The men hesitated despite the order they had received from Roxy. Ria knew that even though Roxanne was important and probably held a high rank, she wasn’t their leader. Castiel was.
Except, he wasn’t here.
“Do I have to repeat myself,” Roxy snapped, getting visibly furious, “Castiel doesn’t care about her. Just kill her and be done with it!”
“Is that what this is about?” Riannon taunted the redhead, “I mentioned him to you today, and you couldn’t handle it?”
The men exchanged glances at her words, and she knew she hit the nail on the head by causing them to doubt why they were there in the first place. This, whatever it was, was not planned.
“Shut up!” Roxy growled, and her eyes glowed red for a few seconds, “Don’t think too much of yourself! He would never be interested in someone as dull as you.”
“Then you don’t have anything to worry about,” Riannon smirked, “Either way, there is an easy way to.
I’ll discover whether he cares or not. You can simply call him and ask. Right?”
It was a gamble, of course. For all she knew, she could have misread Castiel’s intentions the last two times they met. He could very well want her as dead as Roxy did. On the other hand, all she needed was enough time for the Lycans to stealthily zone in on them.
The expressions of the four men were tense and when one of them pulled out his phone, she knew it was a little victory for her. Her eyes locked with Roxanne’s, and she could see her snarling.
“Hey, Cass,” the leader of the group greeted, managing to connect rather quickly, “Sorry to bother you.
We have a situation here. We have that Luna, well, she is actually the Alpha now. Yes, that’s the one. Roxy said-
Oh. Okay. Understood. She is here-Got it.”
He switched off the phone and glared at the redhead who stood not far from him and was clearly unhappy with how everything was turning out.
“Looks like we have a change of plans,” he announced to his accomplices, “Alpha Riannon will have to take a little trip with us.”
This was better! This she could work with!
Everything seemed so much better that she would remain alive, and they obviously had an order to keep her that way. It gave her more freedom and time to get into action.
“l am sorry,” she chuckled, “l am afraid I am busy tonight.”
“Rick,” Roxanne called, turning to the leader of the group, “You owe me one. I want to collect now, and I want this woman dead!”
“You will have to collect your debt another time, Rox,” Rick responded, “I do not want any trouble with Castiel, and his orders were clear on her account. He wants us to bring her to him. So, finish off the boy and let’s get going.”
The man looked in the direction of the tree house, and Riannon knew this was where they kept Dean.
“Guys! Now!” Ria commanded Ash and Maya via the mindlink and charged for the treehouse in the hope of reaching Dean first. He was of Beta blood and could fight with her until help arrived.
One of the men tried to stop her, but she manoeuvred her body and forced herself to escape his grasp. However, her attempt cost her speed, and the next guy who grabbed at her managed to capture her by her wa!st, laughing along the way as if this was some kind of sick game.
“Nice try!” he mocked, “Even if you manage that, you won’t go far. You didn’t seriously think we would wander into the enemy’s territory with just the four of us.
He didn’t finish speaking when she saw glowing eyes in the darkness of the woods. One pair, two, three, and then dozens.
She was wrong in her calculations. Why didn’t she sense any of them?!
“Ash, Maya, abort!” she tried to stop her Beta and Gamma, “There are too many of them! Don’t come here without-“
This wasn’t just about saving Dean. This was also about keeping the rest of her friends alive. This was a risk even with the Lycans they had with them. It wouldn’t be a fair fight.
“We are not leaving you and Dean!” Maya growled, speeding up as she spoke.
In the meantime, the glowing eyes moved in closer, and Riannon was finally able to make out the creatures they belonged to.
Red and brown fur. Foxes and bears.
They were slowly getting closer, taking their time because they were sure they already had their prey.
She swallowed, thinking hectically. Roxanne was working with them. She was one of them.
Why didn’t she think about this before? They had known for a while who their enemy was. This made so much sense now.
“Riannon!” she heard Roxy’s voice, which broke her train of thought. Their eyes met, and Ria gasped when she saw the fake omega standing on the little platform of the tree house and holding Dean hostage. Her claws were out and dug into his neck. It did not escape her how beaten the boy looked. He was barely standing.
“At least ręlease the pup,” she offered, trying to sound as if it didn’t matter much to her. Because she knew Roxy would only kill him quicker if she knew Ria cared.
“What for?” the girl giggled menacingly and tilted her head, “He is a witness who I no longer need. He served his purpose. I am done with him!”
With that, she slashed her claws across his neck.
Riannon screamed in horror. She struggled to get out of the man’s grasp, but he only increased his pressure on her. He was stronger than her since she was without her wolf.
Riannon’s eyes met with Dean’s as blood gushed out of his throat. There was so much regret in them. It was as if he was asking for forgiveness for his past mistakes:
Tears were burning in her eyes. Angry tears.
Riannon was angry at being powerless. She had had enough of this.
She miraculously returned back in time to fix things, to save people who were dear to her, yet here she was, losing her family again. Dean was exactly that to her; family.
“You are probably wondering why he isn’t healing?”
Roxy snorted loudly, “And the answer to that is aconite.”This was a splash of cold water to he.
Aconite. They drugged Dean with aconite so he couldn’t heal. Just like Roxanne did to her in her past life.
She remembered the feeling of helplessness it induced; how her hands and legs couldn’t move properly, and how scared she was. This wasn’t the death she ,wished for Dean. She didn’t want him to die at all.
At that moment, wolves jumped out from behind her, and she recognised Maya’s loud howl. Bears and foxes charged at them, and a battle began. Growls and snarls filled the air, and red blood splattered over the grass as each of them was fighting for their life.
However, she could clearly see the powers represented were uneven. She wasn’t ready for an attack today, and since Brayden took most of the warriors away with him, she didn’t have the backup she needed. While the Lycans were very helpful with their much larger wolves, their small group struggled against the quantity of their opponents, which seemed to only increase with every agonising minute.
The man who held her, started to drag her away.
Riannon struggled against his hold as much as she could, but it was all useless.
“Stop it!” he shouted at her and raised his hand to backslap her. A black and grey wolf jumped at him, knocking them both to the ground.
Riannon immediately recognised Ash. Before she could utter a word or do anything to help him, he had ripped her captor to pieces.
She jumped to her feet and ran in the direction of the tree house, where Roxanne still held Dean as she watched the battle. When she noticed Ria, a smirk spread over her face, and she threw the young man at her.
Ria tried to catch him but fell with him to the ground.
“Dean!” she called out in fear, panic creating a chokehold in her throat as she desperately tried to cover his neck and stop the blood in a frantic and useless attempt to save his life.
“Dean!” Maya shifted next to them into her human form, and her shivering hands touched her brother, “
Dean! Brother!”
Her screams filled the air around them as she clenched the dying sibling to her chest with tears rolling down her cheek.
From the corner of her eye, Riannon noticed Roxy jump off her hideout and shift rapidly into a fiery red creature. A fox. The fake omega was actually a fox after all!
The cunning creature was attempting to run away!
Clenching her fists, Ria stood up and ran after her.
She wasn’t letting her get away with that.
Roxanne was faster than she was, and soon she disappeared out of sight.
Another fox, dirty brown in colour, crossed her path.
It was large with huge canines which it bared at her.
Another fox joined them. Then one more. But it wasn’t until an enormous brown bear arrived that she knew she was in deep trouble. There was no way she could take them all down.
Those three did not look like they were going to capture her and take her prisoner. They looked like they were going to kill her and be done with it.
Ria quickly glanced around, realising she was too far from everyone else.
She inhaled a deep breath of acceptance, ready to die, when, suddenly, a huge black wolf appeared out of nowhere and attacked the bear, which was clearly the biggest and most dangerous threat.
“Gideon!” she whispered in relief, and he growled at her in response. This wasn’t how he expected to find her, and seeing her surrounded caused anger to rise in him like a raging storm.
He killed the bear with ease, turning to the foxes, both of which simultaneously charged at him at the şame time. Worse still, three more enormous werebears appeared, running with all their might in his direction.
He was outnumbered five to one, and she couldn’t bear to watch it. She hoped he was strong enough. He was the Lycan King after all. Although it seemed too much even for him? She didn’t know enough about him to know.
It was as if the world around her stopped. She saw her friends fighting against their enemies. She saw Maya rocking Dean’s lifeless body as another fox moved in closer toward them.
It became hard to breathe. So much was going on, and she was useless-just like back then.
Riannon fell to her knees. Pain filled her chest: unbearable and all-consuming. She couldn’t let this happen again. She couldn’t lose any more people whom she loved.
Not Maya.
Not Gideon.
She couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. She would fight with everything she had in her to give. Everything.
A stir shifted deep inside of her. Something familiar.
As if a piece of a puzzle had finally found its place.
“Onyx!” she whispered, “I need you. Now!’”
“l am here,” her wolf replied with a growl that could shatter the mountains.