The Culling
Chapter 12

Darcy stared at the shut door, his face giving nothing away. “She’ll be alright son.” His father’s words were spoken softly, yet he still heard them. Looking his father in the eye, Darcy just nodded his head. “Phoebe is a very determined wolf. She was assigned to protect you, and seeing as how the both of you are mates, no rogue will get past her as long as she breathes.”

The queen’s head snapped around as her eyes landed on her youngest son. “You’ve found your mate Darcy?”

“I have Mother.”

“Who is she?” By now, the entire royal family was listening to the conversation. The identity of their future Queen was about to be revealed. “Her name’s Phoebe...”

“Phoebe Rivers?” His mother asked surprised. Her eyes went to her husband who only nodded slowly. A smile appeared on the queen’s face as she thought about her daughter-in-mate. “She’ll make a great queen my son.”

Suddenly, a hiss of pain left Darcy’s lips, but he knew that it wasn’t his pain. His eyes snapped towards the door. There were faint sounds of fighting that could be heard, but he knew that his mate was hurt. And yet, he couldn’t go to her. With a growl, Darcy started pacing. The second he was out, he would replace his mate and never let her go.

As the rogues got closer to the office, my wolf became even quieter. The only thought on our minds was that of keeping our mate safe at all costs. Suddenly, the door is thrown open and several rogues spill into the room. Letting out a growl that could be heard outside the castle, I lunge forward, shifting as I attacked the biggest rogue.

His claws dug into my back but I didn’t stop. Blocking the pain from my mind, I feigned right and snapped my teeth around his throat. My teeth ripped through the flesh, killing him instantly. Without stopping, I charged forward and tackled another rogue. The fighting went on as more and more rogues appeared before us.

Hours passed and finally, the fighting seemed to be slacking off. Just as I killed the last rogue that had entered the office, I heard a wolf howling in pain. My skin crawled as recognized its voice. Leaping through the broken window, I ran towards the sound paying no attention to my wounds. When I reached the clearing where the guards trained, I was met with the sight of my brother lying on the ground while a rogue stood over him. My fur bristled. It was a rogue that I had met before; the rogue alpha.

A deep growl rumbled from my chest as my sight began to become red tinted. The rogue spun around and when he saw me, he gave a wolfish grin. Taking several steps towards him, I let my wolf free. There were three people in this word that would kill me if they died; my mother, my brother, and my mate.

The stupid mutt moved towards Lincoln and that was it. My wolf surged forward, ramming our body into his. He flew backwards as she stood protectively over Lincoln’s body. She could tell that he was still alive and that gave her even more of a motive to keep fighting. We began circling each other, searching for signs of weakness. My wolf was tired and our body bleeding, but determination burned hot within our soul.

Both of us lunged towards the other, scrambling to get a death grip on the other. The rogue alpha’s claws raked down my sides, creating new wounds and even making several deeper. I managed to get my teeth locked around his neck and I clamped down as hard as I could. I could feel my body shutting down because of the loss of blood, but I shook it off. I would not pass out when the danger still lived.

I began tugging my head backwards making my teeth tear at his skin. The metallic taste of his blood quickly filled my mouth as I slowly tore his neck out. My head jerked back just as a hot searing pain filled my entire left side. It did not take long before the fire in my blood spread throughout the rest of my body. I knew what it was; someone had shot me with a bullet filled with wolf's bane.

Glaring at the rogue who stood before me, I noticed that he too was just as injured as I. Quickly, I stood back up. The wolf’s bane was something that I had built up a large immunity to, but the battle wounds were weakening me rapidly. I could hear sounds of fellow guards as they ran towards me. Most of the fighting was over and the rogues had lost. Meeting the alpha’s gaze, I smirked at him before Captain Taggart leapt on him, successfully ripping his throat out.

I watched as his dead body fell to the ground, his blood spilling out. Giving my captain a brief nod, I stumble to where my brother laid. A soft whine left me as I collapsed beside him, my head lying gently on his shoulder. His wounds weren’t bad, I could tell. I was glad that he would pull through. The sky was growing darker pretty fast as I looked around.

I felt my body shift back and I knew then that I had lost too much blood. Knowing that it wouldn’t do anything to fight it, I let my eyes close just as my mate appeared in the small clearing. I could hear his voice as he called out to me, but I did not have the strength to answer him. With each passing second, his voice grew more and more distant until I could no longer hear him.

Suddenly, I felt a rush of heat and sparks exploding in my body. Darcy wrapped me in his arms as he gently picked me up. He started walking and I knew that he was taking me to the pack doctor. “M... My brother...”

“He’ll be fine love, just a few minor cuts.” His voice soothed me and my body slowly started to relax. The darkness was getting stronger and I forced myself to speak. “I... I, Phoebe Rivers... accept you, Darcy Stone... as my mate.” When the last slipped off my tongue, my eyes closed and darkness took control of me.