Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 889: Prepare For Battle

"It worked. She’s back..."

Those were the first words Violet picked up as consciousness slowly returned to her.

Her vision remained slightly hazy, but she could still make out Asher and Alaric hovering over her with worry written all over their faces.

"Violet?" both of them called anxiously.

"Shit," Violet groaned, realization crashing into her immediately. They must have dragged her back.

Honestly, her mates could have waited another minute. The show had just started getting to the best part.

Moreover, she needed to make sure Ziva actually died.

And stayed dead.

"I’m okay. I’m okay," Violet assured them quickly and, with their help, managed to sit upright against the headboard.

The moment she settled properly, her gaze landed on Asher.

He dragged a hand roughly down his face before releasing a heavy breath that sounded painfully relieved. Between the badly rumpled hair and the strain etched across his expression, Violet could already imagine how badly he must have panicked while she was unconscious.

Guilt tugged at her chest. What he feared most—her getting hurt—had nearly happened. Unfortunately, Violet’s life practically attracted danger at this point.

Alaric stood with both hands braced against his waist and looked one second away from strangling somebody. Like a furious mother scolding a reckless child, he demanded, "What the hell happened out there?"

Across from her, Micah leaned against the wall studying Violet with disturbing intensity.

"You left?" he questioned too. "Where exactly did you go?"

"I didn’t exactly leave willingly." Irritation slipped into Violet’s voice at the accusation before she forced herself to settle down enough to explain. "I was dragged into Duskmoon Village."

The second those words left her mouth, the temperature in the room dropped and all three males stiffened.

Asher’s expression darkened dangerously.

"What do you mean Duskmoon Village?" The question came out low and deadly.

If those people had touched his mate —no,

when he got his hands on them, he would wipe every last one of them out personally. Nobody would be spared.

"Calm down, Asher," Violet told him, having absolutely no idea the only reason Asher appeared this restrained was because he had yet to notice any visible injury on her body. Otherwise, this conversation would have gone very differently.

Just because there were no visible wounds did not mean she wasn’t hurt internally, she had dreamwalked after all. Knowing Violet, she would sooner suffer in silence than admit something was wrong.

Right now, Asher was giving her room to explain herself before he started a massacre.

Violet continued, "Micah and I were able to unite in the dream space—"

"We know that already," Alaric cut in, impatience bleeding through his words. He didn’t even seem aware of the static beginning to build in the room.

"Ouch!" Micah practically jumped into the air after getting electrocuted and immediately glared at Alaric.

"Dude, not everyone here is immune to lightning!"

Alaric barely spared him a glance, his jaw locked tight enough to crack teeth.

Micah pointed accusingly at him. "Or maybe I should just leave for my own safety like Irene."

After Micah regained consciousness without Violet beside him, Asher and Alaric had gone absolutely ballistic.

Irene tried stepping in to calm them down and nearly got clawed across the face for her troubles. Micah had no choice but to teleport her out of the room before returning to focus on bringing Violet back.

Unfortunately, the expressions currently sitting on Asher and Alaric’s faces suggested they wouldn’t particularly mind if Micah vanished. In fact, they would probably prefer it since it meant more privacy with their mate.

However, Micah was fully invested in the drama now. So he stayed.

Violet revealed to them, "Turns out we weren’t the only ones with plans tonight. Ziva had hers too. She was the one who gathered the witches."

"So they intercepted your spirit? Why? For what purpose? And how the hell were they even able to pull that off?" Micah fired questions at her one after another without stopping to breathe.

"I have no idea what their full intentions were," Violet explained, "but they did some weird voodoo shit that connected me to Bree. She became the anchor tying me there while their witch carried out their twisted spell."

Micah immediately caught on.

"Blood calls to blood," he muttered. "They used Bree as the bridge to reach you through your shared bloodline."

"What happened next?" Asher asked eagerly.

Violet shrugged, an almost innocent expression crossing her face. "What do you think happened? I killed them all."

Silence swallowed the room immediately.

For a second, all three males simply stared at her, processing what she had just admitted so casually.

Then a broad grin slowly spread across Asher’s face.

"That’s my mate," he declared proudly, satisfaction practically pouring off him.

Alaric immediately focused on the more important detail.

"When you say you killed them, does that include Ziva too?"

Violet settled deeper against the headboard before answering.

"The witches were all connected through the ritual, so when I lit their leader on fire, the others burned alongside her." There was absolutely no remorse in her voice. "And I made sure they suffered."

Honestly, hearing the witches scream while burning alive had been deeply therapeutic.

"As for Ziva..." Violet’s lips curved darkly. "I released Bree on her."

Micah let out a low whistle. "Damn. That’s hardcore."

Then, without shame, he added, "I kinda wish I saw that scene though."

Violet, more than willing to feed Micah’s morbid curiosity, continued, "Bree mauled her pretty badly. Like ripping flesh out with her teeth badly."

If anyone had ever doubted the demonic side lurking beneath Micah’s charm, the devilishly satisfied look on his face erased every uncertainty.

"I didn’t stick around long enough to confirm whether Ziva actually died," Violet admitted before throwing her mates a pointed look. "Because certain people dragged me back here before the show finished."

Despite the complaint, amusement still danced openly in her eyes.

Alaric finally moved from where he stood and walked over to the edge of the bed. The mattress dipped slightly beneath his weight as he sat beside Violet.

"If Ziva somehow survives that," he told her, "then we’ll help you finish what you started." His words were genuine and not empty threats.

Then he reached out and gently patted Violet on the head. "In the meantime..." A small grin pulled at his mouth. "Good job."

Violet practically melted inside at the praise. Not just her, Thalia was wagging her tail shamelessly inside her head. Her wolf practically preened beneath the warm satisfaction of knowing their mate approved wholeheartedly of her attempted murder.

"In that case," Asher disclosed darkly, "Angus won’t be getting any sleep tonight."

Micah sighed dramatically, "So operation kill-Angus-while-he-sleeps is officially dead then. Which means we actually have to face him head-on."

Asher’s gaze hardened. "Tomorrow will be the final showdown."

Duskmoon Village

"You have to see this."

Those had been the urgent words Jericho delivered before personally leading Angus toward the hunting grounds.

At first, Angus assumed another prisoner must have escaped or perhaps Bree had broken loose again. But the moment he stepped into the hunting grounds, his movement slowed.

The smell of gore hit him first.

Angus’s gaze swept across the destruction littering the grounds and for the first time in a very long while, genuine shock crossed his face.

Bodies. Or rather what remained of them.

Several burnt corpses lay scattered across the earth in horrifying states. Some had collapsed against trees while others looked like they had died trying to crawl away from the flames that consumed them. All of them were burnt beyond recognition.

Jericho began listing their names.

"Mother Florence."

"Mother Sakura."

"Mother Kira..."

Each name only darkened Angus’s expression further.

The Supreme Alpha slowly walked past one of the corpses, his boots crushing ash beneath them while smoke still curled faintly from the blackened remains.

Jericho swallowed.

"That’s not all."

Angus turned toward him sharply. Without another word, Jericho guided him farther through the hunting grounds.

He saw another body.

Bree.

The girl lay motionless against the dirt, dark blood pooled beneath her while multiple magical wounds spread across her chest and torso. Parts of her skin looked burnt through completely as though powerful spells had repeatedly struck her at close range.

Angus closed his eyes briefly. When they opened again, they held nothing but cold fury.

"Where is Ziva?"

Jericho immediately looked uneasy. His throat bobbed visibly before he answered.

"About that..." He hesitated. "You’ll need to see this too."

That hesitation alone told Angus enough.

Something was very wrong.

Jericho led him farther into the forest and along the way, Angus noticed the long dragging trails carved through the dirt. It was the sign of someone desperately trying to crawl away.

Angus already knew whatever waited ahead would not be good. Still nothing prepared him for what he saw next.

Ziva’s body barely looked human anymore. It looked like some wild creature had feasted on her alive. Or more precisely, Bree.

It had to be Bree.

Angus stared at the remains of his daughter in complete silence. Then his jaw tightened hard enough to crack stone.

"What happened here?"

Jericho answered carefully, unwilling to provoke him further.

"According to the reports we gathered, Ziva summoned the Coven Mothers here tonight to find a way to control Violet as you instructed." He paused briefly. "No survivors remain alive enough to explain what truly happened. They were discovered like this."

Silence swallowed the hunting grounds afterward.

For the first time in years, something resembling sorrow passed through Angus’s eyes. Not because Ziva was dead but because of what her death meant. Violet had returned and she had already struck first.

Slowly, Angus tore his gaze away from Ziva’s mutilated remains.

Then he gave the order.

"Prepare our forces, we have a battle tomorrow."