#8 The Archer and her Wolf

Thea

“Oof!” I gasped as I flew across the cave and slammed into the wall. My lip cracked open and blood sputtered onto my hand.

“You got quite a bit more bite in you these days, don’t you?” Berlin laughed, kicking me once in the ribs. I rolled over and groaned in pain before sitting up. I used the cave wall to brace myself as I stood.

“Cheeky, you might say.” I smirked a bloody smile. Berlin snarled at me. He punched me square in the eye and I bashed my head against the cave wall for the umpteenth time.

“Bloody hell.” I grumbled, squinting as my eye immediately started to swell up.

“Having fun?” A female voice joined the party.

I blinked rapidly, trying to focus on the visitor. She was incredibly short and had the round face of a child. Her hair was short and pixie-like. She had an uncomfortable aura about her that told me she was a witch.

“Awh, this must be the witch.” I said, earning another hit from Berlin.

“She looks awful already.” The witch snickered.

“Did you need something? I paid you, you’re supposed to be gone.” Berlin looked annoyed at the girl.

“The Archers and the wolves are looking for me. You didn’t say there would be so much heat. You didn’t say she was an Archer and a Luna.” The witch looked pissed.

“Change your face, make yourself invisible, go hide in another realm, I don’t care! Just get out of here.” Berlin shouted, stomping out of the cave and seeming to forget about me for the moment.

“You surely know how to put him in a swell mood.” The witch said to me.

“Oh, yeah, well, you know, we’re just having a good laugh.” I huffed sarcastically, “Where did he go?”

“Who knows? And don’t you go getting any funny ideas. I don’t need him as an enemy, I will stop you.” The witch’s eyes glowed for a second before her childlike face returned.

“I would never dream of it.” I lied. I so lied.

I casually started pacing around the cave, not letting on to the witch that I was moving closer and closer to her. She kept blabbering on about her distaste for Berlin while I nodded and commented when necessary.

She turned her back and looked outside the cave, trying to find Berlin. I took that as my opportunity. I only had one chance at this, and it had to be swift and clean. I grabbed a hold of her from behind, wrapping my hand around her mouth so she couldn’t scream and gripping her head with my free hand. I yanked her backwards and dropped to the ground to get more traction. I closed my eyes and used all of my strength, twisting my arms until the witch’s neck cracked.

She dropped to the ground, a sack of dead weight. I gasped and stepped away from her, breathless. In all my years, in all my kills, that was my very first time snapping someone’s neck. I picked up her body and dragged her out of the cave. I looked behind me and saw that, once I was outside of the cave, I could no longer see it.

The cave was invisible. Great, no wonder nobody could find me.

I snarled and stomped towards Berlin, dumping the witch’s body at his feet.

“What have you done?” Berlin sounded annoyed.

He was standing in a grassy field, the grass up to his waist, staring down at the dead witch.

There was a horrible creaking noise and then Berlin was looking behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed that the cave was now visible. The witch was dead and her spell was gone.

Well, that might just work out in my favor.

“You left me out of my cage. You’re losing it in your old age, Berlin.” I shrugged.

“She was a newborn witch, created by an elder witch who barely knew how to do a proper spell. Sorry if I’m not impressed that you were able to get the advantage over her.” He scoffed, but I could see the look of fear hidden just behind his confidence.

“Mhm. Is that what they’ll say when they find your body? Oh, he was nothing, just a rogue. Of course she was able to kill him.” I said in a mocking tone.

“You little bitch.” He spit.

“You keep calling me little. Why would you want such a little thing so badly?” I stepped backwards slightly, needing to leave space between us if I was going to take him down.

“You got away from me the first time.” He said, his eyes darkening.

“Oh, I see. You don’t like being beaten. That’s all this is to you, proving you weren’t beaten by me?” I asked, slowly reaching behind my back and silently praying that no one searched me over the last three weeks.

“What else would it have been? Not thinking I missed you, are we?” He stepped closer to me and, this time, I let him. He was only inches from me now.

“You did so like to take your time with me. You always came back for me, more than the rest of the rogues.” I felt disgusted with myself as I flirted with Berlin, distracting him with my fluttering eyelashes.

“You were good, quite good. And how you’ve filled out now. All grown up and a Luna, an unmarked Luna, at that.” His voice grew darker, huskier, his eyes lustful.

My fingers itched on the short blade I was pulling from the waistband of my pants, hidden away in an inside pocket.

“I’m mated to a real Alpha, now.” I purred and Berlin’s eyes narrowed on me greedily.

“A real Alpha who hasn’t marked you? No. I’ll show you a real Alpha.” His eyes turned black and he moved to kiss me.

Instead, his mouth opened in a silent gasp and his eyes went wide. I dug the dagger in deeper, pushing it up and inside him until even my hand was in his chest cavity. I yanked it out and stabbed him again, and again, and again until my entire hand was coated in his blood and the only way he was still standing was with my support. I backed off and he collapsed to the ground, blood pouring out of his chest.

I fell to my knees in the grass, dropping the blade and losing it in the weeds. I wiped my hand through the grass, trying to clean his blood off me. Suddenly, I needed to get it off of me. Frantically and violently, I scrubbed my hand over the tall, razor sharp grasses, not caring as tiny paper cuts opened up on my skin. Eventually, what was left of Berlin’s blood on my arm was dry and it no longer felt like I was going to be sick.

There was a noise and I turned around to see a hoard of wolves standing outside the cave. I stood up slowly and looked over the wolves, trying to decide where they came from. As I walked closer, I recognized a few of them from Valor Moon. The breeze picked up and I caught a scent, a strong scent that was absolutely delicious and unwavering. It smelt like hot cocoa and peppermint.

Did he always smell like that? I thought to myself, because without a doubt, I knew that smell belonged to my mate. But, I wasn’t a werewolf, so that begged the question, how could I smell him?

I started calling out to him, the other wolves grinning widely as they realized I was okay. Lion, Frankie, and Xaiver were standing inside the cave, their backs to me. Xaiver was frantically running around, looking like a chicken with his head cut off. Frankie and Lion were just watching him. I had no idea what he was thinking.

“I think that catches us up.” I sighed as I finished telling the boys what had happened to me over the last twelve hours.

“So, he didn’t….he didn’t touch you?” Xaiver asked me carefully.

“No, not like that. Not ever again.” I said, “Now, can you take me home?”

Xaiver’s face lit up at that idea.

“Your wish is my command, my Luna.” He scooped me up and started running.

“I can walk!” I shrieked, punching him in the chest until he stopped and put me down.

“Sorry, I was a bit eager.” Xaiver smirked, “We’ll have to find a car. I ran here.”

“You ran here? To Canada? From Florida?” I stared at him in awe.

“Maybe…..” He drew out the word with a guilty expression.

“You’re mad, Alpha.”

“Oh, yes.” He grinned stupidly,

“Before we go to Green Mountain to get a car, I need to ask you something.” Xaiver paused, his palm pressed against my cheek.

“And that something is?” I asked.

“Permission to kiss, my lady?” His voice was a whisper and I felt the smile take over my face.

“Permission granted.” I whispered back and our lips smashed against each other urgently. When he released me, I gasped and wrapped my arms around his neck, keeping him as close as I could,

“More than that, when we get home, I want it all.” I said.

“What’s that, my love?” He asked in a daze.

“The Luna ceremony, the marking, the mating, all of it. I’m in, I’m all in. I want to marry you and adopt the kids, all three of them. I want you.” The words came spilling out of me and, once they started, they wouldn’t stop,

“I love you. I want to tell you that I love you for the rest of my life, forever, and ever.”

“Goddess, Thea.” Xaiver melted against me, kissing me again with more urgency and desperation and passion than ever before, “I’ll give you the absolute world. That’s a promise.”

“I’ll settle for just you and our family.”

I collapsed in his arms, clinging to him with more conviction than ever before, like I needed him to live, like if I let go of him I would float away into nothingness.

“We don’t need a car. Take my hand.” I said, holding one hand for him and gripping my necklace with the other.

“I really hate that.” Xaiver looked green around the gills as we came stumbling out of the transport and into the portal room of the Base, “Why’s it so much worse than using a portal?”

“Because it’s unsheltered travel. The portal shelters you from feeling the worst of it, from physically feeling your atoms separating. With the transport, there’s nothing to get in the way.” I explained.

“You’re so sexy when you speak witchcraft.”

“Oh, for Goddess sake, not now, Xaiver.” I laughed at him, grabbing his hand and dragging him from the room.

“Thea! What the hell?” Effie jumped from her chair and flung herself across the room, hugging me tightly.

“I’ll explain everything, Effie, but first, I need to do something.” I said, stepping back from her.

“What’s that?” Effie looked confused.

“Tender my resignation.”