Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 137

Aiden's

pov

My first instinct was to replace Lily immediately as I held on to one of the pillars for support, another earthquake, this time, coming from the east, ripping through the school.

The building shook, the ceiling trembled, debris falling on our heads but it held against the assault.

I had literally been thinking that the news I just got was the worst thing that could happen to Shadow cove but it didn't look like it was. Not one bit.

Not when it seemed my uncle and Cade's mother were already putting their plans into action.

I needed to get to Lily and make sure she was safe first. Later, I would kneel at her feet and beg for her forgiveness. And after that, I will hunt down my uncle like the swine that he is, sink my teeth into his flesh and tear him limb from limb. It was more mercy than he deserved.

Rushing towards the door, I threw it open and froze as students in school uniforms that were the same as ours, human kids that we had been classmates with for most of our lives stood in front of us.

I recognized Hanz, Tony, Carlos. They've sat with us in classes, at our table... so why the fuck were they pointing guns and c*****g bows and arrows at us?

"Well, hello, Your Majesties," Hanz greeted, a wicked smile on his lips as he aimed directly at my chest.

He fired without any hesitation, before I could even force my locked limbs to react and shake off the shock and I braced myself for the impact as Cade threw himself in front of me.

I wasn't the only one that was surprised when silver bullets bounced off of him harmlessly.

If there was any doubt that Cade was born to a royal, then this had distinguished it, thanks to his abilities.

I looked at him in shock, not expecting him to risk his life for me, indestructible or not. "Thanks, man-"

But Cade raised a hand, still standing in front of me, acting as a wall.

"Don't thank me just yet. Everything I'm doing is for Lily and if you foolishly let yourself get hurt, she's going to get hurt too."

The hunters were already recovering from the shock of seeing their ace weapon bounce off Cade's body, and in annoyance, Juliet, a junior that offered to suck my d**k once just to get invited to one of our parties growled and nocked an arrow in her bow but Ren acted immediately, throwing both arms up, using his powers on them and we watched as they all dropped to the ground lifeless.

What I knew about Ren's powers was that it took a good amount of time to actually die from his abilities. Either he's been practicing or he took a mystery energy drink that boosted his powers.

Turning around to face me, he raised his blond brows at me, his eyes glaring at me.

"Now is not the time to be distracted, Aiden. You could have instantly unleashed your hounds to hold them down. Focus. I can't have you dying on my watch."

Gritting my teeth at the truth in his words, I dipped my chin in response and he nodded, Zac stepping out to spy the hallway to clear the area.

He was right. I could not afford to be distracted right now or dwell on the horrific news that Cade had dropped when we were currently under attack and even our human classmates seemed to be in on it.

"Coast is clear. Let's move." Zac said.

"Lily is fine. She's in the private parking lot waiting for us with Rhea, Chelsea and Chase. They are safe for now. We should get to them as soon as possible." Ren said and I hated how the childish part of me reminded me that I was still not bonded to Lily in a way that made telepathy possible.

Well, with what Cade had said, I probably would never be able to seal the mating bond with Lily and would have to just be glad that she was in my orbit.

"Let's go." Zac said and as we headed out.

Taking a deep breath, I felt my eyes turn dark and shadows leave my body taking the shape of hounds that immediately started running ahead of us to scout the perimeter and replace Lily and protect her, Cerebrus leading the pack.

I sent a dark shadow to block out the sun, plunging the entire school into darkness and immediately my senses heightened as I knew it would for me and other wolves who would be able to see in the dark.

The shadow was not going to last for long but at least it would slow down the werewolf hunters and give us a fighting chance.

There were safe spaces littered around the school to hide in case of an invasion, places that the humans were not privy to. I expected them to hide until the coast is clear and a task force comes to do their job and defend the city. Right now, my only priority was my mate, getting to her and getting her the fuck out of here. There was only one safehouse I trusted enough to hold her, and that was Zac's home, considering his home is built like a fortress and his family is in charge of the task force.

As we headed to the garage, I fought to ignore the bodies on the ground that we passed, werewolves like us, students like us, murdered by humans. They probably would have never thought that today would be their last and their lives were brutally stolen from them.

Entering the garage, I heaved a sigh of relief to replace that it was still pretty much untouched. Cerberus had scampered ahead of the pack and was now giving Lily a thorough lick-down, wagging his tail happily and bouncing around her while she scratched his chin. Chase, Chelsea and Rhea wisely gave her a wide berth, distancing themselves from the shadow hounds surrounding Lily.

They disappeared as soon as we stepped into their line of sight, seeing as their mission was accomplished and Cerberus gave a little whine before disappearing into nothing but dark smoke. Lily let out a relieved sigh and threw her arms around Ren, hugging Ren tight, followed by Zac before she hugged me. She ignored Cade like he didn't exist and I dreaded what would become of our relationship when she replaces out about her father being falsely accused. How she never even deserved any of the treatment she received. Cade tried to act like he was unaffected by her lack of acknowledgement but I saw him swallow hard and look away when she went back to Ren.

"We need to move and fast." Zac announced and it wasn't long before we made a unanimous decision to drive to Zac's home in Poison Fang.

It was the most reasonable option, not just because his home was one of the biggest safe houses and death traps I knew, but it was also far away from the wards and the closest pack we could be sure to replace safety in. Gold Crest was definitely not an option and Silver Moon was too close to the wards while Night Shade was the farthest away, not to mention my uncle might be there, waiting.

We decided to take two cars, Ren's and mine, with Chelsea, Chase and Rhea, riding with Ren, while Zac, Cade and Lily riding with me.

Cade got into the passenger seat whole Zac and Lily were at the back and even though we weren't bonded, I could practically sniff Lily's anxiety in the entire car. The entire car was tense with silence and when I watched Zac pull Lily to his side, my grip on the wheels relaxed a little. She was safe. She was with us. We would protect her. Cade on the other hand did not look pleased and when he looked at me, I glared at him.

"What was that about?" I asked, talking about the sudden attack because he had not mentioned that part and it was making me feel very wary of having him in the car right now. Ren had said that he was telling the truth but that didn't mean we could trust him. Surprisingly, he looked just as confused as I was.

"I know you don't trust me but I didn't know anything about this or why they chose to even break the wards and allow the attack today. My mother had been insistent on not making any moves until they got their hands on Lily."

"On me?" Lily said almost immediately and from the mirror, I saw her eyes widen in panic and confusion.

"I'll explain everything to you later, sweetheart." Zac answered immediately, glaring at Cade who looked apologetic for blurting that out.

"So you don't know what's next?" I asked and he shook his head quietly, looking terribly shaken. I couldn't read feelings like Ren could but I could see that Cade looked genuinely disturbed by the whole situation and as much as I wanted a reason to dislike him, he was being genuine about not having a hand in his mother's plans.

"There were so many bodies." Lily whispered to herself, her voice broken and I fought the urge to stop driving and reach for her because she was right to weep. Our colleagues were dead, had been murdered and it felt like the m******e was happening all over again, a m******e that in my blind rage and gullibility had blamed Lily and her father for. A m******e that had been orchestrated instead by my uncle.

I was so angry with myself for being so stupid and allowing myself to be easily manipulated by Victor. Burdened with survivor's guilt, I had made it easy for him to manipulate me, to abuse me and had remained subservient to him because he was the last remaining relative I had, the only one that was left that I could still protect. He had been so good to me when I was little that I always made excuses for him when he finally showed his claws.

I'm hard to love.

I don't obey orders.

He's disciplining me in the only way he knows how.

Excuses, excuses, excuses, even when he broke my bones and tore through my back with his whips designed specifically to hurt me, and my love and respect for him turned to poisonous hate and begrudging loyalty... But now?

All bets were off.

I will coat the entire pack with his blood.

If an opportunity ever came for me to kill Victor Vanderbilt, I will not hesitate. And if the opportunity doesn't come, I will create one myself.