Mated to My Intended's Enemy novel Chapter 82

Chapter 82: Chapter 82 Blood of the First Fae-Wolf

Victoria

Before it connected, a blur of movement knocked the guard sideways. Leo stood over me, his eyes burning with feral rage, his hands already shifting into claws.

"Touch her again," he snarled, "and I’ll tear your spine out through your throat."

The guard recovered quickly, drawing another silver blade from his belt. "Alpha Grimwood sends his regards," he taunted, circling Leo cautiously.

Leo’s answering growl made the stones beneath us vibrate. "Then send him back my reply."

Their fight was brutal and swift—Leo moving with controlled fury, the guard relying on the advantage of his silver weapons. I forced myself to my feet, fighting vertigo as I returned to Enzo’s side, determined to free him while Leo kept the guard occupied.

As I worked on the final chain, Enzo grabbed my wrist with surprising strength. "Aurora," he rasped urgently. "He’s using her... for the ritual."

"What ritual?" I demanded, finally breaking the chain. "Enzo, what does Marcus want?"

His eyes rolled back momentarily, consciousness slipping. I shook him gently. "Tell me, Enzo. What ritual?"

"Blood... of the first Fae-Wolf," he managed, his voice fading. "He needs... both of you."

A chill ran through me. "Both of us? Who—"

"Your mother," Enzo whispered. "Not dead. Aurora... knows where."

Before I could process this bombshell, a victorious roar from Leo signaled the end of his fight. The guard lay motionless on the floor, and Leo was already striding back toward us, blood spattered across his face but none of it his own.

"We need to move," he ordered, assessing Enzo’s condition with a critical eye. "Can he be transported?"

I nodded numbly, my mind still reeling from Enzo’s revelation. "Leo, he says my mother—"

"Later," Leo cut me off, already lifting Enzo’s broken body with surprising gentleness. "Temple’s coming down."

He was right—the structure around us had begun to tremble, dust and stone fragments raining down from what remained of the ceiling. My impromptu vine attack had compromised what little structural integrity the ancient building still possessed.

"Where’s Aurora?" I asked frantically, scanning the chamber as we prepared to retreat.

Tiny appeared at my side, his massive hand steadying me as another tremor shook the temple. "No sign of her. Sweep of the entire structure came up empty."

Leo’s expression darkened. "Marcus moved her before we arrived."

As we hurried through the crumbling temple, supporting Enzo between us, a voice echoed through the chamber—Marcus’s voice, though he was nowhere to be seen.

"Impressive display, Victoria," it boomed, seeming to come from the very walls themselves. "Your mother would be proud. She had the same connection to growing things, though never so... aggressive."

Leo’s jaw tightened. "The Blood Moon ritual. It’s an old legend—supposedly grants immense power to an Alpha who consumes the heart’s blood of a Fae during the Blood Moon."

Horror crawled up my spine. "And the Blood Moon is—"

"Three weeks from now," Leo confirmed grimly.

I glanced down at my hands, still tingling with the power I’d unleashed in the temple. The vines had responded to me instinctively, an extension of my will. Power I hadn’t even known I possessed until that moment.

"He’ll come for me again," I said quietly. "And now he knows what I can do."

Leo’s expression softened slightly as he brushed dust from my cheek with his thumb. "Let him come. He’s not the only one who learned something tonight." His eyes dropped to my hands. "That was... impressive."

Despite everything, I felt a small smile tug at my lips. "You mean terrifying."

"That too," he admitted, a hint of humor in his voice. Then, more seriously: "We’ll figure this out, Victoria. Together."

As our transport arrived and we carefully loaded Enzo inside, I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything had changed tonight. My brother rescued but broken, my mother alive after years of believing her dead, and my own strange power finally revealing itself.

Marcus’s final words echoed in my mind as we sped away from the collapsed temple,“I’m rather looking forward to our next meeting.”

Next time, I promised silently, I would be ready for him.