Chapter 32

The Deadly Fight

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Alek's POV

"Chloe, damn it, fight!" I screamed at her when I saw her drop her arms. Her heart was racing, and I could see her broken, bruised body. The bastard was smiling as he choked her. Fury ran through my body, but I couldn't get up. I think one of my ribs was broken and something was wrong with my leg. My energy was completely shot. I was helpless. All I could do was watch her die.

Nobody's attention was on me, so I pulled out my phone, trying to be discrete. Months ago, when we first found out about Chloe, Valentina had pulled me and Jasmine aside one day.

"Speed dial this number if you're outnumbered or need backup." She said when programing that number to be our contact. She didn't explain exactly what it would do though. "I'm not supposed to give you this number, it's only for Mai leaders needing backup." She had explained.

"Why are you giving this to us then?" Jasmine asked.

"There may come a time where you need to get Chloe out of the situation immediately. This number goes through Merlin." My eyes widened in shock. Merlin, the leader of the US Mai? "When it calls, it quickly triangulates the phones location, and sends it to everyone in the area. They know if they get a location sent to them to immediately go to the location as back up."

"Why doesn't everyone have this?" I asked.

"There's a consequence for using this. When a Mai leader uses this as a last resort, it shows Merlin that they were competent enough to lead. Then he usually takes control and changes things. It's never good when that high up becomes involved in Clan business."

"Chloe!" I heard her heartbeat, which was once frantic, die down. My voice was a strangled whisper, almost as if I was the one who couldn't breathe. I quickly dialed the number, my eyes never leaving Chloe's body. Once I pushed the number, I didn't bother listening to the dial tone; I knew that it wouldn't fail.

Chloe's heartbeat stopped. I heard both Jasmine and Kai scream. I couldn't tell if I was screaming or not- I no longer could think.

I failed her. I promised her that this wouldn't happen again.

I failed.

All I could focus on is her broken, still body. Her face wasn't even peaceful in death.

The terror that she went through. It wasn't fair.

The Jackals were laughing, proud of their leaders work. Comments spread through them like wildfire.

He finally killed the Uniter.

I hope I get a chance to hit at her.

She's the Uniter? One of them sneered. More like an untrained kitten.

That bitch needs to wake up so we can kill her again. My blood boiled at that last comment. I tried to get up, but still couldn't.

"So how does the great Uniter look when she's dead?" His booming voice echoed throughout the walls. Laughter filled the room, and their leader started to approach me.

"You'll pay," I promised him, venom laced my words. I would've given anything, everything, to be able to fight him.

"Says the beaten kid on the floor?" His voice was still with laughter. "A part of me wants to kill you now but I think a larger part wants you to have to watch her die. Over and over as I continue to choke the life out of her." I shot up at his comment, nearly died of the pain, but before I could reach him, I was being restrained by two Jackals. Without thinking of the consequences, I attacked them.

The Jackal leader, unconcerned, turned around and started to turn again. Behind me, I heard Jasmine and Kai start to fight again. We were outnumbered- 14 to the three of us maybe. But fury laced my every bone, making me unaware of them pain. Unware of the fear. All I cared about was getting him away from her. After I got through the two of the, another two came at me- continuing to block their leader.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chloe start to stir. I couldn't get to her though. Before I could get to her, their Leader did. A very small part of me grinned when I saw her kick him hard enough to push him down. She got to her feet, but it was incredibly slow. She must still be hurting from before. I winced, thinking about how hard, and how many times she was hit.

The leader had gotten up fully, and was attacking her full force. When she stood a tiny chance against him before, after all the damage she went through- she no longer stood a chance. It was obvious that the leader knew that as well, as it seemed as if he was playing with her with the hits. All powerful enough to do damage without fully putting her out of the game.

Four Jackals were on me. I couldn't reach her, no matter how hard I fought. Please, Basset, send the help soon.

Chloe's POV

Air. That was the only thing I could focus on. My lungs hurt- every gasp that passed through my lips wanted me to scream in pain but I couldn't. There wasn't enough air in my lungs to make a sound, despite the pain that I was in. Bruises must've covered my entire body. I could feel one of my eyes, swollen so much that it was barely open and my lip split. Blood covered my face, and probably my body.

As bad as it was, it was a lot better now than before I died.

Died.

I had died again.

Finally, my brains cloudiness disappeared and I was able to remember where I was. Around me, everyone was fighting, with the exception of Derek who was knocked out in the corner, and the Jackal leader. Heading straight for me.

I quickly kicked him as soon as he got close enough, causing him to fall down. I tried to get up quickly, but my actions were slow and painful. This was going to be easy for him.

Where was everyone? Oh, right. I refused to say yes to backup. That's why we were being slaughtered. If Kai wasn't helping us right now, I'm sure we would've been over with. There were still like five Jackals in the background- waiting until they need help. Alek was taking on four Jackals.

My fight wasn't going well. I barely got in a punch before he destroyed me. I spent all my energy trying to dodge his hits, and not enough on offense. But I couldn't stop. There was a smile on his face, almost as if he was mocking me. He knew that he could've taken me out already, but it seemed like he was playing with me to see how much damage he could do before I just gave up.

Crack

One of my ribs cracked when he landed a hit, knocking me all the way to the ground. I couldn't help the yelp of pain that I let out, it was getting too much. Every single part of me hurt.

This was all my fault. I was the one stupid enough to want to help that I refused to listen to them. And now, they were going to die because of me. In front of me, around four or five feet, was the knife that he was originally going to use.

"Had enough little Kitten?" The leader laughed maliciously. "Is that the best you can do?" With a final burst of energy, I leapt forward and grabbed the knife. Turning around, knife griped so tightly in my hand that my fingers were white, I glared at him.

"All I wanted to do was help your son!" My voice wheezed out, still sore from being strangled. "I risked everything to ensure he got back to you. Why are you doing this?"

"My people will not be hurt anymore by yours." His snarl made it clear there was no reasoning with him. In the background, I heard Alek scream in pain, so without hesitation, I lunged for him. A quick cut across his chest, and a cut to his arm. He landed a punch to my cut, making me double over for a second. Thinking he had me, he hesitated and I took that chance to shove him to the ground.

By the time he kneeled back up, I had the knife positioned at his throat. One quick, deep cut, and this battle would be over. Everyone would be saved. But just like the night in the Alley, I couldn't do it.

I couldn't end his life.

My hesitation cost me the fight. He grabbed my wrist holding the knife and snapped it. It all happened so quickly that I couldn't even register what happened- just the pain that exploded in my wrist. I dropped the knife and he shoved me to the ground.

I couldn't help but think Low Blow when he proceeded to kick me in the ribs. I heard and felt at least three of them break. The pain was agony, but he didn't stop there. He stepped on my leg when I tried to get up, placing what must've been his entire weight on that particular lower bone, snapping it.

Then before I had fully gone away from the pain, he was straddling me, his hands around my neck once again. "You shouldn't have hesitated." He snarled. "It just cost you their lives." My claws unsheathed and started to claw at the hands around my neck, which seemed to only piss him off. He let go of my neck for only a second, grabbed my left hand and yanked my shoulder out of my socket. I howled in pain, but he wasn't done. Instead he proceeded to twist it. The noise the bones made sickened me. My shoulder was on fire, and my lungs were protesting the air. I started to see black dots cloud my vision again.

The knife must've fallen near us, because he suddenly had it in one of his hands. "Until next time," And then he stabbed me in the stomach.

"Get the hell off of her." I heard Alek growl, and suddenly all the weight was off of me. "Chloe," His sweet voice was near, but I couldn't gather the energy to respond to him. My eyes shut without my permission, and I couldn't reopen them. "Chloe, you're going to be fine. Just stay awake, okay?" I felt his hands on my stomach, pressing hard. I wanted to wince, or tell him to stop, but I couldn't. "Chloe, stay with me." There was panic evident in his voice. "Chloe, please. Chloe." What had happened? Why was he able to come on over? Where was the Jackals? Did backup somehow arrive? "Chloe!" His voice was sharper.

"Dn't kill 'em" I mumbled quietly.

"Chloe, save your energy. Don't talk." Alek tried to tell me, but I needed to make sure that he heard me.

"Don't kill them." I repeated, a little clearer and louder, but not loud enough.

"Chloe, they killed you." I couldn't understand his tone. It wasn't harsh. "They're a threat. They need to be stopped."

"No," My voice was back down to barely a whisper. Don't continue the violence. I wanted to continue to protest, but the darkness that I was fighting finally overcame me.