Endania

It was my turn to watch when I caught Lord Flame’s scent. I tensed and scanned our surroundings. This might be when we fight. Maybe I can end this before Endania takes any damage. A reddish-brown wolf slid into our camp. My nose told me who it was. I looked at him. “Why are you here?” I asked coldly.

He shifted. “I’m tired of waiting to fight you.”

I stood and woke everyone up. Including Lorna. Lord Flame’s eyes narrowed. I smiled. “What? We have to have some witnesses if both of us die,” I said. He smirked and whistled. Demons showed up. I winced. Okay, we had a lot of witnesses now.

“Wait,” Ash said.” We looked at him. “You two are going to fight now?”

I nodded. “ We’re going to end this here and now.” I looked at Ian. “If I die, will you be Alpha?”

Ian inclined his head. “Yes, Alpha.”

I turned to Lorna. “You’ll stay with Eric if I don’t live.” She nodded. I then looked at my guards. “Ash, Dominic, I want you to be the ones to explain everything and protect my family. Will you do this?”

“Of course,” Dominic said.

“No one will hurt them,” Ash promised then hesitated. “Sylvia, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What?” I asked though I already knew what it was.

“I love you.”

I smiled a little. “I love you too, Ashero.” I turned to Lord Flame. “Shall we begin, Uncle Roland?”

He froze. “How did you…”

I shifted and launched myself at him. He dodged then shifted too. We began circling each other growling. Roland launched and I dodged then lashed out with my claws. They sliced into his shoulder. He snarled and clawed me. Or tried to. Green Flames got in his way and he jerked his paw back. I felt like I was cheating because I was using prediction. But we never laid down any rules so…I can’t really be cheating. Right?

I jumped onto his back. Or tried to. Red flames got in my way. I twisted in mid-leap to avoid them. He jumped on me and this time, I was too slow to get away. But I did manage to move enough that his jaws clamped on my shoulder instead of my throat. I didn’t make a sound even though it hurt. See? The torture did give me some lessons.

I rolled over which made him let go. I growled at him and suddenly he couldn’t move. His paws were frozen to the ground because of my ice. I launched and clamped my jaws around his throat. Red flames appeared making me let go and the ice melt. I snarled in frustration. How the hell was I going to kill him? My dad had the same powers I did but he was killed. Maybe Dad hadn’t used all his powers like I was. Maybe he wasn’t really trying because he didn’t want to kill Roland. He probably wanted to change his mind. But his mind won’t be changed.

He launched and so did I. We crashed into each other in the middle. We bit and clawed at one another. He clamped his mouth on my right forepaw and jerked. I yelped as the bone broke. I jumped away from him and growled. Ice encased him completely except his head and neck. I clamped my jaws around his throat and twisted. His neck broke with a snap! But I wasn’t done because he had become a weredemon which means his heart needed to be stabbed too before he could die. Snapping his neck just gave me the time I needed to do the rest.

I shifted and set my wrist. Then grabbed my knife and stabbed him in the chest, twisted, stabbed him in the right thigh, and twisted. He went limp and I watched his chest rise and fall until it rose no more. I lifted my head and looked at the demons that had been hidden. “You have three choices,” I told them. “Join us, live outside of Endania without hurting anyone, or die. Take your pick.”

They started talking amongst themselves. I heard them vote for who would talk to me then started talking about the choices. I don’t think any of them wanted to agree. They started arguing about it. One said one thing while another said something different. Huh, one even thinks the choices are unfair. They weren’t though. They hurt many people and they are lucky I had even given them any choices. I’m pretty sure if I had left it up to Ash or Dominic they probably would all be dead. Besides, the choices are fair anyway and I know for a fact that none of them are going to choose death.

“Which choice are you hoping they pick?” Ash asked.

I sighed. “I want them to join us but it’s their decision. I won’t take anyone’s choices from them. Ever.”

Ash came and sat beside me. “Did you mean what you said?”

I blinked. “About what?”

“Do you really love me?”

Did I? I know I said I did but I had thought I was about to die. I bit my lip. He’s the one I joke with and I would have been miserable if Kita had killed him. He gets on my nerves a lot too. I caught Dominic’s eye. ~What should I do?~

He shrugged. ~It’s your choice. But you did say you love him and I know you do. Stop beating around the fucking bush and tell him.~

My mouth twitched. ~That was…brutally honest.~

~What can I say? It’s who I am.~

I smiled and looked at Ash. “Yeah, I meant what I said. I do love you.”

Ash gave me a relieved look. “That’s good. I thought you just said it because you believed you were about to die.

I did, I thought. But he doesn’t need to know that. “Nope. It’s true,” I said calmly. It’s not really a lie. I do have feelings for him even if I told him how I felt because I was about to die. I saw Dominic quietly laughing and I glared at him. He gave me an innocent look which just made me roll my eyes. Brutally honest. That’s what he is but he’s also a jerk.

“We have made a decision,” a gravelly voice said.

I turned and found one of the demons in front of me. “And which one do you choose?” I asked politely. What? I’m the Alpha. I have to be polite.

“Can I ask a few questions before I tell you what some of us have decided?”

Some of us? “Of course, you may.”

“Will we be welcomed back in Endania?”

“As long as you swear you’ll never do this again,” I said truthfully.

He nodded. “Will we have to answer to Commander Gillian?”

“Yes.”

“For those who wish to live outside of Endania, will they be hunted?”

Well, that answers the ‘some of us’ question. “Not by us.” I paused. “Though we will hunt them if they hurt someone. How many of you wish to live outside of Endania?”

“There are four hundred of us and only two hundred wish to go back to Endania. The other half wishes to be free.” He paused. “Do you know who will hunt them even though they haven’t hurt someone?”

“There are hunters who hunt us supernaturals,” I said thoughtfully. “They call themselves Super Hunters. I suggest they avoid them as much as possible. The hunters only wear green.”

“That is all my questions. We are ready to go.”

I stood. “Then let’s go.” Those who were heading back to Endania followed me and my team.