Page 69 of The Hidden Guardian
“I will die a thousand deaths for you, my soul mate.”
“To a thousand deaths—and an eternal lifetime together.”
* * *
His hand slowly slips from mine as we turn to face our opponents. The oncoming wolves are a few steps away as I sink to my feet and place my palms on the cave floor to draw upon my anger. The power zings against my hand like a high-five. I clench the dirt in my fists as I rise. My first attacker reaches for me with his full claws. I duck and blow the dirt in his face. He stumbles backward as a new attacker takes his place. His teeth snarl and snap at me as a vine rips out of the wall beside me and tramples him to the ground. A Guardian above shrieks as she fights the earth for control over her mate.
I feel the wolves around Renall begin their approach, I can feel Renall’s stomach twist in anticipation and crave a little bloodshed. His muscles twitch before they spring into action. Grabbing a man by the throat and pulling him toward him, his fangs retract and he bites into his neck, ripping out his throat.
With the first bloodshed, it drives my mate forward onto the next one. Three drop from the ledge to meet him now. With blood dripping from his chin, he roars at them. My stomach sings with anger and trepidation and my vines react in response, snapping out from the wall and grabbing one of the attackers to slam him against the wall repeatedly. I feel Renall smile, even though he’s facing the other way.
The first wolf is back, the dirt I’d thrown now cleared from his red eyes. This time I take the earth in my other palm and blow it at him. My anger sends him flying across the expanse. He slams into the cavern wall before sliding to the ground limp.
I’ve never been able to do that, but I don’t have time to think about it before another man drops from the ledge above, his Guardian swinging her arms above me. Air wraps around me and bursts into flames.
Renall dives across, throwing me out of the circle of flames as we tumble to our feet again. With our backs against the wall, we are surrounded on all sides. With the hand not in Renall’s, I place it on the wall behind me. Blocks of dirt explode from the wall and knock the wolves closest to them in the head and gut. One is knocked out, while the others writhe on the floor. Three more are left approaching us.
“You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”Renall smirks next to me.
“You didn’t think I’d let you have all the fun, did you?” I meet his gaze and something between us clicks. I could sense him through the bond before but this, this is different. I can feel his every breath, his heartbeats, and anticipate his next move. He’s going to trample the far one to the ground, leaving me to handle the last two. My head nods in agreement as he drops my hand.
A leafy branch touches my fingers, and I slide my hand up, ripping the leaves off of them. Renall leaps into his attack and I crush the leaves between my fingers, pressing them flat. When I open them, I lift the stack and start throwing them like daggers at the opponents.
The leaf daggers fly through the air and embed themselves in their flesh. One whimpers, falling to the ground as he attempts to rip them out. The other tries to escape it, but I throw more and they zip toward him, pinning him to the wall.
Renall has his wolf trampled and is fighting another. His arms feel like extensions of my own as we battle side by side. The branch at my feet grows, extending out and cracking like whips against the attackers bombarding us.
We are making good headway, meeting every attack. I find Renall’s hand in the madness and hold it as he stomps on the head of a wolf. We can actually survive this. We are going to make it. Hope tingles in his chest as well.
“Are there no more who wish to contest this union?” Zev’s voice booms from behind us. “You all had a lot to say in the trial, but none wish to take on a warrior in true battle?”
A rumble comes from Renall’s throat. I understand what Zev’s doing. He’s trying to play on the pack’s pride to continue to attack us. A mated Renall is a threat to his seat as Alpha. With us out of the way, he remains the uncontested pack Alpha. But with us as powerful a couple as we are—we could be a nuisance for him. I’ve already called him weak in front of the pack, so he can’t exactly let me live.
More men drop from the ledges above to the cavern floor to meet us. Guardians rise to their feet, calling upon their gift in support of their mates. I allow my anger to surge, but my hands are growing sweaty, and my mind is slightly lightheaded. I’ve been using too much of my gift, and it’s starting to weigh on me. As a man approaches, his Guardian is shifting in my peripheral vision. Creating something between her hands. Suddenly, a ball of water appears over my head. Then it falls onto my head, surrounding me in water. I gasp, struggling to breathe against the deluge. Her mate dashes through the water ball, scratching claws across my body with each swipe. Renall dashes forward after snapping a neck and heads for me. My attacker stands between us. I have a few seconds of air left and he knows it, all he has to do is distract Renall. They struggle but I can’t see through the fuzzy ball of water. My open bond with Renall grows weaker as I squirm for breath.
I’m expending too much energy. I need to stop moving so I sit there for a moment. I locked Renall in ice once. I’ve never been able to do it since, but I have the affinity of water somewhere inside me too. I dig deep, past my fear, and find that piercing anger. Inside it, I reach, and with a scream, split the water ball in two. Water cascades onto the floor and seeps into the dry ground. I collapse to my knees, gasping for breath. Renall dashes toward me, on his heels is the water Guardian’s mate.
“Okay, I’m okay.” I cough.
Renall turns to meet his attacker again. While I’m on the ground, two other men approach me. I’m still gasping for breath, fighting for my power to react to me. My mind feels like it's still swimming in the water, I can't seem to focus. As the younger male approaches me, I place a hand out, screaming in frustration.
He hits an invisible wall of air. Gasps and whispers resound above me but I’m still gasping for breath.
The last man heads for me, and in his hands are handmade knives I don’t stand a chance against. So in a last-ditch effort, my hands fly out in front of me and my arms slowly spread out. As the man approaches, the earth beneath his feet opens, swallowing him until he falls all the way down into Luna Lake with a splash.
I collapse back to the ground. The heat and humidity of Luna Lake rises into the cave, making me grow so hot, to the point of being almost unbearable.
Renall is handling the attackers on his own now.
“Rokay?” he keeps calling to me. I keep nodding, struggling to rise to my feet. I should have practiced more. I should have gotten used to draining my power. Maybe I should have also learned some self-defense moves instead.
I rise, inhaling a deep breath. My arms grow even more tired and begin to shake. My brain is exhausted. Onai said I could reach this point, when I would need to recharge my gift. Just a little bit longer, I plead, taking a few extra seconds to stand to my feet. A growl resounds from the hallway across the room. Ice chills down my spine and my hair stands on end. A large black wolf leaps over stacked chairs and tables from the staircase corridor and into the cavern floor. He’s soaking wet from his unexpected dip in the lake. His eyes are black with rage, and they are looking at me. Shit. I take a few steps back, clenching and unclenching my fists, attempting to call the earth, the air, water, anything that would answer me. Silence greets me. Nothing comes. My heart is hammering against my ribcage. The wolf approaches slowly, a predator tracking his prey. I swallow the bile rising in my throat, fists still calling, pleading.
The wolf strikes with a smile on his jaw; midair that smile widens as his teeth reach for me. I shield my face and my back remains straight as I accept my fate.
ChapterThirty-Six
AUTUMN
