Chapter 408

Joyce, despite his best efforts, was not a fighter. He was not bred for war and battle like Hawke was, so even calling on the power of his Alpha wolf, Hawk tossed Joyce aside like he was a sack of potatoes.

However, Joyce did show amazing tenacity, and stood back up time and time again. Roaring, he threw himself at Hawk, all elbows and poorly-timed punches.

Hawk blocked and blocked, until finally, he seemingly reached the edge of his patience and grabbed Joyce by the shoulders, stopping him.

“Enough of this,” Joyce growled. Magic glowed around his hands, and then Joyce disappeared.

Teleportation.

“Where is he?” I demanded. “What have you done with him?”

“He’s fine. You think I’d kill off my meal ticket?” Hawk snapped. “I simply sent him to a locked room. Now…” Hawk stepped toward me, menacingly. “You are going to fall in line, Piper, or I am going to break you.”

I inched backwards. “I’ll never do your bidding.”

Hawk sighed. “Why can’t anyone ever pick the easy way? Oh well.” He took another large step.

Back up against the wall, I was running out of escape room. I had to make a stand, then.

I pushed my thoughts out through my mind, searching for Miracle, in wolf or bear form, but she was too weary, too weak yet from our last transformation. She wouldn’t be able to help me with this.

“Be a good girl, now,” Hawk said, lifting his arms.

Then, suddenly, Nicholas appeared in the shadows behind him. He hadn’t been there before. Had he teleported as well? Veronica must have been here!

“Don’t fucking touch her,” Nicholas growled.

Hawk, startled, turned but he was too slow. Nicholas lunged and tackled him, stealing the breath straight from his lungs.

“How are you here?!” Hawk shouted, fear and anger rivaling in his voice.

“You dare to steal my mate from me?” Nicholas was slowly shifting, his teeth elongating and his fingers curling into claws. “You think you can separate us? You think you can use her?”

Nicholas soon becomes monstrous, all bulging muscle and fur and rage. He’s half-human, half-wolf, a bulky towering, looming figure, with death in his eyes.

“You have hurt us for the last time,” Nicholas growled. His claws ripped into Hawk’s shoulder.

Hawk cried out. Then, as before, magic swirled around him. But unlike with Joyce, this time the magic curled around himself. He was going to teleport.

“Nick!” I shouted, but it was too late.

In a flash, Hawk blinked out of view.

Yet, just as quickly, Nicholas snapped his arm out. Suddenly, Hawk reappeared, with Nicholas’s hand curled around his neck. Had Nicholas snatched him out of his magic? How was that possible?

How powerful must Nicholas truly be?

I watch agape and awed as Nicholas ripped Hawk away from the magic.

“Look away Piper,” Nicholas said. When I obeyed, I heard a sickening crack. Then a heap, as Hawk’s lifeless body crashed onto the floor. Nicholas had snapped his neck.

Hawk, leader of the notorious and treacherous underground, was finally dead.

Nicholas immediately shifted back into full human form. He stepped over the dead man and rushed to me. I was still trembling, tears in my eyes. I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Nicholas. Here with me. Safe.

Hawk, finally gone.

And Jane… Oh, Jane.

“Nick,” I said in a sharp inhale. Nicholas gripped me to his chest as the waterworks start in earnest. Now that he was here, I was finally safe, and in that safety, my emotions broke free of their restraints and overwhelmed me.

I sobbed and shook. Nicholas held me through it all, gently stroking my back. He must have seen Jane’s body lying there. He didn’t ask what was upsetting me. He didn’t say anything at all. He merely gave me the comfort of his presence and his strong body.

Slowly, my grief subsided for now, enough for me to look up at Nicholas and feel the relief of being reunited with my fiancé.

My… mate.

“I love you,” Nicholas said. “I’m sorry it took so long for me to reach you.”

“How are you even here? It’s impossible for you to have found me this quickly?”

Nicholas smiled a little. “Veronica was able to follow the teleportation magic. She’d been studying for months, just for this chance. Some of our wolves are fighting above, but I couldn’t stand the thought of waiting. Hawk must have used the teleportation magic again, because Veronica sensed it and sent me straight to you.”

I fell into Nicholas’s embrace once more, thrilled to feel him so close and safe. His heart pounded in rhythm with mine, the beat of our mating bond, brilliant and strong, holding us together. I wanted to revel in this closeness for as long as I could.

But that would come later.

For now, we had to get out of here.

Even as I thought it, the building quaked around us, shifting more dust into the air.

Nicholas gripped my by the arm and began herding me toward the door. “The sooner I have you away from all this, the happier I’ll be. I wish I had teleportation powers of my own.”

Me too. “We have to find Joyce first.”

“Joyce?” Nicholas glanced at me. “He’s here?”

“He tried to protect me, but Hawk sent him away. He can’t be far. Hawk said he didn’t want to hurt him.”

“We’ll search. Quickly.”

At the door, I finally put up a fight, stopping Nicholas. I glanced into the dusty, shadowy room, looking beyond the corpse of my worst enemy to that of my sister.

She hadn’t been kind. She’d hurt me time and time again, even tried to kill me. But my heart still mourned for her. For the woman she could have been had she taken a different path in life.

She could have been a mother. A friend. A princess.

Now, she wouldn’t even receive a proper burial. Not yet, anyway. When we were safe, I would return to this place, and I would bring her home.

For now…

“Piper, I’m sorry but I will carry you out of here if I have to. It’s time to go.”

I nodded and let Nicholas lead me from the room.

We found Joyce not long after, screaming and pounding on a locked door to one of the rooms on our way to the exit.

“Step back, Joyce!” Nicholas called through the door.

“Nicholas? How the devil are you here?” came Joyce’s muffled reply.

“Back, Joyce! Now!”

Shuffling behind the door told us he had moved, then Nicholas, pulling on his Alpha strength, slammed through the door, smashing it into pieces.

On the other side, Joyce looked properly impressed. Then he looked guilty.

“Nicholas, I know that things between us aren’t –”

“Later,” Nicholas said, waving him forward. Then Nicholas stepped back toward me and wrapped his arm around my waist.

When the three of us were reunited in the hallway, we pressed on toward the exit together.

We burst through the front door. Outside, a war was indeed waging, wolves and bears shifted and lashing at each other’s throats. It was a grizzly sight, with blood splatter here and there, though limited casualties, it seemed at first sight. Whenever someone was knocked down, they healed and reentered the fight.

Like this, who knew how much longer this could last?

Something had to be done. I looked at Nicholas for answers, but found him looking for his own in me.

And I knew, even if he didn’t say it, what was needed here.

The bears would only stop the fight if their lost princess told them to.