Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 398: Weakness For Wolves

Cynthia had no idea how she went from hunter to hunted. She sprinted through the woods blindly, running with every ounce of strength she had. Asher couldn’t get his hands on the kind of information she carried. She wouldn’t be the one to bring her darling Patrick’s downfall. So yes, she would die if that was the cost to protect his secret.

She was still holding on to that thought when something slammed into her, hard. Cynthia hit the ground with a gasp, the breath punched from her lungs. She scrambled to look behind her, and it was exactly as she’d dreaded.

Asher Nightshade had found her.

Without hesitation, Cynthia reached for the gun strapped to her thigh, not to shoot him, but to end her own life.

But Asher was faster. noveldrama

He moved with the brutal accuracy of a werewolf, kicking the weapon out of her grasp in a blink. In the same motion, he hauled her to her feet like she weighed nothing.

"Aren’t you so eager to die now," Asher sneered, his face inches from hers, a gleam of contempt in his eyes.

He added coldly, "Usually, people who behave the way you do are the ones with deadly secrets to protect. What are you hiding, doctor?"

"No! Let me go!" Cynthia thrashed in his grip, struggling wildly. She couldn’t let him get into her head.

But Asher didn’t care. His hand clamped around her skull, firmer than necessary, and without warning invaded her mind.

What Asher met stunned him.

A wall of resistance slammed into him so dense and unrelenting that his knees nearly buckled. For a human, her will was formidable. But then, Asher’s own resolve was iron clad and he pushed harder.

When Asher broke into minds, he usually took care not to press too far knowing how fragile the brain could be. But with Cynthia, he had no mercy to spare. With a grunt of effort, he forced his way in, the sensation akin to a hot knife slicing through thick butter.

In reality, Cynthia screamed, collapsing to her knees as Asher ruthlessly plunged into her mind. Her eyes glazed over, lips trembling while her fingers clawed at nothing. But Asher didn’t look much better either with blood dripping freely from his nose.

And that was the sight Adele, and Lila, stumbled upon when they caught up to them.

"Shit!" Adele cursed, skidding to a halt. "He shouldn’t be using his powers this intensely after barely surviving a brain aneurysm. He’s going to get himself killed."

"Asher!" she shouted, bending beside him. "Asher!"

But there was no response.

"Well, I could knock him out!" Lila offered, cracking his knuckles with more eagerness than normal.

"No! Don’t!" Adele snapped. "Blunt attacks might do more harm than good right now. We don’t know how deep into her mind he’s gotten."

"Well, we might never find out by the time his brain melts out." Lila deadpanned, pointing at Asher, who now had blood trickling from his eyes.

"Oh my God," Adele murmured, panic tightening her chest.

She didn’t hesitate anymore and shouted at him. "Asher Nightshade! Let go of her this instant!"

He did not.

But Adele pressed on, desperation bleeding into her tone. "Is discovering her secret more important than Violet? What would Violet do if you die out here? Do you want her to bear the guilt of thinking you wouldn’t have died if you hadn’t come out to save her?"

That did it.

Asher recoiled with a sudden jerk, breaking the connection.

Cynthia slumped to the ground, gasping violently as her mind returned to her body. Her limbs twitched, her breaths shallow and uneven. She was alive but shaken.

"They are the ones who made Ignis," was all Asher managed to say before he dropped to the ground with a thud and began to convulse violently.

"Asher!" Adele screamed, rushing to him, her hands already glowing as she tried to heal him.

Cynthia took the opportunity of the confusion and bolted.The branches whipped against her face but she didn’t care. All that mattered was escape.

But fate had other plans.

While running blindly in the dark, her foot slammed down onto something taut that was hidden beneath.

Cynthia didn’t even see what it was when

a massive log, spiked and sharpened at the end, swung down from the treetops with terrifying force. It hurtled toward her like a missile, and before she could scream—Crack!

The log crushed her against the trunk of an old oak, its pointed end impaling her midsection with such force that the bark behind her split. A sickening crunch followed as her ribcage shattered, the impact crushing her heart. Her eyes bulged, while her mouth parted in a frozen gasp.

Cynthia coughed blood once before her body slumped on the bloodied timber, her head lolling lifelessly.

Just like that, she was gone.

"No, no, no," Adele choked out, watching helplessly as the healing glow in her palms faded out. She was drained.

Lila stood watching the scene with her brows drawn in a furrowed line. She could help lend Adele the fuel she needed, but that meant burning through her reserves. And if she did, she would not have any left to continue her search for Violet.

She exhaled shakily.

Earlier, she had spun an illusion and staged her own death. Sure, she hadn’t fallen into the trap on purpose, but she had lived so long it would be more than embarrassing to die that way.

Lila had saved herself seconds away from plunging on those spikes. But that was when the idea came to her to craft the spikes to appear as cold, merciless iron. It was the only way to convince Asher, the ever-logical wolf, that she was truly dead.

And it worked.

Lila had done it to test them and see their reactions. It didn’t bother her that they left her behind to search for Violet, that was what a true protector would do.

Maybe Violet would never forgive her for the way she operated but everything she did was for her. To protect her from the fate that had claimed her mother.

Still, it seemed the royal bloodline had a cursed weakness for werewolf assholes.

But these ones were different.

They weren’t just fighting for Violet. They were bleeding, sacrificing and risking death again and again without hesitation for her sake.

Lila looked past the trees, eyes scanning the distant horizon, then back at Asher, stuck between making the decision to leave or stay.

It was quite unfortunate the princess wouldn’t forgive her if one of her idiot boyfriends died.

With a groan that spoke of reluctant affection and frustration in equal parts, Lila strode to Adele and pressed her palms firmly against the woman’s back.

A surge of magic pulsed from her and hit Adele like a jolt of life. Her eyes widened as she gasped, as if air had returned to her lungs for the first time. Her hands glowed this time with a vibrant, greenish, her healing magic roaring back to life.

Adele looked back at her and whispered,

"Thank you."

Although Lila didn’t answer, a strange, unfamiliar warmth prickled against the armor she wore over her heart.