by Jade White
He prepared himself for what was to come. Mason shifted, and his beast stretched out its arms. It was ready to play. It was ready to kill.
The alpha shifted. It was strange to think that he became such a massive animal. He was more than three times Mason’s size, but that didn’t make him back down. With long, curled tusks, and large ears, the alpha was by far the biggest elephant Mason had ever seen.
The alpha dug his foot into the ground, dragging it back and forth. His blood thirsty eyes were locked on Mason, and for the slightest moment he saw something unexpected. Exhaustion. He charged at Mason, his tusks low enough to pick him up off the ground.
Mason did his best to try and dodge the attack, but he was too slow. He was picked up into the air, and tossed. As he flew, Mason shifted back into his human form, grabbing onto the alpha’s back. He wrapped his arms around his neck, and didn’t let go.
The alpha bucked and roared with disapproval. He tried to shake Mason off but couldn’t. Mason dug his nails into the alpha’s hide, tightening his grip on him even more. As the alpha continued to buck harder and harder, Mason managed to shove both his arms in―all the way to his shoulders.
The alpha collapsed. Mason could feel the edge of his neck bone in his hands. He did his best to grab hold of it. It took most of his strength, but he twisted it, breaking his neck. Mason removed his arms from his hide, climbing off of him.
The alpha didn’t move, but he did shift back. Mason stared down at the boy, his eyes black with anger. He flared his nostrils at him. “You could’ve been something great, if you weren’t a sadistic murderer.”
“We are the same, you and I. Your mate is not much different than her mother,” the alpha choked up. He looked up at Mason. “My reign will continue on.”
He shook his head. Mason grabbed the alpha by the top of his head. He put a hand in his mouth, and pulled apart as hard as he could. Blood splattered everywhere as Mason ripped his head from his body. He dangled his trophy, looking the bodiless head in the eyes. Mason watched as those dead, red orbs rolled into the back of the head. He was satisfied.
Mason was alpha now, and he could feel the power rushing through his veins. All the power of the entire animal kingdom gave him strength. He could feel everything in an erotic rush of energy. It was one of the best sensations he had ever felt. It made him wonder if Katherine felt the same thing.
Katherine. His beast sighed with contentment. It longed to see her. Mason only hoped she was still alive. He didn’t know how many phoenixes were in her village, he doubted her and his men were enough. He would need an army to help her. He would need an army to help his family.
Mason started towards her direction, hoping he could catch her scent of lava. It was faint and was barely enough for him to track her with. He could follow Torrent’s though. His was much more pungent than Katherine’s and did a lesser job of blending into everything. He was not made up of an element of the earth. She was.
Mason caught the scent of sweat and wet fur in the air. He knew which way to go. His only problem was how he was going to get there.
Use the whole animal kingdom. His beast said sarcastically. It hadn’t even been ten minutes, and Mason forgot he was the alpha of the horde. He could become anything he wanted.
CHAPTER 15
Katherine was doing her best not to die. It was becoming increasingly difficult though as time passed by. There were too many phoenixes. Some died faster than others, some didn’t want to die at all.
The only bad thing with the phoenix species was their lives were not always promised another round. A phoenix could be killed once, and their bodies would never rise again from their ashes. Others were a different story.
Katherine had seen beasts grow from their own ashes. She had seen monsters and brutes of the worst kind, be summoned back from hell to serve another term of life. They never used it well though.
Torrent was looking at her, shaking his head. “Is this your idea of a plan?” he mouthed to her. They were hiding, and were doing a fairly good job at it.
She shook her head. In all honesty, she never had a plan to begin with. She thought she’d be able to storm into the village and take her son. Of course, the tribal master turned all of the Phoenix into bloodthirsty killers―more than they already were―and sent them after her and Torrent.
Katherine felt bad he was dragged into this. He didn’t deserve to die this way. He didn’t deserve to be pushed into a battle that could never be won. Torrent needed to be home, resting and enjoying his life. He needed to be sipping on liquor and shoving his mouth full of food so no one had to listen to his morbid jokes.
She smiled at him, but only for a moment. Torrent pulled her into him, and held her close as a fireball was launched directly at her. She didn’t know how she didn’t hear or see it coming. “Thank you,” she mumbled.
“You’re welcome.” He ducked them both down, ushering her forwards to hide behind another building.
This was becoming very tiresome. There were too many still left over. The deadliest of the bunch had yet to come, and noon was approaching fast.
The tribal master was still in the center of the village performing the ritual. Louis was on a pedestal, and he was strapped in so he couldn’t move. He was only a baby, it wasn’t like he was going to go anywhere in the first place.
Her phoenix was screaming for release. Katherine wasn’t quite ready to let it go. It wanted to get to Louis. It wanted to hold him and let him know that everything was alright. Kill! It screamed at the other phoenixes. KILL! It yelled even louder. She didn’t know if she could hold it in much longer.
Katherine looked at Torrent. He was panting, and getting ready to shift again. The man fought best in his animal form. He pulled apart more phoenixes than she could count, and still it was strange that he wasn’t the one who fought Mason for dominance. Maybe that was why Mason sent him with her in the first place. He knew what Torrent could do, and knew he would protect her.
“How the hell are we supposed to get Louis if we can’t get through all of these damn people?” He cocked a silver brow at her.
“I might have a plan, but you can’t be around for it.” She would do the same thing she did to her trainer. Katherine promised herself she wouldn’t, but the amount of power that erupted from her was great. She also doubted that any of the phoenix would recover from it.
Neither will you. Her phoenix warned her. If you die, so do I and so does Louis. Katherine didn’t like the idea of death, but at this point, this was her only option.
He shook his head. “I’m here to protect you. Mason will have my head if you get hurt.” For once, there was some sort of light shining in Torrent’s too blue eyes. It gleamed back at her like a beam of hope and compassion. “You’re family and The House of Wilde protects family.”
Katherine sighed. “I appreciate your love.” She really did. This was something she had to do. “You’ll stay, if you know what’s good for you.” Katherine jumped up to her feet, scanning the area for the fireball thrower. There were several planted all around the village. Some were perched in trees, others were on top of buildings. She had to start with them.
“If I don’t?” He stood up beside her.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Please,” Torrent scoffed. “It takes a lot more than a little fire to hurt me.” He was very reassuring, more than any of the other men were. At least he seemed like he was trying to be, none of the others did.
As sarcastic as Torrent was, and as horrifying as some of his jokes might have been, he was one of her favorite men in that household. She was proud to say she was able to fight beside him, and proud to say she was probably going to die beside him.
Katherine walked down a long path, Torrent hot on her heels. As she felt him shift behind her, a fireball was hurled their way. She absorbed it into her body, turning it into her own energy. She focused it at another fireball thrower, lighting them ablaze. More fire was rocketed towards her.
Torrent picked her up by the back of his shirt, and tossed her onto his back. In animal form, he bounced on top of buildings, tearing through several phoenixes as they came at him. Katherine struggled to fight off any that tried to jump on his back, breaking their neck, and removing some of their limbs. She didn’t know how much more of a fight she could put up before she started to run low on energy.
Katherine shoved her hand into a phoenix’s chest, and watched the light leave the girl’s eyes. Come back from that. Katherine watched the girl’s body crumble to the ground. She was feeling satisfied with killing so many people, and she had no problem with it at all. This was better than she thought it would be. “Can you get us down from here?” she asked Torrent before pushing another dead body off the roof of the hut.
He gave a silent answer, pouncing onto the ground with a loud and thunderous roar. It was followed by several more roars, neither of them were Torrent’s though.
Katherine’s head shot around, and she gazed through a clearing of trees. There was nothing there for a moment. A pair of mismatched eyes locked on her and Katherine froze for a moment. Her blood started to boil and freeze all together, and her heart started to beat rapidly. She had one person to ensure didn’t die, she didn’t need more of them. Then again, the more help the better. At least now there was a slightly less chance of her being killed.
Katherine shook her head sighing. Why not have more people here? Katherine punched a girl in the face, and clothes lined another one running towards her. She wasn’t a fan of people, especially ones that were trying to kill her.
A panther, a snow tiger, a phoenix and an impaired shifter. What could possibly go wrong? The phoenix laughed hysterically.
Shut up! She scorned the beast.
Katherine maneuvered through a horde of people, lighting some on fire, and flying above others. She needed to get to her son. Nothing would stop her from doing so. No one would stop her.
The tribal priest was in sight, and he was guarded by two familiar faces. Isabel and Veronica. They were the only mother-daughter duo that had yet to be defeated in fighting matches in her village. Katherine didn’t know what to do.
Veronica was hard enough to fight on her own, especially because she never fought clean. Isabel though tended to be worse. She had spent so many centuries just honing the strength and intensity of her flame, it would do some serious damage to Katherine if she got too close. You ready to fight? She asked the phoenix.
The bird cracked its knuckles, giving Katherine a stiff head nod. Her wings stretched out of her back, the fine feathers sharpening to a tip. She emanated a dark, black fire and it dripped from each pearl, white feather-like droplets of blood.
“Is she standing up to us?” Veronica asked Isabel, staring Katherine down.
“I think she is,” Isabel responded. “I think she wants to fight.”
Katherine laughed, annoyed. She stuck her middle finger up at the two of them, scowling. “You have my son. I’m taking him back.” She felt her nails elongating into claws. That black fire got more and more hot.
Screaming and crying echoed behind her. Erik, Torrent and Lucca tore through her village, viciously ripping apart any phoenix who dared to cross their paths. Torrent’s white coat was covered in blood, and Erik was slightly wounded. They approached Katherine, all three of them growling at her mother and sister.
“Is this all you’ve got?” Isabel asked, sounding insulted. “I tied these three up far too easily. I’ll do it again.” She took a step towards Katherine.
Lucca growled at her, his mismatched eyes glowing ominously. He wasn’t happy with what Isabel did. None of them were. The three of them approached Isabel, encircling her. Their teeth snapped at her. Torrent licked his lips as he took the first bite out of Isabel, making her scream in pain. They had no regret as they tore her apart, limb from limb.
Katherine kept an eye on her mother. She was backing away, clearly knowing she was outmatched by the three hulking beasts. Katherine wouldn’t let Veronica go so easily.
Katherine launched herself up into the sky, and landed in front of Veronica. “Where do you think you’re going?” She reached out, wrapping her hand around her throat. She squeezed, tighter and tighter. “Your mate’s probably dead by now.” Katherine shoved her onto the ground. “How does it feel to know you’re going to be with the man you abandoned your daughters for?” She put her foot to her other’s chest.
“Almost as satisfying as watching our monster of a brat be slaughtered and sacrificed to the gods.” Her mother responded, looking over at the tribal master.
He had his hands raised in the air, a dagger between them. His eyes peered down at Louis, and her son was stuck looking at her for help. His silent pleas called out to her. She had to obey.
Katherine struck him in the back of the head, sending him flying. She untied her son and pulled him into her arms, holding him as close as she possibly could. There was a sigh of relief that left her as his sweet baby scent filled her nose.
She smiled down at Louis, cooing to her son. He was crying and shaking in her arms. He wasn’t happy, and she knew why. He had been around unfamiliar people, and the only familiar face he had seen was trying to kill him. No baby would be happy around something like this.
There was a sharp pain in her back. For the briefest moment, her body felt numb. She couldn’t hold Louis anymore, and that scared her. She couldn’t even hold herself up. Katherine didn’t want to drop him, but she couldn’t help but doing so. She tried to cushion his fall as best as she could, paying no mind to the fact that she had a dagger in her back.
Katherine looked at her son, her vision blurring. She was so cold, and so numb. Someone picked her up and removed the dagger from her back. She was held on her knees by her arms.
Louis was picked up off the ground. He was still crying. He reached for Katherine, his big blue eyes locking on her. Veronica held him still the dagger raised in her hand.
“No,” Katherine muttered. She tried to fight. She tried to get to him, but couldn’t. Her head slumped to her chest. She was losing too much blood.
“Oh no you don’t!” the tribal master whispered in her ear. He pulled her head up, forcing her to watch. “First, we’re going to kill him. Then we’ll kill you too.” His grip on her tightened.
One last fight. She told herself. One last fight. She said to the phoenix. The beast was weak, and didn’t give a wordy response. It only nodded.
Katherine gathered as much energy as she could. She focused on it, really hard. She imagined the expel of the fire. She imagined it leaving her body and dispersing, killing any threat that she commanded it to.
Katherine looked up at her mother, disgusted. She hated her, and would hate her even more if she did this. There would be no end to what Katherine would do as revenge. Louis was her first child. She would protect him and love him better than Veronica ever did to her or her sisters.
“How does it feel to watch your child die?” Veronica asked.
“Almost as good as sending you to the pit of hell you came from.” Katherine released the fire building inside of her. As soon as she released it, her body gave into death. She slumped over onto the ground. Louis’s cries filled her ears, and she felt his weight fall onto her. Katherine took in one last breath of air before she finally slipped. This was it. This is it.
THE FINAL CHAPTER
This place was a disaster zone. There were so many countless bodies that littered the place. He began to think that his wife could have been one of many. His men were scattered, and they picked off any remaining phoenixes that might have survived the onslaught.
If Mason knew what his wife could do, he probably would’ve been more likely to allow her in battle. Even then he would have been cautious to let her fight. She didn’t like to kill, but obviously this was a testimony to her beliefs. Killing people was in her blood and she was good at it.
He scoured the village, looking for both his wife and child. Mason hoped she wasn’t too late. He hoped
she was able to kill the bastard who dared took their son. Maybe now if someone tried to steal Louis, they’d know better.
There was no way something like this would go unnoticed in both the supernatural and the natural realms. People would write books about Katherine’s ferocity to protect her son. They would tell of her meager standings, and them growing and blossoming into a full fledge rampage. Songs would be sung about this massacre between other phoenix villages.
Mason shoved bodies aside. He wanted to burn them, to get rid of them all. Katherine had always warned him of what would happen if he burned a phoenix’s body after they died. They’d come back more powerful than ever. This was only if their bodies didn’t naturally already start the burning process.
There were so many children, so many men and women. Mason hated to think that he sent her to this with nothing more than a few men for backup. If they hadn’t been immortal, they would’ve been slaughtered.
Louis was sitting on a corpse, crying. His pale skin was beat red from frustration, and he reached out to Mason. It took him no longer than a second to react. Mason ran to his son and swept him up into his arms. He rocked him back and forth, trying to coo to him the way that Katherine did. Louis still wasn’t calming down.
The toddler-sized infant reached to the body he once sat on, screaming and crying even louder. His eyes were starting to swell from how tight he had them closed. “Mommy!” he called out to the body. “Mommy!” He reached even longer, harder.
Mason’s blood chilled over in his veins. He bent down and rolled the corpse onto its back. A pale sun-kissed corpse stared back at him. Small white freckles had him gazing hard and long. Katherine was dead.
Mason sat Louis down on the ground, and he crawled to Katherine as Mason pulled her into his arms. He held her close, both of them did. Mason rocked her back and forth, running his fingers through her raven black hair.
This isn’t real. She’s alive. Mason tried to convince himself. This had to be a dream. She had to be alive. He couldn’t rule an empire without a queen. He couldn’t raise a son without his wife. A boy needed his mother more than he needed his father.