The Rejected Luna’s Prince By Aurora Archer
Chapter 59 – Black Blood
(Caspien)
The crowd waiting outside the packhouse was strange. I saw it in Holden’s and Griffen’s eyes too. It wasn’t just me being over-protective.
They knew we were coming past being alerted by patrols.
They were ready and gathered a group.
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I didn’t know what he told these witnesses, and I honestly didn’t care. They would know the truth soon enough. I had the papers to prove it.
I asked Willa to stay in the car, and that pained me. I wanted her, needed her by my side, but I had to a*s*sess the situation first.
Alpha Jasper seemed more confident than I would have thought. I wanted to take him by surprise, but even if that element was lost, the complete faith I had in beating him didn’t waver.
I fought to keep my voice even, letting some of my aurae out so I could focus on keeping the anger at bay. I knew too well letting my anger lead clouded my judgment. I needed to keep it as fuel for later.
My dad came out of the car with Cali and Willa once it seemed there was no immediate danger.
Willa came to my side and grabbed my hand; it helped keep some of the anger at bay.
“You know the rules,” My dad said, his voice booming.
“Of course I do,” Alpha Jasper smiled, “I’ve done this before.”
I was expecting Alpha Jasper to fight against this, protest that we couldn’t fight outside our jurisdiction. I brought the proof, the document the other Alphas signed, but he didn’t even ask for it.
A sense of unfamiliar unease flickered.
My dad nodded once, “Do you all agree to bear witness?” He asked the pack members and our warriors who came behind us.
They agreed; his pack members seemed nervous now. I scanned the group for his Beta and Gamma. They were standing in front of the other members but still didn’t come to their Alpha.
“To the death or forfeit,” My dad continued.
Willa tensed next to me, and I squeezed her hand. Alpha Jasper’s eyes grazed over my mate, and I fought a growl. I didn’t want him to know that anything he did got to me.
“Alpha Jasper,” Willa said cooly, taking a small step forward, “I don’t think we’ve met,” She tilted her head, but I felt the rage through our bond.
“No, we haven’t had the p.leasure,” He said, looking her over.
“I guess it won’t matter anymore. Your pack and I will forget your name after today. You came after my son. You are not and will never be relevant,” She went on, and I swelled with pride, “Let’s end this. I’m bored already.” Willa turned her brilliant green eyes to me and smiled sweetly.
Goddess, I loved this woman.
“You heard the lady,” Holden said from behind me; Griffen was surveying the crowd.
Alpha Jasper’s smile didn’t falter; it unnerved me only slightly. I didn’t think he could do anything illegal, but I wouldn’t put it past him either.
I knew better than to tell my Beta and Gamma to be on the lookout. I knew they already were.
You sure you want to do this? My dad linked me. I nodded slightly.
This is what we came for. His being prepared meant nothing; it just might make it a more interesting fight, for me at least.
I reached out my hand for Alpha Jasper to shake, and he just looked at it, turning away.
“We can do it here,” He said, motioning outside the packhouse.
It hardly seemed like the right place, but it didn’t matter. I could take him no matter where it was. I gave Willa a quick k*iss.
It will be okay, I reminded her.
She nodded once, her green eyes met mine with fierce determination.
I removed my shirt and took a step forward. The crowd backed up, giving us enough room.
“A fair fight,” My dad reminded, “No one else shifts or intervenes. This is between Alpha Jasper and Alpha Dracos.”
Alpha Jasper stepped forward. I couldn’t wait to wipe the smile off his face. I nodded to him once, indicating I would start with or without his consent. His smile only widened.
He shifted into a brown wolf before I could think. Why would he shift already?
S*hi*t, this changed things, I wanted to wear him out in human form, but the size of his wolf was laughable. I could crush him without any thought.
Let me at him
Fine, if this is how he wanted to play it.
I charged at him and shifted into Atlas, letting him take over and lead by instincts.
His wolf rolled out of the way faster than I anticipated, but we got a bite to his leg. His howl pierced the air before he wiggled free from our grip.
I let some of the anger flare inside me, only enough to make it fuel this fight.
I wanted him to suffer, feel a fraction of the pain he put me through.
I would have fun with this, and I knew Atlas was craving this too. This was the moment we were building to, and I needed to put on a d.amn good show.
He righted himself, and I charged again. At the last second, I ducked aiming at his side.
It threw him off, he ducked out of the way and I got what I wanted.
His tail.
I clamped down hard, biting through fur and flesh. The thin bone snapped as I shook my head biting harder.
We didn’t bite it off. Fully. But it was limp and twisted when we finally let go. I knew that would be painful and affect his balance, an added bonus.
Alpha Jaspers’s whimpers and howls of pain helped satiate the mad rage coursing me.
This was what we needed.
We snarled at him, letting the royal aura unleash completely. I had other things to focus on besides containing my aura.
Alpha Jasper cowered under us.
We took advantage of that and lunged again, he lifted a paw over his head, leaving himself prone.
It confused me, but we got a bite to his back leg. A deep one.
He slashed me against my side, the sting of the shallow wound surprised me.
Atlas let out a howl.
Alpha Jasper’s wolf was panting hard, and he raised his claws to attack again, but he was too slow. He had a few major injuries and probably wouldn’t be standing for much longer. It was a dumb move to try the same thing twice, especially when it worked the first time.
We dodged him easily and nipped at his paw as it passed us, biting down but not gaining enough purchase to break it.
Frustrated, I pulled back.
My side was starting to burn, making it almost hard to ignore. I hadn’t ever felt something like this; my adrenaline and sped-up healing would make any minor injury go to the back of my mind. I rarely felt an injury during a fight, never a minor one.
I took a deep breath and focused on the enemy at hand, getting out of my own head.
He was snarling at us; his teeth pulled back in something that looked like a smile.
He lunged and bit us. I jerked him off with little effort. He wasn’t very strong. I had to admit that this was unlike any one-to-one combat I had been a part of. There was usually more circling, more fluidity. This stop-and-start was unfamiliar to me, I didn’t like it.
I knew that I needed to make him suffer more. I felt like I was losing my advantage, but I didn’t know why.
We swayed as we stepped forward, reaching out to s***h him, but he easily missed.
My sight was starting to go fuzzy around the edges.
Cas, what’s going on? Holden came into my mind, and I shook it away.
No distractions.
Okay, maybe we wouldn’t make him suffer, couldn’t.
We had to end him.
Now.
We tried to stand, no, wait, we were already standing.
The wolfs in front of us were blurry.
Why were there so many of them?
They all came at once and bit down.
Hard.
But I didn’t feel it.
All I felt was the raging pain in my side, it was burning, worse than anything I had ever felt. It was spreading. It wasn’t just on my side anymore, the fire was clawing its way up my side.
I looked to make sure I wasn’t on fire, I couldn’t see anything past out midnight-black fur.
Something was wrong.
We had to finish this, though.
For Emmett, for our son.
For our pup – Atlas agreed, but he sounded far away.
We let out a loud growl that shook the ground, almost making me fall.
I let the anger out. All of it.
It sparked and lapped up, charging my blood.
He came after mine. He came after my son, my heir.
He came after Emmett.
He came after my family.
Alpha Jasper lunged again, but the anger pushed back some of the dizziness, if only slightly.
We took a step, and he barely missed us, stumbling on his injured paws.
I turned to face him. Blood was covering his dull brown fur. His eyes seemed to barely focus, or maybe that was me. There was only one of him again. That was a slight relief.
He stumbled but then charged and went for our front paws, a common blunder, leaving his neck wide open.
As he went to bite me, I clamped down on his neck, not missing this rare perfect opportunity.
His blood filled Atlas’ mouth, but we didn’t loosen our grip.
He was fighting against it, kicking, clawing. But our grip held fast, tearing deeper into him with every movement from his wolf. All of our lingering strength was poured into our grip on him.
None of his kicks or scratches was painful. I couldn’t think of anything past the fire in my side that was radiating through me, p.ulsing with my heart.
Red splots blotched my already blurry vision.
We bit harder with the last of our strength.
Alpha Jasper’s wolf went limp under us.
His breathing stopped along with his heartbeat as I slipped into the darkness I couldn’t hold off any longer.
(Willa)
Once I saw Alpha Jasper shift, I felt immensely better. He wasn’t the size of a true Alpha, I wondered if he had any Alpha blood in him at all.
Caspien shifted into a ma*s*sive black wolf and pounced.
The sight sent a shiver to my core despite the situation.
Rendell placed a steadying hand on my shoulder, and Cali stood closer to me, leaning against my side. The c.ontact helped me stay calm. As calm as I could in this situation.
He made immediate c.ontact and the sound of Alpha Jasper’s howls of pain fueled me. I wanted him to suffer. I wanted every d.amn person out there to see what would happen if they tried to come after my son, come after any one of us.
My fear turned to a hardened resolve.
This had to happen, and I would relish in every second of pain he went through.
I didn’t care if that made me a d.amn monster, I didn’t care if I was reduced to the same scum that he was; I needed this.
Caspien kept attacking, he was fluid yet calculated in his movements.
Alpha Jasper finally got in a swipe, and I held my breath. I didn’t want him to get hurt – at all. But I wasn’t dumb enough to think he would walk away completely unscathed.
But that swipe hurt me. I felt all the air inside me leave at once as if I had been punched.
Rendell tightened his grip on my shoulder. I wasn’t sure if it was for my benefit or because of his own fear. I hoped it wasn’t the latter.
Caspien seemed to sway on his feet; he tried to attack and then again, but he didn’t get a good enough grip.
My stomach tightened. Something was wrong.
I f*orc*ed myself to look away for a brief moment. Holden was linking Griffen, and Cali shifted on her feet.
Something wasn’t right. I knew that before I had confirmation.
Atlas seemed to sway, but he was barely scratched. I wanted to link him, but I didn’t want to distract him.
Iris was pacing around my mind, and it unsettled me further.
How much longer could this go on?
End him, end him, end him – I pleaded silently.
Caspien’s wolf lunged, clamped down, biting down on the howl that Alpha Jasper emitted until there was just a low guttural sound that faded away to a slight wheeze and then nothing.
Was that it?
I looked at Rendell, and his face was hard, but his eyes seemed to be full of worry.
“Is it over?” Cali asked under her breath.
I looked up at Holden and Griffen. Their gazes were focused on Caspien.
“I- I don’t know,” Holden admitted.
“I think so,” Griffen said.
Caspien didn’t get up. Didn’t move.
“We wait for Cas,” Holden said.
“No,” I responded, taking a step forward.
“That could be seen as you interfering,” Griffen said, his dark eyes meeting mine.
“Something isn’t right.” As soon as I said that, I got confirmation from everyone else’s faces.
Griffen looked nervous for the first time outside of being with Nora. His calm facade seemed to crack.
I broke away from everyone and ran towards him. I clutched at his silky fur that was matted with blood. His mouth fell away from his grasp, but he was limp.
No, no, no.
I swallowed the bile that started to rise in my throat.
I opened one of his eyes, and all I could see was white.
I buried my head into his chest; his heartbeat was too slow, far too slow.
But there was a heartbeat.
I might have called out to Rendell. I wasn’t sure. I could barely hear what was left of Caspien’s heartbeat over my erratic one.
His dad knelt next to me; the color drained from his face.
This was bad. Could it get worse?
No, he was my mate, a royal. He would survive.
He had to.
Atlas shifted under my hands, his fur retracted, and Caspien lay in front of me.
His breathing was shallow, his eyes closed, and a layer of sweat sheened his face.
“S,hit,” Someone said, maybe me.
Down his side were three long gashes.
An unearthly red shade and black blood dripped out of it.
It wasn’t natural.
My breath caught in my throat, my entire body seemed to seize, and I couldn’t breathe.
“What did he do? How did he poison my son?” Rendell shouted. His aura was angry, dark, and unrelenting.
“Griffen,” Rendell said, and a blur of activity fluttered around us.
Some grunts and protests met with what sounded like blows, skin against skin.
“What do you want us to do?” Holden knelt next to me. I couldn’t look away from Caspien, and I was worried if I did, his shallow breathing would cease.
“Get him back, now, with the warriors.” I choked out, surprised I could string a sentence together. Adrenaline pumped through me, and I grasped onto that slight bit of clarity.
We had to save him.
I had to save him.
“Rendell and Griffen will deal with it here. I want answers and no one leaving until we figure out who was part of this, who knew.”
I saw Holden nod once from the corner of my eye, “Now,” I said, my voice hard.
That was the last rational thought I had until I slipped back into sheer panic. Caspien was loaded into the back of a car, and I sat next to him with a young warrior trying to bandage him.
The wounds were seeping through the bandages so fast I knew it was no use, but I wouldn’t stop him, and I didn’t want to lose any hope I had to save him.
Cali crawled in next to me, “What can I do?” She asked, her voice breathless and panicked.
“Text Grace, have her meet us with the doctor, and get a room ready.” I realized I didn’t even know where the pack clinic was. The doctor always came to Emmett. It had to be in the packhouse, though; there was still so much of it that I hadn’t seen.
Cali fumbled with her phone, and my full attention returned to Caspien. I took his hand in mine, it felt cold, clammy, and I bit down on my lip to fight back the sobs that were trying to get out.
This couldn’t be how it ended.
The minutes crawled by; there was no way this was the same way we had come only an hour ago. Time meant nothing anymore, I couldn’t trust myself.
Cali’s warm fingers entangled my other hand. It was such a contrast to Caspien’s.
“We’re almost there,” She said, stroking the back of her thumb on my hand.
We rolled to a stop, and people started moving before I realized that we were home.
People in white coats came up, and Caspien was lifted from me. His hand fell out of mine and hung limp as he was moved to a stretcher.
Grace was standing at the front, her face tight and pale. She barely noticed me as we followed Caspien into a large elevator. She grasped my hand tight, and I held onto hers for dear life.
Neither of us had words.
“You’ll have to wait here,” Someone said as two doors were flung open, and Caspien was wheeled through them.
I couldn’t help but think that this was the last time I might see him alive.
Iris was howling in our head; she didn’t have anything slightly encouraging to say either. Her pain mirrored my own.
I had felt pain, but this was a new depth to it—a new layer.
I felt that the well of pain that I knew and the bottom of that well was cleaved open. I was t,hrust down into a deeper hole where I couldn’t see even see a flickering light of hope.
I don’t know when I fell. I don’t know if it hurt when my knees hit the hard floor. I didn’t know if those sobs were mine or Grace’s.
I was ripped apart so completely nothing could put me back together.