My Alpha's Mark

116 Engulfed

Kacie

My opponent gripped down and yanked hard, I screamed as tendons were ripped and torn from the bone. I fought the natural instinct that screamed to stay still to limit the pain as I swung my free hand towards the paw that held my other one captive. His canines pulled out from my shoulder as he howled in pain.

He released my other hand and tried to get away from me. I reached out and held onto his front legs, burning him as I made contact. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air and he whined from the pain. Tightening my grip on him, he snarled viciously.

He was unable to get away and he glared down at me with a crazed look in his eyes as he struggled to figure out what he could do. I stared up at him as he dipped his head as he got ready to snap at me again. With him so close, I knew what I had to do, there was no other option. It was him or me, now or never. I let go of his legs and leaned up quickly. He stared at my outstretched arms but it was too late. My hands grabbed and held both sides of his head.

I breathed out slowly and my flames doubled in size, spreading from the palms of my hand to my elbow. I held him tightly as he thrashed wildly, my flames spread quickly, licking up the fur on his face and head.

I fought the urge to look away, I wasn’t going to turn from the life I was taking. I needed to engrave what my flames could do into my mind. His eyes rolled back as his head was engulfed in flames. He was lifted into the air as Jake pulled him off of me.

Quickly, I got to my feet as Jake threw him aside. His eyes worriedly searched my face before trailing down my neck. They hesitated on my shoulder and I was reminded of the pain. I grimaced only after his eyes continued south as he scanned the rest of my body.

“Are you okay, My Queen?” He asked, his face was etched with worry as he double-checked my body before turning to scan our surroundings. I followed his gaze, noticing a few bodies of our own pack members littered the ground but the fight was still in full swing. I gasped as my shoulder throbbed painfully and Jake swirled back to see what was wrong.

“Kacie?” Jake’s voice broke through my thoughts.

“Yes, I’m okay,” I groaned.

“It doesn’t sound like it,” Jake said firmly.

Ignoring him, I turned from him and charged towards the nearest rogue. A small gray wolf faced the opposite way. He was skinny and I could make out his bones between the patches of missing fur. I punched him in the back of the head while he was looking the other way. He whined and snarled as he turned to face me, his body going into defense mode.

My opponent hurled himself at me and I threw up my hands. He crashed into them headfirst and cried as he was burned. He retreated a few steps and I lunged at him. He was small but he was quick on his feet and he succeeded in avoiding my attacks. He kept his eyes on my hands and managed to keep enough distance between us.

In my peripheral vision, I caught glimpse of a second wolf making it’s way towards us. From it’s bony spine and eyes that were sunken in I knew the wolf was foe. I kept my eyes on my opponent so as not to alert them to the fact that I knew I now had two wolves to worry about.

A blur of gray darted at me and it was my turn to dodge his attacks as he jaws snapped at me and spit splattered across my cheek. I tasted acid as I realized I couldn’t keep dodging as I neared others as they fought.

I shoved forward with both hands and when I made contact he whined as he fell to the ground. I dropped my hands and straddled the young pup. Before he could react, I took turns swinging with both fisted hands. Each punch burned and he whined as he failed to dodge my attacks.

The other rogue was close now but I needed to handle this one and ensure he wouldn’t get back up. His skin split, bled, and burned as one punch after the other landed. His wolf head bounced against the ground before falling limp. I struggled to catch my breath as I stared down at another rogue I’d managed to defeat.

I threw my head back and stared at the sky. Battle was tiring, killing was exhausting but I would not stop until we won. The other wolf that had been creeping took off into a run and lunged through the air. I wouldn’t be able to move in time and as I looked into the eyes of the wolf midair, time stood still and I questioned if this was it.

Faintly, I could hear Jake screaming my name. I closed my eyes and waited for the pain. When it didn’t come, I opened one eye and peeked. What I found was the wolf behind held in mid-air by an invisible force. Confused, I stared at the wolf before looking around. Jake had stopped mid-run and when I looked left, I found the answer.

I couldn’t help but smile in relief. We wouldn’t have to deploy any of our Deltas to look for her. She was here. Her eyes smiled down at me as I got to my feet. I should have been shocked but all I felt was relief as I stood eye to eye with the woman who possibly just saved my life.

“I saw you,” Clara said, her sweet voice dripping over her words. “I saw bits of the meeting where I was mentioned. I decided to save you time and come to you.