Tortured Mate (Sassy Ever After Universe #62)(2)
The hell beast roared in anger as the blast landed on its back-hind quarter, it spun around and stalked closer to Valac. He didn’t have time to check to see if the wolf had done as he’d ordered, he just had to hope for the best. The last thing he needed was the soul of an innocent on his hands as he was dragged back.
“You may win this one, but I won’t go down without a fight.” Valac snarled as he gathered as much energy from the area as he could and flung volley after volley of ice, fire, and lightning. The hell beast shook off each blow, as his elongated teeth snapped and bit at Valac. He knew he was in trouble, he was out of power, hurting from overuse and just plain exhausted. The beast lunged, he tried to evade but his movements were getting slower and slower. He screamed in agony as the powerful paw dug into his side and slashed him wide. The copper smell of fresh blood filled his senses bringing clarity and focus for a split second before the pain seeped into his consciousness. Demons and Hell beasts thrived on that scent, Valac was no different even if it was his own blood pouring out this time.
Just then he heard the Wolf let out a howl of agony, he could feel his eyes turn as his demon side came to the forefront. A small part of him knew this was a bad thing, but that part of him wasn’t in control any longer. He let out a primal roar of rage. “The wolf is innocent,” Valac barked in a gravelly, demonic voice. The Hell beast snarled and advanced slowly towards him. His demon side relished in the coming battle.
With a flick of his fingers, his nails extended to razor-sharp points, “bring it bitches.” Valac charged forward, using his demonic strength to hack, rip and tear into its leathery hide. Each swipe took another chunk of decayed meat and fibers, but it wasn’t enough. His weakened state added in with the continued blood loss was leaving him close to blacking out. He was determined to take one of the bastards out before they took him down. With a last ditch will of effort, he gathered every ounce of energy he could summon and manifested a ball of molten fire. Just as the lead beast leaped into the air, Valac dropped to his knees and raised his fiery hand into the chest cavity and ripped downward.
He was vaguely aware of being doused in the bile, gore, and pieces of meat before the blackness took him under.
Chapter Two
It was just Rogue’s luck that he was in town on an errand for his Alpha’s mate when he sensed the presence of something unnatural and wrong. He followed the sensation to an alley in time to see the two beasts slowly stalking down it sniffing the air as if in search of their prey. He’d used the pack link to tell Barbara Wolfe where he was and what was going down. He wasn't stupid he knew hell beasts were too strong for him and he’d need help. Now he just had to last until they arrived.
He’d felt the connection with the man as soon as he’d stepped out from behind the dumpster but didn’t have time to really look at him. Rogue knew all he needed to know, he was his mate and he was in danger. Barbara had told him to wait for help, but he knew he couldn’t sit back and watch.
“Wolf, this isn’t your fight, go now while I distract them.” His mate yelled before launching an attack. Rogue would have laughed at the man’s stupid order if he’d had time to reply, instead all his focus was on the oncoming hell beast and surviving until his pack showed up.
He’d heard stories about these creatures, but nothing he could have imagined would have prepared him for the foul stench they emitted. It took everything in him not to lose what little food he’d had this morning.
The creature sniffed the air almost like he could hear Rogue’s thoughts. Well, shit, he mused to himself. Let's just piss the thing off so he’ll make this hurt that much more. The beast licked what Rogue assumed were his lips, saliva dripped to the ground with each step. The ground sizzled as the acidic liquid landed.
Well, that’s just freaking perfect, he thought as he slowly circled keeping the beast on the opposite side of him. No way in hell this was going to end well. If he somehow survived this he was going to kill everyone for taking their sweet ass time getting there and for no one warning him about their damn smell and acid mouths.
With reflexes honed to perfection growing up with the pack and their constant sneak attacks, he was able to dodge the first lunge from the foul creature. He quickly spun around to face it again, but the bastard was quicker. Rogue rolled narrowly avoiding the jagged teeth, he wasn’t fast enough to avoid the claws that dissected his right shoulder. He couldn’t contain the howl of pain as he came up and was again knocked over by the beast. With a surge of anger, pain, and hate he bit into the leathery hide and held on with all he had. It growled and began to shake itself trying to dislodge Rogue, but he wasn’t letting that happen. He was going to lose this fight of that he had no doubt, but before he went down he was taking a chunk of this dried up piece of shit’s hide with him.
He heard the other beast let out a wail of pain but didn’t dare take his eyes off his own opponent to check on his mate. The monstrosity that called itself a hellhound tore itself free from Rogue’s locked jaw before he could react, he felt a searing pain across his stomach.
“Incoming.” Rogue heard thru his pack link, with a sigh of relief he responded. “There are two of them. I took a chunk out of this one, but not before he got me good. I don’t know about the other one. There’s a guy here fighting, just don’t hurt him.”
Within seconds he could hear their reinforcements entering the alley. Growls filled the air as his pack mates found their targets. Rogue couldn’t see them from the position he’d fallen into, and he didn’t have the energy to shift back to his human form.