself.
I reached out and touched his face. It was cold.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
I pressed my forehead to his and stayed there for what felt like forever.

This was my son.

My boy.

The only person I’d ever loved with my whole being. More than the pack. More than my title. More than the Moon above us.
And he was dying.

He wasn’t responding. Not to touch. Not to medicine. Not to me.

It felt like he was already gone. Just waiting for me to say it out loud.

Yet I refused to let go, even when it was my overconfidence that caused this.
What was left to hold on to?

What was the point in surviving when the only thing keeping me in the world was about to vanish?
This was it, wasn’t it?

My son was gone.

There was nothing left to fight for.

So maybe it was time….

Maybe it was time to follow him.