Free Web NovelChapter 16: _No Place For Weakness
Celeste’s POV
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Soon, screams and panicked yells echoed through the night.
"Vein Beasts!"
"They’re in the academy!"
"The professors! I–I can’t—Ahh!"
Chills ran through my very soul as the crowd scattered around us. Willow clung close, holding my right wrist when ghastly roars and screeches followed the students’ cries.
Then I saw one—
—A Vein beast.
This one walked on all fours but had tattered membranous wings sticking off its forearms. Its head was elongated, with a snout ending in a beak-like mouth full of jagged teeth.
Well, fuck...
With a piercing screech, it moved in a blur, swatting students out of its way. From this angle, it seemed like it was heading toward Willow and me.
My heart slammed against my chest as I stumbled back, pulling Willow along with me. The creature’s blazing red eyes locked on me, focused and determined as it slashed and pecked through students before they could move out of the way.
"Cel, run!" Willow screamed, tightening her grip on my wrist and spinning around.
However, before I could pivot safely, I stumbled. I didn’t fall, but my pace was drastically slowed down.
"Eeiii!" A spine-wracking screech rattled behind me—alongside a wave of wind that smelt like rotten meat and death. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Life flashed past my eyes for a heartbeat. But instead of being rammed into tomorrow’s headlines or torn to shreds as I expected... I felt nothing.
Frowning, I turned back to the creature. To my surprise, it was suspended mid-lunge, its claws merely two metres away from reaching me. Its eyes glowed with a shaken light, body twitching. Like it was being held by an invisible hand.
Slowly, I glanced behind my shoulder. And there he was.
Azrael.
A few students ran past him, heading toward the academic buildings in scattered groups or alone. But him? He stood still, sunglasses intact and right hand raised.
His fingers wrung, wrist flicking. The motion made the creature scream in pain before its head imploded inside out, brain matter and sizzling black blood splattering outward.
My throat tightened, limbs trembling as I stared at Azrael. For maybe a couple of seconds or three. Until—
"Professors and top students!" Professor Amelia roared from the stage, forcing me to snap my neck there.
She had a cat-like beast grappled in her arms, barely able to speak into the microphone strapped to her ear. "Eliminate every last one of these things! The rest of you..." For a moment, her eyes swept over where I stood. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Students around me were stricken motionless with fear, a few even crying as more shrieks, roars and unnerving sounds echoed from every corner around the old blood oak tree.
"... Survive! This Academy is no place for weakness!" The professor ultimately declared mid snarl, using her claws to slash through the neck of the beast she held.
No place for weakness.
The words hit me harder than I realised. So much so that I momentarily lost awareness of my surroundings.
"Celeste!" Willow’s voice snapped me out. Swerving my head to my right, I spotted a seven-foot-tall beast charging towards me on its hind legs.
But before it could get past three meters of me—ZAP!
Lightning descended from above, thicker than chains and sparking with light so bright I had to take a couple of steps back. The creature screamed, smoke leaving its body in wisps. It became ash in the wind within seconds, leaving me standing there with my heart in my throat.
Instinct—or the bond—made me look ahead, beyond the lightning’s aftermath.
Atlas.
His eyes glowed with a much brighter shade of gold, arms outstretched. The rings on his fingers lit up, runes shimmering across his white trench coat.
As if on cue, I spotted someone else intercepting a lizard-like beast. He grabbed its snout with his bare hands and ripped the upper part of its jaw wider than a can opener.
L–Luther...
Even Luther fucking Hale finally showed up, roaring in full Alpha glory. His back faced me but I could feel it. His rage for the beast. His possessive protectiveness aimed at me.
All around me, fireballs rained from witches and hybrids, wolves shifted, witch professors made force shields. Everyone was fighting for their lives.
But there was something wrong. The pattern of the beast attacks—
"Cel, come on!" Willow grabbed my arm from behind, making me jolt. I turned to her, finding a drop of blood across her jaw. "You can’t just stand still—run! Let’s go, the rest have it covered."
Blue light ignited the night as she spoke. Craning my neck, I stared back in time to witness Lysandra levitating over ten meters in the air. Her hair floated around her, arms brimming with blue energy.
"Out of my way if you don’t want to get hit!" Was her only warning to students struggling to flee while surrounded by beasts. Then she swiped downward, sending twin energy blasts.
When I narrowed my eyes on the beasts however, I realised why something felt off. Even with the students trying to run around them, they didn’t attempt stopping to finish them off.
No. They rushed past them instead, as if heading for something else. Or someone else...
... Gods.
Terror snapped through me, so primal it made every survival instinct flare. My magic gathered in my fingertips, while the haunting realisation echoed in my head.
These things—their target was ME.
My lungs locked. Not fear for my life—fear of what would happen to everyone else if I stayed.
"Celeste?" Willow had barely called out to me when I spun around. Then I ran, eyes focused on the academic buildings to the north.
I glanced back at her, screaming. "Willow, run!" As if she hadn’t been trying to get me to do that for gods knows how long.
Fuck me!
But she didn’t, rushing toward a male student who fell while attempting to escape the blast range of Lysandra’s attack spells.
It was at that moment that I searched for my mates.
From varying distances away, they shone. Atlas weaving spells. Luther cut through beasts and helped students without shifting. Azrael moved like an absolute beast despite being calm, blending into the shadows and disembowelling beasts with telekinesis and fire.
Even Caelum had helped students to safety, especially the vulnerable year ones.
And then there was me—
—Running away the second I realised I was the main target.
"Shameless mutt!" Lysandra suddenly boomed, whilst I still ran. I looked back, watching her features twist with disgust and disdain. "Running while the Academy YOUR parents built bleeds."
Those words stung, disorienting me for a breath. I lost my footing, almost tripping by the time I brought my head back to where I ran—
Then came a presence, a shift in the air around me, and a cologne—cinnamon, lavender and whiskey.
"Whoa there," a deep voice whispered, an arm slinging around my waist. I gasped, turning to the new field player.
Silas.
His lips twitched with the ghost of a smile, hazel eyes glinting with concern. We stared at each other for a second before he whipped his head toward one of the academic buildings.
"I know a place where you’ll be safe." He muttered, tightening his grip around my waist. "Wrap your arms around me and hold on close."
I followed his lead, adrenaline still pushing my drive. He moved, wolf speed letting him rush into one of the academic buildings in seconds.
.
.
"We’re here." When we got to the first floor, he opened a door with a special gold key card. He guided me first, closing the door behind him.
Blowing back strands of my hair blocking my face, I let out shallow breaths. All the emotions. All the feelings of confusion and guilt came crashing like a wave while Silas put the locks on the door.
"Goddess," I placed both hands on my head, eyes darting around the room briefly. There was a desk at the far end of the dimly lit room, a lamp on said desk being the only light source.
At other spots were sofas, a snooker board, shelves filled with books and even a fridge resting on the wall to my left.
"Welcome to the Alpha Heirs Haven," Silas murmured from the door behind me. I turned back to him, breathing still a chore.
My lips parted to say something—until my eyes landed on his suit. It was... It was soaked. Soaked crimson.
A gasp tore past my lips, fingers pointing shakily. "You’re... Silas, you’re bleeding."
His right hand rose slowly, gripping the spot on the left side of his stomach. He leaned against the door, throat bobbing as he mumbled. "Well... That’s... A problem..."
