I had fallen for this man.
Our pair bond pulsed and all at once, I wanted to finalize it and mark him for my own. I wanted to claim him for myself just as he had claimed me.
There wasn’t time for that now though. Instead, we had to fight Thranar. I had to kill him.
“Where is he?” I asked carefully, reluctantly pushing my thoughts of the completion of our bond aside.
“He’s not far. We have to go,” he said, and I was sure that he could guess what I was thinking. I took a deep breath in order to steady myself and the two of us made our way out of my chambers all the way down to the throne room. Based off of our intel, Thranar had planned to meet with his followers that he had stationed in the castle here, but just hours before his arrival I’d had every one of them captured as quietly as possible. They were all sitting in individual prison cells deep in the lower reaches of my fortress. I had yet to decide if I was going to let them survive the day or rot for the rest of their lives down there for treason. Time would tell their fate. Right now, though, I had more important things to worry about.
Thranar was coming for me and I was ready to end him.
r /> Aric stood next to my iron throne and I took a seat beside him. I crossed my legs and sat back, twirling his dagger in my fingers while I waited for the eventual arrival of our mutual enemy.
It didn’t take long.
A lone figure entered the room in a long blood-red cape, likely the insignia for the cult. I sat up a bit taller and leaned to one side, placing my elbow on the armrest. I lifted my chin with carefully calculated arrogance and remained completely still. It was clear that the tall form was a man and when his gaze met mine, he stilled with alarm.
I smiled.
“Good evening, Thranar. Have you come for a visit already? Did you miss your omega? Better yet, did you miss me?” I asked brazenly. My voice was loud, and it echoed in the massive chamber. Anyone who was even remotely close by would have heard it. Aric chuckled beside me, while Thranar stopped in his tracks.
He pushed back the hood of his cape. The look of annoyed surprise on his face was just as satisfying as I had imagined it would be.
“Not expecting us, were you then?” I pressed further, folding my hands together as I leaned forward on my throne.
“I don’t give a fuck about Luna,” he growled.
“But you do give a damn about me, I think. That’s why you were coming to visit me tonight in my bed, weren’t you,” I grinned, sitting back once more only to spread my legs suggestively before him. His upper lip rolled with anger, but it only fueled my boldness even further. My dark leather pants creaked in the ensuing silence. The tension was so thick between us that the very air in the room felt like it was vibrating with it.
I reveled in it. I was born for this.
My inner alpha reared her head and the omega within twisted with her into a formidable force that wouldn’t be subdued until my blade with stained with Thranar’s blood. He’d already tried to kill me once, trying to take what wasn’t his to claim. Now he’d come to murder both Aric and me while we slept. I was sure that he wouldn’t have stopped there either. He’d probably have killed Luna too and moved onto the next available omega he could find only to hurt her too. I wasn’t going to allow that to happen. It was my duty to stop him, once and for all.
I stood up, staring down at him from the raised platform of my throne.
“You’re a coward for planning to kill me in my sleep, Thranar. A real alpha would have met me in battle, so I’m going to give you a choice. Either you can fight me and keep your rather tarnished honor to yourself, or you can leave now but I will ensure that everyone from Valgertha to Ravenrath knows of how utterly spineless and weak you really are. They’ll sing songs of your disgrace,” I threatened, all while spinning Aric’s dagger in my fingertips.
I knew what he would do. He had too much pride to walk away.
Hastily, he threw his cape over his head and it fell to the floor in a crumpled red heap. His sword rang as he pulled it free from its scabbard. Without even a second thought, he rushed at me and I quickly sheathed the dagger. I spun around hard and armed myself with my own sword, a finely crafted weapon that I had taken care of since she had been given to me long ago by the most renown blacksmith in Valgertha.
I’d named her Deathbringer. She’d served me over the years, and I had no doubt she would for many more.
The clang of my sword meeting his echoed so loudly in the throne room that the stone walls reverberated with it. I met his blows again and again, blocking and parrying each one with raw adrenaline. I didn’t think about my movements, instead I just followed my instincts. I danced with death and before long, I could feel myself gaining ground.
I pivoted hard to the right and leapt up off the stone, meeting his sword head on with my own. He hastily blocked, but my weapon glanced off of his upper arm. It bit deep enough that blood started to flow beneath his white shirt, staining the fabric almost immediately. He grunted in pain, but he fought on. I could tell my blow had already begun to weaken him, but I didn’t let my guard down, not even for a second.
I fought harder than I ever had in my life. I was hardly even aware of the sheen of sweat that was glistening on my forehead and I didn’t care when I felt a single chilling drop cascade down my spine. I sidestepped and evaded a number of his attacks, not letting him gain even a single edge against me.
I spun and pivoted out of his way. Quickly, I pirouetted and then I dashed forward, swinging my sword arm around fast and hard only to clip his right arm once again. He roared with fury, but I didn’t back down. In fact, it just made me fight even harder. It fueled my alpha like nothing ever had before.
Even though he was fighting with his fury, Thranar was still a formidable opponent. He’d beaten me once and I’d almost died. He was making rash moves without thought and still, I didn’t let up.
I was a shield maiden of my own right. I was a warrior. No one had ever met anyone like me. Thranar had never fought anyone like me and he never would again, but I didn’t let that go to my head. Instead, I moved with carefully calculated swiftness, watching and studying his body language as he fought. Upon closer inspection, I couldn’t help but notice the way he grimaced every time he flew forward and tried to sweep his sword low enough in an attempt to cut deep into my side. I started recognizing a number of other tells he had, like the way he always stepped right to counterbalance himself before he parried to the left or how he tightened his fingers around the base of his sword as he tried to swing hard from above.
After a short time studying his fighting style, I could predict his next move. I did again and again and then I started using that knowledge against him. I pushed him back, blocking every one of his blows. I forced him to retreat as I moved forward, one step after another until I had him backed into the corner of the throne room.
I could feel Aric watching. I could feel how powerful his pride was pulsing through our connection and I snarled like a feral animal closing in on a kill.