MATED TO THE BEAST ALPHA BROTHERS
Chapter 70: The Ancestor.

Chapter 70: The Ancestor.

Nemesis flew through the trees like a phantom torn from hell, her body crashing through bark and stone as Artemis kept her pinned. His jaws sank into her shoulder, dragging her deeper into the forest where the others couldn’t see...couldn’t hear.

She didn’t scream.

She laughed.

"You always were the rabid one," she hissed, blood running black down her throat. "So predictable."

Artemis roared, slamming her against a boulder. Her skull cracked hard...but the sound only made her smile widen.

"You hit like a prince pretending to be a beast."

He lunged again.

This time, she was ready.

A pulse of shadow burst from her chest, sending him flying. He hit the forest floor hard, shifted midair, landing as a man. Naked, panting, cut open along his ribs, but still burning with fury.

"I will tear your tongue out before you speak her name again," he spat.

Nemesis hovered above the ground now, her feet not touching the earth, her black dress flickering like flame.

"Oh, Artemis," she cooed. "But I like saying her name. Haelyn. The one you loved. The one who never saw you."

He lunged, bare fists swinging. She danced around them, a wraith teasing a storm. Her nails grazed his chest...cold, sharp, slicing deep.

He didn’t flinch.

He caught her arm, twisted, yanked her down.

"Say it again," he growled.

She drove her knee into his gut.

"Haelyn."

His punch cracked her jaw.

Nemesis flew back.

And laughed again.

"Oh, you poor broken thing," she whispered, spitting blood. "You think this is about love? No. This is about power. About legacy."

She raised her hand.

The ground erupted beneath them...roots, claws, bone-white fingers of the cursed dead writhing from the soil. They reached for Artemis like drowning souls, pulling him into the earth.

"No...!"

He struggled, kicking, slashing..but the magic was old, rotted, strong.

"I don’t need to kill you," Nemesis said, her voice echoing unnaturally. "I just need you buried."

The ground swallowed him to the waist.

"Your brother will die," she continued softly, "and Haelyn will fall apart trying to save everyone. And the boy..oh, the boy...he’ll grow with my shadow in his blood. You’ll be forgotten. A failed king. A second son. Buried beneath his sins."

Artemis screamed.

His body began to shift..part wolf, part man..snapping bone, tearing skin. His eyes burned gold.

"No," he growled. "I won’t die like this. Not for you."

Nemesis’s smile faltered.

She stepped back.

The earth cracked.

And Artemis exploded upward, dragging the roots with him, fire in his veins, his scream shaking the trees.

He struck her midair, driving her into the canopy.

And this time, she screamed.

Far across the forest, Haelyn jolted.

Ezra whimpered in her arms, sensing the rage through her heartbeat.

She leaned against the cool stone of the cave wall, whispering, "I’m here. I’ve got you. Just a little longer..."

Footsteps.

She tensed.

A shadow moved across the cave entrance.

"Archer?"

No answer.

Her fingers curled around her blade.

Then a whisper...rough, pained. "It’s me."

He stumbled inside, barely on his feet, shirt torn, blood soaking one arm. His sword was gone. His eyes searched for only one thing.

When they found Ezra, relief broke across his face like sunrise.

"I told you I’d come back," he murmured.

Haelyn stood quickly, rushing to him. "You’re hurt."

"You should see the other dozen."

She helped him down beside her. His hand found hers, squeezing tight.

"Nemesis?" she asked.

He hesitated. "Artemis bought us time. He’s fighting her."

She swallowed. "Alone?"

"He made a choice."

Her voice cracked. "I’m tired of losing people to choices."

Archer’s eyes darkened. "Then we take the choice from her. Next time, we end this."

Haelyn looked at Ezra, who had finally stopped crying.

"And if there isn’t a next time?"

Archer’s voice was a whisper. "Then we make this one count."

Back in the woods, Artemis was bleeding from a dozen places, his body shaking. But Nemesis looked worse...one wing burned, one side of her face warped from fire.

They faced each other on opposite sides of a ruined clearing, breathing hard.

"You’re stronger than I expected," she admitted. "But still foolish."

"I don’t care."

"You should," she said. "Because the child will belong to me. Eventually. They always do. The bloodlines crumble. The darkness wins."

"Not this time," he whispered.

Nemesis raised her hands...and shadows pooled beneath her.

"I’ll carve my name into history with his bones," she promised.

Artemis shook his head.

"No."

His hands trembled.

Not from fear.

From power.

Old power.

Power that wasn’t his.

Not originally.

But gifted.

Or cursed.

He whispered the name buried in his blood.

The forest shuddered.

Nemesis’s eyes widened. "What are you...?"

The wind howled.

The stars blinked out.

And Artemis was no longer alone.

Behind him rose a wolf.

No...the Wolf.

Massive.

Ghost-white.

Eyes like moons.

The first Alpha.

The ancestor.

The god.

Nemesis screamed as Artemis stepped forward, the divine beast mirroring his every move.

"This ends with you in the dirt," he said, voice deeper, fused with something ancient.

She threw her magic at him.

The Wolf opened its mouth...and swallowed it whole.

Nemesis tried to run.

The forest wouldn’t let her.

The trees shifted, roots grabbed, thorns pierced.

Artemis walked up to her slowly.

"You messed with the wrong bloodline."

She spat at him, black ichor. "You’ll never hold her heart. Not while he lives."

Artemis’s eyes burned. "I don’t want to hold her. I want her safe. Even if I burn for it."

He raised his hand.

And the Wolf moved.

Teeth met flesh.

Nemesis screamed...

And was gone.

The forest went still.

Artemis collapsed.

Breathing.

But alive.

And above him, the moon bled no more.

Three days passed.

Haelyn didn’t leave Ezra’s side.

Archer kept watch at the mouth of the cave.

When Artemis returned, walking barefoot, clothes scorched, eyes hollow...

She saw him before he spoke.

"Is it over?" she asked.

He shook his head slowly. "It never is."

But she got up.

Walked to him.

And wrapped her arms around him.

He didn’t hug her back.

But his body leaned into hers.

Archer watched quietly.

No jealousy.

Just respect.

"You saved us," Haelyn whispered.

"I wasn’t saving you," Artemis murmured. "I was saving myself from becoming something else."

"You didn’t," she said. "You came back."

He pulled away.

"Keep him safe," he said, nodding at Ezra.

"I will."

Artemis turned to leave.

"Where will you go?" she asked.

He didn’t turn around.

"Where wolves go when they’re no longer needed."

As he disappeared into the trees, Archer stepped to her side.

"Will he come back?"

She shook her head. "Only if we break again."

Archer took her hand.

And this time, she didn’t pull away.