The Alpha's Celestial Hellhound

No

Chapter 15

No

(Seraphine’s POV)

“No?” Renrik’s eyebrows rose. “What do you mean ‘no’? Kent,” he suddenly snarled at his companion. “Why haven’t you taken her yet?”

“She wouldn’t come!” Kent squeaked as the swirling fire behind him started to fluctuate.

Renrik’s one-eyed blue stare switched back to me. I could tell he tried to soften his features. I knew he was making an effort not to snap at me, to shout or scare me. “Seraphine,” his voice was as gentle as his deep, dark tone could muster. Like the rich soil of the Earth itself was whispering to me. “If you were worried about me, look, I’m fine. We can go now, together.”

My eyes scanned up and down his body. The Alpha was covered in scratches and blood - both werewolf and demon. The hand not covering his bloodied eye was plastered in blisters and burns. There was no way he was ‘fine’, especially when his body swayed as he stepped towards me.

I rushed to steady him and Kent grabbed the other side.

“Thank you,” I murmured. “I will forever be in your debt for coming to rescue me, but- ”

“No debts.” Renrik grunted. “I did this for me, just as much as I did it for you. We’re even.”

“But,” I continued. “I can’t come with you yet.”

Renrik’s eyebrows drew together in a scowl. “You’ve got a friend you want to save as well?” He guessed. “Fine. If they’re close, we’ll grab them and go, but your demon won’t stay away for long. My brother told me the symbol would banish the demon to whatever pit in hell he spawned from, but I bet that’s nearby. We’ll have to be quick-”

“No,” I interrupted before he got carried away. “It’s not just one friend, Renrik. There are hundreds of werewolves down here enslaved by Valefar. I need to save them all. Tell me how you opened the portal. Leave that knowledge with me and go and heal. I’ll follow you with the others.”

Renrik moved his hand away from his left eye and scrutinised the ring on his little finger. It vibrated and cracked. Veins of bright orange spread across the black band, slowly burning it away. It was similar to the ring Valefar wore, but crudely made; a cheap imitation. It couldn’t hold itself together.

“I can’t,” Renrik sighed, frustration finally showing. “The ring is breaking and there isn’t any time. We’re going now, Seraphine.”

I stepped away, letting Kent support all of Renrik’s weight. “Then I can’t join you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Renrik barked and shoved Kent away so he could stand on his own merit. “You’re f*****g coming with us.”

“Renrik, please!” I cried. “You’re an Alpha, you must understand! These wolves down here, they’re -” I sucked in a breath and placed my hands over my heart. “They’re my pack. I can’t abandon them here while I roam free.”

The ring crumbled further.

“Don’t lecture me,” Renrik growled. “There are times when an Alpha must make unpopular decisions. You won’t be abandoning your friends.”

“I can’t…” I gulped.

“Er, Ren,” Kent coughed. “The portal…”

Renrik looked at the portal. It was shrinking, sparking and shaking. It wouldn’t stay stable for very long. He looked at me, then at the portal, then at me. Portal. Me. Portal. Me.

“Seraphine…” He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

He moved too quickly. Pain erupted in a flash and everything went black.

~*~*~

(Renrik’s POV)

The portal spat us out nowhere near the pack. Roderick warned me that this might happen if I used the ring without studying it properly. I hadn’t listened to him. I thought it was a door or tunnel. One side would be Hell, the other side would be Veilrend. I still didn’t know how the f**k the portal could move about.

At least we had appeared in a thick forest so we could stay sheltered in the underbrush. Kenton and I found a cushiony patch of moss in a safe location and laid Seraphine onto it, while she was still unconscious. I felt like a bastard for knocking her out, but we didn’t have time for our first lovers’ quarrel.

I checked the Hellion ring on my little finger. It was extremely fragile, barely holding together. I figured I could use it one more time before it completely crumbled to dust. I slipped it off and carefully put it in my wallet, hoping it would be safe there.

While I got a lay of the land, Kenton started to bash his cell phone against a tree.

“What the f**k are you doing?” I growled.

“You need better words in your vocabulary than just ‘f**k’,” Kenton pouted. “My phone isn’t working.” He hit it again. “Won’t even turn on.”

I fetched my own phone from my back pocket, the tears in my arms flaring with pain as I did so. The dim light of the evening glinted off the black screen, but it wouldn’t light up, no matter what I pressed or did.

After fiddling with it a little longer, I put it away. “I guess our trip to Hell fried them.”

“I wonder if my insurance covers this,” Kenton sighed and put his away, too. “C’mon hero. Let’s get you patched up.”

“I have one bandaid in my wallet and that’s it,” I huffed.

“I have a first aid kit in my satchel.”

Kenton patted the brown leather bag I had scoffed at. He had prepared for the excursion. I had told myself that my wolf form would be able to deal with anything. By the Moon Goddess’ grace, that demon hadn’t used silver against me again.

Attacking him quickly in his home had been the right call, no matter what Roderick had argued. If I had waited, he would have violated Seraphine. Attacking him in Hell took him by surprise and gave me a good shot at him. That said, I was thankful for the research Roderick had done and the knowledge he gave me. The banishing symbol made it possible to save Seraphine, even if she didn’t want to be saved.

I glanced at her sleeping form. She looked so peaceful.

“I feel like a d**k,” I leaned my head back and glared at the canopy of leaves above me. “I’ve essentially kidnapped her.”

“You rescued her,” Kenton promised. “She’s as stubborn as you, though. You’re in for a taste of your own medicine.” He beamed as he laid out a sterile mat on the ground.

“I shouldn’t have knocked her out. I should have just tossed her over my shoulder and carried her away.” But I was weak. I was battered and bleeding and acting on impulse. I couldn’t risk her kicking me or doing something that put her in danger. Knocking her out was the easiest option, if not the most noble.

I looked at her again. It was difficult to believe that someone so angelic and beautiful had survived the depths of Hell. I tried to commit every detail of her soft features to my memory. That was when my eyes travelled to the weird bracelets around her wrists.

“What do you think those are?” I asked my Beta as he continued to set up his little doctor’s station.

“I don’t know. Fashion accessories?” Kenton dampened a cloth with rubbing alcohol and started to clean my shredded arms.

“No. They look like they have runes or something on them. The demon might be able to track her if she’s wearing them.” I ground my teeth as the cloth cleansed me. My flesh stung like a holy fire was burning away the remnants of Hell in my blood. My healing abilities would kick in soon enough, but these were grievous wounds and they could still get infected if not cleaned. “We should try and get them off of her.”

“Agreed. I’ll shift after this and try to bite them off. For now, let’s have a look at that ugly eye of yours…”

Not wanting to wait for Kenton, I shifted into my wolf form. My body contorted, twisted and snapped into its furry shape. Effortless, but it caused me great agony while my wounds were still open.

Kenton shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes dramatically. “You’re so impatient. Being an Alpha suits you; alway getting what you want when you want it.”

“Less of the snark, Beta Kenton!” I snapped and stalked my way over to Seraphine.

I didn’t want to wake her. As delicately as I could, I took her cuffed wrist into my maw and bit down. When I didn’t even dent the iron, I bit it harder. Rage bubbled inside of me and before long I was trying to break through the metal with all my might.

Kenton shook his head. “It’s almost as though the demon prepared these cuffs with werewolves in mind. Ren, please let me look at that blasted eye.”

“What did I just tell you about the snarking?” I growled, ignoring his requests about my eye. My eye was fine. I couldn’t see out of it but it was only a dull ache in my skull, nothing too debilitating. It would heal.

One last try of the cuffs…

Nothing.

“Shit.”