Zelena. I flew off to the side with so much speed. The force at which I hit Gunner’s shield made my brain wobble inside my skull. My hold dropped and Whiskey landed back on the ground on her feet. Keeping the shield in place, Gunner growled and stepped toward Whiskey with his claws ready. I quickly stood up and raced to stop him, but I was sent flying back into the shield once again. When I went to get back up again, a sharp pain shot through my chest, and I yelped out in pain. I looked down to the source of the irritation and froze. Shit. A long black jagged piece of ice was protruding from my chest. It’s the darkness. I produced the same type of weapon once. The sting of ice in my veins intensified and the cold emptiness of the darkness filled my chest. I snapped my head to Whiskey who was about to launch another in my direction. Before the fresh shard of black ice left her hand, Gunner swung his arm out in her direction. The shield around us dropped and Gunner retrained all of his

Whiskey. I swung my arm towards Zelena, letting fly the spear of black ice. It got her in the upper right side of her chest, sending her flying back to the ground. A proud smile filled my face as another weapon materialized in my grip. I was about to hit her again when I was sent flying back through the air. I dropped the shard of ice and used my own power to cushion the landing. Gunner was poised and ready to attack. Zelena was still laying on the ground, I knew she was going to be easy to be rid of, just one hit and she was out. I pulled on that dark feeling inside me, tugging on the string of power that was in me now. Another icy shard appeared in my hand, and I hurled it toward Gunner. He dodged to the side, missing the spear, and then charged toward me. I didn’t even need to think about it now, the weapons just came to my hands as I thought of them. I leaned on my back foot and steadied my feet, then I hurled dagger after dagger at Gunner. One hit his shoulder, but it didn’t

Whiskey. “I know” Zelena whispered with a slight nod of her head. She pushed her other arm forward with her palm facing me. A wave of energy hit me, like a truck hitting a mountain at top speed. My entire body jolted with the force, down to the tiniest atom. The air was stolen from my lungs and my vision went black. I felt like a giant hand was inside my body, pulling it apart piece by piece. The pain was incredible. I could feel every part of myself being torn to shreds. I tried to scream, but no sound came. I tried to fight, but my body was no longer under my control. This must be what death feels like. I can’t imagine it being anything else. There was a pressure inside my chest, like something was pulling it open. It built and built, tearing and ripping at my essence. It was almost too much, I was ready to give in to it. After all that I have endured, and all the pain that has been inflicted on my body over my lifetime, I still kept fighting. I was never worn down to the point of

Zelena. Gunner’s arms came around my stomach and he leaned his chin on my shoulder. “You okay?” he asked softly. “I’m good” I answered and reached up to tap his cheek. He turned his face and kissed the palm of my hand. “You were crying again” he said, like I hadn’t already known that. “Well, pregnant ladies cry, Mighty Alpha” I quipped and turned to face him with a smirk. He didn’t answer me right away, just gazed down at me. “You sure you’re alright?” he asked more gently. He cupped my cheek and I leaned into his touch. “I’m fine. Thinking of Cole and Tobias just makes me sad sometimes”. Gunner smiled sadly and ran his thumb over the corner of my mouth. “Me too” he said softly before leaning in to press a soft kiss to my waiting lips. “I love you” I said looking up into his beautiful blue eyes. “I love you more” he smiled back. “It’s not a competition” I grumbled and pinched his peck. He laughed and rubbed at the spot. “It’s not. There's just more of