#5: Lucien

Lucien

The forest was alive with the scent of pine and blood, but all he could feel was her. Nyra thrashed in his grip, her shadows lashing out like wild things, clawing at his arms as he hauled her back through the trees. Her stolen sword lay discarded where he'd knocked it from her hand, and her curses filled the air.

"Let me go, you bastard!" she snapped, twisting against him and yanking back with all her strength. Her nails raked across his wrist, shallow cuts that stung like they were meant to insult, more than wound.

"So what's the plan, Alpha?" she continued. "Drag me back to your dungeon for another round of torture? Or are you just gonna execute me in front of your pack like you planned?"

He dragged her harder, forcing her steps to match his. "What made you think you could just slip from my keep and vanish into the night?"

"Funny, I don't remember needing your permission." she said then jerked, nearly ripping free. He growled then shoved her against a pine so hard, the bark cracked on impact. He stepped close, pinning her there, until their faces were only inches apart.

Her green eyes blazed, daring him to do something. The mate bond roared in his chest, urging him to close the distance between them even more, and he hated it – hated her for making him feel this way.

He leaned in until they were barely a hair's breath apart, to the point she was breathing in his air and he was breathing in hers.

"How the hell did you get out?" he demanded, his voice a low growl. "Who helped you?"

Her lips curved into that mocking grin he'd come to loathe. "Well, wouldn't you like to know? Maybe I just batted my lashes at the guards, and they handed me the keys. Jealous?"

He pressed closer, his body a wall against hers, the heat of her seeping through his skin. "Don't play games with me, half-breed. You're not as clever as you think."

"Oh, I'm plenty clever," she shot back, tilting her chin up, her lips so close he could almost taste them again. "Clever enough to slip your precious keep. Clever enough to know you're not just mad I ran – you're mad because you care that I did."

"Shut up," he snarled, leaning in closer, his forehead nearly touching hers. Her scent was everywhere, drowning out the forest, and his wolf howled, begging him to close the distance.

He could feel her breath, the slight tremble in it, and for a second, he wanted nothing more than to give in, to taste her, to–

A rustle broke the spell, sharp and sudden.

They both froze, heads snapping toward the sound. Fangs glinted in the moonlight, and a low hiss cut through the air.

Rogues.

At least twenty, slinking out from the darkness, their eyes glowing with hunger.

"Looks like we have some company," Nyra muttered, her shadows flaring around her.

"Stay behind me," he ordered, releasing her and drawing his blade.

Nyra snorted. "You're hilarious."

The first rogue lunged, he met him halfway, claws raking through his throat in a spray of black blood. Another came from the left and he spun, drove his elbow into his jaw, and snapped his neck with a savage twist. More shadows poured in, circling and cutting them off from every direction.

The wolf inside him clawed at his ribs, demanding release, and he let it rise, calling on an additional wolf to join the fight.

Power surged through him as the echo of an ancestral wolf answered, the ancient strength burning through his veins. With his two wolves in hand, the vampires lunged, and the night exploded into chaos.

Steel met flesh, fangs flashed, and blood sprayed across the forest floor. He moved with brutal precision, slashing through one rogue, then another, the ancestral wolf's power making his strikes lethal. Their bodies fell, torn and lifeless, but more came, faster than he expected.

His blade caught a third in the throat, but a fourth darted past, aiming for Nyra. He spun, ready to intercept, and that's when he saw her slip away, her shadows cloaking her as she bolted into the trees.

"Nyra!" he roared, his focus splintering as he turned to follow.

That split second of distraction cost him – a rogue struck from behind, claws raking his shoulder, sending him stumbling back.

Pain flared through his body as his vision blurred, and the remaining vampires closed in, surrounding him and attacking all at once. Their hisses filled the air, and he swung wildly, cutting down another, but they were too many, too fast.

They pounced at once, biting... cutting... tearing...

Through the chaos, he caught sight of Nyra again, just as her head whipped back, her eyes finding him through the tangle of bodies.

"Go!" he shouted shoving a rogue back, only to take another strike across his jaw. "Run, damn you!"

He staggered back, gasping, half kneeling as he tried to hold on to what strength he had left even as his vision began to blur.

As the other vampires began closing in, ready to finish him off, Lucien sank to his knees, and then to the floor, preparing himself for the inevitable.

From where he lay on the ground, his face was level with one of the rogues he had felled earlier. The rogue was breathing heavily, waiting for the inevitable death to claim him, and Lucien stared back at him, awaiting the same fate.

"Adrian," the rogue croaked through blood stained lips. "Prince Adrian… is coming."

Then he coughed, blood spluttering on the ground where he lay.

And silence fell.

Lucien looked up once more to see more and more rogues emerging from the trees, surrounding him completely.

And that was the last thing he saw before the world went black.