The Lycan King's Fated Mate

Chapter 6 - Defeated

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Eli

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“No, no, no. Please, no,” my voice breaks, and my anguished plea echoes through the forest as I lace my fingers on top of my head. I pause for a moment, my eyes locked upon the horrifying sight of my brother’s lifeless body, and a numbness envelops me.

But just then, another gut-wrenching realization hits me: his head is nowhere in sight. The realization snaps me out of my shock, and I frantically look around, the screams caused by everyone still running away now muted.

My legs take on a life of their own as they carry me to the soul-numbing sight, and I collapse to my knees, pulling my brother’s cold body into my arms while still looking around for his head, expecting to see it lying somewhere. I let out an agonized scream that is more of a howl than a scream, feeling my body turn cold for the first time, and the world spins.

But just before my grief can consume me completely, the forest comes alive with the stench of wolves and the sounds of snapping twigs and breaking branches.

My head snaps in the direction where the sound comes from, and I spring to my feet, my senses heightened as I take in the sounds of paws hitting the forest floor before the unmistakable scent of my brother’s blood—my blood—floods my nostrils.

Orpheus takes over, and the transformation into my wolf's form is a blink of an eye before the powerful paws leave debris of soil in their wake as he tears through the forest floor.

All he sees is red, the overpowering scent of the blood leading the way as the forest echoes with the relentless pursuit. Eventually, a brown wolf emerges in front of us, attempting to flee, but it stands no chance against Orpheus’s rage.

With a mighty leap, he tackles the brown wolf, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. He lands on top, the brown wolf struggling beneath him, and it lets out a distressed howl. But in a swift, merciless move, he slashes the wolf’s throat, silencing the howl before it even reaches the tree canopy.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Orpheus streaks through the forest, a blur of fur and motion as he leaps over fallen trees, his muscles rippling beneath his fur as his powerful hind legs propel him with uncanny agility. The force of each bound sends soil flying as his paws make sharp stops, the impact resonating through the forest floor.

Tree branches slap against his face, but he pays no heed, his focus unwavering, fueled by a determination stronger than any physical hindrance—the scent of our blood that hangs thick in the air.

Soon another brown wolf materializes in front of us and the wolf, realizing Orpheus has closed the gap, executes a sudden, sharp turn in a desperate attempt to evade the relentless pursuit.

However, Orpheus anticipates the move, and the two wolves collide in mid-air with a sickening force, initiating a tumultuous tumble through the forest.

As they grapple in a chaotic dance, claws and fangs bared, the brown wolf puts up a valiant fight. The forest echoes with snarls and growls, a fierce chorus of primal aggression as the tangled mass of bodies hurtles through the underbrush, creating a tornado of leaves and soil.

Eventually, the brown wolf, though putting up a spirited resistance, succumbs to the relentless onslaught of Orpheus’s ferocity. His sharp canines tear through the wolf’s throat, sending blood splashing everywhere.

However, it’s not over as shadows leap at us from the surrounding trees, and before Orpheus can react, four more wolves descend upon us.

The unfair fight unfolds rapidly, and Orpheus finds himself outnumbered and overpowered. His body takes the punishment of their relentless assault, absorbing the brunt of their claws and canines. But the adrenaline coursing through us dulls the pain as he fights back against the overwhelming onslaught.

The battle is a chaotic blur, his vision blurring with each strike, and as swiftly as it began, the fight ends, and the next thing we register is the sight of wolf bodies lying motionless on the jungle floor, now shifting to their human forms.

Orpheus’s chest heaves, his paws stained with blood, as he again, without hesitation, resumes the pursuit, only for us to be hit by a devastating realization—the scent is gone.

Desperation fuels his every step, and he races through the forest, uncertain if we are heading in the right direction. The only sounds are the rhythmic thud of his paws against the forest floor, echoing the pounding of my heart. The pursuit leads us to the edge of a cliff, his body skidding to a halt, and a guttural growl rips through his throat as we stand on the precipice, realizing there’s nowhere left to go.

Involuntarily, he shifts back, giving me control and I crumble to my knees as the weight of failure settles upon me. I failed my brother again.

The growls turn to soul-numbing cries, and I don’t know how long I kneel there, defeated before I’m able to will my body back up and retrace my steps.

Now hearing the sounds of sirens, I run back, realizing I have to get there before they take his body away. I don’t shift back to my wolf and run on my wolf speed in my human form. It’s dangerous, and the tree leaves drip with my blood as the branches tear into my flesh, but my soul and body are numb, and I need to feel; it’s the only way to keep my sanity which I need to find out who did this to my brother.

I push harder, my body continuing to take the punishment as a tree branch comes out of nowhere and slaps me across the face, sending me flying to my back. Groaning in pain, I spring back to my feet, tears blurring my vision as I pass the bodies of the wolves who ganged up on me, fighting the urge to fall apart but failing.

Soon, I’m almost out of the forest as I reach the first brown wolf, but I notice it’s still in its wolf form and beginning to heal, which means it survived the s***h in the throat. Normally, a wolf heals faster than this, but when the injury is too great and almost costs its life, it takes some time.

I collapse to my knees in front of the wolf and transform my right hand, which I bury in the healing wolf’s chest. This assault will force it to shift back to its human form involuntarily so it can talk, and then, when I get my answers, I will rip its heart out.

Blood trickles out of the wolf’s mouth, immediately shifting back to its human form as my fingers wrap around his heart.

My other hand weaves through the unknown man’s hair, gripping it tight as I tilt his head, forcing him to look at me, asking him why they killed my brother.

But the man’s eyes roll to the back of his head, clearly dying, causing me to scream my questions even louder in desperation. However, it soon becomes clear I will not get an answer as the man lies motionless.

I let out a frustrated scream as he takes his last breath. But just then, suddenly, a force unlike anything I have ever felt courses through me, stealing the air from my lungs.

The world around me freezes, suspended in a heartbeat before a surge of electricity emanates from the hair of the dying man I’m clutching. Paralyzed and unable to move, I feel the electrical current travel up my arm at lightning speed until it reaches my head.

I shudder, and just then a series of images unfold before my eyes like a rapid succession of scenes from a motion picture. Confused and disoriented, I watch through the dead man’s eyes, seeing everything the man witnessed in his last moments, and I take a moment to realize that it’s the man’s memories playing before me.

In that moment of realization, the images pause, revealing the man standing next to another man who faces a door. The other man converses with a woman, but because the man I’m looking through didn’t see the woman, I don’t see her either.

All I hear is the woman giving instructions to the man. She says she changed her mind and she no longer wants whoever she’s talking about brought to her alive. She says she wants him killed and his head brought back to her. Despite not mentioning his name, it becomes painfully clear to me that my brother was the target.

The man replies with a deferential “Yes, my lady,” bowing as if the person he is talking to is some royalty. The one I’m looking through walks away, followed by the one who was talking to the woman.

After that, the scenes fast-forward again, and I see the man pointing at my brother who was coming up the mountain, looking at his phone. It looks like he is heading back to the hotel, and sobs escape me as I watch him absorbed in his phone and oblivious to the danger lurking until a sudden blow to the chest sends him sprawling a few feet away from the man.

Chaos ensues as screams pierce the air, and I watch the tragic events unfold through the man’s eyes. I see the man fleeing into the forest, carrying the severed head, and then the vision abruptly cuts, leaving me falling on my butt, gasping for breath as I process what just happened.

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Clio

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“Has he called?” Dame asks, walking inside with the snack he went to get for me, and I shake my head. When I called Lio, I couldn’t speak to him. I was still traumatized by what happened, and even though I know he’s okay—I heard his voice—I can’t shake the dream out of my head. I just want to talk to him again and tell him about it. Maybe I’ll feel better after that.

“Thank you.” I take the bowl from Dame, but just then, a scream tears through my throat, and the bowl tumbles to the bed, spilling its contents as a powerful force cuts through me.

For a moment, everything stops, and just then, an image pops before my eyes: an image of Lio, naked, holding someone’s head, someone covered in blood. Before I can process what I’m seeing, the image disappears, and the force that had kept me frozen releases, leaving me gasping for air while Dame asks what’s happening.

“I don’t know... I saw. I saw Lio; he was naked, and he had black hair, and he was holding someone who looked hurt." My voice comes out breathy as I scramble for my phone while Dame looks at me wide-eyed.

The anxiety comes crashing back, and my fingers are fumbling as I place the phone against my ear. Just then, Lio’s phone goes to voicemail and my voice is a whimper as I tell Dame that his phone is off. The room feels like it’s closing in, the panic settling in the pit of my stomach as I try to call him again, hoping he’ll answer.

“What is happening to me? Why am I seeing all these crazy, scary things about my brother?” Tears well up in my eyes as I dial Lio’s number again, but it goes to voicemail again.

Dame says maybe he’s not at the hotel yet, reminding me he had poor service and said he would call when he gets to the hotel, but that’s impossible; it’s been over thirty minutes. How far away is this hotel?

“I need to speak to my brother now,” I tell him, frantically searching for Will’s number. He’s also there. I find it and I dial his number and his phone rings, but it eventually goes to voicemail.

Dame tries to say something, but I don’t hear him, and I dial Will’s number again. It rings for a while, and just as I’m expecting it to go to voicemail, he picks up. But I frown upon hearing his voice. It sounds like he’s been crying.

“Will, what’s wrong?” I ask but he just breaks down crying on the phone, calling my name.

“Will? What happened? Where is Lio? I’m looking for him; can you hand the phone over to him?” My voice is trembling, and I get off the bed with a sinking feeling in my stomach, but Will continues crying, causing me to raise my voice, feeling like I’m going to lose my mind.

“Something has happened, Clio. Lio… Lio was attacked by-”

“-By what? Where is he? Give him the phone.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry, Clio.”

“Will, don’t tell me you are sorry; give my brother the phone!” I scream, shaking, and Dame takes the phone while I collapse on my knees, begging God.

“Please, don’t let my brother be hurt, please.” But my words halt in my throat as I look up at Dame’s face seeing tears welling up in his eyes.

“No,” I whisper, shaking my head as he kneels in front of me. “Please, no.”

“I’m sorry, Clio. Lio is gone. He was attacked by wolves on his way back to the hotel.”

“No! Not my brother. Not my Lio. He would never leave me like that.”

“I’m sorry, Clio.”

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….......

Eli

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I slowly emerge from the forest, checking if the coast is clear, and when I’m sure it is, I bolt back towards the crime scene, my face in a frown at the quietness as I run up the little hill.

I expected the police to be on the crime scene, so I opted to emerge on the other side of the forest to not draw attention to myself since I don’t know what’s happening. Especially seeing that my brother’s death was planned.

But my frown deepens when I get to the top of the hill. There’s nothing. It’s like everything that happened didn't happen, and my brother’s body is gone.

I run back to the hotel, feeling the tight pants I’m wearing tear. I ripped my clothes when I shifted, so I took some clothes that must have belonged to one of the wolves I killed.

The hotel comes into view and I notice how there’s not even a single soul outside. I suppose everyone has been told to stay inside. I have to find out where my brother came from and who he was with.

Tears start blurring my vision again, causing me to stop, knowing I have to compose myself before going inside. After seeing inside that man’s head, I went back to the others and tried to look through their eyes, desperate to see the woman’s face, but I couldn’t see anything. It was like it was a one-time thing.

Taking a deep breath, I make my way inside again, but just as I’m about to reach the door, I come to an abrupt stop, hearing my father’s voice in my head, sounding like something is wrong. I tried to mind link him as I made my way through the forest, to tell him what had happened but I couldn't get through to him.

“Dad?” I call out to him, but he doesn’t reply. “Dad!” I call out again, now walking away from the hotel entrance, and just then, my phone vibrates in my hand. It’s Malia and my hands start shaking, getting emotional all over at the thought of her, and I answer. But before I can speak, she breaks down crying.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, and her words are incoherent as she says something about an accident. My steps falter, knowing I can't take any more bad news and I ask her what happened. I'm barely hanging on as it is. She says her father is gone; he’s dead and for the third time today, my heart stops.

“No,” I whisper, before telling her I’m sorry, the tears I've been holding back falling. I lean on my knees, defeated as the last bit of strength I had left drains from my body but just then she drops another bomb on me. She says my father was with him.

“What?”

“Your father... he was trying to help rescue everyone and he... something pierced his heart. Eli, you need to come home.”