Word Count: 1916

~Lavelle

I don't retreat, regardless of how desperately I want to.

I remain at Avi's side, although I slowly rise to my feet. Each step Zyre makes toward us makes Avi flinch, which only frightens me more.

"Zyre...what is going on?" I ask shakily.

While I may not know what is happening right now, there is one thing clear — the Zyre I'm witnessing tonight is not the one I've come to know over the past few months.

He regards me calmly, pausing a couple steps away. "Why don't you step away from your husband."

I look down at Avi. His head is bowed, red staining parts of his golden hair. Leaving him here, at the mercy of Zyre isn't an option. We're married now, and I need to protect him and much as he would protect me.

"Not until you tell me what's happening." I level a look at Zyre, silently begging for him to resolve this horrid situation.

"I need to kill him, and I don't want to do that in your proximity," he says instead.

I gasp. Avi doesn't so much as move. Does he suspect this is coming? Has he had a reason to believe all along that Zyre wants him dead?

Terror spills into my gut, a cold sensation prickling my skin. I should have seen this coming.

Zyre didn't want me to marry Avi because all along he's been planning to take his position as Alpha. He has no use for me, and now I will either go down with my husband, or be tossed to the side.

"Kill him? Why?" My voice sounds strangled.

I want Zyre to laugh, to tell me this is just some elaborate joke at Avi's expense. He kissed me, he made me feel safe, even if it was only for a moment. How could it be the same male staring blankly back at me while my husband remains on his knees at my feet.

"It is nothing personal. It is business," he tells me solemnly.

I take a wary step toward him. "Don't do this, please."

"To become Alpha, one must kill the reigning one to obtain the title." He gestures at a resigned Avi, no hint of remorse in his voice.

I shake my head, still not understanding.

While I knew Zyre was here, in this pack for reasons he wouldn't say, I didn't think it was this bad. Maybe I thought he was making room for his brother to come into this pack to have Avi killed, but for him to do it...I can't make sense of it.

"Go to your own pack and become Alpha then!" I insist.

His eyes flash. "This will be my pack now."

"You've hurt him enough. Just stop this." Avi has sustained injuries beyond what I can see. Blood stains his skin, but also his clothing. Who knows what is going on beneath them.

He may be the Alpha, but he doesn't deserve this. He shouldn't have to be killed just to hand power to someone else.

Zyre looks over me darkly. "Step aside, Lavelle."

Shaking my head, I widen my stand a touch, anchoring myself to this spot.

"I won't move."

"I'm not doing this to be cruel," he says calmly. "It is time I take power of this pack, strengthen it, before turning it against my brothers."

Understanding drapes over me in equal measure to confusion. The more I learn about this male, the less I seem to understand.

I may not know much about Zyre's home pack, but I know that his brother is incredible powerful and revered by his people. What reason would Zyre have for destroying that, for destroying the line of power that he is a part of back home?

"Why would you do that?" I ask breathlessly.

"The reasons are numerous." He sighs, like this is all a great burden to him. "My brother cannot stand to go unthreatened a moment longer. I'm the only one capable of taking his power."

Sure, Zyre looks more than capable of ruling pack, but why come here? Why chose Avi to cut down? A male who may have his issues, but has a right to live.

"Why don't you challenge him then?"

He hesitates. "I cannot."

"Why not? You know his pack, you're of the same bloodline. Challenging Avi makes no sense!"

Why isn't Avi speaking? Why does he still have his head bowed shamelessly, resigned to his fate? I want to shake him, to demand he find a way out of these binds. Maybe if he got free, he could face off against Zyre, and there would be a chance we could get out of here.

"It makes perfect sense. This pack will be mine. I will save it from ruin, and I will eliminate the greatest threat to its existence." Zyre's gaze hardens. "My brother."

Bile is rising in my throat, but I quickly swallow it down. I must harden myself to this, find a way to stop this.

There is clearly a blood feud between brothers that runs deeper than I could ever discover, and I don't want any part of it. I can't allow it to come here and corrupt everything we have.

Clearly he doesn't care about Avi, but maybe he cares about me. Maybe the kiss we shared wasn't for nothing...

I take another cautious step toward him. "Zyre...please. If you kill Avi, you take everything from me."

"That is not true." His jaw tightens. He's ashamed.

"Of course it is! I'll be ruined...I'll have nothing." I'll be forced back into my old life, where I will be disgraced and thought of as a traitor. I will have failed to save the Alpha of my pack, and my own husband.

Zyre's eyes soften. "You'll have me."

It's such a bizarre assurance I choke on the words I was going to desperately blurt out next.

"You?" How could he think his presence will ever comfort me again after this.

He looks away, eyes slowly closing. He draws in one breath, and then another, steeling himself before he looks upon me again.

"When I take Avi's title, I take everything he has." He pauses, grimacing. "Including his wife."

I stare blankly at him. "You're saying..."

"The moment I kill him, you become mine. My wife, the Luna of this pack," he says softly.

All I can manage to do is remain standing, even if my knees weaken and my vision blurs.

"No, no that can't be true," I say desperately. I can't be tied to Zyre...I married Avi today, not him. This is an impossibility, a misunderstanding.

Avi's voice rises from behind me. "It's true."

In his state, I know with certainty that Avi is being sincere. He has no reason to lie to me.

"I refuse," I state firmly. I cannot be forced.

Zyre only regards me sadly. "Unfortunately you can't."

I know this pack states a marriage cannot be broken between an Alpha and a Luna, but surely exceptions can be made in this circumstances. I chose to marry Avi, not the male that is challenging him.

"Lavelle. Obey his commands," Avi croaks hopelessly.

Turning swiftly, I kneel before my husband. He doesn't look at me until I lift his head in my hands, forcing his gaze to meet mine.

There is no strength within him. In his body, maybe, but not in his soul. He has entirely given himself to this, to the challenge, and I cannot stand to see it.

"No Avi, do not give up," I insist desperately, my fingers slipping in the blood on his cheek. "You can't allow him to take power here. You can't allow him to kill you! Fight!"

He shakes his head, dejected. "Even if I had the strength within me to do so, I cannot."

"Why not?"

"I deserve all that has come to me." His voice breaks. He's overcome by grief, his spirit completely snuffed out. Someone got to him, tearing him down, bringing him to this low.

"Don't say that...don't let him get into your head like that."

"It's true." He raises his eyes to meet mine. "And soon, you'll see."

My brows pull together. How can he talk like this when he has a pack to protect. Two packs run by the same bloodline could cause chaos. His pack members need his strength even more than I do.

"See? Avi, this is nonsense—"

"Lavelle, please stand. It is time," Zyre orders.

I don't even look at him, smoothing the hair back off Avi's face. "You'll have to drag me away. I refuse to let you kill him."

He sighs. "Very well."

Suddenly, arms are grabbing me, pulling me up with remarkable strength. It's Zyre, my back pressing flush against his front as he pulls me away from Avi. No matter how much I scream and wrestle against him, he holds me strong until he transfers me into the arms of one of his guards, who I didn't even realise had entered the room.

"Hold her," he commands.

Two guards hold me now, gripping one of my arms each. I tug against them, but they hold me strong.

"I have complete control of Avi's army right now. His parents are already dead. Everything is in place, including you," Zyre says coldly, withdrawing a dagger I didn't realise was on his person.

Terror grips me as I watch the silver blade glint in the dull light. He's really going to do this...He killed Cordelia and William.

"You monster! I hate you," I growl, pushing desperately against the guards.

"Cover her eyes," Zyre demands, his voice echoing through the expansive ballroom. "Now!"

The guards oblige him, coating him world in darkness.

"Let me go!"

All I can hear beyond my own screams are Zyre's footsteps as he strides toward Avi. I need to escape, to do something. I need to save Avi, but I'm held, completely helpless.

"Bow your head to the floor and pray, Avi," Zyre exclaims softly. "Not for my mercy, but for whatever god greets you in death."

"You'll never be strong enough to take him. My family has tried for years to destroy yours." Avi's voice still sounds broken, but about this, he seems sure.

"Only blood can compete against blood. I am the only one capable of ending his reign."

"She'll never love you. She'll never forgive you for this," Avi whispers, like he doesn't want me to hear. I almost don't over my harsh breathing.

How can Zyre be so cruel to Avi in his last moments? I don't know him at all.

"Perhaps she wouldn't, if she loved you," Zyre responds darkly. "But she never has, and never will."

Avi doesn't get another word out.

For a moment I don't hear anything, and then a faint choked gasp and the sound of a body slumping onto the floor.

The guards drop me, and I sink to the ground. I catch a glimpse of Avi's body on the floor, blood spilling from his throat onto the pale marble floor.

It's the last thing I see before I fall jarringly into unconsciousness.

❤️••❤️

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