Page 148 of Seeking Hades' Ember

Chapter 70

Hades

Ember left the room in a rage. Her hips swayed with the conviction that she would not give in to my minor begging. There wasn't anyone I would beg for except her. Dismissing me, I felt my anger seep into the chair where I still sat, waiting for me to hear the door slam to the Alpha's home. Luckily, no one was here to witness my ugly defeat to become back in my mates' good graces.

Jaw tightening, I slung the chair away from me, flipping over a table in my wake. I felt the smoke tendrils reach out of my clothes as I slammed the door open. Willing a fireball in my hand, I threw it as far as I could, which was the middle of the dense forest to the east. Screams and howls heard, I stomped to where I will feel the burn and let off some fumes. Tartarus was too far; I wasn't willing to leave my mate here on Earth just to torture Demeter. That would have to wait, unfortunately.

Wolves, including Wesley's beta, Evan, yelled for the Wolves to stand clear. He was unreasonably loud and thunderous in his call; I wasn't about to kill anyone in this pack unless they got in my way.My skin and my fangs itched. Hair was sprouting on my body. Ares and his mate ran up to me while my feet scorch the ground.

"Hades, what the hell?" The fire was roaring, trees were toppling to the ground, and the fire would be unbearably hot for a mere mortal; only the gods would be able to withstand it. Cerberus pranced up to me and sat down as I stomped the ground and large pillars of jagged rock erupted from the ground. Loukas had brought back Cerberus when he returned from bringing Gabriel. The mutt had been playing with the smaller wolves ever since.

I could bring Demeter here. I threw the thought away by scratching my chin. The chances were too great to have her powers spring back to life touching the soil.

"Oh, he's gotten in a little tiff with his mate." Athena walked up casually in her dark blazer. "He's gone all 'Alpha male' on her when she left to go have Loukas and Nora mated." Ares let out a scoff and put his arm around Mariah.

"Well, I wouldn't want my mate around Loukas the way he acted around Ember. I say he has a right to be mad." I didn't need anyone vouching for me; I knew I was right. Summoning another fireball, as large as a basketball, I threw it in the air only for it to explode over the lake where Ember liked to fish with her father.

"Hey, hey, hey," I heard Persephone's voice coming closer. Great, now everyone is going to get in on this. I cannot be left alone for one damn minute.

"I can repair the forest, but I can't bring back the fish. Wolves must live here, you know?" Gabriel put a possessive hand around Persephone while his wing shielded her from me. Fuck if I care, I didn't want her, but in the back of Gabriel's mind, I was going to be the dick that hid her all those years.

"Cerberus, why are you not with Ember? You need to protect her." Cerberus scratched the back of his ear with his rear foot. The young pups in the pack had decorated all three heads with flower collars, making him look like a pussy.

"She said I remind her too much of you. Ember has Blaze, though," he whined and laid his head in the still flaming grass. "Stupid Blaze," he growled. "He's become some damn therapist to all the Wolves. He's been talking to Remus, Wesley's Wolf. Blaze was trying to figure out why Remus insists on talking like a caveman instead of like the other Wolves. Then we found out he only does it because it turns on Victoria and Charlotte, his mate." Cerberus made a gagging noise, and Persephone giggled into Gabriel's feathers. "He used to gag like that when I made parsnip soup."

"You need to stop this, Hades. You are scaring everyone." Ares looked out on the mass chaos that I had erupted. It looked like I brought the Underworld to the surface. If I could, I would set the lake on fire and have the apocalypse right now.

"Think Hecate can bring back the fish?" I growled again, feeling the slight sting on the back of my head.

"No, I cannot bring fish back to life, you idiot. Now put it all out so we can fix this. All this mess is going to make Ember mad and the pack more scared of you."

I didn't want to.

I'm angry.

I wanted my mate.

The fire burned hotter, gasping with the intensity of the fire now turning blue; everyone stood back. My chest heaved, feeling Ember's sorrow through our bond. Was I acting like an Alpha dick? I trusted her, not that damn demon, but he shouldn't be a problem anymore.Having her out of my sight was torture. Our child was nestled into her womb, and I have everything at my fingertips, ready for it to be taken away because of Malachi.

Ember thought I had forgotten that little detail. She kept it nestled in the back of her mind, putting up walls and barriers from Elea. I had known that Malachi was still out there and held it to myself. She thought I would blow up the entire pack and destroy everything in sight. He could have traveled back with us just as easily if he still had the Helm.

Proved her wrong. I only set the forest aflame.

Persephone could fix that; she was now taking Demeter's place.

Problem solved.

Screaming was heard in the distance. All of our eyes went to the woods, the portion that hadn't been turned into a raging inferno. There was no sight of where the screams came, only the sound of screams coming closer to us.

"Malachi," I growled. Vulcan laughed from behind, holding his mate tight.

"Stupid angel didn't realize he could catch fire even with the Helm. What an idiot." Gabriel stiffened behind me, wanting to go forth and find the fucker. Hell, I did too.

The voice became louder, passing us. Unfortunately, my arms went to grip the sound only to find I was hugging myself. The Helm could grant invisibility, and smells were nearly neutral, but not completely. My white teeth gleamed in the flame before me; stripping of my robes, I focused on shifting in the beast that my mate had made me to be.

Fur sprouted from my back, flames engulfed my eyes, paws lit to scorch the ground. Using my nose enhanced with the god's abilities, I caught his dirty scent. The smell of betrayal, sin, and torment. My favorite to skewer in the bowels of hell. Springing forth, my nails curved into the dirt, Ares not far behind. He would not smell Malachi because only I could smell the evil.

Malachi had stopped at the lake that was surrounded by fire. The choice was his to make, jump through the flames to quench the thirst or continue to burn. Not giving him time to think, my jaws clamped on soft feathers. Ripping him back from the water, his screams ripped my ears, feeling like they had been pierced through my own sword.

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