CHAPTER 195: MY WORLD...

[ That Dark realm... continued]

Kieran slammed into Karl with another thunderous roar...

"You are still hitting me like a lovesick pup," Karl snarled, twisting, his elbow driving into Kieran’s jaw. The impact lit Kieran’s skull in white heat, sending him stumbling sideways.

Kieran spat blood into the black grass. "And you still fight like a fucking coward...Let Autumn go...don’t be a pussy...hit me all you want...she has nothing to do with this...what happened between us...she wasn’t even there in the picture..."

Karl’s grin snapped into a snarl. "I learnt from the best ,big brother...and about big pictures...guess you don’t know the whole story..."

He was on Kieran before the last syllable left his mouth...claws bursting from his fingers, raking across Kieran’s ribs. The sound was wet, and Kieran’s snarl turned into a half-growl, half-roar as the pain tore through him.

He caught Karl’s wrist, yanked him forward, and smashed his forehead into Karl’s face. The crack of bone was satisfying...until Karl’s head snapped back with that same twisted smile, blood dripping from his nose but eyes alight with hunger.

"Oh, you have really really missed me," Karl hissed. "Good. I want you wide awake when I take her from you."

" Over my dead body..."

"That’s the fucking plan."

Karl’s fist came up like a hammer, slamming into Kieran’s throat. The world narrowed to a razor edge as Kieran staggered, choking for air. Karl didn’t give him a second...he drove his knee up, catching Kieran’s gut, then flung him sideways.

Kieran hit the ground hard enough to feel the damp earth dent beneath him. The forest groaned, the mist swirling... as if responding to their hits.

Karl circled him, slow, deliberate. "Do you know what it felt like? When you put me down? When you drove that dagger through me??? I trusted you...I looked up to you...Tell me, big brother... Were you that scared of me? What a silly goose! " He burst out laughing. "Do you know how long I have waited for this? Every heartbeat of yours, brother... I counted it, waiting for the last one."

Kieran pushed to his feet, his chest heaving. "I did it to save your soul..."

"You did it to kill me.Don’t pretend to be a saint, you fucking murderer!" Karl’s voice sharpened, venom dripping with every word. "And now I am going to return the favor... only I won’t make it quick.And I will also collect interest...your mate...your pups...it will all be mine..."

They collided again...a blur of claws, fists, and teeth. Kieran slammed Karl into the roots of a mangrove-like beast of a tree, pinning him there and driving his forearm into Karl’s throat.

"You lay one finger on my family..."

Karl’s lips twisted. "...And you will do what? Fail again?I was your family once...Remember?"

Kieran paused for a second!!! Karl’s evil smirk slithered through his veins....

But then he drove his knee up into Karl’s side,the crack of ribs singing through the air.What was he thinking? This was not his brother... No way. This was only a game the Darkness was playing on him... His brother was gone...

Karl howled, not in pain, but in some sick exhilaration.

His claws found Kieran’s back and raked downward, tearing through skin and muscle until the blood was hot between them.

Kieran roared, slamming Karl’s head into the roots. Once. Twice. A third time. The ground quaked, shadows flaring.

Karl’s laughter was wet now, thick with blood. "That’s all you have got, big brother? Because I remember you faster... stronger..." His bloody grin widened. "...better."

Kieran’s fist came down like a war hammer, smashing into Karl’s face...but Karl caught it mid strike, twisting, dragging Kieran forward into his knee.

The air in Kieran’s lungs exploded out. His vision blurred. Karl didn’t stop...he flung Kieran into another tree, and this one screamed as it split, black sap splattering like tar.

"You can’t win here," Karl breathed, stepping over the debris. "This is my place. My rules."

"Then I will burn it to the fucking ground if you refuse to come around," Kieran spat, blood on his teeth.

Karl’s eyes flared crimson, his smile now feral. "Try."

They met in the center again...a storm of rage and hatred and grief...and twisted revenge....

The sound of their blows rolled through the dark forest like distant thunder. The mist coiled tighter, almost eager, as if the very place was thirsty for a sacrifice...like it wanted someone dead.

Kieran was about to lunge again when Karl vanished all of a sudden. Then out of nowhere he fell literally from the sky, grabbing Kieran’s neck, sitting on his shoulder, tackling him in a death grip... choking the day light out of him...

"Get OFF me before I..."

Time seemed to stretch, every heartbeat a drum. Kieran’s breath was fading...he tried to hold onto something... Clearly struggling...This was it.

And then...impact...once more...

Karl let go of Kieran for one moment before yanking him up by the collar and then dragging him effortlessly through the landscape...

He was taking him towards the edge.

A deep dark gorge...

Rocks splintered away into the abyss.

And then without warning Karl pushed him... and he smirked...

Kieran’s leg slipped, his hands failed... And he barely caught onto the edge... swinging...

Kieran hung there, one hand scrabbling...then slipping ...until only one finger hooked the jagged edge.

Far above, Karl leaned over the edge, looking down at him with a slow, wolfish grin.

He brought out a glistening dagger and played with it as he looked at Kieran literally struggling for his life... he made sure Kieran had a good view of the dagger as he licked it and then brought it closer to Kieran’s throat.

" Karl! This doesn’t have to be like this. Listen to me... let’s talk... I did everything I did for our pack... you know I love you... "

"Well... isn’t this familiar," Karl drawled, chuckling as the wind howled between them. "Let’s see how long you last this time."

He slowly made the dagger dance around Kieran’s face, moving it in slow torturous motion up his nose, his ear, his hair, his spine... before coming up to his lone finger, desperately holding on for dear life... he raised the dagger... Kieran’s eyes shot open wider... "KARL! NOOOO... "