Chapter 131 A tough decision
Elric's POV
The friction sends sparks shooting up my spine, and I grind into him shamelessly, chasing the heat building between us.
I barely register the sharp ache in my scalp when he yanks on my hair, the pain twisting into something that only makes me press harder, kiss deeper, feeling as if I could pour myself into him and never come up for air.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps thunder down the corridor outside our cell, heavy boots hammering against the stone floor.
Omar tries to wrench away, his body going rigid, but I hold on tighter, refusing to let the moment shatter so easily.
Only when his teeth sink into my lower lip hard enough to draw blood do I finally release him, gasping as I stumble back a step.
The cell door crashes open with a metallic screech and two guards burst in, faces flushed and eyes wide with urgency. One of them looks straight at Omar who's terribly red and trying not to pant.
“Omar, the alpha king’s life is in danger. Commander Ruel needs taming.” the guard informs, breathing hard.
The sentence hangs heavy in the damp air. My lip still throbs where Omar bit me, copper sharp on my tongue, but the haze of want clears very fast.
Something cold and certain coils in my gut.
I glance at Omar. His expression has already closed off, his lips pressed thin, eyes hardening. I shift uncomfortably when I catch the brief flicker of unease before he buries it.
I don’t wait for him to give orders or for the guards to decide what happens next.
Quickly I shove past the nearest guard, driving my shoulder into his protected chest with every ounce of strength left in my healing body.
He stumbles sideways with a surprised grunt. The second guard lunges for me, but I am already moving, ducking under his outstretched arm and bolting into the exit.
Shouts explode behind me but I don't dare look back.
“Stop him!”
“Elric!” Omar’s voice cuts sharpest of all, raw with something that sounds dangerously close to panic.
My ribs scream with every pounding step, but I force myself to move faster. The farther I get from the cell, the brighter the hallway becomes.
Startled servants press themselves into doorways, while distant clashes of steel and raised voices grow louder with every turn.
But I know my way around.
Boots thunder behind me. I can feel Omar closing in on me, his longer strides devouring the distance the tall guards can’t close.
The mate bond hums between us, tugging at me like a wire pulled too far.
Damn, I know exactly where he is without looking.
I skid around the last corner, my lungs on fire, and slam through the tall arched doorway into the judgment hall.
Chaos hits me all at once.
The vast hall reeks of blood and fear. Ruel…no Krist, stands at the center, his body already fully transformed.
Guards swarm him in a messy tide, shouting orders with their weapons drawn. Multiple swords level toward his chest.
But Ruel’s wolf towers over every man in the room, and his eyes burn a furious gold.
Power pours off him in thick, suffocating waves. Even the air seems to bend beneath it.
Krist throws his head back and unleashes an alpha roar that rattles the very stones beneath my feet.
The sound slams into me like a maddened rogue and my knees give out instantly. Every wolf in the hall, me included, crashes to the floor, aside the alpha king.
Ruel's dominance crushes down like an invisible weight pressing on my fucking lungs.
Soon enough everyone's breathing comes in short, panicked gasps.
I have felt an alpha's roar before, but never anything like this.
I grit my teeth until my jaw aches, fighting the alpha pheromones, my arms trembling as I plant my palms against cold stone and push.
I have to reach him.
A brutal hand clamps around my wrist and yanks me back down.
Omar drops beside me, his fingers digging in so hard I feel my bones grind together. His own body shakes under the weight of Krist’s command, yet he still manages to pin me in place.
“You will get yourself killed,” he hisses through clenched teeth, sweat beads on his brow.
I snarl, wrenching my arm free with a twist that sends fresh pain lancing up my shoulder. “Let go of me.”
Ignoring the way my vision swims, I stagger forward on shaking legs.
“Fuck, the commander is an alpha!” One of the elders exclaims in awe.
The Alpha King, whose face has gone ashen, commands, “Guards! SUBDUE HIM! NOW!”
Most of the wolves remain pinned to the floor, trembling under Krist’s dominance. A handful force themselves upright anyway, their faces twisting with the effort. Veins bulge in their necks as they charge.
The hall erupts in noise but Krist moves like a living nightmare. He tears through the first wave of guards with horrifying ease.
Bodies fly backward, crashing into marble pillars with sickening cracks.
Swords clatter uselessly across the stone floor, blood spills, screams rise sharp and cut off abruptly.
I shove through the stunned crowd, dodging fallen guards, slipping once in a slick pool of red.
My heart hammers so hard it feels like it might crack my ribs open. If I can just get close enough, maybe I can reach him, talk him down, remind him to run before the court brands him a rogue and puts him down like a rabid beast.
I am almost there when a hard grip seizes me from behind.
The Alpha King himself drags me backward, one arm locked around my chest, the other pressing a dagger’s edge tight against my throat.
The cold steel bites my skin and a thin line of warmth trickles down my neck.
“Stand down, Xuaru… or lose him.” Alpha King Andre commands.
For a long heartbeat everything stills, every eye snaps to us.
My pulse thunders in my ears. The blade rests steady against my windpipe, but I refuse to beg.
I make sure not to give Andre the satisfaction of seeing me struggle. Simply breathing slow, my gaze flickering across the hall toward Omar.
He stands frozen in-between the mess, his chest rising and falling fast. And for the first time I see raw fear carved openly across his face.
Pure, unguarded panic.
His hands flex at his sides like he wants to lunge forward but cannot decide whether the movement will save me or doom me faster.
The sight of it… of him looking at me like I might actually vanish… twists something deep inside my chest.
I wonder, for one stupid, fleeting second, if Omar might actually care for me beyond the bond.
Even so, I do not expect Krist to surrender.
If he does, the entire court will turn on him, they will execute him.
Krist knows that.
I know that.
And if he chooses survival over me in this moment…
I will not blame him.