Ileus: The Dark Prince

Ileus let out a growl to signal them that he was right there and along with his soldiers, Yion shot down. He growled, "You ditched us but we found you!" 

Seeing that their prince was in danger, more demons poured. Within a few minutes, the whole place turned into a battlefield. 

And through all this Ileus hoped for only one thing—that Anastasia was still sleeping. But that was wishful thinking because Anastasia had come right beside him, her massive wings beating behind her, her eyes violet with silvery specks and her demeanor—feral. 

Ileus knew that she would never go back. Even if she didn't remember him, she was at present driven by her basic instincts of protecting him. 

Along with her, Ileus pierced through the demons, slicing down a few with his claws and jaws. The rain overhead stopped and suddenly he picked up a very familiar scent. Ileus stopped in his tracks. This was impossible. He ignored it and then attacked more demons. The fae soldiers hovered in the air as they fought with the demons. 

Seeing the mayhem in front of her, Iona darted towards the man she wanted to be with. Rolfe. She followed her senses, her shock giving way to curiosity at the familiar scent. She growled and ran as fast as possible. A shock of white fur in between the faes and demons. 

Rolfe had gotten very close to the black werewolf and he had to kill it to take control of the fortress. The fortress was the only place where he could hide for a while. And werewolves were a threat. When he saw that even faes had joined the werewolves in the battle, he was sure that they were sent by Etaya and that these two werewolves were in collusion with them. At first, he couldn't believe what he saw because from what he had heard from his men, the werewolves were against the faes, and that part made him appreciate Queen Adrianna. But when he saw these two fighting along with the faes, against them, he was filled with loathe. These must be the stray ones. He had to kill them, but by god, they were proving to be quite a team. He wasn't able to reach the black wolf who looked like a leader and from whom smoke was peeling off like second skin. He was impressed by him. But it was important to put him down because he was a friend of his enemy. 

When Rolfe reached in front of the bloodied wolf, the two stood to face each other for a while and then with deafening roars they charged at each other. However, before they could collide, a shock of white fur passed and leapt right in front of them. 

The black wolf halted immediately and Rolfe, he was stunned. The white wolf came to stand right in front of him and growled at the black one with its head dipped low. It was letting out low, dangerous growls as if warning the black werewolf. It was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen in his life. The need to possess the wolf surged through his mind, and suddenly he felt guilty—guilty of thinking of betraying his mate who was still standing behind. 

Rolfe raised his hands up to stop the demons from fighting. Anastasia also raised her hands to command Yion to stop. She lowered herself to the ground right beside the black wolf. She was startled to find yet another werewolf in this realm. 

Kaizan ran to Ileus and Anastasia. He stood on Anastasia's side, and now she was flanked by two wolves. "Who are you?" Anastasia asked. "And how do you know this werewolf?" 

The white wolf let out yet another low growl, her yellow eyes piercing them. Rolfe was so stunned that words left him. He looked from the white wolf to the black and then to the brown. 

Ileus shifted back to his human form and sank to his knees. Blood was oozing from chest, arms, face and legs, but he sat there on his knees as he stared at the white wolf. "Iona…" he whispered. This must have been her first shift and he felt guilty as hell that he wasn't there with her on her first shift. He stretched his arms towards her. Kaizan also shifted and even though he was feeling wobbly, he pressed a fist to his mouth. He wanted to lean against something for support. 

Tears welled up in Ileus' eyes as shaky breaths left his mouth. "Iona…" he whispered again. 

When Rolfe heard the name of the white wolf, he blinked his eyes to reaffirm what he was seeing. Was the white wolf Iona? A sudden feeling of heaviness expanded to his core. His chest tightened as he refused to believe that his mate was a werewolf. Who could she be? Iona… Why did that name sound familiar? Was she the… Dark Witch? Rolfe gasped. Iona was the name of the dark witch. The girl was kidnapped by Etaya when she was only ten.

Time seemed to slow down and he wished that this was all a dream. How could the dark witch be his mate? He could never accept a woman as his mate who only knew how to unleash terror, who was a vessel of dark forces and who had killed thousands of people in a short span of time. And what the hell was she doing in the Mountain of Tibris. Rolfe was overwrought with emotions. His denial of the situation led to shutting down of his mind. Emotional numbness followed. He swallowed down his saliva as he stared at the white wolf in order to dispel a growing thick ache in his throat. 

"Iona…" Ileus called her again. Upon seeing his sister in her wolf form, his muscles had stiffened involuntarily. His hands trembled as he stretched them towards her. Tears rolled out of his eyes. "Do you remember me?" he asked. He was so happy that she was alive. Yet a doubt battered his mind—did she lose her memories too? It couldn't be. "Please shift back, Iona," he urged her. "I am your brother, Ileus." 

Brother? Gods! That word pushed Rolfe further back. If the man in front of him was Ileus, then the woman with violet eyes… Was she the fae princess and his wife? The demon prince was confused. Why the hell was he fighting against people who were on his side? And how come they had such a large number of faes helping them? Seeing things in front of him, he chose to wait to see how it panned out. But one thing was sure—he was going to reject his mate. He didn't want a woman who was a murderer, who had embraced dark forces and who was close to Etaya. What hurt him the most was the fact that she lied to him. She hid her identity. Yes, he was going to reject her, but even the thought was so painful that he felt like clawing his heart out. 

The white wolf treaded forward, cautiously.. She walked to the man who had the same golden yellow as hers and sniffed him. The next moment—