Arrow Inferno
Chapter 72: Jeremy Stanton vs. Ryan Hicks ~ Feral attraction in the midst of hatred… Parting!

***

At exactly midnight, there was a loud whoosh sound. The portal that was to take Jeremy opened. Everyone gasped but the kissing couple. They were totally lost in each other. Jeremy knew it was time for him to go. Hell, he couldn't have missed that dreadful sound. He gently broke off the kiss and hugged Ryan fiercely, practically suffocating him. But Ryan didn't mind at all. He figured he could get away without breathing for a while. They both trembled, their cheeks wet with tears. They could hear sobbing from some of the people inside the suite but they didn't let go of each other to see who it was. Both men felt as if their world had come to an end. And there was nothing they could do about it. Jeremy finally kissed Ryan lightly on the mouth...a final kiss. Then he stepped back from him.

"I love you, Ryan." Jeremy's voice broke with emotion, his heart in his eyes for everyone to see. He heard the collective gasp that went up and also saw the shock in Ryan's eyes and gave a tremulous smile. "So fucking much." And with that heartfelt declaration, the alpha took another step backward, turned around, and stepped into the portal. Then the portal closed.

If only Jeremy knew what he'd done to his mate with those three little words... What happened next shocked everyone, especially the High Priestess.

Nobody move after the portal closed. They all stared at the spot where it had been...probably willing it to reappear. For Ryan, however, the feeling was different. Jeremy's final words had hit him hard enough to steal his breath. And the breath- taking joy that invaded his entire body at those words, turned into blinding pain and rage when Jeremy disappeared through that portal. For about ten seconds Ryan ceased breathing. He knew he had to breathe... tried to breathe, but he couldn't. Just when he thought he was going to pass out, he finally succeeded in taking a deep breath. But when he exhaled, his breath came out with a bloodcurdling scream that caused the building itself to shake. Then right before the eyes of the people gathered in the suite, the portal reopened to reveal a stunned Jeremy, staring back at them.

"Oh my god!" Gloria gasped as her hand went to her throat, her shocked gaze fixed on Ryan. That kind of portal...meant to be a doorway to purgatory, could only be opened by divine power. Even the high priestess couldn't have opened it. So how had Ryan...

The High Priestess moved towards Ryan so quickly it was almost a blur. Then reciting some words, she touched Ryan on the forehead with her glowing wand. Ryan instantly stopped screaming and crumbled to the floor in a faint. And that was when everyone heard Jeremy's spine-chilling scream. The portal was still opened so he'd watched his mate fall to the ground. His already affected mind conjured the worst thought...his mate was dead. All the alpha felt was the most intense agony and fury. His eyes turned bloody red. Then he started running towards the people in his suite, his main goal to reach his mate and kill that high priestess who had caused his death. The High Priestess heard the alpha's enraged scream and pointed her still glowing wand at the portal, closing it instantly.

"Luna!" The High Priestess gasped as she was thrown violently onto her back. She'd never experienced that much power. And it had come from none other than a newly turned werewolf. She felt totally drained. "All that power..." She panted harshly, staring at Ryan. Her skin was covered in Goosebumps. "We need him on the council." She breathed as Joel helped her up.

"Don't hold your breath, you old cow," Stan growled angrily as Philip bent to pick his alpha's mate off the ground.

"You might want to keep your warrior in check Alpha." The high priestess addressed Philip as she got to her feet.

"Everyone is tired, High Priestess," Philip responded quietly, a passed out Ryan in his arms. "If you would just excuse us... Unless of course there's something else..." He trailed off with a raised brow.

"I'm not the enemy here." The High Priestess said quietly. "You all knew what he'd done and yet you kept quiet. He's an alpha. He has to have better control. Otherwise, the pack is not safe. He had to be punished for his actions."

"We know that High Priestess," Joel responded quietly. "We were not trying to hide or cover up anything. We knew it was up to Luna and we accept the verdict. But we just parted ways with someone we all love dearly. Don't blame us for feeling as shitty as we do this very moment."

"Two years will come very soon." The High Priestess responded. "It could have been worse."

"A day, a month, a year...it doesn't really matter." Joel countered. "He's our alpha."

"And did it have to be two years?" Stan sneered. "The longest a werewolf has been sent to the Fort since time immemorial has been two months and you know it. And even those were for murder. You've condemned him to suffer in purgatory for two whole years. Why don't you just kill him?" He growled, taking a threatening step towards the High Priestess.

"Relax Stanley," Gloria said, pulling the angry warrior back. "They didn't determine the length of time. Luna did."

"I was there Mama G." Stan gave the high priestess an ice-cold glare. "They so did. And did you have to stop him when he was coming back just now?" He growled at the high priestess.

"Stanley!" The warning in Joel's voice was clear. "You will stop this at once." He rasped. "If he'd succeeded in coming out, Luna would have seen it as Jeremy rebelling. She would have struck him down. High Priestess did all of us a favour by closing it. At least we know he's still alive."

"Well, Luna is a mean bitch." Stanley muttered. "Two fucking years?"

"That's where you're wrong," Gloria said quietly. "The length of punishment was determined by the level of pain inside the person wronged. Ryan was hurting. Not to mention the fact that Luna is pissed at Jeremy's reaction to her choice of mate." She explained.

"What?" Stan gasped, turning to look at Jeremy's oblivious mate. "But I thought he was okay."

"What he went through is not something you come out of easily Stanley," Gloria said. "None of us knew the extent of his pain. He's been very strong."

"Shit." Philip cussed as he turned to go and put Ryan in Jeremy's bed.

"Thank you, High Priestess," Gloria said quietly. At least thanks to her, Ryan didn't have to go through any pain for the absence of his mate.

The High Priestess gave a slight nod and gestured towards a quietly sobbing Paige who was huddled in a corner. "Will she be okay?" The elderly priestess asked quietly.

"She'll be fine," Joel said, turning to go to his daughter.

With a sad smile, the high priestess disappeared just as she'd appeared...in a shimmer of white light.

And for the first time, Alpha Jeremy's suite, which had been the center of so much fun and happiness over the years, was eerily quiet. The feeling of misery and dejection was so palpable that none of the suite's occupants could speak. One word best described the whole atmosphere...

Emptiness!

***

Somewhere in a state-of-the-art board room in one of the finest office buildings in New York...

*

"What do you mean you don't know where he's travelled to?" A tall, white-haired, angry-looking man bellowed. "He's the alpha. How come nobody seems to know where he's travelled to? Are you sure your source is being truthful?" "She is, Sir." The frightened-looking albino answered. The Lord Command was not safe to be around when he was as angry as he was right then. The Jackal knew he should tread cautiously. "She wouldn't dare lie to me. We have her daughter." "Fuck! First, you idiots allow Agyemang to escape. Now you don't know the whereabouts of the most important alpha of all. We need to finish that potion soon otherwise all our hard work will be for nothing. That will be four decades of planning, down the drain. We need Jeremy Stanton's blood and bone marrow to complete this. He beat us once, putting a massive hitch in our plan. I'm not going to allow him to do it again."

"Maybe he's gone into hiding because of Sasha's death." One of the fifteen people around the conference table spoke up.

"Jeremy Stanton doesn't hide from anyone, Frank." The Lord Command snapped.

"Reynard, he can't be gone for long." A pretty brunette who looked not a day over twenty-one but was actually seventy-four years old, said. "I hear he got mated in a private ceremony of sorts just three days ago. He can't possibly leave his mate for long, can he?"

"A mate huh?" The Lord Command's face lit up. "Great. That's the first person Jeremy will go to when he gets back from wherever he's gone to. Find her and keep an eye on her..."

"Him." The brunette said.

"What?" The Lord Command looked confused.

"Jeremy's mate...it's a man." She looked as if she was enjoying the man's shock.

"Interesting." The Lord Command turned glassy green eyes onto the albino. "Well, I want eyes on him at all times. And don't fuck this up, Jackal." The threat in his voice was unmistakable. "It is now or never." The desperation and determination in his eyes could not be masked. "That dreadful prophecy cannot come to pass."

According to the prophecy, the Wyatt clan, the most ruthless and deadliest Warlock clan that ever existed, was to be brought to its knees that year by a formidable force. Well, the clan prided itself on the mayhem, destruction, and fear they brought upon humankind just for the fun of it. Of course, their services were available to any person who could either pay with ridiculously huge sums of money or human sacrifices. Their name struck fear into the hearts of every warlock and witch who knew about them. The Wyatt clan was definitely a force to reckon with. They sure as hell weren't going to wait around to get kicked off the top of the pinnacle. And fortified with all that power from their latest discovery...a potion made from the life force of powerful alphas, that prophecy was as good as void.