The Apocalyptic Queen's Werewolf Journey (Thora and Darius) novel Chapter 484

Before Sierra could even process what had happened, Thora was already walking toward Lance.

Shirley scrunched up her face, muttering under her breath—what was Thora doing now? As if she didn't have enough people trailing after her already.

Thora stopped in front of Lance and cut straight to the chase. "Same rules as always?"

Lance let out a low laugh. "Works for me."

He had, after all, given his word—if Thora intervened, he'd let Frost go.

But he also knew Thora would never beg. She'd always rather settle things with her fists.

"Boss?" Alissa stepped forward, confusion written across her face.

Lance simply raised a hand in a brief gesture. Alissa swallowed whatever she was about to say and backed off with the rest of the team, dragging Frost's limp body to the side as they went.

In an instant, the center of the grounds cleared into an open circle, with only two people standing in it—Lance and Thora.

The moment everyone pulled back, an invisible pressure radiated from both of them, sealing the two of them off from the world around them.

The "same rules" Thora had mentioned meant a one-on-one fight.

No abilities. No wolf power. Pure hand-to-hand combat.

Just like back during the military academy's entrance exam in the apocalypse simulation.

Lance had always enjoyed this kind of match. After that first encounter, they'd fought this way several more times at the military academy. Their record was dead even—the occasional narrow win on one side, the occasional narrow loss on the other.

Lance looked at Thora and raised an eyebrow, his tone playful. "You know, I don't actually have to agree to this. You're the one asking me for a favor here."

Thora's voice was flat. "Does it matter? If I want them, I'm taking them—one way or another."

"You don't have to fight for it." Lance shifted gears. "I'll let them go. But you'll owe me one."

Thora didn't even hesitate. "I'd rather fight."

She never liked owing anyone, least of all Lance.

Lance's combat-ready stance suddenly relaxed. A smile played at the corner of his lips. "No. I just changed my mind."

Thora's brow creased. She didn't follow.

Lance turned and walked back toward Alissa and the others. Halfway through the crowd, he stopped abruptly and snapped his fingers toward the sky.

In the next second, every Greywolf mercenary assembled instantly and began withdrawing at blistering speed.

In under a minute, aside from Lance, Sharkie, and a handful of his inner circle, the rest of Greywolf had vanished without a trace.

"I'd rather have you owe me." Lance left those words hanging in the air, then turned with his people and disappeared into the night.

Frost forced his eyes open, watching Sierra's thin silhouette from behind, and let out a bitter laugh. "Look at me. I'm useless. You keep having to save me, over and over."

Sierra's voice was soft but carried an iron certainty. "Didn't you say it yourself? Our lives have been tied together for a long time now. But I want to live. So you have to live too."

Frost drew a ragged breath and slowly closed his eyes. "Why do you want to live so badly? Wouldn't dying be easier? At least it'd be over."

"Because I want to live a different kind of life. At the very least, I want to try. Just once." Her voice dropped to barely a whisper, carrying a faint, almost hidden thread of hope.

"You want to leave the Mirage Corsairs." Frost's voice was quiet but certain—he'd always known.

Sierra didn't deny it. She simply let out a soft hum of acknowledgment.

Frost smiled bitterly and closed his eyes again. "Is that so..."

"Yeah. So let's survive this. Together."

"Yeah."

It was like an unspoken pact. After those final words, neither of them said anything more.

But they both knew what awaited them when they returned to the Mirage Corsairs—nothing short of a storm. And they both knew that if the priest ever caught wind of their desire to leave, what followed would be a fate worse than death.

But before any of that, Sierra had one more thing she needed to do...