Page 35 of Sasquatch's Claiming

“I did.”

Rage boiled through her. “You killed my biological parents as well. Didn’t you?”

“How do you think I became what I am. I feasted on their flesh to gain their powers and now I will claim you.” He made a lunge for her, but Ben grabbed an axe and sliced off its arm.

The wendigo let out a god-awful shriek, spurting black blood everywhere as it gripped the remnants of its stump.

“You leave my mate alone,” Ben growled, his voice deep and his eyes flashing with golden burning fire. “She’s my mate. MINE.”

The wendigo hissed, slumping on the ground.

“You have no power over me,” Bernadette shouted. “I am alpha and I carry his young. You need to leave.”

Her uncle shrieked, the skin cracking. “No.”

“Yes. I banish you to the netherworld. You belong there and I hope you rot for all eternity.”

There was a ripple, like an explosion, through the air. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, her uncle, or what was left of him, began to crumple and shrivel. Its body turning to dust. There was another blast of energy and he was gone.

The sky lightened and the heaviness that had come over the clearing dissipated.

Bernadette felt dizzy and Ben caught her, but for the first time in her life, she really did feel free. There was a lightness to the world around her.

“That was it?” Ethan asked, snorting. “Ben had to knock up a wolf to send the wendigo off.”

“Shut your face,” Ben responded.

Bernadette tried to hide her giggle and then made her way over to Aoife, getting bandaged by Adam. She knelt by Aoife.

“Are you okay?” Bernadette asked.

“I’ll be fine.” Aoife smiled. “Little tired.”

“I’m taking you home as soon as I can,” Adam groused.

“The portal is destroyed,” Aoife said. “There are other portals, but we’re a little cut off from Thunder Bay now.”

“It can’t be fixed?” Ben asked.

“I don’t know. It takes another kind of magic. Maybe Cillian would know, but I haven’t seen him in a while,” Aoife said.

“Yeah, it’s a bit weird he isn’t here, being all cryptic and shit,” Daniel stated.

“We’ll just have to travel on foot a bit longer to get to a working portal. That’s all,” Adam said.

“How is Coraliane?” Aoife asked quickly.

“She’ll be fine,” the elf who had carried her to the lake stated, coming in from the trees. “She’s angry about the wendigo and I think she’ll be out for revenge, on what I don’t know. That portal was a main passage for all of us. At least she has a water portal still.”

“I’m sorry he destroyed it,” Bernadette remarked. “If I hadn’t…”

“You need to be here,” Aoife stated. “You’re Ben’s mate and you’re part of this realm. It’s clear there are humans of mixed blood out there and we have to protect them. There are creatures from the nether regions and other realms who would control them or hurt them. It’s clear that we have a duty to everyone within our border. On both sides of the veil.”

There was a murmur, but no one really agreed on anything.

Instead, Adam picked up his wife. “You’re too injured to transport yourself. I will carry you home and put you to bed.”

Aoife just smiled at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Okay. That sounds like a plan.”

---