Black Ice-Completed
Chapter 23

Warning: Gore, language, and triggers

As weeks passed, Nyota started to get more anxious. Every day she would say they need to go and Veronica would say there wasn’t enough provisions which left Nyota frustrated. Instead, she would run along the borders for most of the day and well into the night, only catching a few hours of sleep in the early morning.

Nyota was ecstatic when the day finally came, “We have enough food but what are we to do about money and where are we to go?” Veronica asked, concerned about their lack of supplies.

She started in surprise, in the impatience to leave, Nyota had forgotten the bags of money, the cloak, and the sword, “I have what we need, let me go get them and then we’ll be on our way to Marais!”

“Hurry Nyota, I don’t have a good feeling and wish to leave as soon as possible!” Veronica called as she watched Nyota shift and disappear from view.

...

As Nyota huffed from exertion when she suddenly noticed the birds as they flitted from branch to branch, in an uproar as they headed east, as if they were fleeing from something.

Puzzled, she turned back westward from where the cabin was and sniffed deeply. Either the birds were just in an uproar of another animal or her senses were not picking up everything.

Shifting back to human, Nyota began to climb the nearest tree. Even when she was naked, she knew the forest and knew where to place her hands.

Finally reaching the top after a couple of minutes, Nyota looked around and shielded her eyes from the sun. As she looked west, she blanched white, where the cabin was located there were billows of smoke rising into the sky. The cabin was on fire.

Crying out in outrage and terror for her aunt, Nyota barely touched the branches as she made her way down and fell to her knees when she reached the ground.

Never taking a moment to look around, Nyota was about to shift when a heavy net laced with chains covered her, dropping her to the ground. As she looked up, her eyes narrowed as four men came out of the bushes, laughing in glee.

They all had the look of desert tribesmen, their heads were covered by brown hoods, three wore scimitars and the other held a machete. Each had light chocolate skin with black beards.

“And Bazra thought we would have problems with this one. Like taking merchandise from a caravan. Far to easy,” one laughed as he sheathed his scimitar.

“By the Gods, we’re going to make a fortune off of her! Look at those tits! So rosy!” another one said as he licked his lips, his eyes following the curves of her breasts and down her stomach.

Nyota growled as she glared at the one who was licking his lips, but wasn’t heard when another began to speak, he too admiring her beauty, “Do you think she’s a virgin?”

“If she is, we’ll sell her after we break her. The wolves to the North won’t be getting this virgin. Her hair even matches down around her pussy! We’ll tie her up with the chains so we can have our fun without worry of her shifting!” another one said as he took the time to look around to figure out the best way of getting their delicious prize moving.

The other men began to laugh as Nyota tried to calm her racing heart. The thought of rape was staggering and she refused to let it happen. She was the daughter of Braytek, an Alpha in her own right! These paovraf would never touch her!

Standing up as much as she could while they were preoccupied with how to get her onto the boat, she shifted and biting her tongue as the steel spikes pushed into her body, she threw the net off of her and turned to the men who had just noticed her free of the net. “You’re bodies will rot within these forests before any of you paovraf touch me!” she snarled and pounced forward taking one man by surprise as she ripped into throat.

Nyota glared at the men as they drew their swords, wishing she had been faster. “You bitch! You will pay for Sergei’s death!” one howled and lunged at Nyota with his machete drawn and the other two followed.

Nyota was instantly put on the defensive as the three plunged, swung, and thrusted their weapons at her. They kept making her back away and when she tried to dodge to the side, they would always shift so that she was stuck where she was.

She had several knicks around her body when she finally realized that they kept pushing her back. Wondering why, she glanced behind and saw the ground disturbed but wasn’t able to look closer when she felt a sword stab into her shoulder.

“Fool! You kill her and we won’t get as much money even if we were to sell her pelt!” one growled.

Nyota snarled, she was being maneuvered into a trap! But they also revealed a weakness, they didn’t want her out right killed. Taking a very risky chance, Nyota feinted to the right and watched as the two men raised their weapons then jumped to the left, diving around the other man’s raised sword and wrapped her teeth around his shoulder and ripped the man’s weapon and arm from his body.

The man’s screams were a balm to her soul as she dropped the arm and turned towards the other two. Both stood with their mouths agape as their companion fainted from blood loss and shock.

Nyota growled low as she circled the men, looking for a way past their weapons to the flesh that would kill them. She knew later she would pay dearly for all the cuts and wounds that were inflicted on her. Her species tended to take just as long as humans to heal. Whether that was part of the curse or it was always like that before, Nyota didn’t know

Diving forward, Nyota ran between them, hoping to create distance between the two and nipped one hard enough to draw blood on his leg. Her dive cost her though as she felt burning sensations go across her backside.

But she saw she had been successful in creating the distance and spinning around she pounced on the injured man’s back, driving him down and breaking his spine. The screams from the man startled the last into a rage and he came rushing at her with his sword raised.

Nyota dodged his attacks, she could feel her strength ebbing away as her body continued to bleed and more cuts were made across her pelt. She’d have to do something quick if she was to live through this and get her aunt to safety.

“I’ll kill you little girl. This was supposed to be an easy in and out with large profit for all of us,” the man spat as he circled around Nyota, lunging towards her to win a small gash onto Nyota’s chest and then dodging back as her teeth snapped at him.

“So sorry I didn’t obey you like the slave you wanted,” Nyota snarled as she bared her teeth, “You and your tribe should have never entered my territory and killed animals, shifters, and the Thurian wolves that were under my protection!” she said as she began pacing back and forth, slowly pushing the man back.

“Your protection!” the man scoffed and spit on the ground, “is worth nothing. It took us awhile but the bear family didn’t put up much of a fight. Not after we killed their son right in front of their eyes and took their daughter. She was a sweet little bitch. Our men passed her around for days before selling her to the arena across the sea. Your protection means nothing!” he snarled before falling backwards as Nyota lunged at him in rage, the trap, that had been meant for Nyota, closing around him and biting into his stomach and back.

Knocking the sword out of his hand, Nyota lowered her head and looked him in the face, her eyes so much like crystals that he felt her gaze cutting him.

“I was going to let you live so you could give a final warning to your pathetic tribe,” she said her teeth bared as she licked her chops.

Whimpering in pain, the man stared incredulously at Nyota, “Y-you are?” he asked in confusion.

Nyota smirked, “I was, Bazra and the rest of you should have taken my warning. I’m not an ordinary wolf shifter. You see,” she paused again her eyes narrowing, “my father was Braytek, former Alpha of the Black Ice wolves.”

As she spoke the tribesman watched in terror as ice blue began to bleed into the green, “M-m-my Karmia, had we known, w-we would have never-“

Nyota snarled cutting off his stuttering, “Had you known you and your tribe would have sent word to Lyosha, collecting a hefty reward before he would have sent his wolves down to collect me and my Aunt.”

“N-no! Please I beg mercy!” he said on a cry as the trap tightened deeper into his belly.

Nyota gave a short hard laugh, “Like you showed mercy to the bear family?” she said softly, as she came forward and licked the man’s cheek slowly, then stared into his eyes before wrapping her whole mouth around his head and slowly bit down, feeling his screams as she felt bones crack, the man’s whole body vibrating furiously as he tried to escape and the rush of blood in her mouth before he slumped over dead, with his head in his lap.

Glancing back at the carnage around her, she heard the one man with the broken back moaning. The other, with the ripped off arm, laid quite still but she could hear his heartbeat even if it was faint. Walking over to him, she bit down on the man’s leg, effectively breaking it, “Stay here,” she growled as she left the area at a run. Nyota had to get to the cabin and save Veronica. It had taken her far too long to dispatch the four men and she felt exhaustion tugging at her, making her misstep and totter as dizziness plagued her while she ran.