Chapter 200

Celena’s POV The crushing weight on my chest vanished abruptly, lifting me with a sudden lightness. With a pained whimper, the black wolf was hurled backward by a tremendous force. As its claws tore away, they ripped a small chunk of flesh from my chest, the agony making my vision darken. Then came the horrifying sounds of two wolves tearing into each other. Raging roars, the sharp clatter of fangs clashing, the dull thud of claws ripping flesh. Hot blood and gray and black fur splattered everywhere. It was Jacob! He seemed to have completely lost his mind, transformed into a savage beast I’d only ever seen in my nightmares. He ignored the bites on his ears and head, pinning the other wolf down like a madman. He sank his teeth into the black wolf’s foreleg—I even heard the crack of breaking bone! The black wolf let out a shrill howl and tore at Jacob’s head and neck with even greater fury, blood smearing Jacob’s gray fur. This couldn’t go on! He’d get hurt! I didn’t know where I found the strength, but I crawled up despite the searing pain in my chest and screamed at the two wolves locked in combat through our bond: “Jacob! Kick him off!” Miraculously, Jacob, who was almost devoured by the rage, heard it. He suddenly let go of the opponent’s forelimbs, flicked the wolf’s head, and precisely knocked the black wolf’s mouth open! At the same time, the strong hind legs curled up and kicked hard against the relatively soft abdomen of the black wolf! “Ow!” ” The black wolf was kicked away directly by this fatal blow and fell heavily to the ground. It struggled to get up, but the severe injury to its abdomen made its movements slow. The instant it tried to rise, a lithe brown figure leapt over Jacob! It was me. All the rage, all the sorrow, all the pain coalesced into a cold, focused power in that moment. I sank my teeth precisely into the neck Jacob had just bitten, then tore with all my might along the direction of its struggle. “Splatter!” Warm, iron-rust-tinged liquid splattered across my face. The black wolf’s struggle ceased instantly. A few gasping “huh-huh” sounds escaped its throat as its eyes rapidly dimmed. It collapsed lifelessly to the ground, motionless. Jacob’s POV I was going mad! How dare anyone hurt Celena! Seeing her pinned beneath that black wolf, its jaws tearing into her chest, leaving it a bloody mess, my mind was consumed by the most primal, savage urge to kill. Like a runaway cannonball, I smashed through every obstacle, pouncing on that bastard. I tore at him with my claws, bit into him with my teeth. I felt no pain, heard no other sounds—all I wanted was to rip him to shreds! Avenge Celena! Until her voice pierced my fury: “Jacob! Kick him off!” Like a clear command, I obeyed instinctively. Release, headbutt, kick to the gut in a fluid, lethal sequence. Then, I saw that petite, brave brown she-wolf leap over me, with a resolute beauty, delivering the final blow. She stood there, breathing slightly, her face and fur smeared with enemy blood, and in her eyes was a cold yet resolute light I had never seen before. Lily’s POV Under the united assault of our Moonlight Clan, the pack of vicious wolves blocking our path didn’t last long. Leaving behind a few wounded, howling stragglers, the rest fled tail between their legs into the depths of the forest. Ethan and I immediately began tending to the wounded as we always did, assigning Ren and the healing-skilled witches to handle the injured. The air thickened with the scent of blood and the faint warmth radiating from the werewolves as they healed themselves. Then, my gaze fell upon a figure not far away. Jacob and Celena sat facing each other on a fallen tree trunk, both having reverted to human form and sloppily donned spare clothes handed to them by others. Their faces and arms bore splatters of half-dried blood, though none appeared to be their own wounds. They didn’t talk to each other; they just sat quietly. But that kind of atmosphere… Very subtle. It was no longer the cold, estranged silence of the past, but a complex calmness after a life-and-death struggle, as if something invisible had been broken in that crazy battle just now, or perhaps reconnected. Ethan came over, followed my gaze, and raised his eyebrows in understanding. I gently touched his arm, gesturing for him to be quiet, and then pulled him, quietly bypassing that area. Some moments didn’t need outsiders intruding. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ.net