\[William’s POV\]
Disgust rushes through me as the crazy woman behind me lets her canine touch my skin, and when I feel the rustlings of her mark begin to come to life, I move, yanking my other hand free from its bindings.
Ignoring the pain that shoots through me, I use my wrists to grab the woman’s head and then heave, throwing her toward my father and Elise so that she lands between them.
“ELISE!” I roar as they remain momentarily distracted. “LEAVE THIS TO ME!”
At my words, Elise’s gaze takes me in and then shifts to my feet, which are still chained, and I can almost hear her sarcastic remark.
Smirking, I feel a wave of relief knowing that she is still in one piece after barging her way into this place, but how did she do it without getting caught?
Nevermind. Now wasn’t the time to be worrying about that. Instead, I need to focus on getting my feet free and taking down my bastard father.
Tearing my focus from Elise, I start to work the cuffs around my feet as my hands heal. The metal fucking burns as it touches my skin, but I ignore the pain and continue to fight. However, when a loud howl of pain ricochets through the building, I lift my gaze to find the crazy woman my father wanted to marry me hovering over Elise with a knife hilt squeezed tightly between her hands.
“ELISE!” I snarl, fighting the cuffs even harder. “I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!”
‘Allow me.’ Rue offers, sending all of his energy rushing into me.
Instantly, I feel a new surge of power and begin to squeeze at the cuffs until I hear the metal beginning to groan, and once it starts to break away under my hands, I am finally free.
Wasting no time, I begin to move, making my way to where my father and that bitch who was steadily twisting her blade in Elise were standing.
“It’s time to end this shit.” I growl as my father’s eyes come to rest on me. “What do you say, father?”
Letting out a howl of rage, I begin to shift, and once I’m in my wolf form, my father attacks, blocking my view of Elise and the woman. Not wanting to leave them alone for too long, I move, slamming my body into my father and locking us in battle.
Together, we move, taking hit for hit, but I had no intention of losing.
With each passing minute, the scent of blood continues to increase, and that only spurs me on even more.
Jumping back, I bare my teeth at my father while peeking past him to find that Jose and Charlie are almost finished with the wolves they’re fighting. Once they finished, they could help Elise, and I could focus solely on my father. At least, that was what I thought until the bastard suddenly turned and pressed his paws against Elise.
Giving me a look of amusement, he lets his claws dig into her, and when a whine escapes her, Rue takes complete control, making us surge forward so that he can dig all his claws and teeth into my father’s body, causing a howl of rage to erupt from his lips.
I can almost hear him yelling, How dare you? given the fact that I was always obedient, always holding back, and always just brushing things off. But not anymore, not when he was once again threatening the one person that I cared for and the pack that I was meant to be the leader of.
Drawing on all the years of rage that I was feeling, I drag my claws along my father’s skin, digging deeper and deeper until finally he releases Elise and begins to attack me, but with his injuries, he is moving slower, allowing me to break through.
‘Are we killing him?’ Rue asks, continuing to take the lead.
‘No,’ I respond. ‘But that doesn’t mean that we can reduce him to nearly nothing.
I no longer gave two shits if he was family; he was a menace, and as long as he walked freely, I would never truly be free. Marigold also wouldn't, in a way. This was not only for me, but also for her and her family.
As this thought hits me, I see her standing there with a look of approval on her beautiful face. Smiling, she nods and looks toward the heavens.
‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper internally, but she simply shakes her head, and as her mouth moves, I feel the weight that I’ve carried for so long begin to slowly disappear.
‘It’s okay, and I forgive you.’
I can hear the words echoing around me while I attack my father again and again until he collapses and shifts back into his wolf form. Once I’m sure he is no longer an issue, I move toward Elise, who is no longer moving.
Heart hammering, I extend my senses until I can hear a steady pulse and soft breathing.
Only when I’m sure that she is okay do I turn my attention to the woman who laughs manically while continuing to torture Elise.
I don’t waste any time moving, wrapping my teeth around both her wrists, and biting down hard enough to draw blood.
A wail of shock escapes her as she releases the knife that she stabbed into Elise. Using all my strength, I throw her, sending her crashing into the wall, and when she doesn’t get up, I shift back to my human form and rush to Elise, who has also shifted back to human.
Kneeling, I pull her against me so that I can take in her sweat and blood-soaked skin. She’s warm, but there is a dangerous hue to her.
“Elise,” I hiss, my panic rising. “Elise, wake up!”
For a moment, she doesn’t speak, doesn’t move, not even her closed eyelids flutter. But after another moment, she begins to groan, and then her eyes open.
“William?” She whispers, staring into my eyes. “Does this mean we won?”
Her words are weak, but a slow smile begins to spread across her face as she starts to examine the room around us.
“Yeah,” I respond. “We won.”
“That’s great.” She sighs. “That means that I’m finally free.”
As she speaks, blood begins to slowly trickle from the side of her mouth. Eyes widening, I look down to find that the hilt of the knife still sticks out of her skin.
“Yeah,” I say slowly. “But before you decide to gallivant off to who knows where we should get you treated.”
As long as that blade stayed in her, she wouldn’t be able to heal, but I feared that it may have damaged some of her vital organs. Even with our healing abilities, those types of injuries would need medical intervention.
“You really are reckless, you know?”
At my words, she attempts to laugh but stops as a hiss of pain escapes her and her face pales.
“Come on.” I sigh, slowly standing while being cautious not to rattle her. “I’ll bring you to Crystal Fang’s healer.”
“No!” She rasps. “You need to focus on getting all the traitors arrested.
Frustration rushes through me as I realize that she is more worried about doing what needs to be done to ensure that Crystal Fang is once again safe for me to return to than her own health.
“Charlie and Jose can handle that.” I sigh, beginning to make my way toward the room's exit. “They can…”
“No!” Elise insists. “What if something happens and then...”
She doesn’t finish her words as a grimace of pain flashes across her face.
“Then all of this would be for nothing. I’ll be fine.”
She would be fine. She had to be out of her damn mind. She was already drifting in and out of consciousness. I couldn’t let her stay like this much longer. Otherwise, I feared that the worst would happen.
“Also,” she continues, starting to look around until her gaze comes to rest on Uncle Hamilton. “We promised Rosco we would bring him back.”
“And we will.” I assure her. “There’s no way that he won’t receive a proper send off, but first we need to take care of you. Let’s go.”
Ignoring her noises of protest, I begin to head toward the infirmary but stop as the floor beneath my feet starts to shake.