Greyson's eyes narrowed as he mentally calculated how many tiny bodies faced him and quickly realized that although they were tiny, they vastly outnumbered him. It wouldn't take too much for them to overwhelm him and although he knew he wouldn't have a problem making a dent in their numbers, ultimately, the end result would be the same.
His lip curled up in a sneer as he snarled at Narcissa.
"You know, the world would be a better place if you would just fucking find a hole to die in." He hissed as she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well that's not very friendly is it? Especially considering you're in my home without an invitation," she retorted with a smirk.
"You took my mate."
"Nonsense, I simply brought her home where she belongs." Narcissa answered dismissively in a strained voice, the lines in her face tightening as she spoke.
"You and I both know she doesn't belong here," Greyson snorted, keenly aware that her presence here irked Narcissa greatly, "Where is she? I'll take her home and you can go back to whatever rock you crawled out from under."
Narcissa tittered as her eyes dropped to where Orvar lay motionless, except for the rise and fall of his chest and the colossal snorts as he snored his way through the encounter.
"Stupid wolf, touching things he has no business touching," She grinned, her eyes glinting in the dim light as she fixed her gaze back on Greyson, "I think you know where she is mutt, but you can't quite reach her can you?"
Greyson could feel his beast rippling through him as his body began to change and a low warning growl rippled outwards from his chest.
Narcissa didn't flinch, her expression calm as she rolled her eyes.
"You know this is pointless right? She doesn't belong to you…she never has. You stole her from her rightful…"
"Get fucked you psychotic bitch, Lexi belongs to us. She is marked and mated and bound to us!" Greyson roared as Narcissa's grin seemed to spread wider across her face.
"Is that so?" she mused thoughtfully, "Well, in that case, you leave me no choice…"
With a wicked grin that split her pale, ghostly face, she raised her arms, giving the signal to her warped little army.
The stone beneath Greyson's feet seemed to tremble as the horde of vicious imps surged towards him, their grotesque forms illuminated by the sinister green glow of Narcissa's magick that wreathed her in an eerie light.
With a deep growl that resonated through the night, Greyson knelt beside Orvar, trying to rouse him.
"Orvar, wake up you lazy bastard, I can't do this on my own, there's too many of them!" he hissed urgently as he shook him fiercely. But Orvar remained unresponsive, trapped in the grip of whatever spell Narcissa had placed on that door that barred them from their mate.
Narcissa's malicious laughter filled the air as she approached slowly behind the imps, her shadowy figure flowing like a wisp of smoke.
"Oh, dear Greyson," she cooed, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "It seems your little friend is having far too much fun in his sweet slumber. Perhaps he'll sleep through the agony that I intend to inflict on you both for daring to trespass here." She hissed furiously as Greyson's fangs bared in a snarl as he glowered up at Narcissa.
With a furious roar, Greyson lunged at the nearest imp. His powerful claws slashed through the air, and the imp's twisted form was torn apart with ease. But even as he dispatched one, more swarmed in from the darkness, their grotesque, pointed teeth gnashing eagerly accompanied by their high pitched squeaks and snarls.
The odds were overwhelming, and Greyson was fighting a losing battle.
The imps, though small, were swift and numerous. They leaped and darted, biting and clawing, their vile chittering laughter echoing eerily in the cavern as Greyson's strong arms and sharp claws were all but a blur as he tried to fend them off.
Getting Orvar out of here was his priority right now. He could retreat and when Orvar woke, they could attack again, this time a little more prepared. Greyson had never had a man die on his watch and he'd be damned if he was going to allow any harm to befall Orvar…Lexi would have his head if he did.
Narcissa reveled in Greyson's desperation as she hovered behind the relentless imps, her eyes glittering with cruel delight.
"Is this all you can do Greyson?" she taunted. "You're pretty fucking pathetic without your little friends, you know."
Greyson roared furiously, trying to ignore her but he could feel himself tiring as she continued her taunting.
"You can't save them Lycan," She giggled, "Not Orvar and certainly not your precious Lexi. She belongs to Eromaug...now and forever, and there's nothing at all that you can do about it." she cackled, her laughter piercing his heart like a knife and implanting a virulent seed of despair deep in his soul.
He had let Lexi down. He had promised to keep her safe…Narcissa was right. He was a pathetic excuse of a mate.
Greyson's chest heaved with exertion as he fought off the relentless imps. Their malicious eyes gleaming as they swarmed over him, biting, clawing, and tearing at his fur and flesh. Blood trickled from his wounds, but he refused to relent, despatching them one after another.
Summoning every ounce of his Lycan strength, Greyson's roar shook the night, scattering imps in all directions and giving himself the opening that he needed.
He turned as quickly as he was able, bending quickly to lift Orvar's dead weight and staggered forwards, his breath ragged as he tried to retreat.
Desperation burned in his eyes as he raced blindly ahead, looking for an escape route or somewhere to hide as he retraced his steps, but Narcissa's dark magic seemed to slow his steps and his legs became clumsy, stumbling over his own feet.
Narcissa's manic laughter echoed around the cavern as she goaded him.
"What's the matter Greyson? Don't you want to run? Go on! Run!" She cackled wildly as Greyson struggled to force his legs to obey him as he strained under Orvar's weight.
"It won't change anything," Narcissa's voice whispered from beside him, the ominous threat in her voice sending a cold wave of fear rippling through him, "Your fate is sealed, just as that whore Lexi's is!"
Greyson made a final, desperate push to put some distance between them as Narcissa's unhinged laughter seemed to engulf him and the accursed never ending stream of imps swarmed around his feet.
He fought his way through the horde, leaving a trail of their twisted corpses in his wake but it wasn't enough and deep down, he knew this.
A sudden sharp pain in his back sent him sprawling to the ground and he watched helpless as Orvar's body landed with a sickening thud.
Greyson's vision blurred as he struggled on the floor, his limbs becoming numb as he gasped for air, his strength waning.
Narcissa's face appeared above him with a twisted grin on her face.
"How valiant of you…yet utterly futile," she whispered as she waved her hands, the imps that had been gnawing on his flesh as he lay there dispersing instantly with pained yelps, as though they had been injured.
As Greyson fought against the darkness that fought to claim him, Narcissa leaned closer to him, her lips almost touching his as her cold breath caressed him.
"You should know by now, Greyson, that you should choose where to fight your battles far more carefully. Now, you're mine to play with until I grow bored. You and your little pet." She laughed.
It was the last sound he heard before the world plunged into darkness and Greyson lost consciousness.