Chapter 16 — The Beast Unleashed
1082 Words
The forest could no longer contain him.
I felt it in the bond first — that violent, scorching surge of power pouring from Kael straight into my veins. My wolf howled, not in fear…
…but in awe.
The air grew heavy.
Breath became difficult.
Even the hunters hesitated, weapons raised yet hands trembling.
Because the creature standing before them…
Was no longer just the Beast King.
He was something older.
Something the Moon itself feared.
Kael stepped forward slowly, chains of broken silver falling from his limbs like dust. The wounds inflicted by the hunters — the bolts, the poison, the spears —
They were healing.
Fast.
Too fast.
Dark runic markings spread beneath his fur, glowing like molten lava etched into his flesh.
The Hunter General’s confident smile faltered.
“What… are you?” he whispered.
Kael’s golden eyes burned brighter.
“The last thing you’ll ever see.”
He moved.
No one saw how.
One second he stood ten meters away…
The next, he was inside their formation.
Hunters flew like rag dolls as his claws tore through enchanted armor as if it were paper. Silver weapons shattered on impact with his skin.
He was faster.
Stronger.
Unstoppable.
A hunter lunged at me, trying to drag me away amid the chaos — but the moment he touched me, Kael’s head snapped in our direction.
The bond flared violently.
The hunter didn’t even scream.
Kael reached him in a blur — ripping him off me and slamming him into the ground hard enough to crater the earth.
“Touch her again,” he growled,
“and extinction will feel merciful.”
My heart pounded wildly.
Not from fear of Kael…
But from the terrifying realization that he meant every word.
The hunters regrouped quickly — disciplined despite their losses.
“Formation Epsilon!” the General shouted.
They shifted instantly, forming a large circular array around Kael. Staffs struck the ground in unison, activating glowing sigils that rose into the air.
A containment barrier.
Ancient.
Powerful.
Silver light slammed down around Kael like a cage.
He snarled, slamming into it — but the barrier held.
The General exhaled slowly, regaining composure.
“Impressive,” he admitted. “But every beast can be contained.”
He turned toward me, drawing a long silver dagger humming with lethal enchantments.
“And every beast has a weakness.”
My blood froze as he grabbed my arm, dragging me toward the barrier.
“No—!”
Kael’s eyes widened the moment he saw the blade at my throat.
“Stop!” I shouted instinctively — not to the hunters…
To him.
Because I felt what he was about to do.
He was about to tear himself apart breaking that barrier.
The General smirked.
“Yes… that’s it. Feel the bond. Feel how she anchors you.”
The dagger pressed closer to my skin.
“Drop the barrier,” Kael growled.
The hunters held firm.
“Or what?” the General challenged again.
Kael went still.
Too still.
Then he spoke — not to the hunters…
But through the bond.
Close your eyes.
My breath hitched.
What?
Trust me.
I didn’t understand — but I obeyed.
The instant my eyes shut…
The world exploded.
A shockwave of raw power detonated outward, so violent it knocked every hunter off their feet. The barrier shattered like glass under a hammer.
I opened my eyes just in time to see Kael fully unleashed.
His form had changed.
Larger.
Darker.
Runes blazing across his body like living fire.
His eyes were no longer gold…
They were molten crimson.
The Hunter General staggered back, stunned.
“That form… it’s impossible…”
Kael’s voice came out layered — human and beast overlapping.
“You came for her,” he said.
“Now face the consequence.”
He attacked.
Not like before.
This time it wasn’t battle.
It was annihilation.
Hunters fell within seconds — their formations meaningless, their weapons useless. The forest floor turned red as Kael tore through their ranks with divine fury.
Some tried to flee.
None succeeded.
Within minutes…
Only the General remained.
He stood shaking, blade still in hand though his army lay destroyed around him.
Kael approached slowly.
Each step deliberate.
Each step final.
The General tried to steady his breathing.
“You think killing me ends this?” he said hoarsely. “There are thousands more hunters. Entire orders. You’ve only begun a war you can’t win.”
Kael stopped inches from him.
“I’m not ending a war,” he said quietly.
His claws extended.
“I’m sending a message.”
He lifted the General off the ground effortlessly.
The man struggled, choking.
Kael’s crimson gaze flickered briefly toward me — softer for a split second — before returning to lethal focus.
“Tell your order this,” he said.
“They aimed for my mate…”
The word sent a shock through me.
“…and woke a monster they cannot hunt.”
With one swift motion —
He ended it.
Silence fell over the ruined forest.
Smoke drifted.
Bodies lay scattered.
Kael stood at the center of it all, chest rising slowly, power still radiating off him in waves.
Then his gaze found me again.
The crimson faded slightly… not fully… but enough.
He walked toward me carefully — as though afraid I might fear him now.
But I didn’t.
Because beneath the blood and fury…
The bond burned warm.
Protective.
Claiming.
“You’re hurt,” he murmured, reaching for my wrists where the silver cuffs had burned my skin.
“They tried to take you from me.”
I swallowed.
“They almost did.”
His jaw tightened.
“Never again.”
His hand rose slowly to my neck — to the broken mark left by my rejection.
This time when he touched it…
It glowed.
Not painfully.
But powerfully.
“I should complete the claim,” he said quietly. “Seal the bond so no one can ever use you against me again.”
My breath caught.
This was it.
The moment that would change everything.
But before I could answer —
A distant horn echoed through the mountains.
Kael’s head snapped up instantly.
Reinforcements.
Hunter reinforcements.
Far more than before.
His expression hardened.
“It seems,” he growled,
“their final strike… wasn’t this army.”
He looked back at me, eyes blazing once more.
“Stay behind me.”
Because the war…
Had only just begun.
To Be Continued…
- Writer
