Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 119

"Then it would be best not to die, wouldn't it?"

Why did she have to choose now to hold true to her lineage? The mortal woman screaming behind us was enough to make my blood run cold, the terror of being surrounded by beasts that could lead to a gruesome death, I knew that feeling all too well. 

"You're going to be alright." I lie, because truthfully, protecting her over our own lives would be a poor decision. He would surely target her, forcing us to be vulnerable if it meant saving her. I couldn't afford to take that risk. The cuff encircling my right front leg makes me twinge with the burning sensation of its hard grip against my tendons. The flexibility of my limb would be slightly limited, I test its mobility as Fenrir climbs out of the wreckage with surprisingly little damage. 

"What's the plan?" Helen demands, staying close to my shoulder, blocking the woman from the dark wolf's view. 

We needed to shock him out of this, make Verando come back to the surface, and pull him from the depths. "Minimal damage, but we have to do what we must to protect ourselves. He's been affected by that enhancer, it's a false Alpha pheromone... unfortunately for us, being true Alphas, we're triggering him just as badly. In this state, Fenrir can feed off the wolf and keep control." My head throbs and I sigh heavily at the daunting task before us. 

Helen scoffs, rolling her light eyes, "So what you're saying is we're the only people who can contend with him and we're the worst options. Nic.. how're we going to keep doing this? Do you ever think-"

Baring my fangs, I bark a threat against her. "Hold your tongue or get lost. This is not his fault."

The chain was making him bleed, I could see the droplets with every step he took. Even though he was a god trapped in this body, he was limited by the size the chain allowed. A lycan was strong, we weren't contending with an unstoppable force, more so that we were fighting with someone who was exceptionally more experienced. 

"Verando's weaknesses still apply, if we can restrain him..." We could potentially shock him back into coming back to us. Yet, seeing the creature approaching us as if he were on a casual stroll, it didn't help my heart to know Alpha was trapped with this monster. 

"You two sure are chatty for being inches away from your deaths. Interesting that humans are as heartless as gods, I figured mortality made you kinder. However, an inconvenience brings on the permission to torture and maim this vessel.. so long as the pieces still somewhat fit back together. How curious." Running his tongue over his muzzle, he has no reason to rush at us, he was well aware that we would get in his way on his track toward the mortal woman frozen in terror. 

It was what Verando would want, our lives were forfeit in the grand scheme of things, and we couldn't allow Fenrir to persevere. "You have no room to lay judgment on us, you kill for the fun of it, you're going back in your box." I block his path, ears flat back as I stand before him, so much smaller in stature. The black-mottled wolf bristles his coat with an irritated snort. 

"I'm merely doing what I was designed to do. What I was born to do. I grow tired of you standing in the way of that. Once I complete this vessel, perhaps it will stop disappointing me and we can be done with this back and forth." 

Helen's eyes flick toward the fire suppression system and I turn my attention back to the demon lord before me.  "That's not true and you know it. Tyr knew you were good, that's why you trusted him-"

Fenrir flashes his teeth, leaping at me to which I narrowly skitter out of the way. The concrete structure shudders as he lands and I form an ice sheet under my paws to make him unsteady. The cuff was limiting my ability to turn, I leap out of the way of his jaws as he lurches for me only to fumble to the ground in a heap of fury and frustration.