CHAPTER TWENTY SIX (26)
They had been riding for hours.
The forest thickened the deeper they went south, the air growing colder, heavier. Even the beasts began to slow, their earlier speed fading into a cautious, measured pace.
Reyna could feel her body turning stiff.
Her body ached from the ride, her fingers still stiff from gripping the reins. She hadn't complained once—but the strain showed in the way she held herself.
Damiel noticed.
Of course he did.
"Stop," he ordered.
The command was quiet, but absolute.
The beasts slowed to a halt.
Kael glanced back. "Commander?"
"We rest briefly."
Roan frowned slightly—it wasn't like Damiel to stop before reaching their destination. But neither of them questioned him.
They dismounted.
Reyna's legs nearly gave out the moment her feet touched the ground. She steadied herself quickly, hoping no one noticed.
Damiel did.
His gaze lingered on her for a second too long before he looked away.
"Five minutes," he said.
"Stay close", he said to Reyna as he walked away.
---
The forest was… wrong.
Too quiet.
No insects. No wind.
Even the leaves seemed to hold their breath.
Zaiel was the first to notice.
His head tilted slightly, eyes narrowing—not in fear, but in recognition.
"Commander," he said softly.
Damiel's gaze snapped to him.
Zaiel didn't look at him.
He was staring into the trees.
"We're not alone."
The words had barely settled—
When the forest exploded.
A blur of shadows lunged from every direction.
"AMBUSH!" Roan roared.
Claws tore through the air.
Kael moved instantly, blade flashing as he intercepted the first wolf mid-leap. Roan followed, cutting through another with brutal precision.
Steel met claws,
A clash,
Then another,
More shadow moved—
Not one...not two....
A pack
Not scattered.
Organized.
Coordinated.
The forest exploded into chaos.
Kael moved like lightning, blade cutting through one wolf's shoulder.
Roan fought two at once, back to back, teeth gritted.
And Zaiel—
Zaiel didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward instead of back, like this wasn't his first time in a battlefield, or a soldier in training.
A wolf lunged for him—
—and in one smooth motion, he caught it mid-air by the throat and slammed it into the ground hard enough to crack the earth.
Not normal.
Not even for a trained soldier.
His eyes flickered—just for a second—
gold.
Then it was gone.
---
Damiel struck the last werewolf before him, he lifted his head to look around, when he noticed Zaiel, the way he had picked up the werewolf and slammed it against the ground, he wasn't sure if he saw right but his eyes had glowed golden, he knew there was something about the young soldier but now his suspicion piqued higher, but was cut short when damiel noticed something far worse.
---
A second wave came.
Faster. Smarter.
One broke past them.
Straight toward Reyna.
---
She froze.
Her body refused to move.
All she saw were claws—
teeth—
death rushing toward her—
---
It never reached her.
---
A force slammed into the wolf mid-air.
Violent. Brutal.
Unforgiving.
The creature was flung across the clearing like it weighed nothing—crashing through trees before hitting the ground with a sickening crack.
Reyna's breath hitched.
Damiel stood in front of her.
He hadn't run.
He had appeared.
---
His sword burned.
Not the usual calm blue.
No.
This was different.
The flame twisted—
orange.
Fierce. Unstable.
Alive.
---
"Stay behind me."
His voice was no longer calm.
It was something deeper.
Darker.
---
The werewolves hesitated.
That was new.
Moments ago, they attacked without fear.
Now?
They backed away.
---
Damiel stepped forward slowly.
Each step heavier than the last.
The air around him distorted—like the world itself couldn't handle the pressure of his presence.
---
One wolf tried to attack again.
A mistake.
Damiel didn't even look at it.
He raised his hand—
—and the wolf froze mid-air.
Struggling.
Choking.
Power crushing it from all sides.
---
Then—
he swung his sword as he sliced it in half.
---
Silence.
Heavy.
Terrifying.
---
Then—
a voice.
Clapping.
Slow.
Mocking.
---
"Well… that was interesting."
---
They all turned.
Two figures stepped out from the shadows.
Not ordinary wolves.
Not soldiers.
---
Alphas.
Two of them.
---
One had golden-brown hair, sharp red eyes gleaming with amusement.
The other stood quieter—black hair, red eyes, watching, calculating.
---
"Two alphas… in one territory?" Kael muttered under his breath.
Roan's grip tightened on his weapon.
---
The golden-haired one tilted his head, eyes drifting past Damiel—
—to Reyna.
A smile curved his lips.
"Hmm…, what a beauty you have there, Demon Prince."
---
Damiel's aura shifted again.
Dangerously.
Azaelth groaned in jealousy and rage, stirring asking to be let out.
---
"You shouldn't look at her."
His voice dropped.
Low.
Cold.
Final.
---
The alpha chuckled.
"Oh? And what will you do, Demon Prince, if I decide to have her as MY MATE?" he said not because he wasn't scared of the consequences of his words, but out of curiosity to how far Damiel will go for her and how important Reyna was to him.
For a second—
everything stilled.
---
Then the flames on Damiel's sword flared violently—
orange swallowing blue completely.
Wild.
Uncontrolled.
---
The ground beneath him cracked.
---
Even the werewolves and their Alpha flinched. Kael and Roan looked at Damiel in surprise, they could feel the change in the atmosphere, as his aura pressed on in rage.
---
Zaiel's smile widened slightly.
Like he was… impressed.
Or expecting it.
---
The second alpha who had been silently observing stepped forward slightly.
"Enough."
He said as a warning, at this point Damiel could easily wipe out everyone here, with one swoop of his sword without even breaking a sweat, his voice cut through the tension.
"Not today." They have already gotten more than enough information on what brought them there.
---
The golden-haired alpha clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"But we just got here."He wanted to know the full extent of Damiels rage, how much he could control himself before his demon took over completely.
---
"And we've seen enough."
A pause.
Then, quieter—
"If we move any further, none of us will get out of here alive, scratch that...", he said as he looked back at Damiel and his sword, then back at the other Alpha "none of us will have a body to be buried." He was right, no matter how you look at it, Damiel was raging ,one wrong move, any move at all he would wipe them all out.
---
Their eyes shifted.
To Reyna.
---
Damiel moved instantly—
blocking her completely from view.
---
"Leave."
It wasn't a command.
It was a warning.
---
The alphas exchanged a look.
Then—
they stepped back.
---
The remaining wolves retreated with them, as they dragged the injured or dead wolves along.
Silently glad they didn't move any further.
---
In a moment, they were.....
Gone.
Just like that.
Like they were never there.
---
Silence returned.
But it wasn't the same.
---
Damiel stood still for a moment.
Then slowly—
his flames dimmed.
Back to blue.
Controlled.
Contained.
And slowly dimmed completely.
---
But his expression didn't change.
He turned to see Reyna shaking, this was the second time, a werewolf tried to attac, a second time she was so close to death, and a second time Prince Damiel had come to her rescue, she lifted her eyes slowly to meet his gaze, immediately his expression softened,
"Thank you, yo..ur Highn...ess", she whispered as her voice cracked.
He wanted to hold her, to hug her, to tell her as long as he was here no one could hurt her but Instead he silently nodded, and asked her to stay close by at his side, as the others came to him.
---
"There were two alphas." Damiel said.
His voice was calm again—but sharper.
Thinking.
Calculating.
---
"The werewolves are reckless but not suicidal, they wouldn't leave their territory and uníte to start a fight in Avalon territory and against me, alone." Damiel said.
Kael nodded slowly. "Not unless—"
"—they were sent...."
Roan continued.
"By someone more powerful than them, they seem to be following orders, not giving one". Zaiel finished, as the others nodded.
Damiel's gaze darkened.
---
His eyes lifted toward the forest where they vanished.
-----
And not far away—
Zaiel watched Damiel.
That same faint smile on his lips.
Eyes glinting again—
just for a second.
Like he knew something the rest of them didn't.