FULL NOVELXO Chapter 162
Avery’s pov
Henry growled, his head shooting up, and then let out a snarl, his eyes spearing to the left then he takes off in that direction. Xade slows down so Xaden can return ahead and Xaden follows Henry, Xade, and Kaylee right behind him.
The forest kind of felt alive in the moment, every rustle had me tensing and looking around sharply. We were being hunted so it would be best to keep on the lookout. My stomach twisted and I bit my tongue as I began to feel nauseous.
We move deeper into the forest but something still felt off and my hunch was right when many dark figures suddenly emerge out of the bushes, surrounding us. Henry slowed causing Xaden to slow and the rest to follow suit.
We were surrounded.
My heart raced and my palms starts to sweat, getting clammy as I clutch Xade’s fur. One of the figures up ahead aims their bow and arrow our way and the others follow on rise in alert and I let or command. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck a shaky breath.
Was this it?
Was there no escape now?
Was this really it?
As the thought steeled in my mind suddenly bones crack in the air and I yelped as a body collides with mine, forcefully pushing me off Xade’s back. My heart slams in my chest as I try to reach out to hold my incoming painful fall, but those arms that wrapped around me to push me off turns me around midair, and the sharp sounds of bones breaking return in the air and in seconds I am on Kaylee’s beast.
My heart pushes in my throat and I looked at Xade’s beast, his eyes already watching me, silently telling me to trust them. I nod, clutching Kaylee’s coppery fur as she moves with me behind Xade while Xaden moves to the right and Henry moves to the left.
They were circling around Kaylee to protect us.
Xade’s massive beast remains close, his loud snarls whipping through the air in warning as the figures cloaked in black begin to close in. And then the one at the front yells loud. ” You are surrounded, shift and surrender!”
Xade’s beast rose to his full intimidating height, baring his sharp teeth. Surrender or we kill all of you!” The loud voice belongs to a man and despite his command, his tone shook a bit with what I detected as a little hesitation.
The strain in the air heightened, whizzing through the atmosphere thickly. My breath caught in my throat as I looked around in terror. There were many of them, more than twenty. The possibility of leaving here unscathed seems unlikely. I grew nervous.
You’re outnumbered!” the man hissed through the air as if to remind us that we had no chance against them.
Xade snarls, paws digging into the dirt as if ready to pounce at the man any moment now. And then he lunged forward, head on, his huge beast pouncing on the first figure his jaws could get. The rest followed, except for Kaylee who relaxed her muscles, her eyes sharply ahead.
My heart is in my throat and I am terrified not for me but for Xade who’s dodging every arrow snapping toward him.
Suddenly Kaylee moves into a stance that had me on high alert. I gripped her fur tightly as if telepathically knowing what she was about to do. And she did, sprinting forward and moving from the chaos.
I snap my eyes back, my heart racing in my chest as I yell for Xade. I didn’t want to leave him to fight on his own but I had a feeling he was the one who told Kaylee to get me out of there. And though I was irritated that he made a decision on his own again, I knew he was only doing this to protect me and our baby.
His eyes meet mine briefly, but in that quick moment, I see it in his eyes. The promise to get out of this and return to me. A promise that we will meet soon. And I held him to that, hope weighing in me.
We haven’t broken our promises yet, so he better not now.