Lucy’s POV
There was so much blood. It sickened me to my stomach, but worse than that, was the feeling of dread that kept rising and falling like an ocean inside of me, crushing every other thing in its path.
Seth had been fatally stabbed, and even from where I stood some meters away from him, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the way the blood seeped out of his body slowly and painfully. There was a deep pain in my chest that only kept growing and growing like a wild weed. I hadn’t felt this kind of pain since I found my own family murdered right in our living room.
I tried to say his name, but all that came out was a messed up jumble of words. Nothing made sense. It didn’t make sense at all that one moment he had been full of life, and now . . . he was . . .
“Seth!” Shaun screamed, summoning power deep from within and breaking apart his bindings. The ropes around him snapped like they were made of mere rubber, but I knew better. The shock of seeing his brother in such a state had likely taken his power to new heights.
Scott followed suit, ripping apart his ropes with feral speed and shifting immediately into a huge, dark wolf. He lifted his snout and howled to the sky. The sound of it shattered my heart into a million pieces. I remained frozen in place even after he came to me and used his teeth to tear apart my own bindings.
Vladimir was cackling, brandishing his silver knife up and down as he pushed Seth’s still body off of himself and got up to his feet.
“It’s incredibly humorous how little children like you think you can defeat me,” he said, dropping the silver knife and facing his two nephews, who looked absolutely ready to rip him apart.
Even before they pounced on him, I could tell that the end to this fight was going to be incredibly brutal and bloody. The murderous intent emanating from the two brothers combined was . . . catastrophic. Either Vladimir was oblivious to this, or he was overestimating himself.
“No matter, I can dispose of you two like insects without help,” said Vladimir, cracking his neck from side to side as he started to shift as well.
Bright, grey fur burst out of his skin, his jaw elongated, and his limbs cracked and reformed-becoming bigger, better, and stronger. At the end of the transformation, a large grey wolf stood, growling at his opponents tauntingly.
I was expecting Shaun to shift too, but he didn’t. Instead, he walked up to Seth’s still body, without taking his eyes off Vladimir. “Death is too much of a mercy for you,” he spat.
Vladimir couldn’t speak in his wolf form, but that was clearly not what he had been expecting. Now, he and Shaun stood face to face, although now that he had shifted into wolf form, he stood higher than his nephew, but even from looking at both of them, it was clear to me the person who wasn’t leaving this place alive.
How much more blood was going to be spilled? How much more?
Vladimir made a strange huffing sound that sounded suspiciously like laughter, and I couldn’t help but imagine how quickly things were about to change.
The first person to strike was Scott, who leaped with such great power that he went from my side to Shaun’s in mere seconds. Vladimir dodged, and in turn, lunged for Shaun, who appeared to be easier prey since he hadn’t shifted, but unfortunately for him, Shaun had disappeared from that point. As he looked around for Shaun, Scott took the opportunity and landed a well-timed slash to his face, sending a spray of blood, which was practically black in the dark, into the air.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Finn gently shimmying out of sight, trying to blend into the shadows.
No, I wouldn’t let him get away.
I rushed after him, relishing the feeling of blood finally reaching my arms as I used them as leverage to increase my speed. “Stop!” I shouted after him, enraged by his blatant display of cowardice.
When he noticed me coming, he visibly paled, even in the dark, and stumbled faster, trying to get away from me.
“You will not escape!” I shouted after him. I was gaining on him even though he had given himself a head start. In Bloodbath, I hadn’t been a great fighter, but I had been the best at evasive techniques, especially running. I had been a late bloomer, but even before my wolf powers had fully kicked in, it was already a strength I possessed.
And now that I was a complete werewolf at last, I could finally push myself to the limits of my powers.
The distance collapsed underneath my feet in a flash. The trees around me became a blur, until the only thing clear in my vision was Finn’s lanky back.
A few seconds more, and I rammed into him with all the force I could muster, roaring into his back with all the anger inside of me.
He made a frightful squeal as I landed atop him and pinned him to the ground. After seconds of his futile squirming, it was obvious that he indeed was a weakling.
“Please, spare me!” he begged. “I didn’t want to be a part of this in the beginning. Please-”
I pulled his head back using his hair and slammed his face into the rocky ground beneath us with all the might I possessed, silencing him with a sickening crunch.
“Silence,” I said, even though there was no way for him to respond now.
A wild roar reached my ears, and I turned around just in time to see Scott tearing into Vladimir’s neck with his huge wolf teeth. Shaun on the other hand, was holding a large branch into Vladimir’s chest, right where his heart was.
They had finished him off . . .
With one final howl to the sky, the Exiled Wolf of the North staggered back, bleeding. It was clearly written all over his face that he hadn’t expected such a swift defeat. He morphed back into his naked human form, which now looked sickly from all the blood loss. I noticed that there had been more injuries inflicted on him, than his fur had shown.
Blood dripped from his mouth. “How . . .?”
Shaun’s only answer was a grunt as he pushed the branch deeper into his uncle’s chest, pushing the man further back until there was no longer a ground for him to stand on.
Like his daughter, Vladimir descended past the cliffs, his last words echoing into the night.
“This isn’t how it ends.”