Chapter 65

[ 1,073 words ]

Beasty

65: 65.

Beasty Ronan

My gaze shifts—and locks with Elliot, who is fighting males as they surround and try to corner him.

He’s a fucking mess of blood, sweat, and dirt, and I doubt I look much better.

For a split second, the battlefield disappears.

Because a really batshit idea comes to head.

If I weren’t desperate to get Aria, I wouldn’t even consider it.

But we need to work together if were going to make it out.

Leave it to the gods to put me in a position where relying on my enemies could be the difference between getting my mate out of this alive or not.

He meets my eyes, and I can see determination flash in them.

He sees it too.

The odds of our victory are narrowing with every second that passes by.

I shove another attacker back from me, every cell in my body aware of Aria behind me.

“Stay close,” I order without looking back.

“Elliot!” I bark as he breaks out of the ring using a fancy move that makes the males attacking him trip into each other.

He turns fully to me, dodging a strike before snapping a man’s neck.

“Care to get out of this alive?” I ask.

“I do favor breathing,” he says, voice hard, direct.

No time for ego.

“ How do we do this? Those catty bastards want our heads. Your little female, especially.”

A growl slips from my lips, eyes flicking upward toward the dias.

Aldren is staring at Aira, and I can feel the contempt in his eyes.

Understanding clicks instantly.

“I have an idea. Do you think your battering ram will listen?” Elliot asks.

“Do we have a choice?” I concur, knowing Liam will see the necessity in our temporary partnership.

“You’ve got a point. Call out to the other Alphas, get them to get their people to fall in line.”

Aria works with me as we call out to the others.

The Alphas quickly agree, calling out to their pack mates.

Slowly, we start fighting our way together.

As our ragtag group gets closer, Kade come makes it to my side.

“We making a break for it?” he asks.

“Looks that way,” I reply.

Elliot turns to Liam sharply.

“Time to put all that muscle work, beasty.”

Liam’s head whips toward Elliot, his hybrid form snarling as he hurls someone across the stone floor.

“Clear a path!” Elliot shouts.

“Front doors!”

There’s a beat—just a fraction of hesitation.

Then Liam looks at me.

I hold his gaze.

And nod.

He roars, moving swiftly, a biological hurricane leaving devastation in his wake.

He becomes a battering ram of muscle and fury, charging forward and smashing through anything in his path.

Bodies scatter.

Some don’t get back up.

The sheer force of him creates space where there was none.

“Move!” I shout.

I don’t wait.

I grab Aria, and Kade moves behind her so she’s covered from the front and the back.

Heat seeps into my palm like I’m holding it over an open flame.

“You’re overheating,” I say, grabbing her before she can argue.

“I’m fine—”

“You’re not.”

She is dangerously hot.

So hot she shouldn’t be standing right now.

My wolf gets anxious, wanting to tuck her into our arms and keep her safe.

Already on it.

I pull her against me, lifting her and tucking her into my chest as we all run down the limited path Liam has created.

Liam is already near the doors, banging his massive claws against them.

I hear when the lock breaks.

The wood splinters as it bursts open, and we move with renewed vigor toward our freedom.

I tighten my hold on Aria as we push through the final stretch.

She’s trembling now.

The strain of resisting her wolf and her fire is taking its toll.

“I’ve got you,” I murmur low against her ear.

“I’m not weak,” she snaps, even now.

A flicker of heat sparks against my chest.

I almost smile.

“Didn’t say you were.”

Cold air slams into us as we break outside.

For a second—just a second—the world feels wider.

Open.

Free.

Behind us, the citadel looms like a beast.

Each pack knows what to do.

We scatter.

Nightbane veers east.

Ryland breaks north.

Eastgrove and Bayridge peel off in opposite directions.

There is no unity now.

Staying together would only make us easier to hunt.

And they will hunt us.

They will also target our packs.

Our children, submissives, and the elderly, if they don’t defect and choose to stand with their pack.

They have done it before, isolating and dismantling the packs that didn’t agree with the human bans.

Now they’re turning on us.

They were always going to turn, my wolf says, we males are always searching for more power and more control.

I slow just enough to shift Aria’s weight, making sure she’s steady.

She pulls slightly away, stubborn as ever, but doesn’t commit to trying to get down, fully aware of the strain on her body.

Kade falls in step beside us, breathing hard but steady.

Liam shifts back partially, still massive, still dangerous, scanning the horizon.

“We need to move faster,” Kade says.

“I know.”

Because I can feel it.

That pressure.

That intent.

The Assembly isn’t going to let this stand.

We exposed their true motives, and that makes us a problem.

They’ll come, my wolf says.

They’ll bring everything they’ve got to remove us from their path.

Yeah, they will.

Which means we don’t have time to waste.

I need to get the pack to safety.

I reach for my phone as we run, pulling it out and dialing.

Barric answers on the second ring.

“Ronan?”

His voice is calm.

Too calm.

He doesn’t know yet.

“Listen carefully,” I say, my tone leaving no room for questions.

“Initiate emergency protocol.”

There’s a beat.

Silence.

Then—

“What happened?”

“The Assembly made their move,” I say.

“This was a setup. We’re out, but not safe. Not even close.”

Another pause.

Then the shift.

Barric takes over.

“Understood.

I’ll get everyone in position.”

“Fortify everything,” I continue.

“Perimeter, supplies, fallback points.

No one moves alone.”

“Got it.”

I glance back once.

The citadel stands in the distance.

Still.

Silent.

Watching.

“They’re coming, Barric,” I say quietly.

“I want everyone to make it out of this alive.”

“We will,” he says.

Then he asks something I hadn’t considered.

“Will they target Liam and Aria?”

Will they?

They have been trying to condemn Liam for years.

It was no secret they were scared of him.

And Aria, well knowing her mother was a Sypher and she was too, I started to put pieces together.

The wolf prints in their mother’s home, the way they tried to kidnap Aria.

The interest they took in her and the way Aldren tensed when releasing her wolf had surfaced.

They knew Lorain was a Sypher, and at the very least, they must suspect Aria is one too.

“They will target them. This is the perfect excuse to eliminate them. Just two casualties in their pursuit of neutralizing traitors. We need to prepare for the worst.”

There is a grunt of affirmation before the line cuts off.

My mind shifts to my pack.

And making sure we live to see the next sunrise.

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