Calamity Falls | Wattys 2019

LVIII

Leopold sat up in the tent groggily, wiping the sleep from his face lazily. Calamity was nowhere to be found again. He sighed before rising to get dressed. He slept without a shirt on, something that Calamity seemed to appreciate. He had to all but drag her to their tent the previous night. Leo exited the tent and spotted Calamity sharpening one of her many blades immediately.

"Calamity," Leo called.

She jumped, cutting her finger slightly. "At least I know it's sharp enough," she muttered, sucking on the small wound.

Leo rushed to her side. He took her hand and inspected her already healed finger, blowing out a relieved breath. Logically, he knew she was fine, but he couldn't help the instinct to nurture his mate's injury. He kissed the finger gently, while Calamity stared at him. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her own eagerly.

"Ugh. Get a room you two," Sable muttered in feigned disgust as he stepped out of his tent. "Your tent is right there."

Calamity pulled back to glare at Sable. "You're just jealous."

Sable pointed his finger at her. "That is irrelevant." He cleared his throat. "It's a bit difficult to find suitable gay bachelors."

Calamity rolled her eyes and examined her blade again. She clicked her tongue once her inspection proved satisfactory. She sheathed the blade in one of the many discreet pockets of her outfit. She wore the same thing she had the day he first met her, armor light enough to move in but tough enough to provide adequate protection.

"That brings back memories," Leo murmured under his breath. When Calamity raised a feminine brow at him, he explicated, "Mostly of your sword against my jugular. Thanks for that by the way."

Calamity smirked and winked at him. "Just think of it as extreme foreplay."

Leo's mouth clammed shut and his eyebrows shot to his widow's peak. Light blue eyes glazed with lust at the unusually dirty language of his mate.

"Anyway, we must prepare for battle. Rally the troops, and inform my king." She began trudging her way to her horse before she turned back to Leo. "Please." She walked back to him and planted a sweet kiss to his cheek.

Leopold stared at the sway of her hips as she approached her beautiful black mare. The innocent smile she directed at the horse twisted Leopold's heart. Slight guilt swirled in him. Her innocence only made him want to defile her even more. This woman would be the end of him.

~~~

"Your Highness, please let me approach in front of you," she pleaded, looking at the swarm of dark realm inhabitants. "They may want to strike and attack you before we discuss anything."

Reinard knew that Calamity was extremely on edge. She knew how these people worked and how little they cared for formalities in the face of their enemies. "As you wish. You will go as my Head General. We are just to discuss their plans. We will not fight if we don't have to."

Calamity nodded. "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, I would like to ask you to undo your collar."

Leopold's ears perked up at that. He watched with wide eyes as Reinard unclipped his buttoned collar and revealed his chest. Reinard was a fairly attractive man, one who Calamity respected, so his jealousy wasn't completely unfounded.

Calamity raised a blade to her hand and placed her bloody digits on Reinard's chest. She drew an odd symbol in her blood. "Praesidio." A small glow emanated from the bloody rune. She turned to Leopold. "Your turn."

Leopold jolted. As much as he loved Calamity, he wasn't sure how he felt about being lathered in her blood. Reinard closed the collar over the symbol.

"It's for protection," she explained.

Leopold maneuvered his horse close enough that Calamity could perform the same task she had on her king. Once she was done, she turned toward the horde of demons about half a mile away. She led Leo and Reinard there slowly, making certain that they were a safe distance behind her.

She saw him, one of the evils of her life, a star in her nightmares. "Dimitri," she greeted gruffly hopping off of her horse.

He looked indifferently at her with his maroon eyes. His messy, dirty blonde hair collected near his eyes, shadowing the intent she knew lied there. "Calamity," he responded looking down on her before climbing off his steed. His eyes flitted to her neck. Under the chains he could make out the distinct ink of a werewolf's mark. He looked her in the eye and smirked. "It seems you've been whoring yourself out to the wolves. One seems to have claimed you as his property. Who is the foolish mutt you belong to?"

Calamity scowled when she heard the loud growl emit from behind her. Leopold was not happy with the way this demon demeaned her. He could never treat her as an object. He loved and respected her.

Dimitri's eyes widened slightly, fear flashing momentarily. His smirk stubbornly remained. "So you've been warming the werewolf king's bed? You aren't just a mutt's whore. You're also a ladder climber!" He laughed heartily as Leo grew angrier. "Now that I know you've been defiled, defeating you will be a piece of cake. Your power must have been halved by your loss of virginity."

Leopold was livid. His eyes were the black and yellow of his primal state. He would kill that man. How dare he? "I'll kill him!"

"King Leopold!" Calamity halted the dangerous wolf before he could lunge off of his horse. "He is simply ignorant. Let him believe what he wishes. We know better. It doesn't matter what he thinks or says. Keep calm." She looked Dimitri in the eye defiantly. "He is insignificant. You can kill him later."

Dimitri glared harshly at that. "Neither of you are powerful enough to touch me."

"Don't be so arrogant. I am even more powerful than when I left. My purity has not been diminished as you like to think. Calling me a whore will not change the fact that I rejected you. You can nurse your wounded pride some other time," Calamity insulted.

Dimitri didn't even think. His palm had met her cheek before he could develop a coherent thought.

Leopold's muscles coiled as he fought a shift. His fangs protruded, and his eyes made the demon soldiers cower in fear. His lips pulled back into a fierce snarl.

"You just made the first strike of this war," Calamity said her head turning slowly back in Dimitri's direction. "King Reinard!" She called. "I request permission to attack, Your Highness."

Reinard's horse took steps back from the seething couple. "Permission granted."

A line of fire erupted behind Dimitri, separating him from his army, though she had deduced that it was his personal army. They weren't under her father's orders. Surprise dominated Dimitri's face. Calamity was behind him in an instance, kicking his knees out from behind him. Dimitri slammed hard onto the ground. Calamity fisted his hair and raised an onyx knife to his throat to prevent resistance.

"Leopold," she brought his attention back to her. "I'm about to use your emotions, and for that I am sorry. What I am about to tell you will you make you lose control, and you will kill this poor excuse for a man." She watched confusion flood their eyes. "Before I left the castle..."

Dimitri's eyes bulged. "Shut up you bit-" he was cut off by the increased pressure on the blade against his throat.

Calamity's gaze did not waver from Leo's. "Dimitri sexually assaulted me. He had full intent to rape me. He-" her voice broke and eyes closed as the memory flooded back into her brain, "He touched me in places he shouldn't have. He touched your mate sexually against her will." She watched the fur sprout from Leopold's body. His muzzle lengthened, and his hands became paws with claws.

She tossed the demon to the ground as Leopold's wolf lunged. His teeth dug into the neck of the weak demon, pulling skin from muscle and meat from bone. Dimitri's pathetic screams died off quickly. His gurgled shouts ceased after his limbs had been torn off, effectively declaring him dead.

Calamity stared into the wolf eyes of her mate and dropped the wall of fire. She unsheathed her sword and turned coldly to the crowd of demons. "If you wish to live, then leave now. If not, you're welcome to stay." No one moved. "So be it then," she hissed.

She and Leopold lunged at the demon horde, slaying everyone that dared to step in their path.