Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Chapter 101

*Rory*

The forest didn’t sleep.

Every rustle was louder than it should have been, every twig that snapped underfoot felt like a warning. We had been moving since nightfall, keeping to animal paths and cutting through the underbrush until my calves screamed, but no one complained. The silence between us was heavier than words anyway.

Xander was ahead of me, broad shoulders tense, every line of him on edge. Azrien pressed so close through him that I could almost feel his wolf glaring into the dark. I stayed near, matching his pace because being even an arm’s length away felt like tempting the universe to rip us apart again.

Mona was behind us, unusually quiet. She’d been cracking jokes since the dungeon, even in whispers, even when they landed wrong. But tonight she said nothing. Her hand gripped the strap of her pack so tightly the leather creaked. Dhara padded along at the rear, senses stretched. Matt walked close to her, scanning the trees with the kind of sharp patience that made me wonder if he slept with one eye open.

The deeper we went, the thicker the dread coiled in my chest. The phantom thread that had pulled me to Xander felt raw and stretched thin, as if something beyond us was tugging back.

We passed a tree marked with a sigil burned deep into its bark. The edges were blackened, ash still clinging to the grooves. My stomach turned. Venatorum. Not scouts this time. This was an assassin’s mark.

No one spoke.

We just moved faster.

***

The strike came without sound.

One second the forest was empty, the next it was full of shadows moving sharper than the wind.

A blade sang past my ear and bit into the trunk beside me. I stumbled back with a cry, and the world erupted.

The assassins didn’t roar or shout like the scouts had. They didn’t waste breath. They slipped out of the trees like wraiths, blades flashing dull and black. They went straight for Dhara and Mona–the gifted ones.

Xander shifted halfway, claws ripping from his hands, eyes burning blue. Azrien surged through him so violently I could feel the forest recoil. He slammed one assassin into the dirt with such force the ground quaked.

Matt caught another, steel against steel, sparks flying in the dark. “Stay down, Rory!” he shouted, his voice like gravel.

But I couldn’t. Chains or no chains, wolf or no wolf, I couldn’t stand still. I grabbed a rock from the ground and hurled it at the nearest shadow. It cracked against his jaw with a satisfying thud, and he snarled as he

turned on me.

Too fast. Too strong.

Xander was there before the blade touched me, ripping the man back by the throat, his claws tearing deep. Blood sprayed, hot and metallic, painting the air.

I gasped, heart slamming. I hated myself for being useless, for slowing them down, for fighting with rocks while they bled. Zerina should have been here. She should have been snarling at my side.

Another assassin slipped through, silent as smoke. He bypassed Xander, bypassed Matt, and went straight for

Mona.

She turned too late.

The blade drove into her side.

Her scream tore through the clearing, high and raw, and I swear it ripped me open with it.

“No!” I lunged, knees scraping earth as I crawled to her. Blood poured between her fingers as she clutched the wound. Smoke curled from it. The blade had been poisoned.

Ash.

My stomach dropped. Wolves didn’t survive ash poisoning. Not for long.

Mona’s face went white, lips trembling. “That… hurts worse than it looks,” she tried to joke, but her voice broke, and panic shot through me.

“Stay with me,” I begged, pressing my hands over hers, trying to stem the flow. “Don’t you dare.”

Dhara’s snarl ripped through the air, and she slammed into the assassin who had struck Mona. Her claws tore deep, her teeth snapping at his throat. He didn’t even scream before she ripped him apart.

Matt swung his blade, catching another in the ribs, but more shadows pressed in. They moved like one body, like the night itself had risen against us.

Xander was everywhere at once. He was fury and flame, his claws leaving trails of blood across every body that got too close. But there were too many. And Mona was bleeding out beneath me.

I pressed harder, tears blurring my eyes. “It’s okay, it’s okay, I’ve got you, just hold on-”

She choked, her breath rattling. “You’re… really bad at lying.”

My throat closed.

The assassins shifted, circling tighter, I could feel the precision in their steps, the way they moved like a single command ran through their veins. They didn’t come for all of us. They came for me.

One lunged, blade aimed for my chest. Xander ripped him back mid–strike, his snarl loud enough to rattle bone. Blood sprayed across my arm, hot and sticky.

I flinched, clutching Mona tighter. “Why aren’t they stopping?” I cried.

“They won’t,” Xander snarled. His chest heaved, sweat and blood streaking his skin. “Not until you’re-”

He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to.

Another assassin darted past him. Dhara blocked, but the motion was off. She staggered, her claws slipping.

They were everywhere. We weren’t enough.

And then-

They stopped.

It was so sudden it stunned me. The assassins froze mid–step, blades poised. Their heads tilted in unison, like they were listening to a voice I couldn’t hear.

Then they pulled back.

No shouts. No curses. Just retreat. Silent, precise, terrifying. Within seconds the trees swallowed them again. The scent of ash lingered, acrid and sharp, but the shadows were gone.

The silence that followed was worse than the fight.

Mona gasped in my arms, her blood soaking my hands. Her skin was clammy, her eyes glassy. Dhara ripped strips of cloth to press against the wound, her jaw set, panic flashing in her golden eyes.

Matt crouched beside me, swearing under his breath. “It’s poisoned,” he muttered. “Damn it, it’s ash.”

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