Page 31 of Lycan and Lark
Fear reached its familiar hand down Lark’s throat and buried its claws in his heart. Flashbacks of the severe beatings and horrendous experiments Creedin performed on him crowded his panicky mind. His scars felt alive, each one scorching the patch of skin it permanently resided on. Sweat beaded across his body as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.
Creedin and his followers were trapped behind the wards that ran the length of the tree line. He knew it would only be a matter of time before they got through. The lycans were reacting to the threat. Many shifted into their wolf forms in preparation for the fight. Lark’s legs were glued to the very spot he stood. He could only look on in horror as the battle unfolded.
When the wards finally fell, Lark got his first look at the massive dark presence he had been sensing in the woods. It was a Dolgur. A monster of death. This one was massive and its smoky, black body was surrounded in dark tendrils of energy. Creedin must have summoned it forward from the Veil. The shadow creature crept toward the battle. Inky-black tendrils lashed about, withering everything in its path. This was bad, very bad. Lark had his fair share of encounters with Dolgurs. Lark was in his twenties when Creedin procured a Veil Walker to use in the ritual of transference. He would force Lark to go inside the Veil and threaten unspeakable cruelties if he emerged before Creedin told him to. Veil Walking was a power Lark rarely used. In fact, he hadn’t used it since he freed himself from Creedin’s influence. If he had his way he would never go back to that dark, horrific world in between.
The melee raged and Lark had every intention of vacating the forest and running far away. Fear told him to run, but courage convinced him to stay. He needed to know the outcome. He didn’t want to be looking over his shoulder every day for the rest of his life and he knew Aria would never forgive him if he let her pack suffer excruciating deaths at the hands of Creedin and his Collectors. A small brown wolf tumbled into his line of sight. The animal was pinned down by a Collector with air whipping from his fingertips. The wolf’s arms and legs were splayed wide under the assault of the air magic. Each paw seemed to have an invisible rope pulling it in a different direction. Eventually its limbs would be torn from its body. Unless Lark intervened.
A pained howl rose up in the air and Lark finally found his footing. He dove for the Collector, catching him by surprise. He tackled the air-wielding Chosen to the ground, forcing his face into the earth. The man struggled violently beneath his hold. Hands reached back, clawing at Lark as he pressed the face deeper into the dirt. He waited as the man’s air supply ran out and when he stopped moving, Lark gave a final thrust into the back of the neck. He was already dead, but the snapping of his spine satisfied some gruesome part of Lark that craved violence.
Lark moved quickly through the crowd, picking off Collectors one by one and making his way closer to Creedin. Ice and vines surrounded his tormentor, holding him hostage where he stood. Lark’s brief moment of hope shattered as the Celestials leading the elemental attacks began to grow weary and drained. The ice fell first as Nova dropped to the ground. Dahlia’s vines held, for now. Creedin laughed as he addressed Gideon’s mate.
“What a mistake you’ve made. I’m going to take from you, the way you and your pack have taken from me. I’ll kill that abomination in your womb and make you and the other Celestial my slaves. Believe me you’ll wish I had killed you here.”
Lark’s heart beat savagely inside his shaking body. He had to do something, but he was afraid. He had never been able to overpower Creedin before. He had never tried. He had been too afraid of the consequences if he failed. Nearby, the Dolgur was being restrained on the ground by a glowing black wolf. They had a fucking Reaper in their pack? The wolf struggled to contain the monster. Without the help of a Veil Walker to transport it back to the Veil, the wolf would eventually be overpowered. Lark scanned the crowd but found no sign of Romani, the pack’s resident teleporter and Veil Walker. He wasn’t here, which meant the lycans were in big trouble, and running out of time.
Dahlia’s vines began to slip, releasing Creedin from her hold. “I’m going to chain up your mate and force him to live on all fours like the animal he is. Then I’ll destroy the Alpha’s sister. My men are waiting for me to say the word and then they’ll make her scream as they carve up her pretty face.”
Creedin’s words echoed through Lark’s mind. The Alpha’s sister. Aria. Did Creedin really know where she was? Or was it a bluff? Lark’s veins burned with fury. He wasn’t going to risk finding out. He teleported, landing just behind Creedin. His old master didn’t even have time to react. Lark gripped Creedin’s head and twisted, letting his rage flow into his fingers. Every beating, every tortuous punishment, every horrific thing Creedin ever did to Lark fueled his actions now. Bones began to pop as Creedin’s neck crumbled beneath the strain. Lark didn’t let up, even as Creedin’s muscles, sinew, and skin began ripping apart. Blood squirted out and mangled cries gurgled from Creedin’s dying lips. The liquid was hot as it coated his hands. Lark thought of Aria. Creedin would never, ever lay his filthy hands on her. Everything Creedin had done to him, all of the unspeakable acts, would end here and now. If he managed to kill him, no one would ever suffer at his monstrous hands again.
With one final push of power, Lark severed the head completely, raising it high in the air then dropping it. A blood-curdling scream sent his gaze back to the Dolgur. It had the Reaper wolf in its hold, raising her high in the air. Lark teleported away before Creedin’s dead body hit the ground. He reappeared next to the Dolgur and grabbed the wolf. He transported them both to the Veil, being careful not to touch the Dolgur, only the wolf in its claws. The Dolgur roared as they entered the misty darkness of the Veil. Lark used its outburst as a distraction and snatched the wolf from its swirling tendrils. He teleported back to the fight, dropping the black wolf where he had found it, and quickly vanished.
And that’s when everything changed.
* * *
Lark stumbled back into his cabin leaving a trail of blood in his wake. The reality of what had just happened hadn’t had a chance to sink in yet. He gazed down at the blood on his hands.Creedin’s blood. It was over, it was finally over. Creedin’s followers would quickly dismantle without their leader. Which meant the Collectors were no more. Could Lark really live as a free man? Never having to look over his shoulder and wonder if he was going to be dragged back to his childhood prison? It almost didn’t feel real.
Except for the fact that he had severed Creedin’s head from his body. That part in particular felt very real. He would always savor the cracking, tearing, and wet squelching sounds as he ripped the head off its perch. Creedin’s gurgles of horror and death would replay in his mind forever. The cries might as well have been the sound of Lark’s chains being broken. He was free. A myriad of emotions flooded his system and he dropped to his knees as pain blasted through his skull.
His wolf came forward in a shift so unexpected and vicious that Lark’s scream didn’t even have time to leave his lungs. The world shifted to its terrifying black and he shrank away into the recesses of his own mind. The wolf had won again.
* * *
Aria dropped the forkful of fish she had been raising to her lips. Romani continued to leave food in front of her door and this time she had opened it and brought the dish into her room. The fish and chips were surprisingly good. Each bite helped to fill the lonely hole in her soul. She was moving to devour another bite when an overwhelming sense of terror took hold of her.
Adrenaline spiked in her veins and her pulse quickened.Lark.She couldn’t explain it, but somehow she knew he was in trouble. She could feel his fear from across the world. She raced out of her room, stopping in front of Romani’s door. She pounded her fist loudly against the wood.
“Romani!” she cried out. “It’s me, open up!”
The door flung wide and Romani’s hazel eyes peered down at her in alarm. “What happened?”
Aria pushed into his room, whirling toward him as he followed her inside. “Something is wrong.” She chewed at her bottom lip. Romani’s brows knit together.
“What is it?”
Aria pulled at her hair. “I can’t explain. I just know something is wrong, okay?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Take usback,” she said, putting all the weight she could muster into the words.
Romani’s eyes darkened. “No.”
Aria drew back in surprise. “No? But I just told you something is wrong.”
“Gideon said we were not to return under any circumstances until he contacted us.” He straightened, towering over Aria.
“Fuck Gideon! We need to get back, now!”
