The Lost Werewolf King's Mate

It wasn't long before Orion refused to continue travelling to the Gryphon kingdom by car. We both wanted to go kill Killian the second we learned of what Agatha had done. Orion didn't even want to wait for Ken and the others to arrive before leaving. He didn't want us to give all the necessary orders for the upcoming war. He didn't even want to wait for me to tell the families of the deceased warriors that their loved ones had died. All of it could wait. He wanted to go get Elizabeth.

It took every ounce of self restraint I had to attend to my duties first before going to kill Killian. Like Orion, I also wanted to abandon everything and go after him, but I couldn't do that. I couldn't leave the entire kingdom so vulnerable; especially when I knew that Raphael had that fucking gem. That very gem that had the power to undo everything Elizabeth and I did to protect the Werewolf kingdom. Elizabeth wouldn't want me to leave everyone that vulnerable.

About an hour into the drive, I stopped the car abruptly in the middle of the road and briefly told Princess Cecilia how to get to the Gryphon kingdom. I don't know if she understood my directions or if she even knows how to drive. All I knew was that no matter how fast that car was going, Orion and I were faster.

By the time I decided to leave Princess Cecilia and the car, the girl could also notably not cope with my anger. I tried to keep it all inside, but my anger kept pouring out of me and I was losing control over it. The girl was sweating bullets and despite opening all the windows to try and get some fresh air in the car, none of it helped. She even moved to the back of the SUV to try and get as far away from me as she possibly could. I could hear her gasping for air, too afraid to even tell me she was busy dying.

Orion and I had to leave her for both my sake and hers. She would have died had I stayed in that car and I would have grown angrier each second I remained with her.

Orion was now sprinting to get to the Gryphon kingdom. Each time his paws hit the ground, I felt the earth crack underneath. Despite our recent increase in size, we were faster somehow and arrived at the borders in half the time it would usually take us.

"We're going to kill them all", Orion roared as soon as he saw the guards.

"Kill every single one of them", I agreed with him.

Killian hadn't even added more security or ordered an army to be waiting for me. He had the same amount of guards at the border as he had when Ken and I came here. There couldn't have been more than 20 people, half in human form and the other half flying above them in gryphon-form. It was possible that some more of them were hiding nearby, but I would have caught their scent by now...No, there weren't any others. Killian had taken her and wasn't even bothered enough to re-enforce his borders for when I came to get her.

This angered Orion and I even more. He was insulting us. Him and his gryphons thought so little of werewolves that they didn't even think we were worth a whole battalion to fend us off. To them, these few guards were enough to defeat us.

"He dares to treat us like we're vermin who can't even fight off a few of his warriors?", Orion roared. "He knew we would come for her. He must have expected us to bring an entire army and yet this is all that's waiting for us?!"

"He's insulting us" I growled back. "They're all insulting the werewolves and it's time we taught them a lesson!"

Orion and I were both shaking with anger and the moment we reached the border, we started tearing off heads and limbs. We were so fast and vicious that we had already killed more than five warriors before the others had a chance to shift into their gryphon-form.

The gryphons were charging at us. Multiple large sharp claws were digging into our fur while dozens were pouncing at us with their paws. This is what made gryphons such versatile fighters. Their two front legs are made of claws as sharp as the sharpest blades and the two back legs are paws that are bigger than the paws of even an alpha wolf. Although the claws protruding out of those paws are not as long as the ones in the front legs, they are just as sharp.

I felt large beaks digging into my skin, attempting to carve out my eyes while hordes and hordes of massive wings trapped us.

Orion and I were laughing angrily. This was nothing. And not only that, this confirmed to me that werewolves were finally strong enough to overpower the gryphons. Even my low ranked warriors would be able to get out of this.

Orion ripped off dozens of wings, paws, beaks and claws. They were all scattered everywhere and our black fur was drenched in their blood. I had killed every single one of them, but more were on their way. We could hear them roaring in the sky and warriors running on the ground in human form. I wasn't going to wait for them. I was going to fo further into their kingdom and kill their king.

We started sprinting again. Within seconds, dozens of gryphons were attacking us again; more viciously than before and in greater numbers. It was taking Orion and I longer to kill these ones. They were stronger and faster than the others. Moreover, there were also more of them and our injuries were taking longer to heal than before.

We ripped our way through every single one of them. We left their torn off wings, heads and other limbs scattered all over the ground just like we did with the others. The ground was soaked with gryphon blood and Orion and I wanted more. We wanted more of them dead. We wanted every single one of them dead. Killian and his people would pay the ultimate price for even thinking of taking her away from me.

It wasn't long before Taranis himself was before us.

The mighty pitch black gryphon landed in a thud and he even got the blood of his dead warriors splattered on him. He had his pitch black eyes on all the dead bodies Orion and I were standing on. No amount of self restraint could hold back his anger. It poured out of him like a mighty dam that just exploded. His aura was strong...too strong. Orion and I would have to use our own aura cautiously to overpower him.

They had me surrounded. There were at least ten times more gryphons than the ones I just killed and Taranis was bigger than every single one of them and no doubt stronger too.

Just like werewolves, the gryphons are also known for being warriors. Except, unlike werewolves, they're regarded as invincible and known to be much more selfish and cruel. Every gryphon generation grows stronger, their traditions and beliefs get more brutal and their armies get better strategies with each offspring. They are bred to be warriors, taught to welcome death on the battlefield and it is carved into their heads that they are above any other magical species and owe the rest of us nothing.

Even now, I knew I had only met their weakest warriors. No one would dare attack the mighty gryphons. They had no need to place their strongest warriors at their borders. The weakest amongst them were already stronger than most other magical creatures.

Orion and I were breathing heavily while we looked at all the gryphons around us. Even we had to admit that they were indeed impeccable at assembling themselves. It only took them minutes to lure me to this very spot right here, deep within their territory where they had the home advantage. I was surrounded by them and their king and I could tell these warriors were nothing like the ones I've killed already. I had only killed his weaklings.

Multiple gryphons tried to charge me, but they stopped mid-air. As soon as they landed on the blood soaked ground, all the gryphons took multiple steps back in formation, leaving Orion and Taranis in the middle. Their king had ordered them to leave this fight to him.

Orion and I could almost see a smirk on Taranis' face. I didn't need to tell Killian this was an official challenge. He already knew. This was a long time coming... He also knew this wasn't just a challenge to prove my strength. This was a challenge for Elizabeth and his kingdom.

This stand-off alone was inevitable. The werewolves were getting stronger and the gryphons wouldn't stand for it. Even if Killian had not taken Elizabeth, this was going to happen. The moment he challenged me the last time I was here, he set a chain reaction in motion that fueled the tension between the two kingdoms even more. Maybe it was going to take a few more years to reach this point, but it was going to happen either way.

Taranis and Orion were glaring at each other while they steadily stalked one another. They were both growling, waiting for the other to make a move or let their guard down.

Killian had to die. That I was certain of. I preferred peace between our two kingdoms, but taking Elizabeth was the most unforgivable thing anyone could do to me. I spent three years trying to find her. It was the worst three tears of my life. I had to relive every single regret I had over and over again in those three years.

I regretted repressing my feelings for her when we first met. I regretted every day I spent trying to convince myself what I felt for her was merely an infatuation and that it would pass. I regretted watching her feelings for me grow each day while I pretended not to notice. I regretted making her watch me kiss Megan, making her watch me hold Megan and tell her I loved her. I regretted that she helped me get back together with someone I never even loved to begin with. I regretted knowing Elizabeth's insecurities and then using them to hurt her. I had so many regrets; each one worse than the previous. They all plagued me everyday for three years.

My biggest regret of all was that I didn't claim her for myself the second I saw her. I may not have known I was a werewolf back then, but the moment I felt Orion in my mind, I should have marked her. No matter how bad the curse made my life, no matter all the jobs, money, friends and reputation I lost, I should have marked her. Of all the things I had to endure because of that curse, losing her was the worst thing to happen to me and nothing could compare to it.

The curse had robbed me and Orion of identifying her as our mate. We could feel the pull to her. We could feel the rush of electricity and sparks when we touched her, but we knew that was merely a fraction of what we were supposed to have.

Her scent calmed us down, intoxicated us, tamed us, brought us out of any despair. And yet if anyone asked us to tell them what our mate smelled like to us, we would describe her scent the way any other person would. Ken knew his mate's scent was that of vanilla and strawberries. No one else could smell that scent on Esther except him. A mate's scent is so sacred and yet Elizabeth and I were robbed of that as well.

And even now while glaring at Taranis, Orion and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain in our heart. Just like Killian, we couldn't smell that alluring scent of a mate on her. Just like him, that magical word hadn't come to Orion and I each time we saw her.

'MATE'. We would give anything to hear that word come to us. Because of that curse, Killian thought he had as much right to claim her as I did. But none of that mattered now. Orion and I were done waiting. It is precisely because of all this waiting that another man thought he could claim what belonged to us. We had already decided even before leaving my kingdom. I wasn't going to wait for the curse to be broken. Elizabeth and I would mark each other and face the repercussions together.

Orion was the first one to pounce on Taranis. The Gryphon king flapped his enormous wings right before we reached him and the strong blow created by the wings hurled us away.

We instantly landed on our feet. We hadn't expected any gryphon to have strong enough wings that can do that, but it should be expected from the Gryphon king.

The moment we landed, Taranis' claws were suddenly digging into my eyes. His claws were much sharper than the warriors I just killed and no matter how much I rolled around and crashed my head into the ground to get him off, he refused to let go.

He was going to blind me...