Chapter 36
Elizabeth's POV
I watch in complete astonishment as I see Zack's men fall to the ground, one by one. None of them had pretty deaths either. With one flick of a wrist, their neck was snapped, and they were dead. They didn't even stand a chance. They didn't even see it coming.
I now understand why everyone is so afraid of Ryder. I now know why people fear him and say that he's ruthless, especially during battle. I understand why people don't like crossing him and why they try to stay away from him. It's so strange seeing this other side of him. The Ryder I know is so much different than the Ryder that's in front of me.
The Ryder that's in front of me is like a robot. He kills one person before moving into the next one. The Ryder I know made me my own library and he spent hours reading with me. This Ryder has no expressions on his face, and his eyes are dull. The Ryder I know would look at me with so much love that it would make my heart feel like it was going to jump out of my chest.
I watch in awe and fear as Ryder snaps yet another person's neck. After giving me a quick hug and kiss, he immediately went for Zack's men. The change in his body language was so drastic. Most of the men cowered and tried to move away from him. There were a few brave souls who tried to attack him, but he tore them apart easily.
I catch a glimpse of Zack's scared and disbelieving face. He starts to move back and hide behind his men.
"Don't just stand there! Attack him!" Zack yells. The men slowly move forward while glancing around nervously, waiting for someone else to make a move.
"Don't make me come after you. It will just make things worse," Ryder warns while moving towards the men that Zack is trying to hide behind.
One of the men who's behind Ryder starts slowly walking towards Ryder with a small knife in his hands.
I snap out of my thoughts and start running towards the guy.
There's no way I'm going to let my mate get killed.
Carter's vision flashes in my brain which causes me to run even faster. I shift into my wolf form, feeling a slight ache from not shifting in so long, before I attack him.
The dagger falls from his hands, and he starts struggling underneath my paws. I growl before I sink my teeth into his neck. He howls out in pain which catches the attention of some of the men around.
I guess I'm not as intimidating as Ryder because before I know it, a group of the men starts heading towards me. Before they can do anything though, a brown wolf, which I recognize as Carter, stands next to me and growls at them.
"You take the right, I'll take the left," I say to him through our special mindlink. He nods his head before crouching down into a fighting position.
The next few minutes are a blur to me. One minute, I was fighting a red wolf, and the next second I was pinned to the ground by a dark brown wolf. The wolf was snarling at me and trying to bite my neck. A few seconds later, the dark brown wolf was thrown off me. I look up and see Ryder in his wolf form standing above me. He reaches his head down before licking my face. His eyes roam over my body, looking for any injuries. After he makes sure that I'm fine, he runs off and goes to finish off the dark brown wolf.
When I glance around me, I see more people fighting Zack's allies. They're fighting in both their wolf and human forms. My heart almost leaps out my chest when I see Brian, Jake, Chris, and other members of the Blood Falls pack here.
Jake notices me and runs over to me and stands at my side protectively. If anyone tried to come near me, he would growl at them before attacking.
Once we're done fighting the men who tried to attack me , Ryder motions for Jake, Carter, and I to follow him with his head. We sneak off the battlefield and head to a secluded area. We all shift back into our human forms and Ryder immediately pulls me towards him.
I see Ryder look at Carter with a skeptical look.
"This is Carter, he's not a threat to us. He's on our side. He's been helping me train over the past few weeks. He's one of the only reasons why I'm still alive right now." Ryder looks over my shoulder to Carter before nodding his head.
"Thank you." Carter nods his head before turning away from us, giving us a little privacy. Ryder closes his eyes before taking in a deep, ragged breath. When he opens his eyes again, they're swirling with all kinds of different emotions.
"You can't be on the battlefield," Ryder tells me with a stern expression.
"I can't just sit on the sidelines! I want to help!" Ryder shakes his head and gently grips my shoulders.
"I won't be able to fight knowing that you could be getting hurt by someone. Please stay here with Jake and Carter. It will give me a peace of mind," he says while staring into my eyes. I pout slightly before nodding my head.
"Alright, I'll stay here on the sidelines. I won't get involved," I mumble while looking on the ground. Ryder gently cups my cheeks and makes me look at him.
"I'm not doing this because I don't think you're capable of fighting or because I think you're weak. In fact, I think the opposite of that. I know that you're strong and that you can handle yourself. I just don't want anything to happen to you." I nod my head and give him a small smile.
"I know. I'm not angry. Go do what you got to do, I'll be ok," I state while pushing him away. He stares at me for a second before joining his pack on the battlefield.
"Are you going to use your powers to help them out?" Carter asks while scanning his eyes over the clearing.
"Yeah. Since I can't actually be out there, this is the next best thing."
"Be careful. You don't want to hurt your pack members."
"I know."
"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" Jake asks with a confused look on his face. He looks between Carter and I, waiting for an explanation.
"It's a long story, I'll explain later," I state before rolling my shoulders back. I vaguely remember that Carter had told me that I made a tornado at some point. I wonder if I'll be able to do that again.
I start focusing all my energy into trying to form a tornado. It can't be too big though. Like I said before, I'm not trying to hurt my pack members.
I take in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. I can feel the wind picking up gradually. I repeat the process a few more times before I start moving my hands around in a circular motion. Pieces of the wind start to mix and start swirling around in a circle. I keep moving my hands for a few more moments before I send the tornado into one of the corners of the clearing where there are only enemies located.
"Wait, since when have you been able to do that?" Jake asks with wide eyes. I hear Carter tell him to quiet down, and that things will be explained later.
The tornado catches a lot of them off guard. Some try to run away, but they're not quick enough. The tornado picks them up before roughly throwing them to the ground. Some of them are killed from the impact, and others are severely injured.
I see Zack's body tense as he sees his men running around like terrified 10 year old girls. He's only standing a few feet away from me, and he doesn't even realize it. I could kill him right now, and he wouldn't even be able to do anything. He's completely defenseless, even though he has people guarding him.
"Guys, it's time to give up. We can't win," Zack grumbles as he comes out from behind the guys who were protecting him. His left eye starts twitching and he starts clenching and unclenching his fists. Over half of his army has been destroyed. That's pretty impressive since he started with over a thousand people. I now believe the rumor that the Blood Falls pack could easily take down a pack over three times its size. I always used to think that was a myth, but now I know.
He makes a hand gesture towards his men before his eyes flick over to an another area. One of the guards uses this device that reminds me of a whistle. The blown into it 3 times, producing this high pitched sound 3 times. I'm not sure what that meant, but apparently Zack's allies did.
One by one, they stop whatever they're doing before they fall to the ground and bow their heads down low. I frown slightly, but I stop the tornado and I glanced at Zack with a confused look. The Blood Fall members look just as confused as I am. They still stand in fighting positions and keep their eyes moving around the area. We all have one question going through our brains
Is he really admitting defeat?
That's just not something he would do. There must be something going on. He probably has something planned, and he's just waiting for us to put our guards down.
"No! Don't stop fighting! Keep going! Don't give up!" A voice suddenly yells. Everyone in the clearing turns to see a furious looking Patrick standing there glaring at everyone.
"Where have you been?" Zack asks while scowling at him.
"What do you think you're doing? We can't give up! This isn't part of the plan!" Patrick exclaims while walking towards Zack.
"Dude, chill, it's not that serious," Zack says while rolling his eyes. Patrick starts growling at Zack, who looks unimpressed.
"We are going to keep fighting until we can't fight anymore. We will all risk our lives to reach our goal," he snarls at Zack.
"Are you crazy? No ones going to do that."
"You will all listen to me!" Patrick roars.
"We don't have to listen to you, Patrick. You're just a bitter old man," Zack says while rolling his eyes.
"I am not done with this fight! This is not over yet!"
"Just give it up! We all know who lost! There's no way that we're going to live if we keep fighting. Let's just go while we can escape with our lives!" I'm actually shocked that Zack is admitted defeat. I never thought that I would see the day when Zack backed down for something. Usually, even when he knew he couldn't win, he would still be fighting or arguing to the last second. I wonder what changed his mind.
"No! I will never be done fighting until I've done what I've needed to do!" Patrick screeches. I frown as I see the crazed look on his face.
"Patrick, calm down. There will be time for you to do whatever you need to do later on. Let's go."
"I will not give up!" Patrick nods to the two men standing near him. I see them hand him something but I can't see what it is. I stretch my neck, trying to get a better view, but I still can't see anything. I look away from him to see where everyone else is.
Ryder, Brian and Jake all stand next to each other with emotionless faces. Carter is standing near Zack, looking like he would be ready to attack if need be. The other members of the Blood Falls pack are scattered around the area near Zack's men. I just realized that now I'm completely alone and that I should've been watching my back.
I suddenly feel myself being lifted up from my hiding spot by my shoulder. I struggle in Patrick's grip and I feel a burning sensation on my arm. I look at my arm and see blood flowing from 5 pretty deep cuts on my arm caused by Patrick's surprisingly long nails. Suddenly, I'm pushed in front of Patrick, and I see a silver dagger aimed straight at my heart. I suck in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
He has a silver dagger.
One cut from this, and I'll be dead by tomorrow.
Ryder starts shaking his head and makes a move to come forward.
"Take one step, any of you, and this silver dagger goes straight into her heart," Patrick growls while squeezing my shoulder. I wince and try to stop the tears from streaming down my face, but I feel a few fall down despite my efforts. Ryder's eyes darken considerable and I can tell that he's fighting to keep himself from moving forward.
"You wouldn't dare," Ryder glowers while clenching his fists. Patrick only smirks.
"Care to test that little theory?" He asks with fake innocence. Ryder growls and fidgets slightly.
"If you hurt her, I wi-"
"It doesn't matter what you do to me, she will already be dead. My goal would have already been accomplished. It wouldn't matter what happened afterwards," he says with a dark chuckle. I whimper and try to create some space between the two of us, but he just tightens his grip.
Everyone in the clearing stares at him in shock before glancing at me worriedly. Even Zack and his allies look scared.
"Patrick, what are you doing? This isn't part of the plan," Zack hisses. Patrick just lets out another dark chuckle.
"This might now have been your plan, but it's definitely part of my plan. You've helped me enough so I have to thank you for that, but I will no longer be needing your services." Zack's mouth turns into a thin line, his face showing nothing but complete and utter disgust.
"You tricked me. Here I thought I was two steps ahead of everyone, but here you are." I see the betrayed look on Zack's face, and I would feel bad, but he's part of the reason that I'm about to be killed, so I can't really sympathize with him.
"Yes, here I am. I am finally doing what I was called to do as a child. Now that I have everyone's attention, I'm going to start with my story. You guys better listen up."