Free Book | The Lost Werewolf King's Mate

Chapter 48: Elizabeth's POV

The flames were getting so big that they weren't even forming a path anymore. It just looked like a forest fire consuming everything in its wake, but I was the only one who could see it.

The intensity and anger of the flames made me think that I was already too late.

I was still weak from trying to reject Mathew, but I had slowly regained my strength; even if I wasn't in the best fighting condition yet.

Phoenix lent me her strength and I kicked the passenger door off the speeding car and shifted into my phoenix form. While flying, I left a thin trail of flames for Mike to follow.

Within minutes, I saw a horrific scene unfolding before me. Anha and a few werewolves were stuck in ice, a man was lying on the floor bleeding out and some statuesque man was grabbing Danny by the throat.

Phoenix and I flew down and started spreading flames all over the ground. These flames would melt all the ice, but it wouldn't hurt the people that were trapped in it.

Someone ran to the man who was bleeding on the floor and said the words that made me realise I may already be too late.

"It's Ken", he shouted in a voice filled with panick and fear. "He's not going to make it."

Phoenix and I conjoured flames to get that silver looking man to let go of Danny.

I then looked at all the witches and kelpies who were now standing on the river that was frozen a few seconds ago. I engulfed the river in flames and watched them all burn alive.

I tried to burn that man as well, but he was either too strong or I was too weak. He looked up at me and gave me the most menacing smirk as if he knew I had just tried to kill him and failed.

I decided if I couldn't kill him, I would at least trap him in fire so I created waves and waves of fire around him to give myself time.

When I landed, I shifted into my human form and ran to the man bleeding on the floor. A silver knife was lodged in his chest and he was minutes if not seconds away from dying. I recognised him from my vision. This was Ken. He's a royal werewolf.

The fastest way to get him to a healer would be to fly him out of here, but I couldn't leave everyone else behind.

I noticed Anha running to me and the man who was bleeding on the ground.

"Anha, you're half gryphon. Carry him on your back and fly him to safety where a healer can save him", I ordered her.

She looked shocked that I had just ordered her. She was probably thinking why I even thought that I could make such a request to a mighty gryphon. "I will not-"

"Anha, you will obey me. Shift!", I commanded her.

I saw her trying to fight my order, but within seconds, she had shifted into a light blue and white gryphon. The warriors helped me put Ken on her back and I saw Mike running to me. He had managed to follow the flames.

"Mike, go with him", I ordered him.

He didn't protest. He just got on the back of the gryphon and they took off.

"Liz", Danny yelled as she ran to me, "It's Raphael!"

"Why? How?", I shouted.

I was struggling to think straight. All this was undeniably my fault and it looked like I arrived late. I watched Anha, Mike and Ken take off and pursed my lips while clenching my fists. Phoenix and I could both feel that Ken is really important. He needed to make it.

Before Danny could respond, the fire I had formed around Raphael dissipated.

He started slowly applauding while his eyes fixated on my now naked body.

"I am impressed." His cold and icy voice sounded so familiar. I couldn't place it, but I had definitely heard it before. It felt like a snake slithering towards me and trying to wrap itself around me.

I gestured for everyone to stand behind me and they did. Suddenly a few more werewolves started appearing out of the woods with weapons pointing at Raphael.

Phoenix, who are they?, I asked her in my head.

They're trackers. They've been following us since we left the Gryphon kingdom.

I felt blood rushing to my face as I remembered what I did with Mathew a few hours ago. If they were following me, it means they saw us do all those things. I almost hit my palm against my face when it dawned on me that Mike probably also saw me and Mathew.

"Get behind me", I ordered the men. I could see them trying to fight my order so I shouted again. "Now!", I roared at them.

They finally did as I commanded them.

Raphael seemed intrigued by what he just saw. He was watching us like we amused him. "So much power, so much pure magic in such a tiny woman", he chuckled.

I did not dare to look away from his icy blue eyes despite every fibre in my body telling me to turn my back and run away. Phoenix and I were scared. I had fought alphas and ranked wolves, werewolf warriors, witches, inklings and even the Gryphon king himself, but not once was I scared. Yet, here I was with dozens of people by my side, confronting one man and I had to stop myself from trembling out of fear. All my instincts were telling me this was a predator like no other and that I had to run.

He c****d his head to the side and slowly started walking towards me. "You know, King Amenadiel has betrothed Princess Diane to me." He looked at Diane and she snorted at him.

"Tell you what", he pointed his finger at me, "if you come with me, you can be my new bride. Aaaand, seeing as I am a gentleman, I will spare the lives of your little friends here."

I gulped. "Over my dead body, Raphael", I spat out.

A devious laugh ripped out of him.

"You know, ironically, I was going to kill you in the Silver City. I was close too. You were about to give yourself up, but-", he paused and rolled his eyes all annoyed, "before I could get to you, someone scooped you right up from under my nose."

Then it dawned on me. It was Raphael back in the Silver City. It was the same voice. It sounds like a cold darkness threatening to envelop me. The voice was dripping in malice and death.

"Well here I am, Raphael", I taunted him. "Are you going to kill me or are you just all talk?"

If I could mindlink the people here, I would have told them to leave, but unfortunately I wasn't bled into any of their packs, so I didn't have that kind of connection with them. The moment the thought popped into my head, I felt Phoenix ripping open a connection that was previously not available to me. I felt myself connect to all the werewolves here even though I don't belong to any pack.

"Leave right now and take the girl in pink with you", I told them through the mindlink.

They all looked at me confused and shocked so I repeated myself through the link.

"You're our queen", I heard one of the men say through the link. "We have orders from the king to protect you with our lives."

"Damn you, Mathew!", I muttered to myself internally.

"I've decided I'm not going to kill you...at least not yet..", Raphael taunted, getting my attention back to him.

He chuckled while playing around with the ice that was forming in his hands. "You see, I'm not easily impressed, but you have impressed me."

I was struggling to keep standing up. Almost rejecting Mathew and the fighting had taken its toll on me, and my fatigue was quickly catching up with me.

Suddenly Raphael's amused demeanour disappeared and he narrowed his eyes at me as he came close enough to smell my hair. "There is so much you don't know, Princess," he growled lowly a mere inches from my ear. "If you take my hand, I will save you and let you rise as a godess."

He was standing so close to me. His breath was cold and left a thin layer of ice near my ear and neck.

I kept trying to conjour flames to burn him right where he stood, but nothing happened.

I was losing my strength. The almost rejection had taken a bigger toll on me than I thought and although I was trying my best to kill him, I could barely even continue standing up.

"And if I say no?", I asked him through gritted teeth.

He raised his brows and looked surprised at my question. Then he slowly rubbed his chin as if in deep thought.

"If you say no I will kill everyone here."

I heard everyone gasp and could feel their eyes on me.

"Do not try to shoot him or shift", I warned everyone through the mindlink. "It won't work and it will just agitate him."

"That's no way to court a lady, Raphael", I countered. "I thought you wanted me to rule by your side. Killing my friends is a bad way to convince me, don't you think?"

I was trying to stall. I wasn't strong enough to fight him yet. I needed more time.

He raised his eyebrow as if intrigued by what I had just said.

"Beauty, power and brains. You really are the full package, aren't you?" He was still standing inches away from me and towering over me.

There was no heat coming off of his body. He was so cold.

"I guess I'll have to court you then", he whispered in my ear while moving a strand of my hair out of the way.

He held my neck gently and sighed. "The next time I see you, I'm taking you with me, Princess." A shiver ran down my spine and he noticed. "Don't worry", he scoffed. "I'll let you be for now. I have a seer to see about a gem."

In a flash, he disappeared, leaving only small particles of snow behind.

I felt my knees buckle as soon as he left, but someone caught me before I could fall. One of the warriors handed me a large shirt and they helped me put it on.

Danny came to hug me while the warrior held me up. "Liz, you were so freaking amazing", she said excitedly. "What the hell was that?"

I hugged her back. I couldn't believe that she was actually here and that we had survived an encounter with Raphael. I didn't have time to answer her though. I needed some answers about what happened here and we all needed to get out of here before anything else happened.

"I'll tell you later, Danny. For now, let's focus on getting out of here."

"Everyone, pick up your stuff and get into your cars right now", I commanded. "It's not safe here. You need to leave."

Everyone did as I said without question or protest.

The warrior that was helping me stand up started walking me to a car. It felt like my whole body was about to collapse into itself. Keeping my eyes open was proving to be difficult, let alone try walking by myself. But I couldn't rest yet. I needed to make sure they were all out of here before anything else happened.

"Phoenix, what's happening to us?", I asked her.

"Too much has happened in a short amount of time", she warned me. "You met with the divine, attempted to reject Mathew and Orion", she sounded annoyed saying that last part, "you killed dozens of witches and kelpies and you also tried killing the warlock. We're too weak right now. Our body needs to rest before we can do anything else."

Phoenix's voice sounded just as serene as Azrah's. Now that I wasn't fighting her for control, I could feel how much authority there was in her voice.

I noticed the man who was practically carrying me now was taking me to one of the cars that was about to leave.

"No, leave me behind!", I ordered him.

"Why?"

I couldn't explain to him that I couldn't go anywhere near Mathew yet. Judging from the black pin of a wolf on his lapel, he was from the seat of the werewolf kingdom. I couldn't risk going there and making an even bigger mess than I already made.

"Because...", I paused to think of an excuse, but couldn't think of anything. I was too tired. "Look, I just need to stay behind."

Phoenix wanted to go to Mathew and Orion, but luckily she was too tired to fight me. However, like me, she didn't like our orders being questioned. I hadn't actually ordered everyone to leave, but I suddenly felt like what I said should be final and could not be questioned. I didn't like feeling this way. It didn't leave much room for cooperation.

The tracker who was carrying me was visibly shocked by my request. "If you're staying behind then we'll stay with you. With all due respect your majesty, if we leave you the King will kill us. I have no doubt about that." The man didn't seem to be joking.

A few days or even a few hours ago, if anyone had called me "your majesty", I would have refused profusely. But now I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that I was the Werewolf Queen. Even though I'm not Mathew's fated mate, I just knew that I had always been the Werewolf Queen and I would kill anyone who tried to take my throne, my King or my kingdom.

I let out a frustrated sigh. "Okay, you and the other trackers can stay behind, BUT make sure everyone else leaves."

He nodded his head and put me in one of the cars that was staying behind and went to make sure the warriors were leaving.

"Liz, I'm not leaving without you", Danny snorted as she climbed in the car with me.

"Danny, it's dangerous to stay here and-"

"And nothing", she cut me off. "You may be a badass or....whatever you are, but you're still freaking reckless when it comes to your own life. Mike isn't here to knock some sense into you, so I'm going to do it." She scooted closer to me and put her arm around my shoulders. "Besides", she continued, "if I don't stay, how will I be able to tell you what my dad and Raphael are up to?"

I groaned, but she was making a good point. Finding out what King Amenadiel and Raphael are up to was priority number one.

I leaned against my seat as we watched the warriors pack up and leave. It was only once their cars were so far that I couldn't see them anymore that I gave a sigh of relief. Every part of my body was begging me to collapse in my seat and sleep, but I couldn't do that yet.

"Spill", I said to Danny with wide eyes.

She laid her head on my lap. It felt good having her here and knowing she's safe. For a brief moment it felt like we were back in her pink room, eating popcorn and chatting away.

"I'll to that in a minute", she raised her brow at me. "Do you care to tell me how you got that massive hickey on your mark spot? Half of your neck is red and blue!"

I tried to stiffle a laugh while I quickly used both hands to try and cover the massive hickey. Mathew definitely didn't hold back.

"I got hurt in battle!", I lied as flicked her hand away from my mark spot.

She laughed uncontrollably. "Are your enemies giving you hickeys while they fight you?"

"Danny!", I groaned while laughing as well. "I'm serious. Tell me what your dad and Raphael are up to."

She finally stopped laughing and teasing me and lied back in my lap.

"Raphael approached my father with a similar deal that he made to the kelpies during his first attack on the magical world."

I raised my brows and felt my mouth hangingopen. "Are you saying the kelpies have worked with Raphael before?"

She nervously nodded her head.

I slapped a hand against my face. "Why didn't you tell me this before, Danny?", I reprimanded her. "This isn't something you keep from someone."

She pouted and covered her face with her hands. "I know. I know! I was afraid of what you guys would think of me. You'd think that I would side with Raphael just because I'm a kelpie."

"Danny" I tried removing her hands from her face, "you know Mike and I would never do that!"

She pursed her lips and tried avoiding looking at me. "Well, as I was saying, Raphael came to my dad. He found our kingdom again, just like last time. He said he would let the kelpies live if we agreed to help him track magical creatures again."

I almost chocked. "What?"

She shifted uncomfortable with her head in my lap. She was clearly not too happy about this part of kelpie history.

"I'm sorry, Danny!", I apologised as I realised I was making her feel worse about herself. "It's just a lot to take in." I urged her to go on.

She continued with the story. "My dad agreed, but this time he said I had to be a part of the deal. He said Raphael had to make me his mate so that our kids would be demi-gods or something."

"What the hell is wrong with your dad?", I growled. "Doesn't he know that Raphael will most likely also kill the kelpies when he's done with everyone else? And offering you to him like you're some desert. How low can that man stoop?"

She sighed. "He knows that. My dad is hoping that if I'm mated to Raphael, when he's done with everyone he will have mercy on his mate's people."

I slammed my hand against the car door and the window shattered. A few of the trackers came running to us to check what's wrong.

"We're okay", I tried reassuring them while giving them an awkward smile.

Now that all that adrenaline had worn off and Phoenix was sound asleep, I wasn't feeling all that mighty and powerful anymore. I realised that I had probably been a little rude to everyone with all my orders and reprimanded myself internally.

"Uhm, I don't know if you'll like this", one of the trackers chuckled awkwardly, "but we have some clothes for you. We were told that King Mathew insisted that we carry clothes for you whenever we were tracking you. Just in case you needed them."

The tracker zipped a bag open and started showing different kinds of clothes. There were jeans, jackets, boots, shirts, undergarments and even dresses in there. They were all more or less my style.

I found myself being really impressed with the trackers and Mathew for thinking of this. All my clothes either have burn marks or have been burnt to a crisp. My powers have truly limited my wardrobe options.

I picked out black jeans, a black shirt and boots. These would be the easiest clothes to fight in if anything happens.

"Thanks. I really appreciate this." I took the clothes from the tracker and another tracker came running with another bag.

He opened it and revealed bottles filled with water, a few protein bars, chips and other snacks. It wouldn't be a proper meal, but it would more than suffice for now. Danny and I grabbed a few bottles of water and snacks and thanked the trackers.

"Before you leave", I stopped the two men who really did seem to be guarding me with their lives, "I'd just like to apologise for being rude earlier. I think I was coming off a battle high."

The men looked at me confused and then chuckled. "You were never rude to us, Queen Luna. We owe you our lives, your majesty. We should be thanking you right now."

"He's right", the other tracker chimed in, "we know we might not be as strong as you, but we will do everything we can to keep you safe. Even if it just means stalling so you can get to safety."

I laughed with them. "If you've been trained by the king himself then I know you're more than capable of keeping me safe. I trust you guys to do just that."

The men smiled, bowed slightly to me and left to go stand by their posts.