The Devil's Son and His Fated Bride
Chapter 231: Battle!

Chapter 231: Battle!

Alpha Xander bared his teeth, and Elaika shut her eyes, bracing for the blow. Coran shouldn’t be punished for her sins.

His fangs elongated with a sickening grace. In one swift motion, he seized her arms, yanked her close, and sank his teeth into her flesh. Elaika clenched her fists, expecting agony, but it never came. Instead, a dizzying wave of heat spread through her body, replacing pain with a rush of dark, uncontrollable pleasure.

Xander pulled back, his lips brushing against her collarbone as he licked the blood that trailed down her skin.

Elaika’s eyes flew open in horror. "You marked me!"

"I did," he growled. "This is your punishment, becoming my mate. And suffering the consequences of your intentions."

Without another word, he turned and vanished into the shadows, leaving her trembling behind the tree. She slumped against the rough bark, her fingers drifting up to the searing mark. It pulsed like a second heartbeat. From this moment on, she would feel his emotions. Hear his voice in her mind. Worse still, the craving for him would now scorch her from within, unbearable and endless until she died or was rejected. Even the cold wind brushing against her skin felt numb compared to the fire he left behind.

She heard footsteps crunching softly over the snow. Still leaning against the tree, she didn’t lift her gaze, only stared at the long shadow stretching before her.

"Are you here to blame me?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Rail said nothing at first. His eyes, sharp and unreadable, landed on the fresh mark glowing on her neck.

"That man is merciful," he said at last. "And you know it."

Elaika couldn’t find the words. She hadn’t expected sympathy, but she hadn’t braced for this quiet judgment either.

"His pack will never accept me," she murmured.

Rail let out a cold chuckle. "Do you remember how you used to treat the innocent? This is what you get in return."

He bent down, picked up a piece of lumber, and walked past her toward the cottage where Orgeve was resting. They were supposed to accompany Ogain on a scouting hunt. But before they could move, the griffin suddenly sprang to his feet, his wings flaring out with tension.

"What is it?" Rail asked, alert.

"The Giant has attacked the human camps," Ogain rumbled. His feathers rippled with unease as he sniffed the air. "I sense magic... Sigaros is fighting."

He turned, staring with intensity toward the distant slope.

"Humans are under a bad attack."

...

Kai and Alpha Xander stood at the front lines, their gazes sharp as steel.

"We march to the human camps," Kai commanded. "They’ve launched a full-scale assault, without warning. Our scouts sensed nothing. Their scent was hidden."

He moved swiftly through the ranks, issuing orders, and warning each Alpha about the presence of dark sorcerers. The air was taut with tension, every warrior alert.

Moments later, over three thousand shifters surged into the eastern wing of the village.

But nothing had prepared them for the sight awaiting them.

Tents blazed in wild orange flame. Screams tore through the smoky air. Above them, a dragon roared, its wings sweeping through the sky as it unleashed fire onto the ranks of towering vampires below. Yet the flames curled uselessly against their enemies. Every one of the Giant vampires wore armor made of dragon-scale, impervious to the beast’s fury.

The humans were frozen in shock, their ranks collapsing under fear. It was a massacre waiting to happen.

Kai didn’t hesitate. With a sharp breath, he released Shadow.

A wave of darkness rippled out from him, and the sky dimmed. His dragon expanded in size, shadowy wings blotting out the fading light. Shadow fired on the giants. Kai looked to his Alphas, voice ringing like thunder.

"Leave no vampire alive. Wipe them off from this land!"

With a feral roar, the shifters charged behind their Alphas. Lightning cracked the heavens, and rain began to pour, heavy, cold, relentless, as steel clashed and blood soaked into the earth.

The vampires shrieked, baring their blood-soaked fangs to the stormy sky as if reveling in the chaos nature hurled at their enemies. They tore through wounded soldiers, ripping limbs and drinking deep, driven by hunger, bloodlust, and the maddening hope of mutation.

Atop a snow-laced hill, two figures loomed over the battlefield, the towering Giant Lord and another vampire cloaked in black, his face veiled beneath a mask.

"I told you we should have finished them already," the masked one sneered, pleased with the carnage below. His eyes glittered with cruel pride.

"There’s a sorcerer among them," the Giant growled, his voice like grinding stone.

"Yes. That traitor... Sigaros," the younger vampire hissed. "I always knew sorcerers were cowards and..."

He never finished the sentence.

Without warning, threads of shadow wrapped silently around his wrist. He hadn’t even sensed them.

His eyes widened in horror. "That demon prince is alive?!"

A deep, cold voice answered from behind. "Were you looking for me?"

Kai emerged from the darkness like a blade of vengeance. Before the vampire could flee, he struck, slamming the creature to the ground, his sword spinning in a blur of steel and fury before plunging into his chest.

The vampire let out a strangled howl as his body turned to ash, vanishing in a gust of wind and rain.

The Giant Lord roared in fury, the snow beneath his feet exploding as he lunged down the hill. His great sword came crashing down to cleave Kai in two, but the lord of shadows moved just in time, dodging with barely an inch to spare.

The second strike came harder when their blades collided, a burst of flame and sparks flared, dancing over the snow like scattered fireflies. Light shimmered off Kai’s face, revealing strain. This enemy was massive, brutal, and worse, skilled. He wielded that heavy sword like it was weightless.

Kai gritted his teeth, and with a breathless whisper through the chaos, he called out...

"Wife, now!"

...

Back in Oak Village, just before the shifter army had marched, Kai had sent a quiet message through their bond.

"Wife, it’s time. Get on Ogain, and don’t come near the ground. If we lose, you go home."

Her voice came back into his mind, soft but resolute.

"We won’t lose. We need this victory."

Ren stepped out of the building, armor strapped tight across her chest, helmet tucked beneath her arm. The sky would be a brutal place to fly, with heavy winds, cutting cold, but she was no stranger to harsh air. She had trained for this, during those long three months her husband was away. Every breath she’d taken in that time had been to prepare.

She took Arkilla’s hand for a moment. "Take care of yourself. Promise me."

Arkilla gave her a small nod, squeezing her fingers. "Org’s with me. No worries."

With a final glance, Ren mounted Ogain. From high on his back, she looked over the departing shifter army, their forms slowly dissolving into the snowy distance. Then, just at the edge of her vision, she spotted Elaika astride a horse, her posture tense.

"Keep an eye on that reckless girl too," Ren muttered. "Rail said Alpha Xander marked her."

Elaika gave a small nod and stepped back, allowing the griffin room to launch. Ogain beat his wings once, twice, and they were airborne, rising fast into the slate-gray sky.

It didn’t take long before Ren saw the blaze on the horizon.

Then she saw the holes.

Dark mouths gaped into the earth, and from them, the vampires poured like insects. That’s how they’d gone undetected. They hadn’t just hidden their scent, they had dug. Tunnels. Miles of them. While sunlight had painted the surface, the monsters had crawled beneath.

How far did those tunnels reach? Were they already under the capital? Her spine went rigid.

Then her gaze found him, her husband, surrounded by fire and darkness, and his voice cut through the flood of panic in her mind.

The Giant Lord was consumed by fury and an unrelenting thirst for blood. And that was exactly what Kai wanted, to drive the monster into a blind rage, make him careless, so Ren and Ogain could strike unseen.

Ogain soared like a shadow stitched to the sky, a black ghost with claws sharper than any forged blade. With a predator’s cry, the griffin swooped in, his talons flashing as they raked across the giant’s armored shoulder. As Ren had hoped, it worked, dragon-scale or not, the armor scratched deeply. One more strike could tear it off completely.

But now the giant knew the griffin was there. Worse still, the giant could carry a sword heavy enough to kill her griffin.

Kai seized the moment.

He lunged forward, shadow tendrils spiraling around his arms as he leaped high, calling more darkness to him. The threads whipped through the air and coiled around the giant, forcing him to his knees. He had already released Shadow once to save the human camps from the swarm of lesser giants, but now, Kai held back. He had to. If Shadow fed on the fear and pain of innocent people, there would be nothing left of them.

And yet, this vampire was different.

This giant radiated emotion. Unlike the rest of the dead-eyed army, something still flickered within him.

"Don’t serve them," Kai shouted, his voice cutting through the storm. "Listen to me! Don’t serve those who deceived you!"

For a breathless moment, the giant’s fury cracked. His footing faltered, and he crashed to one knee.

And that was all they needed.

Ogain dove like a spear, talons crashing down with devastating force. The monster’s armor split with a shuddering crack, and his right arm tore free in a torrent of blood. The gash was massive, gory, and final.

Ren’s breath caught. Her heart pounded wildly as she watched crimson spray across the snow, and across Kai.

But he didn’t flinch.

He stood bathed in blood, still staring at the fallen beast, his eyes dark and locked on whatever came next.

And the giant was screaming in pain. He was maimed.

This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦