RESCUE

"Let her go," Xaden hissed.

"Just like that?" The man sneered. "You know I wouldn't. She insisted that you weren't important, but seeing you here ready to save her, I know she is. How fucking romantic."

Xaden's eyes glowed bright, and then, in a split second, he was at one of the wolves, and he ripped him apart without even needing to turn. 

The others quickly turned to their wolves and attacked him, but they were no match for Xaden. 

One by one, sometimes two together, he killed them off. 

With his bare hands. 

Then, there was one last man standing. 

The man who had taken me hostage and hurriedly grabbed me and used me as a shield against his body. 

"If you dare come closer, I'll kill her." He warned. 

Xaden looks bored. "She was right. Killing her means nothing to me. She is of no use to me."

The man seemed to be taken aback by that statement, and Xaden grabbed an arrow that had been around one of the dead wolves and threw it right at me. 

I closed my eyes, ready for the impact, but I heard gurgling and choking behind me. 

There was a loud thud on the ground. 

I turned around and saw that the man had fallen to the ground, dead. 

By the time I turned back, Xaden was already at my front. 

"Didn't I tell you not to go anywhere?" He demanded. 

I wanted to explain that he had crept into the carriage and taken me himself. 

I started to explain but stopped when I saw his facial expression. 

"I'm sorry." That was all I said, and I looked down at my hands. 

In a split second, he took off all the ropes that bound me and set me free. 

He didn't say a word; he just walked ahead and didn't need to tell me to follow him before I did.

He returned to the party.

"How many are dead?" He asked Erik. 

"About five of us," Erik said. "And almost all of them. At least all of them that were here."

"I killed some of them behind," Xaden nodded to the forest we had just left. 

Erik handed Xaden a cloth. "I don't think this is just a rogue pack."

Xaden collected it. "Hermes?"

"Who else?" Erik asked. 

"Bury the men," Xaden said. "We need to keep moving; we're at enemy targets. Hopefully, we get home by sunset."

They buried the men who had been killed and kept a one-hour silence for them before we continued on our journey.