Heart Of A Lycan King
Chapter 49

NATASHA.

“Run, Natasha! Leave that place!” Donald yelled as he pulled my hand.

But I couldn’t move. No matter how hard I tried, how hard I struggled to move, I couldn’t. I remained frozen like a statue with my heart pounding loudly against my ribcage and watched as the feral beast ran towards me, canines bared and ready to attack.

Because this certainly wasn’t my Leo. Nor my Aiden. This feral beast coming at me was not my mate. The violence was gnawing, and all I wanted to do was to turn and run away from all this. But I couldn’t. I would never turn my back from my mate.

Never.

When I had gotten here, the only thoughts in my head was how to make Aiden see how wrong what he did was. But, now, after running with Donald leading the way, I was scared. Broken. This can’t be happening to my mate.

‘What is going on, Nat?’ Erin cried, staring straight at Leo. She was frozen in shock. As was I.

I had no answer. Nothing.

Fangs bared, eyes glowing yellow from whatever had turned him this way, Leo continued to come at me. I could hear the screams, the loud voices, the sound of his paws running straight at me, yet, no one was fast enough to get to us. He seemed to outrun everyone coming after him.

However, when there was just a few feet before he could reach me, Donald jumped between us. Right before my eyes, in mere seconds, Leo growled, sank his teeth around his neck and threw him to the side.

Then he jumped on me, pushing me to the ground.

“Hold him before he hurts her,” I heard a deep voice growl, before Leo was pushed forcefully aside.

A large wolf, bigger than Leo hovered over him, but as they wrestled, it was obvious that the wolf was no match for Leo.

“Baba is going to get hurt,” Lacie cried hysterically. “Someone do something!”

A laughter caught my ears, and I shifted my gaze to see Matteo, hunched over his knees and laughing. The anger that had vanished when I saw Leo in that state returned.

He was the reason for this. He did it. Somehow, it seems as though he always derived pleasure in hurting people. But I’ve had enough of that. Not when it involves my mate.

Erin growled loudly, fighting for control. But I restrained her. Leo and Aiden were my priority right now. I needed to figure out a way to save them both.

‘Diyama!’ A voice howled in my ears. Somehow, it was as though I knew what the voice was telling me to do. And I did it anyway. I found myself running towards Leo, who had Baba pinned on the ground and Leo’s teeth sunk in.

“Natasha!” Tiffany and Lacie cried, but I wasn’t listening.

I ran to where Baba and Leo were, gave Baba a nudge and grabbed Leo’s head in my arms.

He growled loudly, his yellow eyes widening as he looked around frantically. He looked completely lost.I began running my fingers through his fur. He howled again, teeth bared as saliva dripped from his mouth. I stared at him, listening as the voice kept speaking in my head. I had no idea what was going on, or what was being said, but I didn’t care. No matter how hard he struggled, no matter how much he fought against my hold, I refused to let him go.

Erin was still pacing, unable to focus. She herself was starting to go mad because of the state Leo was in.

‘ERIN!’ I shouted. ‘FOCUS! Leo needs us! He needs YOU! I need you to help me bring him back!’

It caught her attention and she started to calm down enough to focus on the task at hand. A task I had no idea how to deal with.

As I kneeled there, with Leo’s head clenched between my hands, all I could think of was how to bring him back. Whatever Matteo did to him was terrible enough to make him this feral. He looked completely lost, as if he couldn’t understand what was going on.

I stared into his eyes, tears threatening to spill from mine. His fur was stained with b***d everywhere, and I hated it. I hated the smell of b***d he carried, or the killing aura surrounding him. He smelled real bad, the smell I once inhaled when Aiden’s burn heated up and reached my nose. My eyes zeroed in on the scar on Leo’s back, the same place Erin had mentioned.

It was black, and the hair around it was scorched. The skin stretched taut, as if it had been wrinkled then stretched out once again. Thick smoke rose from it, and made a ‘sshhh’ sound as though he was being burnt that moment filled my ears. I shut my eyes tightly, willing for the image to disappear from my head.

Then the voice in my head stopped. The growls around me stopped. The yelling. Everything. The only sounds I could hear came from Leo. Deep snarls. Hissing. It was as though he was fighting something.

NATASHA.

“Run, Natasha! Leave that place!” Donald yelled as he pulled my hand.

The better part of it all, he didn’t attack me. He simply continued to hiss as he shook his head in my hands from time to time.

The better part of it all, he didn’t attack me. He simply continued to hiss as he shook his head in my hands from time to time.

“I know you’re in there. Whatever is going on here, I know it isn’t you. Please, come back to me,” I cried softly, bringing my face to his and nuzzling our noses together.

Erin howled as she leaned closer into the touch. A purr-like growl escaped his lips. And I watched as his eyes danced in between the yellow ferocity it carried and its golden color. His fur was hot, which was weird. It was as though he was burning up.

“Please, stop this,” I pleaded, still running my fingers in his fur.

Then a low breeze rose across the arena. It began from a distance, but I heard it. As it got closer, however, the heat on Leo’s skin slowly began to dwindle. I heard a sound as though it came from far away, and a call which seemed to come from dozens of other wolves. Dust began to swirl around the arena, then thick shadows rose covering everything until the only thing I could see was Leo’s yellow eyes. The dust was choking, and the shadows were dark, making it impossible to see anything else. All I could hear was the sound of distant howling. I looked around, but I couldn’t see anything. The sound was a sorrowful one, a mournful tune which carried around the entire arena.

Amidst the darkness, I saw the wolf from last time, with three shadows beside her. She stared at me for a moment, inclined her head a bit towards me before she howled loudly. The sorrowful tune was hers, and I heard the voices of wolves I couldn’t see join in. The howl this time was louder than before. Then I saw two shadows approach us, albeit, it felt like I was in some other place and this was a dream. I watched as Leo was pulled up and chained tightly against a tree and he continued to snarl and bare his fangs at everyone. I wanted to move to stop it. I didn’t want anyone hurting him again. But yet again, I couldn’t move. Then I felt a softness against my cheek. When I turned a bit, it was the wolf from before.

We stared at each other for as long as I could remember, before I heard it speak.

‘We’ll keep him safe.’

Then everything stopped. The dust settled, the shadows vanished, and the howling faded.

I rubbed my eyes for a while to adjust to the lighting before I heard voices behind me.

“What just happened?”

“Look, the King is back.”

“What was that?”

But the one comment that got my attention was the one about the king being back. It was then I realized I wasn’t feeling Leo’s fur in my hands anymore. When I looked down, Aiden laid on the dirty ground, his brows pulled in as though he was asleep. Did the shadows help? Why? How?

“Quick, cover him,” Baba yelled.

I watched Kane drape a shirt over Aiden’s nudity. He was clutching the side of his stomach which doesn’t seem to be healing.

“We need to take him home. His fever is bad,” Baba said desperately.

“I will go get the car ready,” Kamal said as he hurriedly left.

Before any of us could reply, another laughter cackled around us. I snapped my head towards where it came, and there, kneeling down with his arms stretched on either side was Matteo. Still laughing like a maniac. He was nude, which meant he had shifted into his wolf form as well.

Rage took over me again. When I got here, I was scared, afraid of what was going to happen. I was also angry that Aiden was doing this without telling me. But when I got here and saw him sink his teeth into Kane’s legs, I knew that wasn’t him.

I knew something had gone wrong.

But now that he was here, albeit I had no idea what was going on, I felt the rage return. And Erin’s too.

“Can someone shut the bloody b.astard up?” Baba growled.

“He has the roots,” Kane mumbled, hissing. “No Lycan can approach him or things would get worse,” he added.

“What root?” I asked quietly.

“The Fiandron root,” Baba replied.

My eyes widened. I’ve heard about the root once. And the only thing I knew was that it causes ultimate damage to Lycans but none to wolves.

“Is that what made him this way?” I asked again, my gaze sweeping back to Aiden. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t lose my mate.

I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to him.

“Yes. He shouldn’t even be able to shift back to his human form. Whatever that was that happened now must have helped,” Baba replied.

I nodded, feeling the way the anger was slowly eating at me. Better yet, I could feel the way Erin was stirring, and I knew she’d take over at any moment. Now that Leo had been subdued and wasn’t a threat to everyone around him, our focus was back on the cause of it all. Matteo. Always Matteo.

The rage was blinding. I could feel it starting like a bubbling feeling in the pit of my stomach, growing bigger and bigger until the boiling rage was almost consuming me.

I hissed, the rage consuming both me and Erin made my head pound. Erin’s focus had shifted to Matteo as well. She has put herself in a fighting stance, legs spread slightly apart, head hanging low, ears flat on her head. Her fur was standing up, making her look double her normal size. But her eyes. Her eyes held nothing but pure unadulterated rage. Nothing in the world would be able to stop her now.

I couldn’t control both her rage and mine.

‘I need to go, Nat,’ she said in a low, angry snarl. ‘I need to ruin him too. He hurt our mate!’ she growled furiously.

She was right. We needed to do something. I could feel the push, feel the call towards Matteo. For a moment, I thought it was there, but I knew I was being called to him. That, or the fact that my anger was too much to control.

He had hurt my mate. Hurting me, I could handle it. But not hurting the one man that had ever wanted me. That had ever believed in me. I won’t be taking that.

‘He has hurt my mate, Nat.’ She howled in anger. ‘I had only met him once and now…he’s…he’s in pain, fighting for his life amidst becoming feral!’ She hissed. She was in pain, the same way I was in. ‘I NEED TO GO!’

With a sinking feeling, I cried out, letting Erin take over fully. She had been craving it, and I knew it was only a matter of seconds before she forced her way through if I didn’t let her. That, and the fact that my rage was blinding. Through Erin’s gaze, the protruding smell of the burn was too much. Too horrifying.

Before anyone could react to our shifting, Erin jumped and lunged at Matteo, who was still laughing.

He barely had enough time to react, but he still managed to dodge the bite. Erin turned around swiftly and charged at him once again, but he anticipated the attack and knocked us aside easily. I could tell she was struggling, but the rage was the only thing which fuelled her. Which fuelled us both. The Shadows returned then.

Throwing Matteo around. From one angle to another. It was as though they were stirring a cup of hot gruel, and Matteo’s howls filled the air. Erin and I simply watched, confused. Were the shadows helping us?

Soon, Matteo was thrown to the side, and without waiting, with a loud growl, Erin hurled towards him and sank her teeth into his thigh before he could move away. Matteo growled, staggering to the ground and flinging the root aside. Erin didn’t pause even for a single second. She bit off a large chunk of flesh, the acrid taste of b***d sending her into a frenzy. Matteo writhed on the ground in agony, but she hit him once again, and this time I was sure that one of his testicles was a casualty of the bite.

Gross.

But I liked it. The one time our mouth had gone to that area willingly was to cause him damage.

I heard his painful howl, and for some reason, a certain sense of satisfaction settled within me as Erin stared down at him. Erin kicked him with her paws, growling and snarling. The sight of him bleeding however made her relax, and as we moved away, Donald and Kane moved forward to restrain him amidst his cries of agony.

Erin spits out the the large chunk of flesh, as she digs her paws into the ground.

“What do you think you are doing throwing yourself in there?” Baba yelled. But Erin ignored him as she shook the dirt off her fur.

I tried to shift, but she wasn’t having it. She trotted slowly towards Aiden, nuzzled her nose against his just like I did moments ago with Leo and let out a strangled cry. He looked lifeless.

She licked his face, dropped her head on her paws and simply stayed there watching him.

“Shouldn’t we get him home?” I heard Tiffany ask.

“We should. But give them a moment,” Baba replied quietly.

“What a sight to return home to!” A strange voice yelled from behind us, and I felt the way Erin stiffened after she sniffed the air.