Chapter 653 - Take Advantage?

Luke had never experienced magic. Frozen midair with his sword, his adrenalin pounded against his ribcage. Next moment shadows burst in front of him and Ileus emerged with his hand raised in front of him, as if he was controlling Luke's movements. "I will snap your head like a twig, if you attack the Alpha of the pack," he growled, his face contorted with fury. 

As Luke looked at him with a healthy dose of dear, Ileus slowly brought his hand down setting Luke on his feet on the ground. Ileus flicked his hand and Luke's sword wriggled in his hand. As if it had developed its own mind, it started being pulled towards Ileus's hand. Luke tried to hold it as securely as possible, but it twisted his fingers and he grunted in pain when it flew into Ileus's hand. Ileus held the sword's hilt and turned it blade in the air. It just disappeared much to Luke's shock. Ileus took a step towards him and in a cold voice said, "From a long time we have been searching for the rebel who was at the helm of it." Ileus started to circle him. "From a long time, I have been stopping my mother to interfere in the rebel problem because I know what her punishments are." Circling. Circling. "From a long time, you have taken advantage of our good gesture, thinking that we were weak?" Ileus came to stand right in front of Luke. Smoke peeled from his body and licked Luke's. It was as if it was looking to devour something, burn something. 

Ileus curled his finger beneath Luke's chin and tipped it up. His claws lengthened and they dug in Luke's chin. Fresh blood trickled out. His golden eyes flickered a black. "Did you think that just because we didn't interfere in the affairs of the trade path and that of the Whiteclaw pack, you would be able to take over the kingdom?" Ileus pointed at the rebels he had come up with. "With their help? Did you really underestimate us to this level?" 

All at once, Ileus left him and flung his hands in front towards the rebels. "Razneti ih!" he roared. Smoke exploded out of him and blasted the group of rebels who were standing behind Luke. Black covered them all as it swirled, hissing and whipping. Screams were heard from the inside. Every rebel, and every other man or woman standing over there, flinched as they took a step or two back and covered the eyes with their forearms. Air, so strong, rippled through the street, tousling the hair and whipping the clothes around their bodies. 

Seeing his men screaming on the inside, Luke yelled. "Stop it!" He charged at Ileus, but the moment he took a step forward, Ileus held his neck with his left hand and lifted him up in the air, growling. He peeled his lips back from his fangs as they lengthened. 

"You dare to attack me?" Ileus said, his voice guttural, full of danger. Luke choked, his face flushed and his eyes bloodshot. He held Ileus's wrist as he struggled to get out of his grip, but the dark prince was just inhumanly strong. His bicep muscles bulged and his neck corded. 

Luke sputtered, kicking his feet in the air, trying to remove his hand. He could still hear the screams of his men inside the black smoke. "L— leave me…" he managed to speak. Ileus removed his hand from his neck and Luke fell on the ground on his ass. He coughed and coughed and wheezed as he scrambled away from Ileus, holding his neck. He managed to get up and rested his hands on a nearby horse of a soldier he didn't know. "Release them," he requested.

"Yes, I will," Ileus replied. He raised his hands and commanded the smoke to retreat. And when the smoke retreated there was not a single rebel standing over there. They all had vanished as if they never existed.

"What the fuck have you done with them?" Luke asked in a hoarse voice. By this time every rebel that was left became too restless. They wanted to leave. No one had anticipated that the dark prince would be such a powerful man. Fear ran deep through each of them. 

"I have thrown them in the dungeons of Vaarin's castle." Ileus scanned every rebel present over there as if daring them and every rebel froze under his gaze. 

Luke was dumbfounded. "You are insane!" he said, still holding his neck. "They hadn't done anything!" 

Taking advantage of the mayhem, Tasha began to slip. She started taking small steps back. If only she could get out of the pack and reach Murtagh somehow, she would be saved. If Kaizan caught her, she would be hanged for the act of treason. She turned lightly, lowered her head and began walking in the middle of the horses, when someone grabbed her neck and threw her on the ground. 

"Where do you think you are going, vermin?" Kaizan growled. 

Tasha sprang up and tried to make a run but she was stopped by the soldiers. Kaizan came up to her. She turned to face him, flinching every moment. "How did you know I was escaping?" She asked in order to buy time and assess her situation to make the next move.

"Wasn't it obvious?" he replied with a smirk. "Once you went to get the healer, I went to the crown prince to apprise him of the situation."

Tasha laughed in his face. "It doesn't matter that you have caught us here. Our men are everywhere in the kingdom." 

After Tasha had left, Kaizan had made her follow by one of his spies. In the meantime, he had gone to meet Ileus and apprised him of the situation. Ileus hadn't commented on it. Kaizan had come back to his home, feeling frustrated. Over the next four days, Ileus had stayed absolutely quiet about his plan of action. Kaizan wanted to go and check the perimeters of the kingdom. He had even shouted at Ileus for not being able to efficiently handle the rogue situation, and Ileus… he had listened to him, and then stopped him from leaving the capital. 

It was past midnight when Ileus summoned his promised wolf. When Kaizan walked through the portal into the east wing of the palace, he saw that a large army of wizards and witches was waiting for him. "We are going to the Whiteclaw pack in an hour," Ileus said in a cold, calculated voice. "Gather your men and meet me in the capital." 

Kaizan was stunned at the sudden development of the events, but he didn't question. He didn't know why Ileus chose this time. However, as the combined army walked through the several portals into the Whiteclaw pack, Ileus told him the details. His spies had informed him that the rogues had planned an attack on the pack and it was about to happen anytime soon. To say that Kaizan was stunned was an understatement. He was proud of his prince.

— 

Out of nowhere, an arrow shot through the sky. Ileus leapt in the air to stop it, but it grazed his palm and struck its target. Vaarin bellowed with pain and fury and unsheathed his sword, turning to see who did it. Chaos ensued.. The remaining rebels charged at Vaarin and other soldiers with their swords.