Word Count: 2170
~Meara
Kyro smiles like nothing is amiss. "Hello again, old friend."
The world seems to still, everyone falling quiet. Some are clearly reeling, recognising Kyro from the history books. He once reigned over this Pack. Even I remember learning about him in school.
Sire sobers from his confusion quickly, his expression hardening.
"Friend...Friend?"
Kyro remains a couple feet away from the stage, like he anticipates a surge of Sire's power that could wipe him out in a second. People back away, leaving a sizable amount of space around him, not wanting to be caught in any cross-fire.
The fear printed across everyone's faces allows me to quickly determine each of Carran's witches that are responsible for whatever is going on. The skulk about the crowd, leering at their old Alpha as they await instruction.
"I see all those years underground did you no good." Kyro stretches out his arms, his smile wide and unencumbered.
Sire shakes his head in bewilderment. "How is this possible?"
He is confused as I am. According to our history books, Kyro reigned on for many years once Sire was gone. These books depicted him as a magnificent, strong leader who lived into old age.
Yet here he is, appearing a similar age to Sire.
Kryo begins to unbutton the top buttons of his wrinkled black shirt, revealing a gruesome scar. It's fresh, like it has just been stitched up.
"My bitch of a wife killed me. Or, tried." His smile fades a little. "Not long after I cursed you, too. I finally achieved my goal of merging our Pack's, of destroying insurgents, and then she tried to kill me."
Confusion ripples through the crowd. Yet another detail the history books lied to us about, painting a faux picture of a man people thought they could admire.
"It wasn't undeserved," Sire sneers.
He mentioned once that Kyro's wife sought refuge with him due to Kyro's abusive nature. She must have promptly got her revenge.
"No, I suppose not." Kyro leaves his shirt unbuttoned, letting every on looker gawk curiously. "Thankfully I assumed an assassination attempt was on my door, so I created a contingency plan."
Sire slides his hands into his pockets, dulling his visible anger. "With your witches, no doubt."
"They preserved my body. I figured my job was done and I could be laid to rest until it was time to come back and ensure I could end you once and for all." His smile grows with every word.
The spectacle of this whole speech is distracting me from my fear. Somehow, somewhere, I am aware that I am facing Sire's greatest enemy, but perhaps being in my mates presence so often has made me immune to powerful people.
"If you couldn't do it then, you definitely can't do it now," Sire taunts.
"Back then I didn't have what I needed to kill you, Sire." Kyro's eyes flash. "I didn't have the key."
"What key?"
Nausea knots in my stomach as Kyro's cool blue gaze pulls over to me. Horror crawls along my skin in shivers, knowing I've now become the focal point.
"Your mate," he breathes.
Sire looks over me, concern only briefly flitting through his gaze before he pulls over a mask of indifference. He can't manage to hide the obvious tension in his taut muscles though, his entire demeanour shifting knowing I'm Kyro's next target.
"You're not touching her," Sire warns quietly, although the deadly bite to his words isn't missed.
"Oh come on, no applause?" Kyro turns around in one place, looking over the crowd, then back at Sire. "I put you to sleep and I made the only way of bringing you back exactly what I would need to end you."
Sire doesn't falter. "And what about the curse?"
"See, this is where I am quite the genius." Kyro rests a hand on his chest. "I gave my witches very specific instructions. They were not to wake me until you had taken over as Alpha, which would require whatever poor relative of mine to expire. Effectively, you've removed one of my problems. Then, the curse forced you to undergo the bonding ceremony with your mate, which is exactly what I need to finally end you. If you didn't, there would be no more members of your Pack to rule over."
It takes us all a moment to swallow and process that information. Seeing his plan unfolding around us, knowing we have stepped into everyone of his carefully laid traps is beyond disturbing.
"Come up here and fight me, Kyro. I'm done with your grand speeches," Sire growls, motioning up to the stage. "All you ever were was meaningless, empty words."
Kyro is powerful, but Sire is clearly capable of crushing the man with little effort. Now, his magic is stronger than ever too, which may be a detail Kyro failed to consider when concocting this plan.
"And have you rip my throat out in front of all these good people?" Kyro smirks as some people blanch. "No. What I lack in comparable strength, I make up for in intricate planning."
Sire exhales slowly. "Fine. I'll come to you."
"Uh ah, don't move." Kyro holds up his hand before Sire can make even a single step. "Unless of course, you want my witches to kill your mate's pretty little friend."
My eyes widen as the crowd parts some more, revealing two witches standing astride a distraught looking Hazel. They clutch her arms, stoic, bored looks on their faces.
Sire lets out a rough laugh. "That won't stop me."
"Sire...no," I snap, looking at him with pleading eyes.
The conflict is immediately evident in his expression. Right here, in front of him, is the man he desperately wants revenge on. Someone who took everything from him, and he can take back his control with one blast of magic in his direction.
"Don't you get it, sweetheart?" Kryo pulls my attention back to him. "Your mate wants nothing more than power. He never cared for you, for anyone but himself."
Dread pools in my stomach. This was what I was so afraid of...Sire picking his position as Alpha over me, his revenge.
"Don't do this," I beg, looking at my friend whose head is bowed, sweat dampening her dark hair. "It's Hazel..."
The urge to jump off this stage and run for my friend is tugging at my limbs. I refrain, only because Kyro might gut me the moment I'm out of Sire's proximity, which would leave Sire no reason to save my friend.
Sire's jaw tightens. "He's going to kill you if I don't do this."
"We will figure it out. Please," I beg. I don't care if I sound pathetic in front of yet another ancient Alpha who is currently grinning at what is unfolding in front of him.
Sire's expression softens, and he pulls back a step, not falling for Kyro's bait.
"Wow, look at this folks." Kyro sounds genuinely surprised as his gaze sweeps over the frightened crowd. "My old childhood friend sacrificed his spine for a heart. How beautiful."
Sire remains quiet, his eyes cold.
"Look, I need a night to replenish my strength. Turns out being stuck in a tomb doesn't do much good for the body," Kyro says, laughing under his breath. "Hey, we can finally relate on something, old friend."
I wince. Kyro really is begging for Sire' ire.
"I'll be back for you tomorrow. And don't try to avoid me, because my witches have injected your friend with a poison that will leave her dead without an antidote." He pulls a vial from his pocket, showing the world the brown tinted liquid inside. "Which I have, by the way."
Kyro points to me, then to Hazel. "You, in exchange for her."
He backs away, seemingly vanishing into the crowd with all his witches. Assuming they used their magic to transport them away, I leap off the stage and into the now panicked crowd.
"Hazel!" With the witches gone, there's no one to hold her up. Her legs crumple underneath her, my arms stretching out to grab her before she can skin her knees on the concrete. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but he isn't lying. I can feel it already," she hisses through the pain.
"Calm everyone. This issue will soon be resolved, you have nothing to fear," Sire exclaims from the stage. "In the meantime, return to your homes and do not panic."
People jump away in fright as he too jumps from the stage. He grabs my arm, and with me touching Hazel, transports us back to his home.
The crowd vanishes into darkness, replaced by cream coloured walls and marble flooring.
Hazel slumps against the walls, clutching her stomach. Knowing how much pain I was in with my wound, I can't help but wince for her.
"I'll get you the antidote, okay?" I assure her, brushing strands of hair off her clammy face. "No one needs to die."
"No, absolutely not. Kyro will kill you, and Sire will die too," Hazel reminds me, shaking her head desperately.
"I may have time, but Hazel, you don't."
"None of us have time," Sire snaps.
He's pacing behind me, chewing a nail as he thinks. My frustration immediately melts away into gratitude, knowing it's his restraint that is allowing Hazel to be alive right now.
"Thank you Sire. Thank you for saving her," I tell him, grabbing his arm so he stops the incessant pacing.
He turns to look at me, his deep blue eyes wild. Only he knows what Kyro is truly capable of.
"I'm not sure I still can," he assures me. "Without you risking your life.
"You can, we will figure this out." I smile, although it's unconvincing. "Kyro is weaker than you, there must be a way of getting close enough to him to kill him..."
Sire delves his hands into his already messy locks. "If I kill him, who knows what instructions he's given those witches."
"I can help with the witches," Hazel calls out, drawing our attention back to her.
"How?"
She straights against the wall, biting back a grimace. "The night you unlocked Sire's tomb, I completed the ritual, and I used the residual magic to make myself stronger."
My mouth falls open a little. "You did?"
"I didn't tell you because it scared me. I've never had such power... I mean, this magic came from a different time, where witches were far stronger, where one was enough to crush an army," she explains. "Plus, you were already so frightened of Sire and his power. I didn't want you to feel that way about me too."
"That's how you healed me..." I breathe, piecing it together. I would force her in for a tight hug if she weren't in so much pain.
"I think I can nullify their powers." She looks to Sire. "There's an old spell that will only work with the magic I acquired from completing the ritual. They don't have access to this power, so I don't think they can stop me."
There's no way she can do it like this. She must have been ambushed by those witches, and now that she has been weakened by the poison, she has no way to fight back.
"Are you sure you can do this?" I couldn't bear it if she killed herself trying to save us. I won't allow it.
She smiles sheepishly. "If I live longer than tomorrow..."
I whirl around to face my mate. "Sire-"
"I can't." He rubs at the frown in his forehead, shaking his head.
"I have to trade myself in," I insist. "There is no way Kyro has all he needs to finish this. He could have killed me there, within seconds if that is all it took."
He's hesitating. Everything can't possibly be in place if he was only just risen. That show he put on in the town square was an offensive strategy, to make himself seem more in control than he actually is.
"I'm not risking anything on a theory," he growls. "Not when it's your life on the line."
"Hazel will die. Putting aside the fact that she is my best friend, she is needed to stop these witches," I remind him bitterly. "While I'm gone, you two can figure out a trap or something to get Kyro in a place where he can be killed."
Sire's jaw hardens. "What if you're wrong? What if he kills you?"
I let out a long breath, knowing this must be done. "It's a risk we must take."
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"...I've never had an orgasm before!" I blurt out, backing away a few steps.
He sits up, dark hair ruffled and messy from the fingers I ran through it. His eyes, once wide, slowly darken.
"You what?" He breathes.
~Midika 💜🐼