CHAPTER 207: END OF IT...

[ Old world - unknown cave ]

The air was brittle with silence.

"I , Autumn Thorgar Ulfsen...reject you, Kieran Blackmoon as ...."

Autumn’s lips,fingers,body,mind, soul...began to tremble as she started the process...voice raw, each word tearing out of her chest like broken glass.

But then her throat completely seized.

Her body twisted suddenly, violently, as if a thousand unseen hands had reached into her womb and clenched.

" AARGH..." Her scream shattered against the stone walls, not human, more than a wolf...something else...something primal.

"Ahhh...!" She collapsed forward, clutching her stomach as the babies thrashed wildly inside...it was like a storm beneath her skin. Bloodied tears streaked down her face.

"Autumn!" Orion’s arms locked around her shoulders, holding her from falling. His panic bled through every word. "Stop...stop this madness, your body can’t take it!You are not strong enough..."

"No!" Her voice cracked, shattering with defiance. She tore at his grip, nails scraping his arm as she tried to break free. "I won’t...be...his...anymore! I have to...finish it!"

Her hand slapped against the cold wall, clawing against the stone as though she could anchor herself against the agony ripping her apart. Her nails left deep, bloody trails.

"Autumn, listen to me..." Orion pleaded, pressing his forehead against the wall while he held her firm, his breath ragged. "You will kill yourself, Princess. And the babies. Don’t do this. Please.You are so close to term...just...just wait a little longer..."

But she grit her teeth through the scream, face contorting in both pain and fury. "You think I care? You think I can live in these bloody chains?It has my father’s blood on them, Orion...my father’s blood...I will reject him...even if I die choking on the words..."

Her body convulsed again, hurling her back into his chest.

" I...I,Autumn Thorgar Ulfsen..." She began once more. But the rejection again choked halfway out of her throat, only to be cut short by another piercing shriek as her stomach tightened accompanied with a spasm.

Orion’s voice broke...he too was becoming extremely frantic. "Autumn, stop! They are tearing at you...can’t you feel it? Your own blood is turning against you!"

She pounded her fist into the wall, her breath coming in shallow, broken gasps. "I...don’t...care...I lost my father! They should understand they will be losing theirs too..." She dragged herself upright again, blood dripping from her fingernails, dragging a line down the wall. "I will finish it... I need to end this bond even if it kills me."

Her knees buckled but she forced herself up again, trembling, veins blackening along her neck and wrists.

"Do you understand what you are saying?" Orion whispered, voice raw with terror. "The rejection isn’t just ripping you...it’s ripping your babies...Every word you speak cuts through their veins too.They are bound to him...Are you really willing to kill your children? Autumn,use your heart instead of your anger...There are other ways to exact revenge..."

Autumn froze, her bloody hand trembling against the wall. Her breath came ragged, her body still writhing in torment, but her eyes locked onto his...wet with both fury and despair.

"You think I don’t know?" Her words broke, another scream wrenching through her as she doubled over, forehead smashing against the wall.

And once again, only half the rejection left her mouth before the pain dragged her into silence, her voice strangled by the cries of the unborn within her.

Orion caught her before she collapsed, gripping her face with shaking hands, his voice trembling like he was breaking apart as well. "You will destroy yourself, Autumn. And I swear...I won’t let you. I promised your father. Don’t make it so difficult for me ,little one. "

Her bloody tears smeared across her cheek as she hissed back through clenched teeth. "You can hold me... chain me... but nobody will ever keep me again ..."

Autumn’s body shook like a bowstring about to snap. Blood soaked her lips, her claws streaked the wall. But her eyes...her eyes burned with something feral, untamed, beyond reason.

"I... will not... stop..." she rasped. "If my human body cannot bear it...then my wolf will."

Orion’s stomach dropped. "No, Autumn. No. Don’t even think about..."

Too late.

Her scream tore through the cave, ripping her throat raw as her bones began to crack.

Her wolf refused to comply but she forced the shift.

It seized her body violently, her spine bowing backward as fur burst through skin, as her hands shattered and reformed into claws. It wasn’t graceful...it was grotesque, a body breaking itself to make room for rage.

Her cries warped mid scream into guttural howls.

"Bloody Moon, no... stop it, little wolf!" he begged, reaching for her, only to stumble back as her wolf form finally collapsed to the floor, trembling and blood soaked, her sides heaving.

She lifted her head, blood dripping from her muzzle, and through gritted fangs she forced the words...half growl, half like a curse...

"I... Autumn Thorgar Ulfsen... reject... you, Kieran Blackmoon... as my mate."

Finally it was done...

Her wolf eyes flared...

The cavern trembled with the force of that decision.

Her body twisted with agony, every muscle seizing, but she staggered forward, claws digging deep grooves into the stone as she dragged herself further into the rejection.

"I reject... your chains... your blood... your pack...your love..." she snarled, froth and blood flying from her jaws.

Her whole body convulsed, but she pressed harder, forcing the words from the pit of her soul.

"You are nothing to me, Kieran Blackmoon...nothing anymore..."

Her howl cut the cave open as the last words ripped free.

The bond shattered completely like glass between her ribs.

But then...

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The dam broke.

A white hot explosion tore through her belly.

The babies thrashed inside,violently, as if trying to rip themselves free.

Her howl twisted into a scream so raw it scraped the marrow of Orion’s bones.

Her body collapsed, writhing, her fur slicked with blood as the convulsions wracked her wolf form.

Orion fell to his knees beside her, grabbing her massive, trembling head. "Autumn! Stop! You are in forced labour! Goddess...fucking damn it...your body’s not ready!"

Her eyes flared at him, defiant even as they glazed with agony.

"Better... this..." she panted,a growl broken through her wolf’s throat. "Better than... his name inside me."

She convulsed again, claws tearing at the stone floor, scraping grooves into the rock.

"I don’t fucking care!" she roared as blood sprayed from her jaws. "They will... be born free! Not with his cursed blood in their veins!"

"Autumn, for the love of the bloody Moon...listen to me! You can’t control this anymore! The rejection’s tearing them out of you! Do you want to bury your babies with your father? Is that it?"

Her body jerked, another spasm ripping her open from the inside.

She smashed her head into the wall, a wolf’s wail rattling the cavern. "They will... survive! They are strong...we don’t need him!"

Orion’s own voice cracked, his hands digging into her fur as if he could anchor her back into herself.

"You arrogant little wolf...this isn’t strength, this is suicide! You will bleed every last drop onto this stone before they even see the sky!"

Her eyes burned fixed on him!!!

Another violent spasm hit, her belly clenching so hard her howl strangled halfway into a sob.

Her claws slashed deep into the rock, blood dripping onto the floor in hot streams.

"I can feel them..." she gasped, voice shaking. "They are coming...oh fuck...it’s happening...fuck...I can’t stop it..."

"Goddess fucking damn it!" Orion shouted, his own hands trembling as he pressed against her heaving side. "Autumn, you are in active labour now. Do you hear me? You have forced yourself into labour! You need to calm down, Autumn...you need to breathe..."

Her body seized again, and this time the howl that ripped from her chest was pure agony, shaking the cave like an earthquake...until dust fell from the ceiling.

She writhed, pressing her bloody muzzle against the stone as she clawed deep furrows into it...