Arranged To The Alpha
Chapter 87

Natalia:

My heart raced against my chest as I felt my dragon being close and yet so far to reach.

I could tell that Crystal was here somewhere, I just didn’t know where she was.

Blake Wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him as we entered the podium.

No one really bothered to approach us, and I knew the reason; everyone now believed that we were either cursed, or they thought that they were going to watch us die.

I looked at mum who was standing in the center of the podium along with Blake’s parents and the two of us frowned before being approached by them.

Almost everyone else had their families waiting for them.

Mum wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug before I could say a word, and though I didn’t understand her reason, I couldn’t help but feel my chest ache.

This was the first hug that she has given me in years.

She pulled away to look me in the eye before running her finger over my cheek, clearly in pain because of what was happening to me. Though at this point, I doubted anyone that could call themselves my family. Each one of them wanted me dead in their own way.

“You don’t need to be in pain, mother.” I said, wiping her tears.

“I didn’t know, Natalia. Had I known, I would have stopped..”

“Nothing is going to change right now anyway. It’s been done, now you just go and ensure that my siblings are safe.” I said wanting to take a step back. She wrapped her hand around my wrist before handing me something, making me frown.

She wrapped her hand around my palm, making sure that I fisted whatever it was, and I frowned when she nodded.

She turned around to leave, leaving me alone with whatever it was that she gave me, and I couldn’t help but feel my chest burn as I looked at Blake who approached me, looking angrier than he ever has.

I opened my hand to look down at a bead necklace that she gave me. “They will help you,” Her eyes met mine, focusing on them foI a few seconds before she pulled me closer as she looked up at, I assume, my father, before she cupped my cheeks and kissed my forehead. “Trust me, this once, I am askìng for your trust,”

“Blake?” I asked, catching his attention and he sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer.

His eyes avoided nine and I could sense his anger, something that wasn’t there when we first entered despite everything that we were going through.

The aura in the room was different to begin with.

“‘Something happened” I stated, looking at my mate who frowned as he stared ahead.

“Drake did,”‘ he said, making me frown. “They want me to try bargaining with him,”

“What?” I asked, turning around to face his parents.

Blake tightened his arm around my waist, stopping me from approaching them before he took a deep breath. “Blake, you can’t be f*****g serious?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, stopping me despite his anger and his obvious pain. “We will handle this later. For now, let us focus on this f*****g level, okay?”

I looked at him for a second, studying his expression before nodding. The fact that I knew that he was in pain was something that I would not be able to deny. But the man was stronger than I thought that he would be, to say the least, he was fighting his own brother among my side. And though I still didn’t understand how his parents were able to think of something like this at a time where he would need them to be strong for him, I knew not to ask too many questions.

“We will deal with everything when we are out of here, my love. For now, as you said, we will both focus on getting out of this alive.”I said and he nodded. I looked at Riya who was with two other demons. Ariana was the only one with no one visiting her, and instead of being alone, she stood beside the demon.

“I don’t understand how these two came to be as close.” I said, voicing out my confusion. “The last we both knew, they weren’t even friends to begin with. We just met here?”

“To say the least, we didn’t know that Riya knew Drake and was assigned to initially kill you or Crystal.” Blake said, reminding me of a fact that I ignored. I sighed but nodded. The number of lies that were laid out in front of us were countless, and I didn’t know how much we were going to be taking before everything ended up crumbling on us.

“That is true,” I said, walking to our positions in front of the gate of the level. The fact that things ended here did not sit well with me, but an eerie feeling told me that today wasn’t going to be a game. It wasn’t anyway, but the sequence of the map was not going to be followed in this one. To say the least, the audience seemed to be quiet, and looking up, I couldn’t help but frown when I noticed witches standing on the railings.

The audience seemed to be frozen solid, and red smoke escaped each one of them as chants filled the room.

My heart raced against my chest and looking down, the ground shook beneath our feet before my dragon, Crystal, appeared.

Her eyes were a deep shade of dark red and though she was still tied, she growled, kicked, and fought.

She didn’t even seem to notice that I was standing right in front of her.

“Crystal?” I called, my voice above a whisper as I tried processing what I was seeing. She turned to face me, and that was when I felt the dark aura that surrounded her. A witch, the redhead who was often with Drake, walked toward us, smiling as her eyes met mine.

She put her hand on Crystal’s neck, and I frowned when I saw her palm burning my dragon’s scales for a second before she healed.

“She can’t hear you,” she said, looking me dead in the eye. “I have to admit, she is a magnificent creature though.”

“You,” I said, wanting to attack the woman as fire formed in my hands. She laughed and using her magic, pushed me back against the wall, pinning me with the fire that I wanted to attack her with.

“Ah, yes, you finally met me officially,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “It is just a shame that it had to be this way. But you know, for better or worse, this ends here. Unleash your fires against all “Crystal, don’…”

“Pro tenebris et lumine, magia surget. Proiis, quos amisimus, et pro iis, qui pugnaverunt. Regnabimus et ducemus. Omnia in circuitu ad pulvem pereunt.”

For the darkness and light, the magic shall rise.

For those who we have lost, and for those who fought. We shall rule and we shall lead. All around will perish to dust. My heart raced as I saw my dragon breathing fire at anyone who stood. Blake’s eyes met mine and he ran to my side, barely avoiding the flames as he looked at me.

“Blake, you need to run.” I said, noticing that Crystal turned to face us. His eyes met mine and he growled, shaking his head before he tuned to face the dragon.

“I am your mate, and the Alpha of Alphas.” He said, making my heart drop as he shifted. Crystal’s eyes turned into a deeper shade of red as fire burned in her chest, making it glow. The fire that held my wrist to the wall behind me burned as I tried pulling my hand away, but I knew that I had no other option. It was my mate’s life or a bun. I bit my bottom l*p as the smell of burning flesh, mine, filled my nostrils before I pulled my hand free. Blake, who was already in wolf form, charged at my dragon, and I ran before getting on top of his back, his wolf sensing me as he ran closer to her.

My heart ached, but I knew that she didn’t even know that it was me. She was getting her command from the witch.

It wasn’t until we were inches away from her that she opened her mouth, breathing the fire at both my mate and I. I fisted my palms before creating a shield that protected both my mate and I, standing in front of her as she focused on burning us for a while longer.

Smoke filled the air around us, burning whatever the fire touched, but at this point, I knew that those who wanted to be protected would be joining behind the shield. I couldn’t protect them by force, and I knew for fact that they would be more than willing to throw me in the face of danger if they could simply get out themselves.

“Halt,” the witch yelled, “that should have done it.”

She stood, as far as I could see from behind the smoke at least, and I ran my finger over my mate’s muzzle. He purred in response, his purr low enough for my ears alone. And the two of us watched as the smoke cleared, revealing us for the woman who seemed more than a little confident that she had killed us.

She turned around to face the witches who were cheering on as they ‘won’ the battle

“My brothers and sisters, the reign of the elementras is over. Their queen is dead alongside the Alpha who she called mate.” She said, watching as they cheered on. “Now, it is our time.

The time of magic, and the time of power. We will hide no longer, and those who stuck to our sides would be getting their fair rewards.”

Ariana, Riya, my father, Drake, Myla, and the witches stood in front of the woman as she spoke.

All of them clearly not noticing us being still alive as I ran my fingers over my mate’s muzzle before he let outa low growl, catching their attention.

The witch didn’t bother for a second, but seeing as her people seemed to quiet down, their faces paling, she turned around to face us. My hand glowed and I couldn’t help but notice that my mate’s fur did as well. The elements floated around us in signs, and in power.

A surge coursed through our bodies, and for the first time since I have met Crystal, and since I have felt her presence, I felt whole. Something within me felt complete.

“No, no, don’t stop please.” I said, shaking my head at her as a smile formed on my lips. “I truly was interested in hearing your speech.”

“How?” She asked, frowning in confusion as I looked at Crystal whose eyes turned blue as they were. The power that she had inflicted on her dying down as the ground beneath her feet, using my own power, sucked out the darkness. “Dragon, attack.”

Crystal didn’t respond to her demand before she walked toward me, lowering her head as she asked for forgiveness. “l said, attack, dragon!”

I put my hand on her head, scratching it gently before nodding, giving her the permission to do what she wanted. A scar was under her left eye and around her scales, letting me know that they had hurt her. She looked down at Blake before rubbing her muzzle against his for a second.

“I said f*****g..”

“My name is Crystal,” she said, turning around to face her before wrapping her tail around me. Blake’s eyes were fixed on the witch as Crystal pulled me to ride her. My heart raced and putting my hand on her back, it glowed for a second under my palm four portals opened around each of the corners. The beads that were inside my pocket vibrated, and I frowned before pulling them out, noticing the beam that came out of them, heading toward the portal.

Mum had helped me summon the manipulators.

Low growls filled the air through the portals as Crystal kneeled a bit, her body stance filled with a “ And I serve the queen of elements, and her alone..”