The Matchmaker - The Arrax Saga Book 1 Chapter 220

The double doors groaned open beneath Saphira and Nikolas’s hands, the sound deep and ancient, like something waking from a long sleep. A breath of warm air spilled out, brushing her face with the scent of incense and polished stone. But beneath the warmth was something colder, something waiting.

The chamber was vast and domed, its ceiling painted with constellations that shimmered faintly in the low golden light. The floor was black stone, gleaming like water, and the walls curved inward as if the room itself were listening.

At the centre stood ten figures in flowing gold robes, arranged in a perfect circle. Their hoods were lowered, revealing faces that were eerily calm, smirking, composed, eyes sharp with something ancient and cruel. They didn’t flinch. They didn’t speak. They simply stood, hands clasped, as if they’d rehearsed this moment a hundred times.

And in the middle of them, like a jewel set in a crown, stood Lupus.

He wore no robe. Just a tailored black coat, his silver hair loose around his shoulders. His posture was relaxed, almost elegant, but his eyes, pale, cold, and unblinking, locked onto Saphira the moment she stepped through the threshold.

He smiled.

Not wide. Not cruel. Just enough to say, *I’ve been waiting.*

Saphira didn’t move. Nikolas was beside her and everyone else was behind her waiting for the first move, Jed, Raven, Asher, Zafira, Anastasia, Finn, Jasper, Talia, and Sam. She felt their presence like a wall at her back, but her pulse quickened anyway. Her fingers twitched at her sides.

She stepped forward, voice steady despite the tightness in her throat. “What are you doing here, Lupus?”

Lupus tilted his head slightly, as if amused by the question. “Waiting.”

Nikolas narrowed his eyes. “How did you know we were coming?”

The Core members laughed, soft, eerie, perfectly timed. It wasn’t amusement. It was mockery. A sound designed to unnerve.

Lupus’s smile widened. “I had help.”

Saphira’s brow furrowed. “From who?”

There was a pause.

Then Sam stepped forward.

He moved slowly, deliberately, until he stood beside Lupus, shoulders squared, chin lifted, expression unreadable. The golden light caught his face, and for a moment, he looked older. Colder.

Jasper froze.

“No,” he whispered in disbelief. “Sam…”

Sam didn’t look at him. “I’m tired of being on the sidelines. Tired of watching you all play hero while I rot in the background. So, I joined the winning side.”

Jasper’s face twisted, disbelief giving way to fury. “You betrayed me. You betrayed us.”

Sam’s jaw clenched. “You never saw me. I was just your shadow. Your backup and not your brother. I’m done being invisible.”

Jasper lunged, rage breaking through restraint, but before he reached his brother, one of the Core members raised a hand. With a flick of their wrist, Jasper was slammed against the wall. His body hit the stone with a sickening thud, and his breath left him in a gasp.

Saphira’s heart dropped, Talia rushed to Jaspers side.

Nikolas froze, mind-linking Saphira. *“They’re stronger than we thought.”*

Saphira glanced at Nikolas, then at Jasper, who was already up on his feet. Her gaze then locked onto Sam, on Lupus, her mind racing, her chest tight with something sharp and aching.

The chamber shifted.

One of the Core members stepped forward, their gold robe trailing behind them like liquid sunlight. Their voice was soft, almost tender, as if they were offering comfort instead of poison.

“You’ve come so far,” they said. “But you’re tired. You’re fractured. You’re afraid.”

Saphira felt it immediately, not just the sound, but the pressure behind it. Magic, laced with suggestion. It coiled around her thoughts like a vine, tugging at the soft places she kept hidden. Her doubts. Her guilt. Her fear of not being enough.

“You lead them,” the Core member continued, eyes fixed on her like a blade. “But you carry too much. You question every step. You wonder if they’d be better off without you as their leader.”

Her breath caught. A flicker of heat rose in her chest, shame, sharp and sudden. Her fingers twitched at her sides. She felt Nikolas shift beside her, his presence giving her the strength she needed, but even he was silent now. Listening.

Sam and Lupus remained at the centre of the circle, unmoving. Watching. Waiting.

Then the air cracked.

The chamber exploded into chaos as more Arrax pack members surged through the doors, wolves with bared teeth, witches chanting spells, dragons unfurling their wings, vampires moving like shadows. They came in waves, drawn by the mind-link, by the call to protect what mattered most.

They struck with fury and precision.

But the Core didn’t flinch.

They moved as one, ten bodies, one will. Their magic surged in perfect synchrony, a storm of light and force. With every flick of a wrist, every murmured word, another Arrax fighter fell. Some were hurled against the walls with bone-cracking force. Others dropped mid-spell, their energy ripped from them like breath from lungs.

Saphira fought beside Nikolas, half shifted, her magic burning through her. She struck, shielded, pushed back, but it wasn’t enough. Even with their bond, even with everything they had, they were being overwhelmed.

*“Nikolas,”* she mind-linked, her breath ragged, her vision blurring at the edges. *“They’re too strong. Even us working together, we’re barely holding them off. They’re winning.”*

*“I know, but we can’t give up.”* He answered, determined.

The Core surged forward, their combined magic slamming into the pack like a tidal wave. Bodies scattered. Shields shattered. The air itself seemed to scream.

Then suddenly, they stopped.

The Core stood in a line before them, robes gleaming like molten gold, eyes cold and unblinking. One stepped forward, the same figure who had spoken before. Their voice was calm. Measured. Final.

“You will not win. You were never meant to.”

They turned their gaze to Saphira and Nikolas.

“You have a choice. Surrender now, and we will let the rest of your pack live. Refuse… and we will kill every last one of them.”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Saphira’s heart pounded. Her gaze swept the chamber, over the fallen, the wounded, the ones still standing but barely breathing. Her people. Her family.

And then, like a spark in the dark, Anastasia’s voice filled her mind, clear, fierce, unshakable.

*“Don’t surrender. You can win this. We can win this.”*

One by one, the rest of the inner circle joined the link.

*“We’re with you,”* Raven said, her voice like steel.

*“We’re not giving up, so don’t you give up,”* Zafira added.

*“We fight, together,”* Finn growled.

Saphira turned to Nikolas. He met her gaze, and in his eyes, she saw it, not fear, but fire. Not defeat, but defiance. He gave her an encouraging nod.

She turned back to the Core.

“No,” she said in unison with Nikolas.