EYES OF FIRE AND ICE

Chapter Thirty-Six

"You think I don't know that?" Christian points at his chest, eyes blazing. "If you want to make your own orders, kill me. Take my Title. Take the Throne whilst you're at it! We all know you could snap that blonde prick in half without breaking a fucking sweat!"

Valen's hands ball into fists, insulted into silence. Kill him?

"I know you want them dead. I know you do. But that child will look our way, and I will not have my people sliced apart because you have a vendetta against the people who stole you." Christian's breaths are heavy, and he runs a hand through his hair in frustration. "I'm doing this for you, Valen. I don't know what will happen to you when you cross that border. I don't... what if you succumb to a memory, what if your mind just breaks and..." his voice drifts off, clearly distraught.

"Just obey the fucking order, Valen."

Both Christian and Valen's heads snap towards one of the Generals. Zoya. Christian's eyes widen and before he can make a move to protect the female, Valen breaks completely.

Veins underneath his eyes protrude to the surface as his white irises turn deadly. The rumble within his chest grows into a thunderous, powerful growl as he snarls at the girl. Never before have these wolves heard such a sound, and for good reason. The building trembles, walls shaking as items on tables smash to the ground. The sound fills the entire GHQ, causing all activity to come to an abrupt halt.

As his teeth are bared at Zoya, more than half of his aura escapes and every soul in the room - the building - falls to their knees, some lying face down on the ground in a writhing mess.

The girl begins crying, shaking as she and every other General look up at Valen with unadulterated fear in their eyes. Christian is on one knee, significantly more composed than the rest of them, but with a face full of strain.

How dare she? How dare she raise her voice at him - command him. Valen's eyes begin to sting, but he remains glaring at the girl who's unable to look him back in the eyes. None of them can. They're beneath him, all of them. Even his fucking Gamma.

Valen's voice is a dark growl. "Know. Your. Place."

They won't stop him from entering Evropi. From killing each and every one of them. He'll make them suffer.

He'll make them burn.

"Valen, please."

He turns to his Gamma, and the enormity of the situation slams right back into him. The building stops shaking, the force pushing everyone towards the ground lifts, and the growl coming from his lips disappears. He takes a step back and rubs his eyes with his fingertips, the sting fading quickly.

What has he done?

Before Christian can attempt to calm him, Valen is out of the room. He needs to — he needs to run. He needs to get into the forest and shift into his primal form.

He stops in the middle of a hallway, stunned by his thoughts.

He can't shift.

He can't because he's tried, countless times. His Gamma tried to help him, teach him - for years. At first, Valen thought it was his own mind stopping him from transforming, abiding by the promise he made to himself inside the cell. But Evropi had broken him. Made him less of a lycanthrope than everyone else in the Kingdom.

He's nothing because of them.

Leaving GHQ and getting onto his motorcycle, Valen puts on his helmet and races home. White knuckles grip the handles as he's reminded of why he had to buy this thing in the first place. It's not like he can shift and run as he pleases, moving from location to location with ease. He needs the bike to move, and he has to deal with it.

Turning off the engine and pulling off his helmet, Valen brings it with him as he enters his home, slamming the door shut behind him. The helmet and keys are thrown onto a table next to the door, and for a moment he just stands there in the darkness of the hallway.

Images of him running through the forestry of Evropi flash through his mind. Branches slice the skin of his arms and body, the pain nothing when compared to the horrors he faced underground.

Valen doesn't feel pain anymore. He just knows it's there, lingering, tormenting. But his emotions, on the other hand, they're overwhelming.

His eyes begin to water.

He's so fucking angry. Why is the world against him? And why have the Gods done nothing but watch?

Storming into his bedroom down the hall, Valen seethes in the darkness. The Gods. Oh, how he despises each and every single one of them. If he had the chance, he'd gut them all.

Throughout his time in that cell, Valen would call to them, pray to them, asking for any help he could get. And not once did they respond. He'd beg them, cry to them. But they let him suffer.

Tears begin sliding down his cheeks, eyes burning red as he fills with despair.

They left him there to die. He glares up at the ceiling, to wherever they are above the clouds.

Burn in hell.

•

Well. This was an interesting one.