Emily’s POV
The door swung open with such force that it knocked Xavier off his feet and flung him against the wall. He came crashing down on top of the table with his precious toys.
A fierce growl erupted from the entrance, shaking me to my core. This was no normal werewolf at the door.
“You are too late!” Xavier yelled, stammering to his feet with a silver knife embedded in his side. “She will-”
“Over my dead body!” The familiar female voice blew some life into me.
With all of my remaining strength, I lifted my eyes and looked for my rescuer.
“Mom?” I whispered. “You came for me?”
My mother looked different. She had shifted into a dark gray, almost black Lycan wolf. She was surrounded by a gentle, warm breeze that gave her a mythological appearance as it lazily ruffled her fur. Yet her demeanor looked fearless and strong, and her aura was suffocating.
My mother stalked closer to me, reaching out to the shackles around my wrists.
“Honey, everyone came to find you,” she said in a reassuring voice. “Alpha Alexander is waiting for you outside. Everything is going to be fine. I promise.”
I lowered my gaze to conceal my feelings as tears began to burn behind my eyelids.
“Alex is here?” I forced the words over my lips. I needed her to repeat those words to me. “He came looking for me.”
My mother narrowed her eyes, stopped whatever she was doing, and glanced back down at me. With great care, she lifted my chin and met my gaze.
I could read the concern in her eyes, and it made me afraid to ask how bad my injuries were. Willow ought to be able to heal me if only I could manage to get rid of these silver chains.
“He came,” she said. There was a promise in her gentle voice. “He is here. He is….”
A growl cut my mother off, and startled, she turned to look over her shoulder.
Xavier managed to pull the knife from his side and was now shifting the blade from one hand to the other. There was a gleam of rage in his eyes.
“F*ck!” I muttered. I recognized that deadly expression in his eyes. “Mom, run!”
“I am not leaving you,” she protested.
“Mom, just g-g-go! Please! Save yourself!” I cried out in desperation.
“No!” She growled and met Xavier’s gaze.
“Suite yourself,” Xavier said, with a vile smile on his lips. “I am looking forward to killing you.”
With the blade in his hand, Xavier lunged forward toward my mother.
I turned my face away and closed my eyes. I just could not stand to watch them fight.
Then came snarls that reverberated throughout the room and around me. I heard the sound of a blade slicing through the air.
There was a whimper from my mother, the smell of blood, and then silence.
“Oh, Goddess, keep my mom safe please!” I silently prayed.
The sudden brush of my mother’s tail against my leg proved she was still alive.
“It’s just a scratch,” she whispers, passing me by. I let out a sigh of relief as soon as I felt her surrounding me like a breeze. “I am fine, do not worry.”
Was she attempting to shield me?
I sensed Xavier growing angrier and heard him sigh. He suddenly expanded his aura around us. It usually would not have bothered me, but right now it feels like someone was purposefully trying to strangle me with something like a rope. I began to cough violently, desperately trying to get air.
My eyes snapped open, revealing tiny dots in my vision.
My mother attacked Xavier with the force of a typhoon, causing damage in her path.
A wind as strong as a storm replaced Xavier’s once-overpowering aura, and the silver torture devices were lifted off the table.
I tremble in terror as my eyes widen.
My mother’s eyes were filled with unreadable emotion.
Was she about to kill Xavier with his own precious silver torture toys?
Xavier gave her a menacing smile.
“Sarah, what are you going to do with those?” He taunted. “Toss them at me? You will not be brave enough to take such a risk; you will injure yourself.”
Xavier licked his lips, and a second later, he pounced forward, extending his hands into claws.
My mom just held her ground and waited, not giving an inch.
Was my mother on a s**cide mission?
Just as Xavier was about to reach her, she ducked and waved her hand in the air, sending the silver tools through the air.
With a roar, Xavier was pushed back against the wall, and the silver tools gored into his body.
I started sobbing and let go of the breath I did not realize I was holding.
“Is he d**d?” I mumbled in between tears.
“I am not sure,” my mother said as she approached. “And I refuse to take the chance of finding out.”
My mother grabbed hold of the chain holding me in place, trying to break it.
“The key was on the table,” I said, taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart.
With a nod, my mother headed toward the table in the hopes of finding it.
Suddenly, the silent room was filled with the sound of cracking bones, and I dragged my eyes toward it.
“F*ck!” I whispered, and my mother turned her head, looking over her shoulder.
A gray and black beast appeared where Xavier had been.
My eyes widened, and an unrecognizable sound left my lips. It now made sense to me why I had never seen Xavier’s wolf before. His body had become a skeleton with maggots crawling all over it; the witches were unable to keep him young, and his wolf was not holding up in time.
Xavier’s wolf turned to face me, his purple eyes gleaming against his skeletal frame.
I let out a scream that reverberated through the silent hallway, and my fear inadvertently caused the chains above my head to tremble.
Xavier’s wolf gave my mother a final look before he pounced, opening his claws.
He was done playing.
This time, he was going for the kill.
****