Page 66 of Alpha Exile

"Don't let her get away!" I tell Bastian and Finn as they join me in their wolf forms. "Keep at her."

They split up and circle around, hemming her in from either side while Lance stays at her back. Every time I manage to rip open a hole in her defense, he leaps in, claws and fangs at the ready.

She has splatters of blood on the side of her calf from his attacks—the only sign she was ever injured, because the wounds healed as soon as he opened them, her immortality kicking in.

"You won't be able to kill me, little wolf," Delphine teases, a sneer of disdain on her pale, perfect face. "Many before have tried, and many have failed."

"None of them had Gregor's dagger," I counter.

Her eyes go to it, as they have several times during our battle, and I can sense her growing fear. The dagger is the only reason why she's backed away from me continuously, why she flees towards the mountains instead of tearing me limb from limb and taking my mates back.

It's the only thing keeping her power in check, and for that I'm grateful for its steel.

But as I take more of Delphine's hits, ripping her black magic apart and throwing up shields of woven fire, I have to admit that I'm growing tired. The past few days have been absolute torture. I've discovered unimaginable power, tapped into new resources and poured flames from my very fingers, but even I have my limits, and I'm finding them.

I refuse to let her see my exhaustion, though. Each time I feel myself stumble, I remember the agonized look in Roarke's eyes, the bruises covering his skin, and I force myself to throw another ball of flames at her.

Eventually, this all must end.

After what feels like my thousandth fireball, I finally spot my opportunity. Delphine throws black magic at her feet and jettisons herself backwards, toes lifting off the ground as she backs away from me. Lance leaps at her and is thrown to the side. She speeds away even further then, quickly covering over a hundred feet with her magic.

And her back hits the edge of a stony outcropping that juts out from the side of the mountain range.

Now.I grab the hilt of the dagger, unsheathing it once more, and throw myself at her. The last of my strength flows into my legs, which I pump as hard as I can, my feet hitting the ground over and over again.

There are no more reserves to reach for. Even Lance, mighty and strong as he may be, has to fight to get to his feet. Bastian and Finn are at the end of their abilities as well, both cold and shivering from connection with the Otherworld.

When I'm nearly twenty feet away from Delphine, I bend my knees, cock my arm back, and leap forward towards her.

The last thing I see is her pale, smirking face.

Then I'm thrown back by an explosion so loud that theboomechoes in my ears. It's all I can do to hold onto the dagger as my body is thrown to the ground by a wall of force. Back skidding across stony ground, I hiss in pain, scrabbling to slow myself with my fingers.

Panting, I inhale dust and air, my ears ringing. I reach into the mate bonds and am relieved to find that Lance, Bastian, and Finn are okay, though in a similar predicament as me. It takes several seconds of lying flat on my back before I'm even able to sit up and stare at the damage, my mind piecing together what just happened.

There's a deep crack in the earth between us and Delphine, stretching from horizon to horizon. Dust coats the air, and I can't see the spot where she was standing anymore. Shaking my head, I try to get rid of the ringing, and groan as I stretch up to my feet and pace over to the crack.

When I kneel at its edge, I find that it's deep enough to give me vertigo—staring down it makes my stomach drop—and wide enough across that I'm not sure I would be able to jump it on a good day, much less a day like today where I've spent all my energy.

Finn paces up beside me, tilts his nose down towards the crack, and sneezes. He shakes himself from head to toe, dust flying in every direction.

Lance and Bastian come over as well, and we all watch as the air slowly clears, revealing the other side of the deep crack in the earth.

Delphine is no longer standing against the cliff face.

Instead she's gone, and the only thing on the other side of this damned hole in the earth is a deep, black tunnel that bores into the side of the mountain.

I swallow, tasting dust on my tongue and ash in my throat. Staring up at the sky, I count to ten, letting the ringing slowly fade from my ears.

"We have to take Roarke home," I tell the others, the bleak truth settling on my shoulders like a heavy weight. "We can't stay here and hunt her any further. Even if it weren't for him—none of us have the strength to fight her for another round."

As we all accept this fact, I sheath the dagger back at my side, and pat its leather-wrapped blade.

One day soon, it'll get to taste her blood.

That much is a promise I know I will keep.

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