Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 421

Chapter 421

+25 Bonus

Chapter 421

Andrei’s POV

We were losing.

My warriors were being driven back, step by step, back toward the entrance through which we had only just come. Blood slicked the marble floors. Men screamed. Bodies fell.

And all the while, those fucking things never tired. They didn’t hesitate-hell, they didn’t even seem to feel pain. They just kept coming and coming, their ruby weapons cutting through our forces like we were made of butter and not flesh and bone.

Some of those strange, pale warriors did fall, though; they weren’t invincible. But when they did, they went down without a cry, just limp across the floor. I felt my stomach drop when I delivered a killing blow to one, and, in the last moment of life in my victim’s eyes, I saw… nothing. No light fading away. No fear. No pain.

Just emptiness. Like there had never been a soul there to begin with.

I’d already lost count of how many we had killed. Dozens, maybe, but there were still hundreds more. And their ruby weapons flashed through the air with preternatural speed, strength, among other abilities that no man or woman should have been capable of. I saw some kind of mage say a few words, ruby flashing in a circlet on her head, and then one of my warriors crumpled to the ground and began bleeding from his eyes.

“We have to retreat!” my Beta shouted over the din. He was sporting a large gash across his forehead that was dripping blood into his eyes. “Now!”

“No.”

“Andrei-”

“You can retreat. I’m staying.” I flung my scimitar through the throat of a pale warrior that was holding a ruby in his hand and muttering incantations that made gusts of hard air rush at my men like brick walls, then called the blade back to my hand. “I’m not leaving my family here.”

“If you stay, you’ll die. And then who saves them?”

I knew he was right; staying here was suicide. But the thought of leaving Natalia and the twins in this place, with that monster… I couldn’t bear it.

Just then, another warrior from Bloodmoon went down beside me, his throat torn open by a ruby-encrusted spear. I lunged out of the way just as another soldier came at me.

“Fall back!” I heard my Beta shout. “Fall back!”

The retreat had already begun, whether I liked it or not. Warriors were streaming out of the doors, trying to hold the line as they went. All the while, the Winter King’s soldiers pressed toward in a relentless barrage of marble flesh and slaughter.

“I’m going to find Natalia,” I said, turning to my Beta. “Take command of the retreat. Get everyone out.”

“Andrei, that’s insane-”

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Chapter 421

+25 Bonus

“That’s an order.” I shoved him toward the exit. “Go. Now.”

My Beta hesitated for a moment, then nodded and rushed away, barking commands as he went. I watched him disappear into the chaos, then turned and ran deeper into the palace.

Most of the King’s soldiers were focused on the main battle. The corridors leading away from the entrance hall were relatively empty. I moved fast, checking the rooms as I went. Storage closets. Empty chambers.

When I found Natalia’s chamber, my breath caught. There was a pile of bodies-my warriors-laying outside.

“No. No, no, no!” I shouted, rushing into the room with my blade raised. Natalia and the twins weren’t there. The bed was empty, and there was another pile of bodies inside. I frowned, looking around, then caught a familiar scent coming from the closet.

“Natalia!” I burst into the closet, expecting to find her hiding there with the twins, but the closet was empty. The twins’ scent was fresh, though, as if they’d only just been here.

The only other place I could think to check at that point was the cells. Maybe she had retreated to the lower level of the palace, where it might be safer, and where Damon was being held-or the Winter King took her there.

As I rushed in that direction, I reached out through the bond, but that damn magic kept me from contacting her. I cut my way through a small wave of soldiers and hurried down to the cells.

“Natalia!” I shouted, my voice hoarse and echoing through the dungeon. “Natalia!”

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