“Funny, how I have never heard that rule before,” Liam says. “Despite working with the Council.”
“There is no use delaying the inevitable,” Aurelia says. “You can’t run, and you certainly can’t fight us.”
Thomas balls his hands into fists. “I’d rather die than let you drag me in front of the Council. She is not even worth it! Just the child of some worthless whore. Her only use was being my entertainment. Should have heard her scream when I strangled and reanimated her over and over again. Have you ever seen a shifter being electroshocked over and over again? It’s hilarious!”
That fucking psycho!
I can feel Gwen’s pain through the bond.
“She has a name,” I say. “She and her daughter have names.” I look at the men behind him. “Are you really ready to die for him?”
“He asked you a question,” Dad supports me.
“Fuck this,” Thomas hisses, suddenly lunging forward. I am not surprised that his target is Aurelia, but she catches his punch midway, her fingers so tight around his fist that I can hear the bones scrunch.
“And?” Dad asks the warriors behind Thomas. “What’s your decision? We are a royal lycan pack with three reigning alphas and one alpha heir right in front of you. And we are not interested in keeping you alive.”
One of the men who is taller and bulkier swallows thickly. I recognize him as the guy from the car who followed us around, the one Marius targeted. “We will come with you peacefully.”
Thomas’ face turns red in anger. “It’s all your fault,” he yells at Gwen, taking a step forward. At the same moment, I grab Gwen, pushing her behind me. The fuck I will let this asshole threaten my mate. “The wolfless, useless little bitch. Jacob promised you would be too useless to do anything, let alone protect her. Found a pretty, dumb boy and slept your way up-“
Just at that moment, I hear branches cracking. Vincent’s eyes widen so much it looks like they almost bulge out. Here comes Gwen’s and my pony, trotting forward, bashing its head right into Thomas’ side and knocking him over. On the pony’sback is the capybara! I have no idea how that animal with its tiny legs managed to get onto the pony’s back, but apparently, it’s common for them to use other animals as a form of transportation. Now it drops down, straight on its legs again, trotting over to chew on Thomas’ fingers.
Now, our porcupine joins the party, but before it can do anything, our alpaca runs past it, spitting right down onto Thomas. When I stare in the direction they all came from, I pretty much see our whole zoo on the way.
Even Dad is too surprised to do or say anything.
“This will go into our history books,” he finally mutters. “In one way or another.”
Liam just keeps watching before he bursts into laughter. He is not the type of person who laughs an awful lot; he is not like me, or Aurelia, or Finn. He is serious, stoic, and a tad introverted. He is very kind to those he loves, but he isn’t smiley. He isn’t one to just double over in laughter. Seeing him like this warms my heart and proves how crazy the situation truly is.
He takes out his phone to record a video, right when our alpaca hovers above Thomas, looking like it’s about to pee on him. “I need to show this to Annalise,” he chuckles.
The zoo has knocked over the other men, too, by now.
“Should we intervene?” Aurelia asks, dragging out the words, obviously not feeling like intervening.
Our pony has stepped on one of the guy’s legs and stands rooted in place. Then Grumpy comes along, the Pallas’s cat, ready to claw anyone who looks at him the wrong way. Right behind him, there is Tiger.
Titan, the regal demon cat, on the other hand, has approached the scene but remains in the distance. He tilts his head as if he wonders if he should get involved, but then stretches out on the ground.
“What a fitting way to imprison someone I would consider the dirt under my shoes,” Dad says, before walking over towards Gwen and me. He pulls us both into a hug. “You are safe now, Gwen. And I assure you, Thomas and everyone involved will pay for what they did.”
“Thank you,” Gwen whispers. “Marina can finally rest in peace.”
Liam joins Aurelia, helping her with the aftermath of the weirdest fight in the history of fights. Celine, meanwhile, joins us. Gwen lets go of Dad and me and pulls Celine into her arms. “Please watch out for Faye,” she says.
I don’t hear what Celine answers, but her eyes are swimming with tears. She buries her face into Gwen’s hair, her arms wrapped tightly around her.
fifty-six
Spread Your Wings
*GWENDOLYN*
Idecided to allow Faye to spread her wings and fly. I knew it was the right decision the moment Celine and Marius asked her if she wanted to move in with them, and if she was okay with them adopting her. Faye burst into tears, holding onto Marius’ leg and not letting go of him or Celine for the remainder of the day.
Once the initial shock and surprise left, she was so happy, in a way I haven’t seen for a long time. She had me promise that I would visit her a lot, but she didn’t even shed a tear when she said goodbye to us.
