291: Worse than death – Egon’s POV

Worse than death – Egon’s POV

A late summer breeze rustled through the air in front of the von Conradie residence in Lanark, fueling the flames of anger in Egon's heart.0

"If it were any other man, Bastian, I would have beaten him to a pulp by now," Egon growled through clenched teeth.

This had been going on for some time, but Egon had only truly noticed it when Adela brought the issue to his attention. Something was seriously wrong with Bastian.

Leopold shook his head in disbelief. "Your brother is right, Bastian. What the hell is wrong with you? You dragged him out of his bed next to his wife and brought him all the way here just to say that you've had a change of heart and decided against saying anything?"

"I'll repeat myself since you don't seem to be listening," Bastian uttered his words with a dark tone. "It's not that I've changed my mind. No, it's just that I'd rather say it in the presence of Egon's wife."

Egon's blood ran hot with indignation. Egon's wife? It was as if Bastian couldn't even pronounce Adelaide's name anymore. But he desperately wanted to believe that his brother's strong personality couldn't be so easily manipulated by the likes of the warlock.

Maybe shaking him up a bit would help.

Egon took a menacing step toward his brother who stared back with hollow eyes, that was when the beast in him felt a subtle shift in the air.

He's coming.

The tension in his back muscles eased as Andreas approached. If anyone could knock some sense into Bastian, it was undoubtedly him.

Andreas came to a stop between the two brothers, his expression twisted with concern.

"I've been contacted by the werewolves. We need to leave immediately. I'll carry Leopold, and you take your brother."

Egon's hackles rose, a sense of foreboding crawling over him. The werewolves wouldn't summon Andreas unless something dire had occurred with his first mate's tomb.

"We should go alone. It's faster."

Andreas placed a hand on Egon's shoulder, his face grim. "It's your house. It's on fire."

The news hit him like a lightning bolt.

"How is my wife?"

"Let's go and see for ourselves," Andreas responded with a somber tone.

No, not Adelaide. Please don't take her away from me.

Silence enveloped Egon as he sprinted too swiftly for sound to reach his ears. The rushing air exerted tremendous force on his face and body, making him hunch and limiting his field of vision. Yet, it provided just enough sensory input to keep him from colliding with anything.

As he neared his home, time seemed to slow down. The acrid scent of burning wood stung his nostrils, immediately followed by the recognizable scent of Marcus and two other werewolves. Egon paused for a fraction of a second, trying to hold himself together as he witnessed the three houses he had restored engulfed in flames.

"Adelaide!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Adelaide!" His wife's name was a painful shriek amidst the crackling sounds of the fire consuming everything.

Marcus blocked his path. "You can't go inside; you'll burn to death. I can't allow it."

Egon swung a fist at Marcus's face, but the Alpha easily evaded it. Marcus grabbed Egon by the shoulders and shook him, only to receive another punch to the face.

Spitting blood, Marcus reached out to Egon's back and yanked him back once more, with his Beta and Gamma joining in, forming a barricade in front of Egon.

"Let go! My wife! My wife is in there! Let go!" Egon shouted desperately.

"She's no longer in there!" Marcus shouted back.

Egon refused to listen. The power of man left his feet, replaced by the primal power of the beast within. He pushed the three wolves off of him with explosive force and kicked the burning door down, hurling himself into the inferno.

"Adelaide!" He shouted, his eyes and skin burning from the flames.

"Adelaide!" He let out a desperate cry, seeing how the fire had already consumed everything. That was when he was grabbed with a force far more potent than the shapeshifters and dragged out by sheer strength.

"Let go, for God's sake, Andreas! My wife!" He coughed and sobbed.

"I will find her for you," Andreas said, leaving Egon in the arms of Leopold and Bastian, the werewolves nowhere to be seen now that the von Conradies had arrived.

"I can't!" He cried, falling to his knees slowly as the men around him bore his weight. "I can't sense her through the bond... I can't!" He wept.

A strange sensation spread through his heart, a desire to fade away. For the first time in his life, Egon truly wanted to die.

When he looked up again, Andreas was crouching by his side.

"She is not inside," Andreas said calmly, his face blackened by the smoke. "This is good news. She must have gotten away."

Egon shook his head with the last shreds of his strength, the vivid image of his beloved Adelaide fading in his mind, her sweet smile losing its vibrancy.

Tears streamed down his face. "Where can she be? Where might she have gone? I can't feel a connection to her, Andreas!"

"She is alive," Bastian interjected.

"She escaped!" Leopold exclaimed.

Amidst the chaos surrounding him, Egon sensed Bastian releasing his arm and bending down to vomit. Rage engulfed him; he saw nothing but red.

"You dragged me out of my house only for it to burn in flames! Where the hell is my wife, Bastian!"

Leopold wrapped his arms around Bastian, who looked as if he might pass out any second now.

"I must go," Bastian murmured in a voice barely audible. "I can fix this if I go alone."

Egon was about to strike his brother when Andreas's voice resounded in his head, stopping him.

'Let him go so we can follow him. It is the only way for us to find your mate.'

Hope filled Egon's heart, stealing his breath. If his wife was not dead, she had been taken far away. But that was a far better prospect than her being lost to him forever.

He pounded the ground with his fists and let out a cry of anguish.

"Let her live," he begged the sky above him. "I will do anything. I will not covet her anymore! Just don't take her away so soon!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his brother struggling to his feet, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and stumbling away from them.

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