Arranged To The Alpha
Chapter 77

Natalia:

We walked through the stony path as Blake kept his arm wrapped around my waist, holding me close.

His words played in my head, and the fact that I knew that they were words of truth, I couldn’t help but feel like my heart was whole.

His eyes met mine and he smiled before kissing my temple.

“It amazes me that the two of you can still find it in you to k**s despite the situation that we are in.”

Ariana said, and it took everything in me not to raise an eyebrow at the woman who passed the reaper as if it were nothing. The woman obviously lied, and the fact that she was able to pass him as casually as she did told me that there was something that we didn’t know.

Blake didn’t respond, and instead, he cupped my right cheek and connected his lips with mine.

Elijah didn’t look at me, I knew that he wouldn’t be able to look me in the eye after abandoning us to save himself despite me stopping to actually save him. The man would have been dead, just like many others, had we not stopped for him. But it seemed to me that it didn’t make a difference to him.

“It seems to me that they just told you to mind your own business without the need to tell you to do so,” Riya said, rolling her eyes, Around half were dead right now, and that was something that worried me. If this was how things were starting on the first level, I didn’t know how they would end up turning out as we go further, and that wasn’t something that I wanted to think of. If anything, it was something that I was currently dreading.

The narrow walking track suddenly ended, and a vast land of stone appeared in front of us. The floor had the word, The Heart of The Lion was written on the floor, and then appeared the door.

The gong was huge, and the lion’s face was carved on it. My heart raced as my husband growled, probably feeling or hearing something inside. I knew that things were not going to be easy right now, and the funniest part was that I didn’t even know what to expect. A part of me wanted this level to end. At least, one down, and two more to go.

But thinking of the challenges that we went through in this one, I couldn’t help but worry about what was to happen in the next. Helmets appeared in front of us, floating about before a stand grew from the stone.I frowned when a golden helmet appeared, just like it had in the map, before landing on the stand. The thing was, knowing that this was the last round of the day, I didn’t know what to expect. At least, when it was the previous two, I knew that the ending was the next level.

What was this one going to be?

“I can assume that we are going to need to get to that golden helmet?” Elijah asked. He raised an amused eyebrow and smirked as if he was going to be getting it easily. He sped toward the stand only for three warriors, or more specifically, knights, to appear in front of him. The silver helmets landed on their heads and they held their swords, ready to face the vampire whose eyes widened in surprise.

I looked at Blake who growled in warning before a knight appeared in front of us. He held his sword that Blake and I, and I couldn’t help the frown that formed on my lips as I realized that they seemed to be attacking because they saw us as danger.

“What is that behind this door?” I asked, and Blake shrugged.

“Our freedom, perhaps?” Ella, one of the elves asked, taking a step forward. Her ear had a cut on it and was bleeding, but the woman didn’t seem to notice as she glared at the knight. The young elf rarely spoke since we were put in the game, and I knew why.

She knew what we didn’t, the elf knew that no one could be trusted, and therefore, she chose to keep- to her people’s side. There were five elves among our side, and ironically, neither one of them was harmed.

She pulled a pink ball out of her pouch before throwing it on the floor. I frowned in confusion at her action before pink dust appeared in front of us, showing us what looked like invisible men standing, waiting to move. The men seemed to be frozen, and their helmets up in the sky.

“They would move if they felt sound waves touching them or I can assume that Elijah may have brushed against them.” She said, and I frowned. Blake tightened his grip around me, keeping his eyes on the knight. The knight’s eyes were shimmering, a deep shade of red under the helmet, but he didn’t move.

“We are going to need to get past them very slowly and without triggering them. I can assume that their task is to protect that golden helmet, though what lies behind the door, I don’t know.” Ella said, taking a careful step back. The pink dust faded, and she sighed. I looked at Blake who frowned in confusion before an idea played in my head. I didn’t know whether or not it would work, but it would be better than just freezing the way that we were. We were simply wasting time, and that wasn’t something that I knew wasn’t going to get us anywhere. If anything, I knew that it would only end up wasting more than we could afford.

“Ice?” I said, and Blake frowned in confusion before shaking his head in question. The knight who stood in front of us turned to face me, and Blake had to fight back a growl as I knew that it was what he wanted to do when he saw the sword getting directed at me.

I looked at the thing for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. It was this or I died, and considering that I knew what the ending was for this, I knew that this was a lot better than what

Was to come.

I slowly extended my hand, careful not to trigger the thing before ice formed on my palm. My heart raced against my ribcage, and Blake tightened his grip around me before I blew. The knight went to swing his sword at me only for it to freeze midway as the ice hit him.

My heart raced against my chest as I looked at the blade being as close as it was to me before nodding at Blake. Freezing these things was going to be our best option right now. I didn’t know how much the effect would last, but I knew to say the least, that Blake and I could run.

I nodded at him and the two of us ran as I started controlling both wind and ice. My temperature dropped, and I knew that had it not been for Blake being beside me, I knew that I would have dropped. His warmth was what kept my own body’s heat up, and that was something that I was well aware that he knew.

The knights, however, didn’t freeze for long. As it seemed that Blake and I moving from their parameter seemned to defrost them and they would attack the first person who stood in front of them.

My heart raced, and I could hear the fight occurring behind the two of us. However, just as we neared the golden helmet, a lion appeared in front of the two of us.

My heart dropped to my stomach and Blake let out a growl which the lion didn’t hesitate to return, making my breath get caught up in my throat.

The lion kept his eyes on the two of us, a predator wanting to chase his prey, waiting for us to make one wrong move. But that wasn’t what caught my attention.

Around the lion’s neck was a collar. Two golden keys hung around his neck, and seeing that I saw what we were here for, the lion growled.

I looked at the creature for a few seconds, trying to find the right moment to move to try and snatch the keys only for the ground beneath our feet to crackle. The stone floors were breaking.

“Only those with the lion’s heart would be able to survive.” A voice around us said. His voice was low, deep, and dark, making my heart race against my chest as Blake held onto my waist, holding me upright. “Show me who is worthy, those who have the lion’s heart, are those who would be able to pass through the golden gate..”