Chapter Seven - Blood and Judgement

The knife bit deeper into my throat and I felt warm blood sliding down my neck, soaking into my collar.

Derek was dragging me backward, away from the border, away from safety, and Lycan couldn't move without risking my death.

I wasn't going to die here.

Not like this, not at the hands of the man who'd thrown me away like garbage.

I remembered what Lycan taught me, fight dirty, use whatever advantage you have, and make them regret underestimating you.

So I went completely limp. I became dead weight in Derek's arms.

He stumbled, caught off guard by the sudden shift, and his grip loosened just slightly.

That was all I needed.

I slammed my elbow back into his ribs with everything I had and felt something crack. Derek gasped, his hold weakening, and I stomped down hard on his instep. 

I twisted in his grip, clawed at his face, his eyes, anything I could reach.

The knife cut deeper as he struggled to hold me and more blood poured down my neck but I didn't stop. I screamed and bit down hard on his forearm, tasting copper and salt.

Derek cursed and shoved me away.

The second there was distance between us, even just an inch, Lycan moved.

He was on Derek before I could blink, faster than anything I'd ever seen. 

He grabbed Derek by the throat and threw him across the clearing like he weighed nothing. Derek's body hit a tree with a sickening crack and he crumpled to the ground.

I fell to my knees, my hand going to my throat and blood was everywhere, hot and sticky, pouring between my fingers. I pressed down hard, trying to stop it, but there was so much.

Derek struggled to his feet, his face twisted with rage and desperation, and he shifted.

His wolf was large, dark brown, teeth bared and snarling, but Lycan didn't shift. He stayed human, which somehow made him more terrifying. He just stood there, calm and deadly, waiting.

Derek lunged.

Lycan caught him mid-air by the throat and slammed him into the ground so hard the earth shook. Derek yelped, tried to twist free, but Lycan's grip was iron.

He wasn't trying to kill Derek quickly and I realized with dark satisfaction that he was making him suffer. 

Every time Derek tried to get up, Lycan broke another bone. A leg. A rib. 

I watched, my hand still pressed to my neck, using leaves and moss from the ground to try to stop the bleeding. 

The forest around us was covered in blood, mine and Derek's, and the sound of bones breaking filled the air.

Derek's wolves tried to help their Alpha but suddenly more wolves appeared from across the border, Lycan's wolves, bigger and fiercer, led by a scarred man with cold eyes.

The fight expanded but it was clear within minutes which side was winning.

Derek shifted back to human form, broken and bleeding, his legs bent at wrong angles. He was crying, actually crying, as he tried to crawl away.

"Please," he gasped, "please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean –"

Lycan grabbed him by the hair and dragged him across the ground to where I knelt. Then he looked at me, his gray eyes calm despite the blood covering him.

"He's yours," Lycan said simply, "What do you want to do with him?"

This was my moment.

Derek, the man who rejected me, who humiliated me in front of his entire pack, who just tried to kill me, was broken and pathetic at my feet.

I pushed myself up slowly, my legs shaking, my throat on fire, but I managed to stand. I looked down at Derek and saw real fear in his eyes and the realisation that I held his life in my hands.

I remembered the rejection, the pain that had felt like dying, the laughter of the pack members as I lay on the ground writhing. I remembered his disgust when he looked at me, the casual cruelty when he told me I wasn't worthy.

Part of me wanted to kill him myself. I wanted to watch the life drain from his eyes but then I realized something.

His death would be too quick, too easy, and he'd be gone, unable to suffer the way I'd suffered for years.

"Let him live," I said, my voice rough but clear enough, "Let him go back to his pack broken and defeated. Let everyone see what happens when you cross us."

I stepped closer, ignoring the pain screaming through my body.

"Let him live with the shame that the worthless girl he rejected brought him to his knees." I said. 

Lycan studied me for a long moment, and then he nodded.

He looked down at Derek.

"You heard her. Take your wolves and go. If I ever see you near her again, if you ever speak her name again, I'll finish what I started today. And next time, she won't be merciful."

Derek didn't argue or protest, he just nodded frantically. His remaining wolves helped him up, all of them limping and bleeding, and they stumbled away into the forest. The great Alpha Derek reduced to a broken, humiliated shell of a man.

Worse than death.

The moment they disappeared from sight, the adrenaline drained out of me all at once.

My knees buckled and the world tilted sideways. I felt myself falling but Lycan caught me before I hit the ground.

"Marina," his voice sounded far away, "Stay with me."

I tried to tell him I was fine but my throat wouldn't work, the words came out as a wet gurgle and blood bubbled up in my mouth. My hand was still pressed to my neck but I could feel warm liquid pulsing between my fingers with each heartbeat.

My vision was getting dark around the edges.

Lycan lifted me in his arms like I weighed nothing and started running. I could feel his heart pounding against my cheek, could hear him shouting orders, but the words blurred together.

" – the border – get Sage – NOW –"

We crossed something, some invisible line, and suddenly the air felt different and safer. We were in his territory. 

The scarred man from earlier appeared beside us, his face grim.

"Is she –"

"Get the healer," Lycan snarled, "Get Sage NOW. Tell her to prepare for severe blood loss and possible vocal cord damage."

"Yes, Alpha."

More people appeared, wolves in human form, all staring at me with various expressions of shock and concern. 

A woman with silver-streaked hair pushed through, a leather bag in her hands.

"My Lord, let me –"

"No one touches her but you, Sage," Lycan's voice was steel, "Fix her. Do whatever it takes."

"I need to examine the wound."

"Then examine it. But I'm not putting her down."

He kept running, his arms tight around me, and I faded in and out. Trees blurred past, then a large building made of stone and wood, then a staircase, then, a room. 

Lycan laid me down on a bed – the softesr one I'd ever lain on – and immediately his hand was back on my throat, applying pressure. 

The healer, Sage, appeared beside him, her hands gentle as she peeled away the makeshift bandage of leaves and moss.

"The cut is deep but clean," she murmured, "I can work with this. But you need to move, my Lord, I need space."

"I'm not leaving."

"Then stand back."

Lycan moved to the head of the bed but kept one hand on mine, his grip almost painful in its intensity.

Sage worked quickly, her hands sure and practiced. 

I felt heat, magic maybe, flowing into the wound and the pain intensified before starting to fade. She cleaned the blood away, applied some kind of salve that burned like fire, then began stitching.

I tried not to scream but couldn't help the whimper that escaped.

Lycan's hand tightened on mine.

"Almost done," Sage said softly, "You're doing well, Luna."

Luna. That word felt strange, like it belonged to someone else.

The stitching seemed to take forever but finally Sage stepped back, wiping her hands on a cloth.

"The wound will heal," she said to Lycan, "But the damage to her vocal cords is extensive. It will take time for her to speak normally again. Days, possibly a week."

"But she'll be fine?" His voice was rough, desperate in a way I'd never heard before.

"Yes, my Lord. She'll be fine. She just needs rest and time to heal."

I wanted to say something, to thank her, to tell Lycan I was okay, but my throat felt like it was full of broken glass and nothing came out but a faint rasp.

"Don't try to talk," Sage said gently, "Rest now. I'll check on you in a few hours."

She left, and then it was just Lycan and me.

He pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down, still holding my hand. His face was tight with worry and fear, and I'd never seen him look like that before.

I squeezed his hand weakly, trying to tell him I was okay without words.

His expression softened slightly.

"You scared the hell out of me," he said quietly, "When I saw that knife at your throat –"

He stopped, his jaw clenching.

"But you fought. You fought like the warrior I knew you could be." His thumb traced circles on the back of my hand. "I'm proud of you."

Tears pricked at my eyes but I blinked them away, exhaustion pulling at me, my body desperate for sleep.

"Rest," Lycan murmured, "I'll be here."

And he was.

Every time I woke up over the next few days, he was there. Sometimes holding my hand, sometimes just sitting in the chair watching me, sometimes pacing by the window. His presence was constant, overwhelming, comforting.

The scarred man, Beta Marcus, came by several times. I could hear him trying to get Lycan to leave, to handle pack business, to deal with the aftermath of Derek's attack on their territory.

Lycan refused every time.

"Marcus can handle it," he'd say, "I'm not leaving her."

Sage came by regularly to check my stitches and change the bandages. The pain was getting better, more of an ache than the sharp agony from before, and I could feel the healing magic working.

But I still couldn't talk, every attempt came out as a painful rasp or complete silence.

On the third day, I woke up alone for the first time.

The chair beside my bed was empty and sunlight streamed through the windows. I could hear birds outside, normal peaceful sounds that felt surreal after everything.

Then I heard voices outside the door and they were raised, angry.

"You replaced me with THAT?" A woman's sharp voice reached me, "A wolfless nobody who can't even speak? That's your precious mate?"

"Careful, Elena." Lycan's voice was cold as death, colder than I'd ever heard it, "You're very close to crossing a line you won't come back from."

"I gave you everything! Years of my life, and you throw me aside for some broken little –"

"Another word and I'll have you removed from this pack permanently. She is my mate. My Luna. And you will show her respect or you'll leave."

I tried to sit up, ignoring the pull of pain in my throat, and my heart was pounding. Who was this woman? 

What was she to Lycan?

Suddenly the door burst open.

A beautiful woman stormed into my room, her eyes full of hatred and I knew immediately, this was going to be a problem.