“What?” Orson asked, pointing to a tree for Levi to rub his hand against. They were leaving their aura behind for the demons to find. If the demons picked up their trail, they would be able to track them down with ease. Since the demons were nearly untraceable, it would be best to let themselves be tracked down. “No, don’t get the wrong idea.”
“I don’t understand,” Levi replied, turning to Orson.
“You didn’t make her feel less, Levi. You made my daughter feel loved, something she hadn’t felt from any man previously, in a way she hadn’t felt from anyone else.”
“Oh,” Levi replied, still confused about whether Orson was upset with him. The man walked with an aura of confidence, his tone bouncing between upset and relaxed.
“Lyra had no idea what to do after you left, and so she ran away as well. Maybe it was in the hope that she could get away from you, I have no idea. But I know one thing for certain—she never stopped loving you, Levi, and you hurt my daughter.” Orson stopped and grabbed Levi’s arm. The move was done so quickly, Levi barely had any time to react.
He pulled Levi up to his face, glaring at him. “I know we’re mortal enemies, but if you hurt my daughter again, I swear I’ll rip your head in two.”
He let go and continued walking, leaving Levi to wonder what had just happened. Had they just had the talk? Was Orson giving his permission for them to be together? Levi chuckled and jogged to catch up with Orson. Just as he got to the man he heard a tiny rustle in the leaves beside Orson. Levi shoved the man forward, taking the blow with both his hands, stopping the large demon from blindsiding Orson.
It was a juggernaut, one of the bigger demons that clobbered its prey into a bloody mess. Levi felt his feet dig into the dirt as the weight of the demon’s blow pushed him lower into the dirt. Orson quickly leaped through the air, slashing underneath the arms of the demon, causing its arms to drop to the side. Levi took his chance and landed a powerful uppercut, going through the lower jaw of the creature, and sending it backward.
Orson got behind the stunned demon and lifted it over his head, before bringing it down on a wooden branch that jutted out like a spike. The branch went right through the chest of the demon, popping out the other side. It stretched out a hand to grab at him, but Orson came up beside it, snapping its neck with ease.
“Well, that was easy, have you heard from anyone else?” Levi asked, looking at his phone to see if it had rung.
As he looked up from the phone, he realized that he and Orson were completely surrounded on all sides by at least fifteen demons. Levi quickly typed out the distress, sent out a text, and hit play on the high-pitched audio which they would all be able to pinpoint in a matter of minutes.
“You ever been in a bar fight, Levi?” Orson asked, taking off his jacket as he stood back-to-back with Levi.
“I’ve started a few myself,” Levi replied. “Watch your six.”
The demons all rushed at the same time, looking to overwhelm them instantly. Levi jumped up, grabbing Orson as he did. The weight of the man slowed him down, but they got to a tree branch that broke under both their weights, causing them to fall again.
They landed on their feet and instantly took off running, heading away from the demons that chased after them, hot on their tail. They just had to bring the demons to the others, and they would stand a chance. Levi turned to see that they were just a few moments behind them, and no matter how fast they moved, the demons would catch up with them. An idea occurred to him—he would slow down and stop them. Doing so would give Orson a chance to escape and regroup with the others.
There was a chance he would die, but at least he would have saved a werewolf. Levi turned only to see Orson stop in his tracks, smiling at him. He’d had the exact same thought and had acted before Levi could.
Levi quickly turned around and dived at Orson, his claws slashing through the face of a demon that had thrown itself at the werewolf.
Orson grabbed a nearby branch and threw it into three of the demons, letting out a howl that would call to the others.
Levi went on the attack, slashing and dodging, moving as quickly as he could. A blow to the side of his face threw him off, but he recovered quickly, drawing his claws through the foot of one demon.
He grabbed its face, digging his claws into it, and then he ripped it apart.
“Levi!”
Levi turned to see the man facing a juggernaut, struggling with the demon as it pushed down on him. Levi rushed to help, but he felt a startling pain in his foot, and turned to see one of the demons biting into him. Before he could react, a slash at his arm and his cheek drew blood, causing Levi to roar out in pain.
They were outnumbered, and there was no way they would be able to win all on their own. Levi watched as Orson shifted his jaws into those of a wolf and began taking bites of the demons as they bit and slashed at him. The sound of paws and boots reached his ears, and Levi knew reinforcements had arrived. The demons pulled away before he saw them, and they instantly attacked. Dragons and werewolves leaped through the trees, large furry creatures biting down on the demons, ripping them all apart.
Emma quickly caught one of the demons, her claws quickly going to work on the chest of the beast, digging away like a dog about to bury its bone. In a blur of red, Emma had dug through the chest of the demon before landing a blow in the area she had attacked. Her fist came out the other side and the demon fell to the ground.
Levi grabbed a demon, catching it in an armlock. As he pulled back, looking to snap its arms off, he saw a large black wolf walk up to him. The creature growled at the demon he held, before turning its gaze to him. Levi recognized Jackson and, in a flash, the wolf chomped off the head of the demon before spitting it out.
“Thanks,” Levi replied, touching Jackson's head.
The werewolf snapped at him, warning him not to touch him, and Levi jumped back, laughing. He quickly looked around to see Adebayo as he faced off against a juggernaut. He held up both hands of the demon as it pushed against him, each being trying to outpower the other. Adebayo quickly shifted from his human form, his skin turning to grey scales, and his size doubling.
He swung his tail, wrapping it around the neck of the creature, and began to squeeze as his wings began flapping. Adebayo parted his jaws, staring the demon in the face. He bathed the demon’s head in flames from deep inside him, burning until the demon's head was nothing but a mass of goop. He swung it into a tree with a flick of his tail before shifting back to his human form.
Adebayo fell to the ground, unconscious. Levi sliced the arm off of a demon. “Val, get Adebayo!”
The pack leader looked around to see that Val was missing, and so was Lyra. The demons had all been beaten, only a few left behind, being taken care of by the others. He quickly ran over to Adebayo, turning the man over to see his heavy breathing.