*Omario POV*
“She was dumb to go with them but she is our mate!” I am now screaming at Titan. Him and I are supposed to be looking out for Oli no matter what stupid decisions she makes. Oli’s distressed cries continue but Titan does not seem touched at all. Even if I take over from him now, I won’t be much help at night. I need Titan’s sharp senses to lead me to where she is.
“Leave her, she will learn not to do dumb things again,” Titan responds.
“We are going to save Oli.”
“No, we are not!” Titan resists but unlike previously, I now know his weakness.
“Dad already instructed us to stay away from Abi. That means your claim on her is now null and void. She is fair game for dad’s friends. Defy me on this and I will let Blake do as he pleases with her.”
I feel sick to my stomach as I say this to threaten my stupid wolf but what choice do I have?
“Fine!” Titan snaps and heads towards the door the same time Terrence walks in. I don’t have time to interrogate him on what’s happening out there but I can now be assured that Abi will be safe while I’m gone to save Oli.
We get outside and Titan is just strolling in no hurry at all. The hauling sounds are more intensified out here. There’s more of them hurt but I focus on Oli’s and block out the rest.
“Continue with this, I swear I will personally hand Abi over to Blake.”
This gets Titan sprinting towards the woods. I can’t believe that he is making me do this!
We are now deep into the thick and darkest part of the forest. I am really worried about Oli when we pass a few young wolfs with broken legs and three dead. Oli’s hauls are getting weaker by each second. She is close by but I can’t comprehend what happened here. Dad’s friends are running around like headless chickens, trying to help the young wolfs. Whatever happened targeted the inexperienced ones. I don’t get to focus on the possibilities because a few feet away, laying down on the forest floor and shaking, is our mate.
“Oli!” I take over from Titan, who is only glad to be hands off. The bastard!
I run forward and kneel next to her. The downside of my human form is poor sight at night and Titan is no where. I could threaten Abi again to get him back but that leaves me feeling disgusted with myself. I will just have to do this all by myself.
I gently run my hands over Oli’s head, then the rest of her body. The mud and leaves mattered on her fur and the broken legs tell a story of a great struggle.
“Babe, are you okay?”
She screams and groans in pain before shifting into her human form.
That’s my mate! I can’t help but be proud of her. Shifting while injured hurts like hell but it will allow me to easily check her wounds and carry her out of here.
“Orio…I.. am so..”
“Shhh. It’s okay. Let’s get you out of here.”
Through the dark, thick forest, with Oli on my arms, I match forward and pay no attention to the branches cutting through my skin. Her groans are weaker each minute, she must have hurt more than her legs, I have to get her to safety before it’s too late.
The hauling has stopped by the time I step out of the forest. I am greeted by doctors and paramedics running around and ambulance lights flashing everywhere. They all immediately run towards me and take Oli from my arms. That’s when I notice a long row of body bags on the floor. Anger rises inside me. Sixteen young lives cut short, for what?
“Olivia! Thank goodness you got her,” Brenda’s weak voice from the opposite ambulance says. She has a bandage around her head and looks very pale.
“She should not have been there in the first place!” I yell at her. How could she not stop her niece from joining their stupid hunt?
“Hey! Leave Brenda alone. She had a concussion after that stupid horse kicked her head,” Dad yells back at me and I look dumbfounded at him.
“A horse? What horse?”
“Your Gamma didn’t tell you?” he sneers with a menacing voice.
I shake my head. I did not speak to Terrence at all because I ran out to save Oli the moment he walked into my chambers.
“What happened?”
Dad clenches and unclenches his fists, veins bulging out on his neck.
“We were on his trail when all the horses showed up out of nowhere and charged at us.” Dads teeth gnashes as he explains.
“What?” I did not expect this.
“They looked and acted like they were possessed. I have never seen anything like it,” dad adds and I still can’t believe my ears.
“The horses did this?”
“No! Your Gamma did this!” Dad roars.
“Dad, I don’t understand.” Nothing he has said so far implicates Terrence of any wrongdoing. Not that Dad needs any of that.
“Neither do I, but he did it and I will rip him apart with my own hands!” he says and storms inside the castle with Blake joining him.
I run behind them. Shit! I have to save Terrence and I have no idea how. This is really exhausting.
“Terrence did not know that he will be running instead of Abi and if he did, how can he be responsible for what the horses did?” I hope this works because dad loves killing and there is no prophecy stopping him from killing Terrence.
“He is the stable boy, he did something to those horses to act like that,” he snaps.
He is angry, I should probably stop with this but I have to save Terrence.
“Something like what?”
“I don’t know and I don’t give a fuck! He will pay for this!”
I slow down to keep some distance between us. Dad is really mad. This is not good.
“Are you saying that my Gamma, a slave, has powers to control horses?” I ask with a straight face, knowing that none of them can ever admit to Terrence being anything more than a slave. Powers to do anything immediately promotes Terrence from being a slave to the category of the kingdom’s prophets and healers. It gives him some power, rights and benefits.
I, on the other side have no doubts that Terrence did this. I have seen him command our horses before. I have seen him heal faster than it is humanly possible. Terrence is a slave by choice and they have no clue.
“No! He doesn’t!” Blake’s outburst is what I was relying on. “The royal horses are left loose in the forest every weekend. They might have been spooked by something out there and acted out,” he adds.
We are now in the courtyard and joined by dad’s other stupid friends. They all nod in agreement with Blake’s statement. I nod too. It makes sense and it exonerates Terrence, so I will run with it.
“Then, what happened is not Terrence’s fault.”
I say but dad has made up his mind.
“I am still killing him.” He says, just before the the guards bring Terrence out to the courtyard. They roughly throw him forward and he lands on his knees in front of dad.
My eyes meet Terrence’s and I don’t see any signs of fear in them. He actually smiles at me. Terrence does not care what happens to him. I guess I should be relieved but I know someone who does and she just walked in.
Holding on to two servants, Abi stands against the courtyard’s wall. I don’t need to get close to see that she is crying. Her shaking shoulders, the servants hugging her and her racing heart that I feel so clearly tell it all.
The hairs at the back of my head lift. I can’t fail her. I move closer to Dad and whisper my different strategy.
“He is her best friend. Are you sure you want to kill him when she slit her wrist for nothing? Who knows what she will do if you kill him?”
Dad looks ahead and sees Abi and his eyes starts blazing with anger. He is thirsty for blood and I have made it worse.
Shit! What did I do!
He steps forward but passes Terrence and punches the closest guard, whose body flings on the air and lands a meter away, dead. The blow on his neck was lethal.
I close my eyes, my heart breaking for his family. That’s on me.
“Get him the fuck out of here!” Dad roars and the other guards grab Terrence and run out.
“And get that slave into Rufu’s quarters!”
Terrence is safe but my next nightmare begins….