Claimed by My Mafia Alpha King

Chapter 212: Chapter 212

Irina’s POV

"He’s already dead."

The rogue’s wet, disgusting whisper hung in the freezing air. His lifeless eyes stared blindly into the dark mist.

My lungs completely stopped working.

I kneeled in the freezing, bloody mud. My trembling hands still gripped the dead man’s ruined jacket. The metallic stench of his warm blood aggressively invaded my nose.

Dead.

The word echoed in my empty mind. It bounced around the hollow, terrifying black void inside my chest.

*No.*

I violently pushed the dead rogue away. His heavy body slumped backwards against the jagged rocks. I stared at my pale, bloody hands. I was completely numb. The bitter wind bit into my soaked jeans, but I couldn’t register the cold anymore.

"Luna," Roman growled softly behind me. He stepped closer. His heavy boots crunched loudly on the frozen dirt. "We need to keep moving."

I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t speak. My raw throat was completely sealed shut by pure terror.

I just stared at the blood on my fingers. My fragile human body was shutting down. The absolute despair threatened to swallow me completely whole.

Then, it happened.

A violent, burning spike of pure agony shot straight through my chest.

I gasped violently. My hands aggressively flew to my heart.

It wasn’t human pain. It wasn’t the sharp ache of my twisted ankle or my bruised knees. It was deep. It was ancient. It was a searing, white-hot electrical shock directly inside my soul.

The mate bond.

It wasn’t dead. It wasn’t completely severed.

The terrifying, silent black hole inside me suddenly sparked. It was just a tiny, microscopic flicker, but it burned like actual fire. It ripped through the suffocating darkness like a jagged bolt of lightning.

"Ah!" I cried out.

I doubled over in the freezing mud. I clutched my heavy chest, completely unable to breathe. The pain was absolute torture, but it was the most beautiful agony I had ever experienced.

He was there.

"Irina!" Andrei shouted aggressively. He dropped to his knees right beside me. His massive hands grabbed my shaking shoulders. "What is it? Are you hurt?"

I aggressively shoved his hands away.

Another violent jolt completely wrecked my body. It wasn’t just pain this time. It was a vicious, magnetic pull.

An invisible, incredibly strong tether violently yanked my soul. It didn’t pull me forward toward the jagged mountains where the rogues had dragged him. It pulled me backward.

It pulled me completely in the opposite direction.

My inner wolf violently clawed at my ribs. She howled a desperate, feral sound inside my mind. She completely ignored logic. She completely ignored the bloody footprints we had just followed.

*That way.*

The instinct was absolute. It was terrifyingly powerful. It completely bypassed my rational, human brain. It was a raw, ancient command vibrating in my blood.

I scrambled up from the freezing mud.

My bruised knees completely screamed in protest. My twisted ankle throbbed with pure agony. I didn’t care. I violently ignored the physical pain.

I turned my back on the jagged hills. I turned away from the bloody slaughterhouse.

I bolted.

I ran straight back toward the dense, terrifying tree line we had just cleared. I sprinted into the thick fog.

"Luna! Stop!" Roman roared. His deep, commanding voice violently shook the dead pine trees.

I completely ignored him. I pushed my weak, exhausted body past its absolute breaking point. I ran like a madwoman. The heavy, frozen branches violently whipped my pale face. The sharp thorns aggressively tore at my thin jacket and scratched my bare arms.

I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.

The searing, burning tether inside my chest violently yanked me forward. Every single step I took in this new direction made the golden spark burn slightly brighter.

"Irina! Where are you going?!" Roman shouted desperately.

Heavy, aggressive footsteps crashed directly behind me. Roman and Andrei were chasing me. They tore through the thick brush like massive, lethal predators.

"It’s the wrong way!" Andrei yelled frantically. "The enemy went into the mountains! Luna, stop running!"

"No!" I shrieked. My raw voice cracked violently in the freezing wind. "This way! He is this way!"

I didn’t slow down to explain. I didn’t have the breath.

My lungs burned like I was breathing actual fire. My heart slammed aggressively against my ribs. I slipped on a thick, icy root. I stumbled forward, my hands violently scraping against a jagged boulder. I completely ignored the bleeding cuts on my palms. I forced myself back up and kept running.

"Grab her!" Roman commanded loudly.

I heard Andrei lunging behind me. I aggressively violently twisted my body. I dodged his massive, reaching hand. I scrambled up a steep, frozen embankment.

The burning pain in my chest throbbed with terrifying intensity. It was pulling me so hard I felt like my soul was going to physically rip out of my body.

"He’s here!" I screamed desperately over my shoulder. "I can feel him! Just follow me!"

Roman violently cursed into the dark. "Goddess! Watch her flanks! Don’t let her out of your sight!"

I tore through the suffocating shadows. The fog was incredibly thick here. It completely blinded me. The stench of wet earth and rotting wood completely filled my nose.

But beneath it all, my inner wolf caught something else.

Blood.

Fresh, terrifyingly familiar blood.

The scent of pine and dark rain mixed with the sickening, metallic copper stench. It was incredibly faint, but it was there.

I crashed aggressively through a massive wall of dead bushes.

I burst out into a small, rocky clearing.

I instantly skidded to a violent halt. My boots scraped aggressively against the icy gravel. I threw my arms out to catch my balance. My chest heaved violently. I gasped for air, totally completely paralyzed by what I saw.

Roman and Andrei crashed through the bushes right behind me. They instantly froze. Their heavy weapons snapped up to their shoulders.

"Don’t move," Roman growled aggressively.

I squinted through the freezing, thick mist.

About fifty yards away, deep in the heavy shadows of the towering pines, silhouettes moved.

They were massive, hulking figures. Four of them. They moved slowly, their heavy boots dragging aggressively through the bloody snow. They weren’t running. They were completely exhausted.

They were Kossarov’s rogues.

My blood instantly turned to absolute ice. The terrifying void inside my chest throbbed violently.

They were carrying something.

I stared intensely into the dark. My breathing completely stopped.

The four massive rogues were gripping something incredibly heavy. They had it hoisted up between them. It was a massive, dark object.

A body.