( … continued)
For a really long moment, there was nothing but those eyes…time stretched.
The earth could have stopped rotating or the dinosaurs could have returned but Amara wouldn't care.
Her lips parted, trembling with a thousand words that clawed inside her chest.
But none made it past her throat.
Before she could even form a sound, Dante moved.
He wrenched her off her feet as if she were a ragdoll. The towel slipped lower, baring half her shoulder, but surprisingly, Dante didn't even spare her a glance.
One hand clamped her thigh, the other spread over her hip, and in one swift motion he slung her over his back like a hunter carrying fresh prey.
Her breath whooshed out in a gasp.
"Dante…!"
The name cracked in the air.He did not answer.
Just his grip tightened…one particular arm pinning her in place against him more securely.
The world tilted as he strode forward. The ground beneath them rumbled with the echoes of the clash outside..
There were bodies scattered just at the entrance of Amara's chamber itself.
Some throats ripped open, eyes staring glassy at the ceiling. Some blood crept towards Amara's dangling hand as Dante stepped over them without even pausing to look.
Amara's stomach lurched. "Goddess…" she gasped, fighting bile.
But there was no reprieve.
The corridor was carnage.
Men she had seen training in the courtyard, boys she had seen laughing over meadows… now butchered, strewn like broken dolls. Limbs twisted, claws shattered, fur torn. The stench of blood hung thick, choking her.
Her voice rasped, torn from her throat.
"Dante! Stop… please… what have you done?"
For the first time, his voice broke the silence…a low rumble, cold as winter."What I should have done years ago."
Her body shook against him, her fists thudding weakly against his back.
"No! Dante…you got it all wrong. It wasn't supposed to be like this…these men…these women…they weren't part of any of it!"
He did not slow down. If anything,his boots crushed shattered glass harder, dragging her through the slaughter as if her pleas were wind.
"They were his people." His tone was flat. Merciless. "That was enough."
Who was this man? This was not the Dante she knew… this was not the man she loved!
Tears blurred her vision. Her nails dug into his shirt, clinging in fear!
"Rowan? Where is Rowan? Tell me you didn't…"
Dante's lips curved…finally.
But it wasn't a smile.
It was a snarl.
"Rowan? Awww! So sweet of you to ask! Still worried about your husband,are you?Don't worry, he is breathing...every breath he takes will be taxed…I am not giving him an easy death! "
He stopped only long enough to fling aside the body of another warrior that blocked his path.
Amara hiccuped in horror.
His arm flexed against her back immediately,as if in response.
But it only reminded her of his power, of how small and helpless she was in his grasp… those very same arms that once made her feel protected… her true haven!
Amara squeezed her eyes shut.
A crash interrupted her dissociation plans…she had to yank her eyes open,only to see stone split, wood splinter.
Dante's stride however did not falter as part of the ceiling caved in because of the fire somewhere above. Smoke curled into the corridor, mixing with the stench of iron and burnt flesh.
Through the haze, Amara glimpsed a small body on the ground.
A pup.
Its hair was matted with blood, chest barely moving. Its tiny palm twitched, reaching for a mother that lay only a few feet away…her throat shredded, her eyes open, frozen in terror.
Amara's breath shattered into pieces.
"Stop!Dante! Please,for the sake of the Moon, stop this madness…put me down.Let me help that baby…" Her sobs shook against his back. "They are not soldiers, Dante! They are families. Children…look at them…how can you be so heartless…?!"
"Collateral," he cut her off. His voice was deadened stone. "In war, there are no innocents. Only bloodlines."
Her head shook violently, damp strands clinging to her wet cheeks.
"No. No! Don't you dare say that…This is not you, Dante. You were never like this!"
He gave out a short, humorless laugh, but it scraped like broken glass against her skin.
His shoulders stiffened as he finally set her down, locking eyes with her in the midst of that massacre."You killed that man yourself,Amara."
Cocking his head he added,"Long Dead!"
Dante's words slammed into her harder than the smoke choking her lungs.
Amara's knees buckled.Her breath snagged.But before she could form any possible word, his hand shot out.
His rough, calloused fingers clamped her chin, forcing her head up.
His eyes bore into hers with a resentment she didn't recognize.
Her lips trembled, parted around a whisper.
"Dante… I…"
"Silence."
The word cracked like a whip.
He yanked her closer until her breath hitched against his chest…until she could see the shadows etched into his face.
Then, with a sharp snap of his head, he barked an order over her shoulder.
"Formation."
As one, the men in black uniforms stepped out of the smoke. Shadows became bodies, wolves in human flesh, their eyes hard, unyielding.Rough men… definitely not from Amara and Dante's old pack… were they…Rogues?
They lined the blood slicked corridor in a blink. The air itself stirred with obedience.
Amara's body shook. Her trembling fingers clawed against Dante's wrist as she rasped,
"What are you doing?"
He wrenched her around so her back collided with his chest, his arm clamped around her waist. His other hand seized her cheeks, squeezing her face outward, forcing her to look.
The corridor. The flames licking up the walls.The dead littered at their feet.All…
His voice curled against her ear in a venomous whisper. "Is this not what you left me for? Power? Prestige? A crown on your head while you warmed his bed?"
Amara shook her head wildly against his grip, sobbing. "No… no, that's not true… it was never like that…Dante, listen to me…"
But he drowned her pleas with another violent squeeze,pulling her hips onto him.His chest vibrated against her back as he roared…apparently it was meant for his men but who knows… the bullet might have been aimed elsewhere, "Burn Rowan's pack down. Burn everything he ever owned, everything he ever touched…Burn it all to ashes! "
This was the moment Amara knew… nothing was ever going to be the same.