Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 1639 - 81 : A Stream of Light

*Briella*

I was feeling like a real idiot when I yelled out and caused the beast to turn its head and focus its red eyes on us.

I could feel Kryzen’s anger as he started to pull away from me. Even though he was much larger and much more powerful than me in his wolf form, I grabbed him by the face. By some miracle, he allowed it and focused his large gray eyes on me.

I pulled him away, gesturing for him to follow me. We silently made our way around a building. “We can’t harm him,” I said to Kryzen firmly, knowing how labored my breathing sounded. I honestly hadn’t been sure if anyone was going to make it in time to help us. I thought I could have been done for.

Kryzen bared his teeth, letting me know wordlessly just what he thought about that plan. It was clear that he thought I had completely lost my mind.

For a brief half-second, I was distracted by his wolf eyes. They were essentially his human eyes but were somehow more intense and deep. There was a golden hue in them as well that almost made them sparkle.

“No, I haven’t gone crazy, and no, I am not going to shift into my wolf form,” I told him firmly. I held my breath and peeked around the corner to see that the beast was sniffing around but hadn’t found us yet. It was nearing us, so it was only a matter of time before we were discovered. I knew Kryzen would likely attack ruthlessly if that were to happen.

Kryzen knew he had to remain quiet, but I could feel a growl threatening to rumble its way up his throat. He was livid and itching to attack. I took a deep breath, knowing that I needed to remain calm if I was going to get through my mate’s thick skull.

“I think I can save him,” I told Kryzen in a low voice. “But I need you to help me. We need to tire him out so that we can bring him down. I’m going to try to extract that dark spirit out of him.”

A tiny whimper escaped Kryzen’s chest, and the sound was concerned. I patted the side of his face, allowing my fingers to weave through the surprisingly soft fur there. Kryzen leaned into my touch slightly. “I’m going to be alright,” I told him. “Besides, you’ll be right there with me. I know you won’t let anything happen to me. If something happens, you are not to kill the beast. Trust me?”

It was clear from the way his deep gray eyes glinted dangerously that Kryzen was far from happy with this plan, but he nodded his massive head once. He nudged me in the face hard with his head, making it clear that I was to be careful.

I rolled my eyes but nodded. Kryzen jumped out of our cover ahead of me, immediately tackling the beast. I gasped in horror and ran toward them as they started to tumble and roll. Kryzen was being as careful as he could to not harm it, but there was only so much he could do as he wrestled with the beast.

My heart leaped into my throat when the beast went for Kryzen’s throat. Kryzen was able to roll over though, pinning the animal down. It flailed. Thankfully, my mate was able to hold it down with his massive paws.

This was likely my only chance. I dashed forward and was relieved that the companion’s movements were starting to slow, indicating that it was wearing out.

“You got him?” I asked Kryzen, quickly fishing my dagger out of the sheath on my thigh.

“No, don’t kill him!” someone screamed. Several other voices echoed the sentiment, pleading with me not to harm the companion. There was no time to explain, so I quickly brought my dagger out and pointed it at the beast.

I was vaguely aware of the horrified cries around me from the different Ethereal Grove members, but I again blocked them out, shutting my eyes and pushing my energy through the dagger. This was going to be difficult to do without plunging the blade into the beast. I hissed as my whole body started to tremble from the exertion.

Kryzen snarled, the sound warning me to hurry up as the beast started to thrash around. Kryzen growled at it and pushed it back against the hard ground.

“I’m trying,” I gritted out, letting out a breath when the dagger glowed brilliantly. I pressed the side of it against the beast’s chest, crying out as the light poured out over him.

I felt it then, the dark resistance inside of the companion. It was like a persistent shadow. I shoved my blade deeper against the beast’s fur, doing my best to keep the point from penetrating the flesh.

A loud screeching pierced the air as a horrifying shadow creature wriggled its way out of the beast, crying out in pain. I waited until it was all the way out before I pushed forth with all my energy, causing a thin stream of bright light to pierce the shadow right where a heart would have been if the creature had been made of flesh and bone.

The shadow wriggled and was able to break free of the stream of light, crying out as it flew away. I reached for it, but it was too quick. Thankfully, it was flying like a bird with a clipped wing, zigzagging across the sky.

I let out a long breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding before I fell to my knees. Kryzen was in front of me in a flash, pushing his muzzle beneath my chin to keep me upright. I sighed and put my arms over his body, struggling to stay awake as a familiar exhaustion washed over me.

“That was incredible!” someone cried out.

“You’re a hero!” another yelled.

Before I knew it, we were surrounded by Ethereal Grove members, all smiling and talking at once. I looked over their heads at the beast to find that it had transformed completely. Its eyes were a warm brown, and its fur was sleeker and softer-looking. It was looking around in confusion as if it had just woken up from hibernation.

Kryzen growled low in his throat, a clear warning to the others to stay away from me.

“Kryzen!” I protested, but it sounded weak to my ears. “I’m fine. Back off, alright?”

Kryzen ignored me, keeping his head low and moving so that he was covering me more with his large, furry body.

“How did you do it?” someone asked.

I tried to focus on the person who spoke, but the world was starting to spin.

“Please, everyone back up and give them some room to breathe!”

I weakly lifted my head to see Alyna pushing her way through the crowd. Roy, in his wolf form, was towering behind her protectively.

“We did it,” I told her quietly, trying to keep my head straight so I could smile widely at her. “We didn’t have to hurt him.”

Alyna didn’t look as happy as I thought she should. She pressed her hand to my forehead and looked into my eyes. I knew that look. It was the same look Kai gave me when he thought I was getting sick. “We need to get you to a healer, Bri,” she told me sternly. She blinked down at me. “Can you walk?”

I blinked hard, trying to make the world stop turning on its side. “I think so,” I said, standing to my feet.

And then my world went black.

***

“We owe you our deepest apologies,” Alpha Thorne said.

I shook my head hard. “No, you have nothing to apologize for,” I told him fiercely. “You were only doing what you needed to in order to protect your own. We understand that completely.”

We were standing in the throne room of Alpha Thorne and Luna Arboria, who were wearing matching looks of shame.

It had been an entire day since I woke up in the infirmary. Extracting that dark spirit from the companion had done a number on me, and I had been extremely weak. After about half a day of laying in bed, I was able to convince the healers that I was feeling much better. They discharged me a day earlier than they had planned.

Kryzen hadn’t been happy about that, but he knew better than to argue with me for once.

“We were threatening your way of life,” Kryzen added. “You were only right to be suspicious and wary of us. We would have reacted similarly if we had been in your position.”

“Even so,” Luna Arboria pressed, “we shouldn’t have treated you the way we had. You were our honored guests, a descendant of Priestess Amaya. Our suspicions were inexcusable.”

“I wouldn’t say inexcusable,” Roy said with a deep frown.

Alpha Thorne reached out and grabbed Luna Arboria’s hand gently in his. “Do not fret, my love,” he said. “It is behind us, and our kind friends have forgiven us. It is time to move forward and do what we can to make this right.” He looked at us now, his amber eyes serious. “We will give any assistance you may require to put a stop to this dark threat.”

Kryzen took this as his cue and stepped forward. “We are hoping to begin gathering forces from all over the Embervale and would be appreciative of any of your members who would be willing to fight with us to defeat this threat.”

We all held our breaths. Alyna reached down and took my hand, squeezing it reassuringly, but I could tell she needed the support as well.

The Alpha and Luna exchanged a look, their expressions grave as they communicated in that silent way couples did.

Luna Arboria looked at me, her wide eyes filled with hope. “Would you be able to save our possessed companions like you did with Rylo the other day?

Rylo was the name of the companion I had been able to extract the dark spirit from. I learned that he was doing well and was currently recuperating at the healing center.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly, my heart breaking at the hopeful look on both the Alpha’s and Luna’s faces. “I have only performed exorcism a couple of times, and I still don’t have a great handle on it. When I do it, my body shuts down. I’ve never done it on multiple beings at once either.”

I wasn’t sure why I felt so much shame for having to admit that. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I had saved one of their companions. Still, I wished desperately that I could do more.

Kryzen grabbed my other hand, causing me to look at him, but his eyes were on the Alpha. “Briella was unconscious for a full day after completing the extraction. We cannot put that kind of pressure on her.”

I wanted to protest against Kryzen’s harshness, even though his words were right. They couldn’t put their hopes on me in that way.

“You are right,” Alpha Thorne said before straightening. “We will be sure to send you off with some of our strongest men and women who are willing to learn how to defend themselves.”

The four of us shared a look before bowing to the Alpha and Luna.

“Thank you,” I said fervently.

Hopefully, with the help of the Ethereal Grove members, we stood a chance against Tian’s dark army.