tw; violence/blood

Despite my heated warning, Azriel did not frown or snarl. In fact, his eyes lit up with amusement, and a smirk lifted his lips. I scowled at him, knowing he was finding me funny.

"Don't look at me like that." I snapped.

"You amuse me, Princess." He chuckled. "I cannot help it."

"Leave my land." Asra snarled, interrupting us. "Take your pets with you."

Azriel hissed. "Give me what I deserve!"

Asra scoffed. "You do not possess the alpha gene. Your mother was not our father's true mate."

Azriel tensed, his body rippling with anger. I wondered for a moment if he could still shift, and if he could, what would his wolf be like? He acted like he had two people inside of him, both the wolf and the vampire, so were his forms separate, too?

"Then we will fight." He snapped.

"If we must." Asra rolled his eyes.

"No!" I shouted.

"Shut it." He snapped.

"Just stop this madness, then nobody gets hurt!" I hissed.

"You mean like you?" He sneered.

My eyes narrowed with warning. "I'd like to see you try."

He grinned sinisterly, and his grip tightened on my arm. I expected him to fight me, but he pushed me to the ground instead. With my arms bound, I hit the floor face first with an oomph. My momentary vertical challenge left me blind to what happened, but the sudden uproar in snarling had me guess.

I rolled onto my side, squinting as the pull of gravity tugged on my sore shoulders. I caught sight of Azriel fighting amongst his minions as they all threw themselves toward Asra and his comrades. My eyes narrowed as they ganged up together, leaving the rest of the pack to fight the lesser vampires.

It all happened so suddenly. It felt like I had honestly woken up in the middle of a war.

Firm hands pulled me to my feet, my legs darting out to stand. I felt firm hands covered with fabric pulling me to my feet, and I immediately knew it was Guy. Staggering to my feet, I jostled in his hold.

"Stay still."

"No! He is going to kill him!" I insisted.

Guy sighed, securing both of his hands around my forearms and pulling them down. I yelped at the pain curving my spine to ease the tension.

"It is best you just stay here." He told me.

"Why? So, I can die?"

"You will not die if you stay here."

Looking at Guy, the man seemed unsure of himself. He stood awkwardly, and despite his firm grip, I would have thought he was nobody with power. Azriel seemed to trust him, the two of them often conspiring. Guy had been the one to tell Azriel to not kill me, and he did not look happy when told to fight earlier.

I inhaled deeply, looking back at the surrounding fight. "He is going to kill me, then wait until Asra is vulnerable and then kill him. I know his plan, Guy."

"Then why allow him to one up you?" Guy wondered.

Glancing at him over my shoulder, his eyebrows furrowed as I spoke. "You don't want to fight, and yet here you are."

His frown deepened. "I have no choice."

"Bullshit." I snorted. "You have as much control over your choices as I do."

"You don't understand. We are like your pack. We are sworn in."

"So, leave?" I quirked an eyebrow at him. "Do you owe him anything?"

He shook his head. "I owe him my life."

I let out a low breath. "Tough luck then."

"Shut up." He grumbled, jerking me. "Enough of your manipulation."

Manipulation? Brilliant. How was having a conversation manipulation?

His fingers flexed on my arms and I turned back to in front of me. Guy was holding me at the edge of the battle, and despite various attempts from wolves, we were left alone. The four leaders of the pack were all in one enormous mass of vampires. The wolves were flinging their bodies around, ripping into them and hurling them into the trees. Often, they would come back to fight again, and other times, they wouldn't.

It was barbaric.

Was this what it was like so many decades ago when the Great War began? The smell of blood, the cries of pain, the yelps of fright... So many people fighting for what they thought was right, or so many forced to fight when they didn't want to. Those stood near the trees, baring their teeth and only fighting when they had to. I pitied them, truly; I did.

Focusing my attention on the two brothers, I found Azriel was getting closer to Asra. He was snarling, fighting Rio with gusto. Three other wolves surrounded Asra, including Everett at his rear. I narrowed my eyes as I watched all of them, ignoring the way the blood made me feel.

They truly were animals.

"Let me go." I mumbled.

"Yeah, sure. I'll go for a bite to eat, too." Guy laughed.

"Seriously. Let me go. I can't stand here any longer."

"You have to." He insisted, tugging me. "You cannot get involved."

Guy briefly distracted me, and if I wasn't already looking, I would've missed a major slip up. Azriel had wormed his way to his brother, punching him in the back of the head. Asra, thinking his pack mates had covered him, staggered, spinning around with a large snarl.

But that wasn't the point. The hit wasn't what had my eyes narrowing.

It was how someone pulled the gamma away, moving him just out of his position. That slight shift of movement from the wolf allowed Azriel to get into the circle for a moment, leaving Asra's back unprotected. Leaving their alpha's back unprotected was rule number one on the no-no list. Everett was trained better than this.

"Fuck." I hissed.

How did he let that happen?

"What?" Guy asked.

Determination swirled in my gut, watching as Asra faced his brother. Rio and Caleb engaged in their own fights, doing their best to protect the other wolves.

Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on my next moves. Launching my heel down into his boot, Guy shouted at me, but I didn't waste any further time. Rearing my head back, I connected it to his jaw, hearing the dull thud of satisfaction. He recoiled, naturally, one hand slipping from my arms to cup his jaw. In the meantime, I brought my foot up into his groin.

His fingers slipped, and I was rushing away the next moment into the battle. Guy shouted at me, but I ignored him, charging forward. I headed straight for the major fight, by-passing the vampires and wolves who didn't touch me. It was weird to feel so invisible, so untouchable, and breaking free of Guy gave me an adrenaline rush.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I hoped my mere presence would be a distraction. So, despite still having my arms tied, I threw myself into the circle. I collided with warm bodies, eyes wide as an elbow flew my way.

I dodged it in time. Naturally.

I heard bones cracking as somebody shifted, followed by a loud shout of my name.

"Ailia! Get out of there!"

"Not now, Caleb." I hissed, dodging a flailing swipe. "I am busy."

"Listen to your mutts, Princess." Azriel snarled from ahead.

I glared at him, producing a growl of my own. "I really hate that nickname."

Azriel turned to me swiftly, reaching out to grab me, but I stepped away from him. He sneered at me, and I imitated him with mocking. He swiped again, and just the same, I jumped away, only to collide with something. I gasped when firm hands wrapped around my biceps and lifted me off the ground. I sharp wail of pain escaped me when my toes left the floor, my body screaming protest. But before I could register what was happening, everything blurred.

I was flying, or falling... pretty much the same. It wasn't near as bad as teleporting with Azriel, but the impact of my vulnerable body into the soggy ground was not as comforting. My breath cut short as I rolled across the ground from the force, every piece of my body crunching with the turmoil. When I came to a stop, I was face down, tears of pain blinding me as much as the spinning of the world.

I felt nauseous; I felt pain. Everything hurt. My chest ached and rattled with every breath, my arms numb, legs burning with pain and my head pounding.

I could taste blood.

I could smell it as I choked on it.

Noises blurred together, a high-pitched ringing in my ears as I tried to come to my senses.

This pain was blinding.

I haven't felt pain like this in such a long while, and my lips parted as I shifted my head to stare across at the ground and breathe. The battlefield was hushed beneath the ringing noise in my head. I cried, my chest raking with a sob as I spit out blood to join the rest of it on the ground.

Through all the pain, I couldn't believe I was bloody crying.

I didn't like to cry.

Crying showed weakness.

Darius hated it when I cried, said it made me look hideous.

Perhaps Darius was right all this time?

Who would even want me, anyway? I couldn't even think straight. I had thought I was invincible.

I'd rather just throw myself at two massive wolves and see what happened.

Fucking stupid.

Blinking through the fog in my mind, I found the culprit who had thrown me. It was obvious, because he stood facing me, his shoulders broad and fists clenched by his sides. That, and everybody was staring at him in horror.

I didn't blame them. The emotional despair in my chest worsened as I stared up at my mate.

He had thrown me like a doll, hard enough that I ended up back where we first emerged from the trees. I was sure most of my body had crumpled to dust.

Another sob escaped me, echoing around the clearing. As everyone else stared at me, commanded to silence, the only person who came towards me was Azriel. His footsteps were heavy as he ran, water and mud splashing up his legs. My chest heaved for breath, begging me to release the tension in my lungs and really cry. But my tears fell silent when Azriel's boot-clad feet stopped before me.

I heard him sigh and mutter my name. "I did not expect that."

Me either, I wanted to say, but the ache in my jaw stopped me.

Azriel lowered himself to my height, and I squeezed my eyes shut when he reached for me. He pulled my broken, battered body upright, and my lips parted with a loud wail. Everything hurt. Everything burned and screamed at me to give in; to give in to the pain.

As much as my body willed itself, it never gave in.

As Azriel dragged me by the waist, my legs felt numb beneath me.

Would you look at that? I could see my knee and thigh bone, and I was pretty sure a foot was not supposed to be that crooked at the ankle.

Azriel released me back into the dirt and I gasped for breath, unable to catch myself as I face-planted once more. I heard snarls from in front of me, and then Azriel's hands were pulling me up by my hair. I winced, eyes blurred with tears as he forced me to look forward and into the eyes of my pack mates. None of them moved, all frozen to the spot.

Azriel turned me, and I found Asra glaring at his brother. His shoulders were still square, fists still clenched and body ready for an attack, but I saw them waver. He shook slightly, jaw tweaking, as they fought for eye contact.

"Well, Alpha. I doubt your pack like you very much after you kill your soul mate." Azriel taunted.

"That human is not mine."

"She bears your mark. Don't you remember?"

Asra narrowed his eyes at his brother, untrusting. It was like his memory was gone, erased by some stupid magic spell.

Wait.

My eyes widened, but before my mind could run on another tangent, Azriel was jerking my head to the side. He yanked my hair, wrapping his other hand around my jaw to bare my throat. I swallowed harshly, already feeling myself panicking at his hold.

He could kill me, too.

But it didn't seem so bad compared to the pain I felt inside.

I didn't want to be here. I wanted to close my eyes and wake up back home, in bed. All of this was just a bad dream.

All of this was just a wicked spell on our minds, and Asra was fine.

"How?" Asra growled.

"Memory problems, brother?" Azriel snickered.

I coughed as he released my jaw, spitting up more blood. I followed the trail as it splattered across his wrist and onto the floor.

It was bright red. That was not a good sign.

Azriel grunted, wiping his arm on his leg.

"Like I said, I do not own this human." Asra scoffed. "Take it away."

My heart sank, broken inside its damaged cage. It wanted to be free; be free of the pain its soulmate has caused. But something trapped it. The broken, bent bars of what once was its safety kept it prisoner, unable to leave him.

"Then you do not mind if I take her life." Azriel sneered.

"Wait, please!" Caleb begged. "Asra-

"Shut it!" Asra snapped, glaring at his friend. "Get it over with so we can continue."

Caleb's face fell, and he sent me a look of sorrow. They couldn't disobey an alpha command so easily. It could seriously harm a wolf to force itself free. I slowly blinked in acknowledgement, knowing he couldn't do anything. Asra was gone. He was a lost cause.

So was I.

As Azriel's hand wrapped around my neck, ready to end my misery in this strange world, I felt my body relax with acceptance. Because what was a world where the man I was supposed to love, to be with forever, hated me? He hated my species, my being, even my appearance. I had nothing else; I was nobody else.

It was a facade all along?

Just before my eyes fluttered closed, I noticed something in the distance. Or rather, somebody that made my breath catch.

*****

Because I am not cruel

Next chapter will be up soon.