Bought by the Beast King (Katerina and hunter) novel Chapter 177

Chapter 177

KAT

“You’ve been keeping things from me, my dear Katerina.”

Fear bloomed in the air as he stepped over corpses and pushed ide the Lycans still kneeling. They trembled every time he brushed past them, and that red ooze over his skin rippled, thickening and crawling, as if it were no longer magic but something alive.

That dark energy pressed into me even from this distance. I’d wandered if Zachary’s pendant could save him, but now I knew it was too late. Kostas wasn’t just infected anymore. He was consumed.

Maybe I could beat it out of him.

My smile widened as I glanced at the Lycans scattered around us. They were in the way, and I didn’t want collateral damage.

“Leave,” I growled. “Go back home.”

They were gone in seconds, melting into the forest, but they didn’t go far enough. They were still watching. Still loyal. Hunter’s loyal subjects. I almost sneered.

“A dominant omega. Quite a beautiful contradiction,” Kostas said as he came closer. “Did you know that the last known white wolf was hanged, drawn, and quartered? Something about it defying the Goddess’s will. Being an abomination.”

My smile slipped. Was that why I was different? Why commands slid off me like water? Why I’d always bristled at submission, even before my first shift?

I glanced back at Hunter. He’d known from my first shift that I was a white wolf. He must have known that I was something others feared. And he’d just sat on this information. He’d kept me in the dark.

The betrayal sank deeper.

“Don’t listen to him, Kitty,” he whispered. “You’re safe here. I can explain everything.”

Safe.

That word felt hollow.

That bloodthirsty thing inside me tightened its grip, shielding me from the fracture trying to tear through my chest. I turned away from Hunter without a word and ignored the sharp flare of pain he projected so loudly.

“But if you came with me, you wouldn’t have to worry about any of that,” Kostas continued. “We’ll rule the world side by side. I’ll give you everything.”

I laughed softly as I walked towards him.

“And what exactly do you think you can give me, Kostas?” I asked my voice calm. “I’m the king’s only bloodline. The heir to his throne.”

“See, Katerina,” he said. “I’m unstoppable now.”

My blood burned.

No. I would not accept that. Something inside me snapped. It wasn’t rage; it wasn’t even fear. It was whatever had woven into

The air shifted, and pressure slammed down so hard that my lungs burned. The pendant on Hunter’s chest flared suddenly and then went dark, like it had been smothered. Around us, the night became still. There was no wind, no insects, no sound but my own breath.

Kostas hesitated, just for a second. And then his knees buckled.

All around me, the sound of flesh and bone meeting the ground echoed in a wave that rippled outward. I was still unable to move, but I caught the movement in the trees in front of me.”

My heart pounded hard in my chest. I hadn’t told them to kneel I hadn’t said anything.

Kostas fought it, snarling as his body trembled, the red ooze over his body vibrating so much it looked unreal. But even as he dropped to one knee, his claws gouged the ground as if something unseen was forcing him down.

“What did you do?” he rasped.

I didn’t know. My blood burned, and my broken bones mended faster than they should have, even with my wolf helping. I pushed myself up, my gaze locking on Kostas. And that was when I realised, whatever this was, it wasn’t finished with me yet.