Useless Mate

Serum

The remaining mercenaries charged down the corridor, their heavy boots clattering on the blood-slicked marble. The acrid scent of the silver-laced gas was getting stronger, burning Lazelle's throat, but she didn't take a single step back. Behind her, the massive black wolf let out a deep, chest-rattling growl, trying to force his injured body up to shield her once more.

"I told you," Lazelle commanded, her voice dropping into a low, lethal register that brooked absolute obedience. "Stay down."

She didn't wait for them to reach her. Lazelle lunged forward.

She fired the seized submachine gun in three short, devastating bursts. The first mercenary took a hail of bullets straight to the chest, his body slamming back into the wall. The second dove for cover behind a stone pillar, but Lazelle was already moving.

Using her Lycan speed, she closed the distance in a blur. She kicked off the marble wall, vaulting around the pillar and driving her heavy, silver-plated dagger deep into the soft armor under the mercenary's armpit. He choked, collapsing instantly.

The final two mercenaries fired wildly. Lazelle dropped, rolling under the line of fire as marble chips exploded around her.

From behind her, the black wolf could no longer contain his protective instincts. Despite the silver burning through his veins, Dalonius launched his massive body forward. He crashed into one of the shooters, his jaws snapping shut around the man's weapon, snapping the metal barrel in half before pinning him to the floor.

The last mercenary panicked, turning his weapon toward Dalonius’s exposed, bleeding flank.

"No, you don't," Lazelle snarled.

She threw herself into the gap. Her hand whipped forward, releasing her second dagger. The silver blade flew true, burying itself deep in the mercenary's throat. He dropped his gun, clutching his neck as he slumped to the floor.

The corridor suddenly fell dead silent, save for the heavy, ragged breathing of the two wolves.

Lazelle stood up, her charcoal suit ruined, splattered with dark blood. She let the empty rifle drop to the floor with a heavy clang. Her eyes immediately flew to the massive black wolf.

Dalonius stood trembling, his front legs buckling slightly as the silver poison took its toll. His heavy, dark coat was soaked in blood, and his obsidian eyes were beginning to glaze over. Yet, his gaze remained fiercely, desperately locked onto her face.

He took one fragile, limping step toward her, whimpering softly, before his massive legs finally gave out and he collapsed onto the marble floor.

"Dalonius!"

The icy, indifferent Queen vanished. Lazelle dropped to her knees, her hands instantly flying to his massive neck. She buried her fingers in his thick fur, her own inner wolf howling in pure, desperate panic at the thought of losing him.

"Shadow!" she roared down the empty hallway. "Get the medical team! Bring the silver-extraction serum! Now!"

In the dark of the corridor, the massive black wolf slowly began to shift back, his dark fur receding into pale, bruised skin. Within moments, Dalonius lay bare and shivering on the cold marble, his human chest rising and falling in shallow, agonizing gasps. The black veins of silver poisoning were already tracing their way up his neck, toward his heart.

He slowly reached up a trembling, blood-stained hand, his fingers barely brushing her cheek.

"You... you came back," he whispered, a faint, heartbreaking smile touching his pale lips. "My Queen."