72__Vengeance

The den wasn’t too far from Raiden’s office.

Located in the east wing of the castle, three floors up, it was easy to reach and Natalia hadn’t even seen the need to transport herself there.

She should have.

The realization came far too late because, it was only when she was walking in the hallway and approaching the den that she realized.

The noise reached her first, making her hold her breath as her footsteps quickened. It was chaos she heard, it sounded wild, screams and crashes erupting from the room at the end of the hallway.

Growing more panicked, she changed from a quick walk to a run. Raiden needed to be stopped!

Natalia’s feet screeched to a halt when a heavy table flew out of the open door, crashing into the wall across the hallway.

Staring at the shattered furniture with wide eyes, she cursed and raced down the hall.

“Raiden!”

She reached the open door and looked in. “Rai—”

The word got caught in her throat, failing to make it out of her mouth. Natalia stared in pure shock at the sight before her. It was unlike anything she’d ever witnessed. It was unlike anything she’d ever even imagined!

How? In the little time between the office and his den, how had he managed to do so much damage?!

She would have called it a massacre were they not still alive. There was just that much blood.

The room was loud with tables and chairs slamming onto to the floor as Raiden beat the life out of an alpha who was struggling to defend himself against the Alpha king’s monstrous rage.

It was barely a fight, more like attack and defence. Natalia watched Raiden repeatedly punch the man, grabbing him by the lapels and slamming him into a wall. There was blood everywhere.

There were three bodies squirming weakly in the pool of red blood that filled the centre of the den, looking barely alive. The sight was ghastly, their wounds unimaginably gruesome.

“Natalia!” someone called.

Startled, she looked up at the rest of them. Those of them who’d immediately evaded Raiden’s grasp when he’d entered were standing stiffly out of his reach, heavy meeting tables between them and Raiden.

She looked at Arroe who stared at her with wide eyes as he pressed himself into a wall. “S-stop him—”

Blood sprayed through the air and smacked the terrified alpha in the face, making him gag as he turned away from her.

She looked at Raiden and gasped. He’d slashed the alpha with one of his claws and now blood poured out of the man like out of a fountain.

“He’ll kill him…” Eroz whispered.

Natalia looked at him as he too plastered himself against the wall with the others.

She had to stop him. Her mouth and throat had gone dry from the sight before her, but she had to intervene somehow.

“H-he’ll…. He’ll kill him!” Eroz repeated. Slowly, he stumbled forward. “Raiden…. Raiden! Stop!”

He ran over to the two and grabbed Raiden’s arm, pulling it away.

Natalia watched as Raiden turned to look at him and she saw his face.

Cold seeped into her bones and she stood frozen, staring at the unfamiliar face she was looking at.

That… was Raiden?!

Natalia was shocked to the core. His silver eyes were nowhere to be seen, replaced by a reptilian yellow that she had never seen in her life.

What on earth was going on? What had happened to Raiden?

He uncurled his other hand from the neck of the man he held up against the wall and turned his wrath to Eroz. Natalia realized for the first time that the person he’d been mercilessly beating this entire time was Brian!

Shocked, she watched his body fall painfully to the floor, blood sputtering out of his mouth. Her heart was seized by anxiety. Was he dead?!

A sudden growl filled the room, sending chills over her skin. It was monstrous, to say the least. It sounded like something from the depth of a forbidden dark cave. But it wasn’t a dragon she heard, it was Raiden.

“You sons of bitches,” he rasped. The muscles in his jaw bulged as he grabbed Eroz around the neck and raised him off his feet. “I will kill you. Every last one of you!”

There was a trembling starting somewhere deep within Natalia. Soon enough, it had spread to her outside until even her hands trembled. She was terrified.

It was just unlike anything she had ever seen. Yet just like everything she had ever feared.

Nobody in the room could approach. Arroe was having a mental breakdown, Brian and three of the others were barely alive and Eroz was currently getting killed.

Shit. Shoving her fears aside, Natalia dashed into the room.

Oh, God, she thought vaguely. What if he killed her too? In his anger, what if he killed her?

Even more likely, what if… he transformed into his wolf form with this same height of rage? Would she be able to face him without crumbling from terror?

The thought rang through her mind but it failed to stop her running feet. She didn’t stop until she reached him because, somehow, she knew he would want her to stop him. He would want her to help him stay in that control he’d mastered so well.

She grabbed Raiden’s free hand first, glancing in shock up at Eroz whose sparkly purple eyes were starting to dull.

“R-Raiden! Raiden!” She could only shout his name, her heart racing with panic. “Raiden, calm down! Stop, you’re killing him!”

“How dare you?” Raiden was growling, the frighteningly glowing yellow eyes boring into Eroz’s face. “How dare you touch my brother? My Beta?”

The hand around Eroz’s neck tightened, Natalia heard a quiet crunch and blood splattered out of Eroz’s mouth.

“No!” Her eyes were wide with horror. What the hell was he doing?! Why was he going this far?! “Raiden?! You need to stop this, listen to me!” Desperate, she looked around, grabbed a random chair and set it beside him before stepping onto it. Now taller than him, she reached over and grabbed his face, holding it between both hands. “Look at me!”

His neck was so stiff, she could barely turn it. It was like he was in a trance. Cursing, Natalia gave up trying to make him face her and just pressed a hand over his eyes.

She didn’t even know why. Maybe it would work?! Perhaps if he didn’t see them, his rage wouldn’t control him so mindlessly and she could be able to speak to him.

Natalia knew she was wishing on desperation alone, but she pressed her hand over his eyes regardless. Sometimes desperation got her through.

“Please calm down, Raiden, I’m begging you,” she whispered shakily, trying to think of things to say. What were calming things to say? She had never calmed a raging wolf before, she had no idea! Should she use her Vampire abilities and hypnotize him?

Frustrated with herself and the situation, she got the sudden urge to shout. Suppressing it, she settled for pressing her lips tightly together and breathing deeply to gather her wits.

Like the gods wanted to reward her efforts, Raiden’s raised arm slowly began to lower.

Natalia’s face brightened with surprise and a jolt of relief filled her heart. “Right! That’s right. Just calm down, *frithir mi*, calm down. Okay? Are you with me?”

Raiden’s arm lowered and Eroz dropped to the floor where he rolled over, groaning in a way that sounded very much like death.

Relief lifted Natalia’s heart out of her gut where it had sunk to. “Oh, thank God.” she whispered desperately, her eyes blurring over with tears. Even more so because she knew exactly how he felt. The heartache he felt right now was probably too grievous for him to think straight. He felt nothing but pain and anger. She understood.

Things like this were just gruesome enough, evil enough to awaken the avenger in even the kindest of people. It didn’t make him evil.

They’d abused his brother.

After all, even angels took vengeance.

Her heart finally starting beating a little slower and Natalia managed to swallow, moistening her parched throat.

Someone in the room was weeping.

Without looking at who it was, she inched closer to Raiden and wrapped a hand around his shoulder, gently pressing his head onto her chest without uncovering his eyes. “It’s okay, *ástin* … It’s okay…”

She wasn’t sure whether she was comforting him or herself. She’d nearly had a heart attack in the past five minutes alone.

His chest was rising and falling with harsh breaths, but that was the only sign of any life in him. He didn’t say anything nor did he try to raise his head from her chest.

“We… we didn’t want to…” someone said pitifully.

Natalia looked down.

Arroe. He kneeled beside Eroz, one hand on his shoulder. His face was drenched with tears, his face twisted with grief and his eyes filled with horror. “We didn’t want to hurt the Beta,” he cried. “We were only young alphas, we barely had any knowledge at all… The Queen made us do it…”

A silent gasp parted Natalia’s mouth. The Queen? Their mother?

“We were ordered to do it!” he shouted. “Threatened! It was us or him! We didn’t…” A mournful sob left him. “…we didn’t have a choice! She… wanted him broken so he couldn’t challenge you…”

He lowered his head, his body shaking with heavy sobs. Watching him, listening to him was haunting. It turned Natalia’s stomach upside down and made her feel depression grip her heart.

The entire room was blanketed by a dark energy. She wanted to get Raiden out of there.

Shoving down the fear within her, she inched away from him and then slowly took her hand away from his eyes.

His eyes were closed, her face expressionless.

“Raid—”

His eyes flashed open. Natalia got such a jolt, she nearly fell off the chair.

He stared intensely at her face for a long moment, not a single drop of yellow in his silver eyes.

A giant flood of relief crashed into her heart and she stared at him. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t answer. Taking his gaze away from her, Raiden slowly looked at Arroe. He didn’t even spare a glance at any of the others before he spun on his heel and marched out of the room.

Tense, Natalia felt her heart kick up in panic.

Where was he going? A bad feeling filled her gut. She looked at Arroe. “Look… something tells me… you guys better run.”