Mathias (#1 The Chronicles of the Demon Wolf)
Chapter 30

Mathias rushes to the rift but Chelsea holds him down, letting Eva fall down into the lava river. In a blink of an eye, someone passes them both and jumps down. A moment later, a knife is thrown from the rift, heading straight to the ceiling and embedded there. A wire is connected at the hilt of the knife down to the rift making Mathias wonder who jumped down. Chelsea assaults Mathias once more while he tries to take a glance at the rift.

“Mathias!” someone yells from the rift.

Mathias quickly pushes Chelsea causing to crash against a wall. He rushes to the rift and sees Enzo is holding Eva in his embrace while they are just a few meters from the flaming lava river.

“Swing me up,” Eva says to Enzo.

Enzo begins to swing her slowly back and forth, creating enough momentum before he swings her up. Mathias catches her legs while Chelsea holds Enzo’s hands as his rope snaps at the same time. Enzo places both of his feet on the uneven wall of the crack, crouches down before he pushes off, pulling Eva along with himself out of the rift at the same time Chelsea strikes Mathias’ legs.

Enzo tackles Chelsea off and the two begin to fight while Mathias tries to stop the bleeding on his legs.

“Eva, leave, now!” Mathias orders Eva.

“I’m not leaving,” Eva declines, crouching next to him as she tries to fix his legs.

“Eva, please. She knows my weakness and will use it against me. I can’t afford another death on my hands,” Mathias pleads her. “Go help Tanto and Ryker to close the rift.”

Reluctantly, Eva nods and leaves him. Mathias runs to help Enzo while Chelsea is recovering from his assault. The older brother commands him to leave as well as he wants to end this with Chelsea himself. Enzo leaves, regrouping with Eva and Tanto somewhere in the castle, looking for the Pandora box.

Mathias can feel her venom is slowly working to affect his body. Mathias shakes his head, trying to get a better grip of reality. He watches as Chelsea heals almost too fast. There’s something lingering around her as if it’s protecting her. Mathias can feel the faint aura of the Goddess of Death, lingering around Chelsea.

“So, Arthur used you as the vessel for the Goddess of Death,” Mathias says, circling her as she does the same to him. “She must have left a silver strand of her soul inside of you. That’s why you’re stronger.”

“You have no rights to say his name,” Chelsea replies. “After all, you betrayed him just like you betrayed me. And I’d thank you for that. You’ve opened my eyes to see that I don’t need a true mate to live. I just need someone who loved me for who I am and you took him away from me!”

“Arthur sought to destroy everyone. Now, he did it. He corrupted the Heart. Millions will die. Is that what you both wanted?”

“Arthur didn’t seek to kill. He sought to ‘reprogram’ those who were against him. You think he corrupted the Heart just to kill? He wanted to make everyone bow to him. That was the only way for him to do it.”

“But why set the Goddess of Death free if he only sought to reprogram everyone?”

“Because she helped him to replace the Heart. She was one of the few people who know the location of the Heart. I guess it didn’t matter to you because all that matters to you is that woman.”

Mathias realizes Chelsea has all his memories at the moment he bit her. That fueled her even more. There’s no doubt about it. He could look it inside her eyes. She’s enraged that he chose another woman over her. He didn’t even reject her properly and with honor. She didn’t deserve to be treated like nothing.

He remembers the letter that Tanto gave to him when he was imprisoned after biting Chelsea. He knows the new law that his mother had introduced to protect both parties if one mate rejected another. He would lose all his inheritance including his rights to be the Alpha of his father’s pack. Fifteen percent of what was supposed to be his inheritance would be given to his mate whom he rejected. Restraining orders would be issued for both parties to protect each other. In some cases, there are mates who attacked their former mates after rejection. Each of the mates would be under surveillance for as long as their restraining order is still in effect. Usually, it would be two years, depending on the severity of the case.

But he didn’t read the final part of the letter before someone announced that Chelsea was kidnapped from the hospital.

“At the end of the official letter, they added something you’ve said,” Mathias said, trying to second guess it. “You admitted the blame but there was something else you put in there.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. You never looked for me. You don’t even bother. But you took Arthur from me. Now, I will take yours.”

Chelsea jumps up the castle and lands on the fifth floor where Eva is looking for Tanto. Mathias jumps and climbs up the castle, ignoring the fact the castle could collapse anytime soon. Tanto is still looking for the Pandora Box.

“Eva, watch out!” Mathias yells as he sees Chelsea is catching up with Eva.

Chelsea vanishes in thin air and appears behind Eva. Her hand raises up. Desperately, Mathias rushes over and pushes Eva to the side just before Chelsea’s hand strikes. Mathias dodges her attack. The castle shakes as it’s no longer able to stop from collapsing. The floor underneath their feet cracks and falls apart. Both of them fall off to the ground. Eva screams as she watches Mathias and Chelsea fall down.