Chapter 176

Kyra rolls her eyes and sighs heavily.
“Look, you are the one making this difficult at every step if the way, Hayes. Not me.” She groans, her level of annoyance at an all-time high.
“You make it seem like it is intentional.” I grunt and she growls, yanking at her hair.
“Hayes, you are impossible to work with now. You used to ”
“Be a pushover?” I ask, shrugging. “Or perhaps you are looking for the word diplomatic?”
“Diplomatic seems more fitting, I guess,” she mutters.
“I am no longer the beta. I don’t have to worry about being diplomatic anymore. Not to mention we are in a fucking war where there are no rules.” I shout at her, my voice rising. “Lover’s quarrels are so strange.” Teiran muses to himself as I cut him a glare.
“Is this how mates always talk?” Flora asks, amused.
“Make for better make up later.” Teiran explains to her and I scoff, taking a stumble back. Is this whole fucking thing a joke? Just some charade to laugh at? We have been hunting for this bastard for years. He has caused so much destruction and proven he doesn’t give up. How long had he been playing Merikh and the others?
“If we take him alive, he will get away.” I tell them all, looking around. “That is not a worst-case scenario. It is the ONLY scenario, and then we are back to tracking the asshole down all over again.”
“You always underestimate everyone.” Kyra snaps, reaching up for Flora to help her up.
“This conversation is done.” I grit out, stalking over to the ball of roots. My hand transforms into a claw as I swipe at it. The wood splinters easily, falling away in chunks only to reveal more thick growth with every blow.
What could Merikh possibly want with Ezrah? Is it to say goodbye to someone he regarded highly as a friend? Or perhaps he has gone soft and believes he can turn him to our side. But that’s the problem.
Ezrah is on no one’s side. Instead of being a part of the dragons or his own species, he is betrothed to his word and his occupation. He doesn’t care who wins this fucking war, he only cares this thing survives.
My arms grow tired as I continually cut away at the roots just as quickly as they are replaced. They all talk behind me, no doubt trying to discuss what to do next, but if they think they will stop me, they will have to kill me first.
“Hayes,” Kyra says softly, her voice calm and too commanding. My lycan wants to respond, but I push aside the bond that connects us, or at least I try.
My screams of anger fill the air, tuning her out as I try to hold on to every thread of hatred I have in my heart for the asshole who allowed all of this to happen. Everything, every last bit of it, is Ezrah’s fault.
His lies and manipulation are what led to so much pain and suffering. He wants to claim he did it for the love of someone he viewed as a child, but the truth is he did it because it’s the closest feeling he has had to love. A false sense of servitude to an evil rare breed. “Hayes!” she roars, grabbing my attention as I whip my head around and scowl at her.
“What!” I scream, taking four large steps to enter her space.
“Killing him won’t solve this.” She says, her hand reaching up and pressing to my chest. The shocks make me shiver and I see her skin prickle. “Killing Ezrah won’t bring them back, any of them.”
There is a hurt in her eyes I can’t figure out, but it makes my mouth dry as I press my lips together in disappointment. How can she think this is about bringing anyone back? This isn’t about Leandra or anyone else.
This is about a bastard who is allowing a species to be wiped out. Yeah, it took me a while to realize that, but once I did, I realized, Ezrah has to die because he won’t give up.
The fae messenger boy doesn’t scare me. It’s what his actions lead to that has me on edge. I may have no desire to live, but that doesn’t mean that others shouldn’t have that choice taken from them.
“I’m not trying to bring them back,” I whisper and she shakes her head, wincing as she tries to step forward but fails.
“Then what is all of this about?”
“A future for anyone who wants it.”
She swallows and I see it on her face the way she wants to say something, ask me something. But I can’t give her the answer she wants yet. I’m not worthy yet, not available in my heart for her, for anything that keeps me in this world where all I wear freely is guilt of my failures and shortcomings.
There is a loud crack as a strong
breeze weighs down on us. Kyra falls onto the ground groaning out in pain, her hands gingerly holding her thigh as she tries to breathe through her teeth, spit flying out while tears spring free. I look up, flames of shock and anger scorching through my veins as I watch as a dragon swoops down and scoop up the root ball.
Ezrah roars out, the orb swaying from side to side as he tries to escape as Teiran flies higher and higher. I then watch as Flora uses her power to cling on, leaving Kyra and me behind. “Teiran!” I roar, screaming up at the fucking asshole as he ignores me and spins, heading away.
“Flora!” Kyra screams next to me, hobbling as much as she can as she works through her pain.
“FUCK!” I growl, lashing out and punching a tree. My fingers crumble under the pressure, the bones compacting as I use the pain to distract the murderous rage growing in the pit of my stomach.
“Feel better now?” Kyra asks smartly and I glare at her before I take off walking, leaving her behind me.
“Where are you going?” She asks.
When I don’t respond, I hear her grumble in frustration and try to follow along. I’m not leaving her, she is injured in the woods and there is very clearly a clan or at least some rogue wizards around. But fuck if I don’t need a minute to calm down. I want to kill or maim, or just find an intense outlet to release this rising tension.
Something feels off, wrong almost, and I can’t place it. Aside from the fact that I don’t trust Teiran or fucking Flora, something else is amiss, but I can’t figure out what. Kyra’s voice fades behind me and I come to a stop, letting out a pained cry of anger. What now? What the fuck do I do now?
There is always the worry that
Teiran is betraying us. Hell, that’s a huge worry if I’m honest. I’m not the one who trusted him. Kyra is. Without this mission, I have nothing left, no reason to stay other than the order my brother has given me. But if have done everything I can, maybe it’s time to renounce my place in the pack and find myself a peaceful place to wither and die.
“HAYES!” Kyra screams my name, but I ignore her. Her cry is not one of fear but one of concern and the last thing I want is for her to feel sorry for me after she betrayed me like this. Maybe this was her plan all along? It sure seemed like it might have been earlier. “HAYES!” she roars again. “Get your ass over here now!”
I refuse to go running when she
calls, so instead of rushing back, I take my time, pausing to look at the trees and the moss. If she wants to fuck around, fine, we can both play that game. But by the time I make it to her, she is red faced, and her eyes wide. I scan her from head to toe, looking for anything amiss other than the healing broken leg.
“Did you enjoy your pity party?” She scoffs, a glare of her own on her cute freckled cheeks.
“Sure did.” I grumble, leaning on the tree nearest to me.
“While you were busy being a fucking child, I stumbled onto something you might want to see.” She says, huffing her chest up and rolling her shoulders back. Then she points to the upturned moss at the base of a tree. “Go look.”
I give her a weary eye before I move over to it and squat down, pushing the upturned leaves and moss to the side. Shock flutters over me, my mouth going dry and all my anger vanishing in a flash.
“Well, fuck me. Who do we have here?”