Chapter 57 New Power Unlocked
Chapter 57 New Power Unlocked
Aurelia
“Hello, Alpha,” the leader drawled, his tongue sliding across his lower lip in a disgusting lick that made my skin crawl.
“Fancy seeing you here. In the land of humans. Care to lend us your mate for a moment? We promise to handle her with care.”
His voice dripped with mock courtesy, thick with the kind of hunger that had nothing to do with food.
Lia scrambled out of the battered SUV like a trapped animal finally given air.
Her wrists were still bound, but somehow she’d twisted them in front of her body.
She had to be flexible to be able to do that. Like, gymnast-level flexible.
She bolted straight for Zhayad’s back, pressing herself against him like he was the only safe place left in the world.
He didn’t even glance at her.
“You can all go to hell, miscreants,” Zhayad said in a bored voice.
The leader stopped when the distance between us was just enough to fit one car lengthwise.
His scent slammed into me then. It was sharp, hybrid, part human sweat and part wolf musk.
He wasn’t pure anything. And that made him dangerous in ways purebloods never were.
“I hear you’re strong, Alpha,” he said, rolling his shoulders as if warming up for a friendly spar.
“Strong enough to take on five men. We’re on a bounty hunt, why don’t we make it interesting by dueling? You win, you take your mate and walk away. You lose…”
His eyes slid to me and he licked his lips again. “…we take your mate to her warlock daddy.”
Zhayad’s wolf rippled beneath his skin, a low, warning growl vibrating through his chest.
I only made it three steps forward before Zhayad’s arm hooked around my waist and yanked me back against his chest.
“What are you doing, woman?” he hissed.
I twisted in his grip just enough to glare up at him.
“It’s called defending myself, Zhayad. I don’t believe you’re familiar with that language.”
If he thought I was going to stand there like a scared little kitten while he fought my own fight, he was in for premium disappointment.
The gang leader laughed, cracking his neck with a wet pop as he bounced lightly on the balls of his feet.
“Is the big bad wolf scared of a little fight?”
I stepped forward again, or tried to, but Zhayad’s hold tightened.
“This is your last chance to turn around, hybrids,” I said, forcing my voice flat and cold even though my pulse was roaring. “I really don’t think you’ll enjoy being cooked from the inside.”
I spread my arms out wide to demonstrate just how eager I was to do that.
Zhayad’s growl vibrated through my back.
“Aurelia, get behind me. This is not your fight. It’s—”
“Mine.”
The word slashed the air like a blade.
I made sure to look at him this time, really look, letting him see every ounce of steel I had left.
“You came to save me, and I appreciate it,” I said, my voice quieter now but no less hard. “But you see this fight? It’s fucking mine.”
His jaw ticked.
“If you hadn’t run away, I wouldn’t have had to come down here to save your stubborn ass.”
Did he just—?
My fists clenched so hard my nails bit into my palms.
“I ran away because your pack was about to throw me in the cells,” I shot back, voice trembling with the effort to stay calm. “I ran away because you chose a clo—”
“They’re lunging!” Lia’s throaty scream sliced through the air.
Everything snapped into motion. Zhayad leaped forward, tackling two attackers at once.
Their heads cracked together with a sickening thud.
They slumped backward, groaning, dazed from the bit.
“You want a duel?” Zhayad snarled, baring his teeth to reveal his deadly onyx fang. “You’ll get a duel.”
He rushed the others, his claws flashing, punches landing with bone-resetting cracks.
Someone’s tooth flew through the air and skittered across the pavement at my feet.
I cringed, stepping back instinctively.
“We need to run,” Lia whispered from behind me.
I spun to face her, shooting her a glare that could’ve melted glass.
“No, you are the one who needs to run.”
I bit out each word. “You sold me out to Varrick. He’s dead, but we still have them—” I jerked my chin toward the brutal fight scene unfolding in front of us “—to deal with now. I suggest you run before my mate remembers your crime.”
She laughed, holding out her still-tied hands like evidence.
“I did what I had to do. It’s called survival.” She shrugged.
“A bitch without a conscience,” I said at the exact moment Zhayad lifted a man clean off the ground and hurled him against the battered SUV with a metallic crunch.
“Is what you are,” I finished, my eyes never leaving hers. “There’s nothing justifiable about what you did.”
Lia’s smile twisted.
“Any other New Yorker would have done the same thing.”
“Oh?” I lifted one brow, not believing this bitch actually had the audacity to run her mouth.
“Yeah.” Her eyes narrowed over my shoulder. “But I guess you wouldn’t know that, because you imagine ordinary humans like us possess the same sense of loyalty shifters do.”
I felt it before I saw it, a hand grazing my back. My body moved before my brain caught up.
Lia had seen the man sneak up behind me.
She hadn’t warned me.
I thrust out my hand, out of instinct, and seized his breath.
He choked, his eyes bulging, his hands clawing at his throat as invisible force crushed his windpipe.
I turned my head just enough to meet Lia’s gaze.
“I should have known you were still the bitch I said you were,” I told her, leveling her with a look I wished would strangle her on the spot.
The man dropped to his knees, gasping, purple-faced, then collapsed face-first onto the concrete.
Lia was choking too, holding her neck. “You're choking me.” She whistled, digging her nails into the skin of her neck like it would save her from whatever was happening.
I wasn't choking her. What was she talking about?
“Please, stop. I'm sorry. I'm…. I'm…” Her eyes rolled up to her head, she was going to pass out soon.
Light was flowing from my chest, the mark of the moon goddess lighting up, reaching towards her.
I blinked, and Lia fell to her knees.
It took me a minute to realize I'd been choking her with just my eyes.
My eyes were controlling the magic, like my hands usually did.