"I love you," I whispered to James and then plunged the needle into my neck. Pressing out all of the liquid and letting it enter my veins and my blood system. The syringe contained Lobelia extract.
It made you lose focus for a moment, and losing focus when you're a wizard or a witch could be your doom. Natasha had told me about it some time ago, and I remembered it. It was perfect for my last resort plan.
I took out a knife from my sweater and placed it on the ground. I watched as the flames died down because Crow couldn't concentrate.
He was frustratingly moving his hands and his face contorted into a grimace.
I shifted back to Xena and she picked up the knife and ran up to Crow.
Once there I shifted back and picked up the knife. I held it by my side.
"What have you done?" Crow shouted.
I stared at him, waiting for him to realize it on his own. And when he did, his eyes flew to mine and he raised his hands. But the lobelia made it hard for him to concentrate, meaning he couldn't perform even the simplest of magic. One thing I didn't consider in my plan, however, was the other wolves.
As I raised my hand and planed to plunge the knife into him, a wolf started running towards me. He was thankfully tackled by Blade and another fight broke out. The war wasn't over, and because of the Lobelia, I couldn't use my magic either.
Crow stepped back and let his followers do his bidding.
I gave Xena control and we joined the war.
I saw Chase running towards me as I was fighting another wolf and he jumped, shifting midway.
I smiled on the inside when I saw him again. He had been such a good friend to me this entire time.
He bit down on a wolf that jumped at him and flung him away. He was about to come to me when I saw Liam running towards him, shifting into his wolf and tackling him to the ground.
He stood above Chase and bared his teeth, biting down on his neck.
Xena bit down on the wolf's snout making it whimper and back away. She proceeded to lunge at him and bit down on his throat until he stopped breathing.
The entire scene still too gruesome for me to cope with.
Two others came running towards us but our warriors were faster. They got in front of me and fought the two wolves.
To my relief, Chase got back up and Liam's wolf whimpered as blood spilled out of him. He tried getting back on his feet but was too weak.
Liam came towards me as another wolf lunged at us. Xena dodged his attack and walked up to Chase. Then again, anotherwolf, a smaller brown one tackled Chase again. The wolf looked at me while she had Chase pinned to the ground.
The warriors were surrounding me, helping me fight those attacking.
I saw in the cracks between the wolves that Chase and the other wolf fought gruesomely.
Once again the she-wolf was the one who whimpered and stayed down and Chase jumped from the ground and into the circle.
But unlike what I thought this reunion would be like, Xena started growling at him.
Stop it, he's our friend!
'No. He's not'
The warriors fought around us and I felt a stinging pain coming from behind. Xena looked back and I saw how a wolf had his teeth dug into her back. Chase's wolf looked Xena in the eyes. She was wounded. But instead of helping, Chase onlystood there. He stared at us, his chest heaving out and then he looked up and released a loud howl.
Everybody stopped what they were doing. Chase looked back at me and the warriors turned around. Xena growled again and turned her head biting at the wolf whose teeth were still digging deeper. As Xena tried reaching the wolf and kicking her hind legs, an even worse pain came from her neck. She looked back at Chase, and he had his teeth in her neck, forcing her down.
Chase, what the hell...
'Told you, Avery. He's not a friend'
Xena whimpered as she was pushed down to the ground by Chase's wolf.
Growls and howling were heard all around as our own were walking closer to us. But when Chase dug his canines deeper into our skin, they all stopped.
Why are they stopping?
I was starting to feel light headed and I felt Xena's pain.
'Because if he puts more pressure, we'll die'
Xena said. Her voice was strained and weak. I felt my head getting groggy, and like a slap to the face, I could feel Xena's pain double. All of it at once, from one second to the other.
Oh no...
I gasped.
Chase removed his teeth and I was shifted back to my human form. Lying on the ground. Bloody and bruised. I couldn't move.
I watched as Crow moved up to me, his feet moving slowly. I looked around and saw the pain in everyone's eyes. They all knew. They knew that I had to be the one to kill him.
That only I could do it. Leaving them with no control over the outcome.
I looked around more until my eyes landed on a shiny object only a few inches away. It was a knife. I looked at Crow who was standing by my body.
"THE WAR HAS ENDED!" His voice boomed over all our heads and birds were seen flying out of the trees. People clapped their hands and cheered, Crow laughed and my pack looked like they were tortured. Which in a sense, they were.
I saw Crow looking at all the people joyously laughing and 'whooing' and took the chance to reach for the knife.
I extended my hand and shakily tried reaching for the knife, but another few inches away from the knife, I saw a body lying, barely breathing, blood sliding down. It was Sofia. She was the wolf that tackled Chase.
She tried to save me.
We made eye contact and she saw what I was reaching for. She pushed her foot out, touching the handle of the knife. Her face scrunched in pain as she pushed the knife with the last of her powers. I grabbed it and held it tightly.
Our eyes locked and she mustered a small weak smile. My heart broke into pieces.
It's too late to use the knife on Crow. I was too weak, he would win in an instant.
'You share the same lifeline'
I remembered the words that Natasha's mother had spoken to me.
I used the last of my energy, calling for every single drop of it, and got up on my feet.
I could barely stand, barely hold my own weight. But I needed to.
Crow turned to me and his eyes fell on the knife. He started laughing and shaking his head.
I reached out and held the knife, with the blade pointed inwards, towards me.
He raised an eyebrow and took a step towards me.
"You'll die, stupid girl."
Everybody stared at the knife that was about to kill the Wizard. I looked Crow in the eyes, and I was glad to see fear swimming around in them. The silence was eerie and I heard gasps and screams from all around.
"Maybe, but at least we'll be rid of you." I said. And then I plunged the knife into my stomach.
"NO!" I heard people screaming. But I wasn't in the right state to look for who the voices came from.
I saw how Crow doubled over, clutching his stomach with his hands. He was feeling every ounce of pain that I was.
We share the same lifeline. Except for one big difference.
"What have you done? You killed yourself!" He said as he fell to the ground.
"Except for one thing," I said. Slurring my words.
"I'm half werewolf you dick," I said before I felt myself fall down completely.
I looked over and saw life slowly leaving Crows' eyes, but before they did, he spoke his last words to Natasha who was standing by my feet.
"Does she know?" He asked. A smile tugged at his lips, a weak one.
"Does she know you made the soul contract?" With those words said, his eyes rolled back and he stopped breathing.
I looked at Natasha. Her emotions were no longer masked. She was terrified.