Chapter 140: Chapter 140

Azraiel drops to his knees and quickly lifts Charlotte’s fragile body and cradles her in his arms.

“Charlotte?” His voice doesn’t express the fear he feels.

He gulps down the tears. “Ch-Charlotte?” His voice breaks.

“Alpha?” Theo enters the tent and stops in his tracks when he sees the state Charlotte is in.

Behind him, Katya enters the tent but her reaction is the exact opposite. She rushes to Charlotte as soon as she sees her.

Katya sits down next to Azraiel and slowly inspects Charlotte’s body.

She checks her pulse calmly while everything inside her is screaming to get away from here as soon as possible.

“Her pulse isn’t regular.” She mutters to herself.

Closing her eyes, she puts her right palm on Charlotte’s forehead and starts chanting something.

The more she chants, the more pained her face looks.

Theo finally moves and sits down near Charlotte’s legs.

“Alpha?” He calls Azraiel when he notices the broken expression on his best friend’s face.

Azraiel Squeezes his eyes shut for a few seconds and when he opens them, it’s like something shifted.

“How is everyone else?” He asks Theo, his voice steady and calm as opposed to the thunder brewing in his heart.

“They are not in their tents.” Theo sighs.

“Wh-what?” Azraiel stares at him, confused.

“When we heard the scream, we went to look for them, but it’s like they vanished, without a trace. We didn’t see them coming out of their tent but they somehow left the tents. Our warriors say that they are gathered near the lake.”

Azraiel looks at Charlotte and then at Theo.

“Lake…so where they first made an appearance before we knew them?”

“Yes, Alpha.” Theo rakes a hand through his hair. “They are fine. They are not hurt but they are all quiet…eerily quiet. One of our warriors tried to intercept…but they ignored him. They look like they are in a daze. Like…almost like under a spell.” Theo sighs frustratedly.

“Security?” Azraiel asks.

“We have secured the area surrounding the lake, Alpha.”

Azraiel nods. “Keep me posted.” He returns his attention to his mate.

Katya opens her eyes and look at Azraiel.

“Alpha…” It looks like she is about to say something that none of them are going to like.

“Her body is really weak right now. With the beings inside her fighting for dominance over her mind and body, she is exhausted and losing herself in this fight. If she doesn’t shift soon, I am afraid her body will be too weak to survive the shift.” She blurts it all out in a go.

Theo looks heartbroken….

And Azraiel….

Well, Azraiel looks like he’ll need a few more moments to process the information.

“Is there a spell to lend her some strength?” He finally asks Katya after a few seconds. He looks ready to do anything to keep Charlotte alive.

“I can try.” Katya says with a look that screams, “It won’t work!”

“Please, Katya...do it.” Azraiel pleads with her.

Katya nods through the tears streaming down her face.

She quickly wipes her tears and gets up.

“Please, lay her down.”

Azraiel does as she says.

Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes and begins chanting the spell that she has used countless times. As the chant progresses, the wind picks up the pace and Katya shivers from the harsh slaps of cold waves on her skin. She knows this spell is going to take a toll on her. She also knows that this is not going to work but she doesn’t have the heart to tell the man waiting for his mate the truth.

Katya keeps chanting until she feels like she can’t anymore. The words escape her, her energy feels nonexistent…. she has been lending her strength to Charlotte so that she could recover but it seems like the beings inside the Luna are not ready to accept anyone’s strength other than her own.

She has no idea when she stops chanting.

It isn’t until Theo shakes her shoulders that she comes out of the trance.

Wet…something wet is dripping…

Oh, its blood again.

Blood drips down her chin on her clothes. A nosebleed again!

“Katya?” Azraiel calls out her name.

“Alpha…” Her voice is coarse and she barely has the strength to convey what she wants to say.

Theo puts a water bottle to her lips and she hungrily gulps it down.

“Are you okay?” Theo asks as he helps her wipe off the blood.

“Mhmm...” She nods.

She looks at Azraiel sadly but speaks anyway, “Alpha, I’m not strong enough to lend her any strength. The beings inside her are consuming a lot of energy and are not ready to accept me as a source of strength.”

Azraiel frowns upon hearing that.

“But…” She hesitates.

“Please, Katya…whatever it is..tell me…” Azraiel pleads.

“I am not strong enough to lend her my strength…but you are. You can help her by lending your strength. Since you are her mate, there’s a great chance that the beings inside her won’t reject your help.”

“Of course….I can help…tell me what to do.” He sounds relieved to hear that.

For a second there Katya stays quiet but then she takes a look at Charlotte’s frail body and decides that this is the only way with least risk to help her out.

“Mark her!”

Theo and Azraiel are too stunned to speak anything after that.

Azraiel wants to say “NO” but even he knows that this is his chance to help his mate out. It might be too late to find other solutions.

Also, Charlotte thought this would happen.

He has no idea how she knew, but she made him promise her that he won’t hesitate to mark her if needed during the shift.

Gulping down his fear of losing Charlotte, Azraiel closes his eyes for a brief moment but when he opens them, he is dead set on keeping his mate alive.

“Okay…” He looks at Theo. “Ask Matt to check on the red-eyed wolves at the lake.”

“Katya, I want you right outside the tent, in case something goes wrong!”

“Yes, Alpha!” Theo and Katya say in unison and exit the tent.

Exhaling deeply, he gently pulls Charlotte in his arms. Snuggling in the crook of her neck, he whispers, “I’m sorry, love...I’m sorry!”

He presses a soft kiss on her forehead and her lips.

“Oh Luna...please let this work!” He whispers quietly.

Setting free his wolf whom he has been caging in fear of him getting out of control, he lets his teeth extend. He feels a shiver run down his spine as his wolf takes over. His wolf licks the area of her neck where his mark will be, as if preparing for the sting that is about to come.

He puts his one hand below her head and the other across her upper body to prevent her from moving.

Looking at her face one last time, Azraiel sinks his teeth deep into her neck. He tries to ignore the irresistible bond forming but to no avail. His heart thumps loudly as this mark bridges the last gap left between them. They are now soulmates! Well, in his eyes he was a goner when he first came to know of her existence, but this mark has now finally made her his in the traditions of the werewolf world. He just hopes that they are both able to live this beautiful bond.

Take all my strength, Charlotte…but live…please just live!

Charlotte unconsciously moves and moans in pain but Azraiel’s hand keep her in place. Once he is sure that the mark is visible he withdraws his teeth from her skin. His wolf licks the wound clean and wipes the blood.

Gulping down the tears he takes a look at the wound that is already healing. He lovingly caresses the mark and closes his eyes. He knows she is unconscious but for some reason, he feels that his wolf can call out to her wolf.

He surrenders as his wolf reaches out to her through the mindlink.

I can’t feel her presence! His wolf panics.

“Try again…I am sure she is there. She has to be.” Azraiel can’t help but panic at the news.

“No... I can’t feel her…but I can hear someone…it’s not her wolf though…” His wolf feels confused.

“It might be the other beings inside her…talk to them…” Azraiel pushes his wolf.

It’s radio silence for the next few minutes as his wolf tries to communicate with other beings inside Charlotte’s body.

Azraiel can feel the anxiety radiating off his wolf as he tries to find his mate.

“They want us to take Charlotte to the lake…she needs to be with her pack.”

His wolf replies after some agonizing silence.

Azraiel immediately gets into action without wasting any time. He doesn’t care who brings her back and keeps her alive as long as she is alive. He gently lifts Charlotte in his arms and starts walking out of the tent. Katya immediately turns around and stares at him.

“I’m taking her to the lake.” He says without even looking at her and walks off. Katya gets the memo and follows him.

Azraiel radiates the ‘Don’t mess with me right now’ energy as they walk towards the lake.

Within minutes, they reach the lake.

Azraiel halts in his step as he soaks in the scene.

The whole area is filled with humans with glowing eyes of different colors. They all turn their heads together when they sense Charlotte. They look exactly as Theo described them, ‘in a daze’. He spots Nicholas in front of the crowd but it doesn’t look like he is really there.

Azraiel exhales shakily and walks forward. With each step, the crowd parts in the middle to make a way for Azraiel to move ahead. He can feel the heat of their gaze as he walks in the middle.

He is halfway through the path when the crowd in front of him stops giving them way. They don’t budge but instead, keep staring at Charlotte. Confused, he turns back to see that the pack has formed a circle around him. He is in the middle of the crowd with Charlotte in his arms and Katya standing just a step behind him.

“Alpha put her down.” Katya whispers.

Azraiel nods once and gently puts Charlotte on the ground and steps back.

Both Azraiel and Katya can’t help but scan the crowd to assess if they are surrounded by any vicious beings that they can’t handle. It is extremely difficult to determine the level of danger as the eyes of those around them keep changing colours.

Red...to purple…to green…to yellow…

It scares the shit out of Katya as it almost defies their assumption that every person would turn into a specific supernatural being. What if they don’t just turn into one supernatural but embody several of them at the same time?

Gulping down the fear, she looks at Charlotte. She looks like a sleeping beauty smeared with crimson blood. Her face does look better than when they were in the tent. Most probably, the mark has lent her some energy and the beings inside her are not rejecting Azraiel as the source of energy.

Katya looks up when she hears a strange sound.

Azraiel and Katya look at each other in the next second when they realize it is coming from the people around them.

They hum in rhythm and Azraiel instantly recognizes what’s going on.

They are using the same frequency language that he used to communicate with them for the first time.

“What are they saying?” Katya asks when she sees Azraiel looking confused.

“They are using the sound frequency language but I can’t understand anything.” Azraiel doesn’t like it. Nope…not knowing what’s going on has never worked for him.

“It’s like they are talking in a code…it’s still the same language but the sounds don’t make sense when put together.” Azraiel whispers.

With every passing second the humming grows louder.

It starts to flash a ‘danger’ sign in Azraiel’s head and so he mindlinks Theo, “Be on guard. I’m sure something is about to happen.”

“Katya…” He gives her a look filled with worry and she instantly knows what to do.

Katya closes her eyes and starts chanting spells internally to ensure that the pack magic isn’t breached and no harm can enter the pack. She bounds the lake area with another protection spell to strengthen the magic.

At this point, they can feel the humming in their body.

Azraiel keeps switching his gaze between his mate and her pack. He is afraid that this chanting is going to do something to Charlotte and he won’t be able to do anything about it.

“She is back.”

His wolf whispers quietly.

Azraiel is stunned. “B-back? Charlotte’s wolf? Is she okay?” He instantly fires the questions.

“She is… .different…It’s definitely her…but different…it’s like she is possessed.”

He answers with hesitation.

Azraiel’s heart drops in his stomach. A distinct memory pops in his head. When Charlotte told her the truth about how she reached his pack for the first time, she did it because of a nightmare….a nightmare where she was the cause of destruction.

Oh, God!

He looks around to see so many people and realizes that if Charlotte indeed gets out of control then these are the people who will suffer the destruction. Her own bloody pack!

Shit!

His heartbeat increases at the mere thought of the possibility of that nightmare manifesting!

With bated breath, he tries to calm down since there isn’t much he can do right now. Although he feels like her pack would never do anything to put her in danger, he has seen people do worse in the initial days of shifting.

The sounds grow louder… and the rest of the surroundings go silent.

The animals and birds have long gone into hiding. He is pretty sure his pack can feel the intensity of energies too.

Suddenly, Charlotte moves…!

She arches her back and her arm twists at an odd angle, most probably transforming into something other than an arm.

Azraiel kneels beside her and gently pats her hair to soothe her pain.

She is finally shifting…and hopefully into a wolf!

Soon, her other arm twists too. Within the next few minutes, her whole body starts twisting at weird angles that look nowhere near a wolf.

Katya tries to sense the energy in Charlotte but fails as the beings inside her keep emerging at the surface to scare her off.

Azraiel desperately tries to ease her pain but has no idea how to proceed from here. He is holding her in his arms and peppering her with kisses as he feels it’s his only chance to be with her. He has no idea what’s going to happen next.

“Come on, Charlotte…please be brave…!” He whispers in her ears.

Every passing second is pure agony as the chants create a mystical atmosphere and Charlotte’s body keeps twisting at odd angles.

But in the next moment, a bright white light flashes in his eyes and he turns his head away.

Azraiel tries to open his eyes but the light is so bright that he can’t.

He soon realizes that his arms are empty. Charlotte isn’t in his arms anymore!

“Charlotte?” He shouts her name in dread.

He desperately squints to look for her but the light doesn’t let him.

“Katya!” He shouts her name but doesn’t hear her back.

When Katya doesn’t reply, he realizes that it is silent.

Way too silent.

The Chanting and humming have stopped!

“Theo…!” He mindlinks his Gamma.

When he doesn’t hear back from his Gamma too, he loses his shit.

Something is definitely wrong.

“Charlotte…” He calls her again.

He helplessly tries to see clearly but fails.

After a few seconds which feels like ages to him, finally, the bright light subsides.

When he finally opens his eyes, what he sees makes him speechless.

In front of him, Katya and Theo lay unconscious. The whole area is filled with werewolves, werecats and weretigers, but they are not looking at him.

When he turns towards the direction they are all looking at, his jaw drops.

At the end of the lake and where the woods begin, stands a giant black wolf with red bloody eyes and it is looking right at him.