Even though we were in the middle of a world-saving war, Alrik managed to make time to shove me against a tree when the coast was clear after we had taken off from the camp. He had effortlessly tossed a rogue aside and forced me into the rough bark as if I was his next prey.

I gazed at him through the strands of hair that had managed to escape my ponytail with curiosity, "You do realize that this isn't the time to salvage your bruised ego?"

His eyes were narrowed on my face as if he was examining it before he brushed the stray hairs to the side and tucked them behind my ear, "I'm furious with you."

"Is this about me using your nightmare against you or calling you weak?"

"What do you think?" He grunted, tracing my hips with his palms as if he was trying to rub away any scent of Aleksei and Yerik on my body.

I rolled my eyes, "That your fury has no grounds. In fact, I should be angry that you nearly got yourself killed. Guess who's being punished once we return home?"

"It's bold of the two of you to assume that you'll be alive to even return home."

Alrik flipped around with a murderous growl and shifted back to his wolf form as Malcolm appeared into our line of vision.

Except he wasn't alone, he had five other wizards on his side, jumping out of trees and forming a circle around us as if they had been waiting for our appearance.

I glanced at all of them with a calm look on my face, not letting them see that their surprise had caught me off guard, "Where were all of you when I was kicking Malcolm's ass and getting rid of the Book of Demonic Magic?"

Malcolm's face hardened momentarily before a disgusting smile replaced his smirk as he studied my figure, "I never got to properly examine that ridiculous piece of armor you're wearing."

The satisfied glint in his moss-colored eyes made me want to crack his skull open against the tree.

"As someone who has seen you fight in several battles before, I wonder why you suddenly decided to protect yourself for this one specifically," he drawled, running his tongue along his lip, "I wouldn't have hurt you there. Not when you could potentially ditch the mutt and stand by my side to bear my children."

I almost gagged at the thought and clenched the staff until the grooves left imprints on my palm while Alrik bared his teeth, pawing the ground as a warning.

"Which leads me to believe that you're pregnant with that mutt's child."

He stepped forward, his eyes trained on my abdomen, "And we can't have that."

The snarl that left Alrik's muzzle was enough to make me want to shiver, but he never had the chance to pounce because I flung Malcolm into a tree with a flick of my wrist, causing him to slide down the trunk with a groan.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the other wizards preparing to raise their wands and quickly dug the staff into the ground, forcing a protective shield around us. Alrik turned around and cocked his head at me as if to ask what I was doing and why I wasn't letting him rip into everyone.

As much as I commended his enthusiasm, there was no way we could take on six wizards without one of us being injured or killed. They were already trying to force themselves through the protective barrier.

I ran my eyes over their faces and spun around to face Alrik, "Howl."

He appeared surprised by my sudden command but didn't hesitate to throw his head back and let out another bone-chilling howl.

"Why is the mutt howling? Is he begging the moon for a quick death?"

This time I didn't stop Alrik from pouncing at Malcolm.

He leapt over the wizards that were blocking us with the gracefulness of a bulldozer and tackled Malcolm back into the tree. Even though I could see him ripping into his hair, I knew Alrik would not do anything that would kill this bastard because he knew that part was reserved for me.

The other wizards were watching on in horror as though they had been waiting for Malcolm's command to attack us, and I took the chance to knock two of them out with a swing of the staff, causing them to topple over like dominoes and freezing the rest briefly.

And while I did that, Alrik pulled away from Malcolm and spat a huge chunk of hair and skin at my feet like it was his war prize to me.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

I almost let out a sigh of relief as Dario and Meredith marched out of the woods, hand-in-hand.

"We heard a familiar howl and decided to check it out," Meredith explained, studying the state of Malcolm's hair, "Nice haircut."

Dario barked out a laugh, but he cut it off shortly when Malcolm began chuckling coldly, "The Minister's son. How do you like my sloppy seconds? Does she suck you off like she di–"

I plunged the tip of the staff into his thigh, causing him to gasp in pain. As he struggled to yank it out, I diverted my attention to Meredith and Dario, who was barely being held back.

"Would you take care of the wizards that came with him? We'll finish things off here unless the two of you would like to join..." I trailed off when Dario shook his head, "Just give him the most painful fucking death possible."

I nodded and turned back around to face the wizard that still had the Minister's staff impaled in his leg, "Now, let's see."

Alrik pinned him down as I searched for Malcolm for his wand, but I ended up finding a weapon that was much more interesting.

The sword Uncle Amos had gifted him.

I stared at it, rotating it in my hand and eyeing the glint of the blade in the dim moonlight.

"What do we have here?" I said darkly, not even recognizing my own malicious tone, "This looks awfully familiar although I don't remember it being smelling of wolfsbane."

I glared down at Malcolm's pale face, "Was this what you planned to kill my mate with?"

He scowled, refusing to answer like he had accepted his demise.

"Isn't it ironic," I drawled, skimming his neck with the blade, "You used this sword to take so many lives, and tonight, I'll use it to take yours."

"As if, you have always been so wea–" he ended his statement with an explosive scream.

I had driven the blade right into his crotch.

"That," I stated nonchalantly, "Was for Uncle Amos."

He stopped thrashing around and laid there, barely breathing, sweat and blood dripping down his face. I watched him for a few moments, feeling a sick pit of satisfaction in my stomach as he suffered.

Finally, I shoved the horn into his mouth, piercing the inside of his throat with the venomous tip to deal the last fatal blow. Blood spurted from his mouth as he choked on the horn, his frantic eyes watering furiously, but he could not do anything since Alrik was pinning him down.

We observed him silently, listening to his sputters become softer and softer.

Until it all came to a stop.

I glanced at the blank swamp-colored pools that glared at nothingness and raised my head to stare at Alrik.

He blinked back as if he was waiting for me to make sense of what had just occurred, and when my lips started to pull back into a broad smile, he shifted and rolled over to rest his head on my lap.

"It's over," he whispered between his heavy breaths, grinning up at me even though the exhaustion was clear on his face,

"It's finally fucking over."

"I know, can we chop him up now?"

"Let's do it."