149- The Day Peace Ended
POV Lunara Grimwald:
Edric cast a look at me. When he saw the blood pooling across the floor and the knife buried in my wrist, pinning me to the wall, something inside him changed. He was no longer the man in control, but the beast over three hundred years old who loved to kill, thrived on death, and delighted in bathing in the blood of his enemies.
Alessio felt that shift too—it crackled in the air like lightning. He stepped aside, distancing himself from me as his instincts screamed for him to do so.
Another shadow emerged beside Edric—Andrei appeared in my field of vision. A relieved sigh slipped past my lips. He ran to me and pulled the knife from my wrist. I screamed, crying from the pain. Edric’s growl made my hair stand on end. Andrei looked at him, apologetic.
“Stop exhaling pheromones, fuck, I only freed her,” he snapped at his friend, who in that moment was more animal than man. “Kill that bastard—he’s the one who hurt her.”
Andrei held me gently, scanning me for more wounds beyond the visible ones.
“I have some very good news for you,” Alessio said, pointing at the container on the table. “She’s already lost enough blood—now she just needs to drink that blood right there, and the mark disappears. Then you’ll be free of her.”
Edric leaned forward. He looked like a predator in his most primal, merciless form.
His golden eyes burned with fierce intensity, reflecting the rage blazing within him. Every movement was calculated and fluid. His powerful muscles tensed beneath his skin as he advanced toward Alessio with lupine grace.
Alessio dodged, realizing he was the prey in this encounter.
My breath caught in my throat as I watched Edric transform into a true lord of chaos—a being consumed by savagery and the absolute determination to protect me.
Andrei swallowed hard.
“I really hope you survive,” he whispered, though his arms around me were gentle and his furrowed brow full of concern.
“Why?” I asked, resting my head on his shoulder.
He grabbed the chains holding my wrists. His palms burned and his skin sizzled upon touching the silver. He ignored the pain, muscles bulging as he exerted sudden force against the chains, breaking them and freeing me from my restraints.
I felt the relief in my wrists, no longer having silver chewing through my skin.
“Thank you,” I said, relieved.
“I’ve never seen Edric like this—at least not in a very long time. He’s… wild, overtaken by his own beast,” he commented, without taking his eyes off his friend, who circled Alessio. “What he just did in Eclipse will be nothing compared to what he’ll do if anything happens to you.”
“I’m so tired…” I whispered, snuggling closer to him.
It felt so good to smell someone who mattered to me, someone who made me feel safe after so many days surrounded by strangers, by wolves I hated, by wolves beside whom I didn’t feel comfortable for even a single second.
I had to cross the entire forest, face countless challenges, only to discover where my true family was—in Eldoria.
I looked at the alpha, my fated partner, my bonded mate, the other half of my soul.
He lunged at Alessio like a shadow—silent and lethal. The air around him seemed to vibrate with the promise of imminent violence.
He struck Alessio, who dodged. On the second blow, he hit the weaker alpha’s abdomen, tearing flesh and blood. Alessio grunted in pain and tried to fight back, but Edric was faster, shutting him down.
The scent of the Eclipse alpha burst through the air, mixing with the others saturating the place. Every movement Edric made was calculated, every step precise, as if he embodied some primordial fury.
Andrei held me in his arms, scrutinizing my wounds with care.
“Is he going to come back?” I whispered, tilting my chin toward the wolf.
I really wanted to watch him kill Alessio… but he scared me a little in that form.
“Only after he kills everyone who hurt you,” he sighed.
The female behind me let out a strangled cry of fear, reminding me of her presence. I avoided looking at the pup’s body.
“Kill her when this is over. She’s not worthy—she let her pup be murdered without fighting, caring more for her own life than for his precious one.”
Andrei nodded.
“It will be done.”
I blinked at the very moment Edric launched himself at Alessio, attacking him like a true predator.
...
“Hope you enjoyed the gift I brought you,” murmured the Eldoria alpha, his voice heavy and otherworldly.
Alessio curled his lips back, showing his fangs.
“You’ll regret that.”
Edric tilted his head to the side, eyes half-lidded, focused entirely on the male before him.
“He made me a very interesting offer…” he said, circling Alessio. “If I let him go—with a female of his choosing—so he could breed and start a new pack, he would give me your location.”
Alessio growled.
“You’re lying.”
Edric shook his head.
“I’m not. He even told me you’re a complete idiot and a major disappointment.” Their steps were calculated and light, as if they were dancing. “So I killed him and ate his heart, breaking the blood pact sealed between your families.”
I gasped, unable to breathe properly, feeling my body grow weaker with every passing second.
Edric had avenged me.
Eating a wolf’s heart was a brutal, primitive display of power—a clear message to any leader who dared to challenge him. It was an act of utter humiliation for a leader, a declaration of Eldoria’s alpha supremacy over the rival pack.
And beyond that, he had broken the blood pact sealed by Kellan and my father, ripping out the wolf’s heart and killing him as if he meant nothing.
“You didn’t do that,” Alessio howled.
A lupine smile spread across the Eldoria alpha’s face.
“Yes, I did. And he tasted just as bad as he was as a leader.”
Alessio snarled and charged at Edric, driven by hatred and blind rage. The Eldoria alpha struck him, hitting his abdomen and throwing him across the cave, where he slammed against the damp stone wall. The impact echoed throughout the cavern. Alessio groaned and shook his head, rising to his knees in one swift motion.
“I’m going to destroy you,” he growled, then darted his dilated pupils toward me and curled his lips in a smile. “But I know an even better way to hurt you.” He finished speaking and lunged in my direction.
Andrei tightened his grip around me, pulling me aside, away from Alessio’s claws. Edric hissed a warning and hurled himself at Alessio, sinking his claws into the wolf’s calf, tearing it apart and shredding the muscle. The stench of Alessio’s blood filled the air, sharp and metallic like rust. He screamed in pain and turned, trying to strike the Eldoria leader. Edric dodged the blow and kicked the injured leg.