The tension of the cool night air prickles my skin, and I watch in dismay as the wolves nearby scatter off into the preplanned groups and move towards the village. Leaving me feeling like we are vulnerable and few. They are to try and gain an alliance with those we left behind, from the shadows, and we’re to wait here as a front line for the invaders heading our way. They will drive us back towards the valley, where we will be met with reinforcements and hopefully will have thinned out the vampires a little.
The witch can see them coming, and we don’t have long yet it seems like it’s already been hours. Tense and hidden and waiting as our numbers lessen and our pack melts into the village to try and reinforce us with the ones we left behind. We need the numbers to stand a chance and to avoid a collision with Juan beforehand in case we get distracted. Juan won’t focus only on them; his desire to see Colton fall will push his hatred both ways.
My heart starts beating wildly in my chest as I cower behind my mate, flanked by my most trusted, and close my eyes against the now heavy darkness to listen to the sounds around us.
“The vampires know something’s up and have split and made a wide berth around the valley. They changed course, so waiting here is futile. They are aiming for the village, not us.” Leyanne bursts into our blue bubble, startling me in the process, appearing beside Colton as though summoned from thin air. Her dark figure is concealed with that witchy cloak she is so fond of, which makes her both mysterious and terrifying. If I had to conjure a movie witch in my head, she would look like this. Hair flying in the dark, face pale and delicate with almost black eyes.
“Shit. They know we’re here?” Colton shifts back to human to reply, still crouching on all fours.
“Likely. No doubt you were seen. Varro has his spies much as I do; some of those beasts have wings. Your wolves in the village….. have they had any luck?”
I shake my head in his stead, not knowing what sort of persuasions are going on as none of them have linked us yet. They might still be stealth-crawling close enough to get there before Juan’s minions' kick-off. It seems Varro has little to no interest in anyone but the ones still living on this mountain.
“We can’t stay here while they infiltrate behind us. We have to hit this face on. …..I need to go right to the target. My father. It’s the only way to get between them and be where Varro is heading.” Colton stands up abruptly, and Leyanne turns away to shield his unexpected nakedness. She seems unfazed by it since she has been around us a while, but non-wolves tend to be conservative about it in the way we are not. A sign of respect is to not stare at us naked.
“And then what? Fight him?” I blurt out in impulse and instant fear, shaking my head to try and dislodge the panic forming.
“It’s going to happen one way or another. At least if we are in there first, we can be more useful than out here. If we stay here, we might not be part of it at all.” Colton smooths his hand over my hair in a sweet and comforting way, knowing how I’m starting to feel. His voice tender for a second.
I know he’s right, and I am clinging onto some hope that we can intercept Varro, that my existence will be enough to end this without a fight, even if I know it’s a lie deep down.
“Colton… not to sidetrack, but..” Leyanne interrupts with a sudden serious gaze. “About the issue with a certain previous conversation. The things I needed for a spell. I ticked it off my to-do list while perusing my birds.” Her penetrative gaze and hushed tone make it clear that her words are not for Sierra, who is close by, and we both know immediately what she’s talking about.
The bind between our lives. She said she could break it, and until now, she hadn’t mentioned it again. This is her way of saying she didn’t forget, and while she’s been absent, she took care of it. Quiet and efficient, just the kind of powerful witch she is. As though it was nothing more than a simple errand she had to run. The danger connecting us to Juan is now not an issue to anyone but Sierra. She wants us to know before we head off to fight.
“Hmmm.” Colton is distracted and uninterested, but I can read his intensive focus on her, and Leyanne sees it.
“Problem solved. It isn’t an issue anymore. Completed a successful mini-mission with absolution. Between us three, right?” She smiles softly and pats him on the head in an absurdly cute manner. I almost balk and choke on my saliva in disbelief that it's just done with a snap of her fingers. Half my life was tied to my mother-in-law, and now, blink, blink, it’s undone.
“I…..?” The words die in my throat as my mate catches my hand and squeezes it tight, bringing me back to my senses.
“Right. Thanks.” Colton coughs to cover my reaction, yet I can feel his sudden spike in adrenaline as it courses through me too. She’s unlinked us, and now more than ever, Sierra should never find out. If she knew, she would sacrifice herself for the pack's and her son's good. We both know this.
Alpha… the Vampires, are coming in from the mountain and south side. We need you here. It’s started.
The link comes at us out of the blue. Domi from the valley, a cry for help, and everything becomes Chaos. My heart is lurching because I know talking it over and making plans it’s all futile. No longer hesitating because Colton’s decision is made for him.
Wolves begin breaking away from our line. Colton turns to me and tugs me close to him. It’s so fast, so rushed, and I almost get lost in the movements. I try to cling to them, passing with sudden fear, but he draws me to him and pulls me into his chest.
“Go with Leyanne and the guard. Take my mom. Get to the manor and wait for me there. That’s where my father will be and where Varro will go. Flank the main entrance and do nothing else but stay put. It’s safer there than here.” His casual confidence he normally wears like a shroud is gone; instead, he’s grasping for a new plan as everything falls around us like dust. They were supposed to come head-on.
“I can try and talk to him, try and stop this….” I start but am silenced with a shake of the head.
“He won’t stop. He wants revenge. Just go and stay there. You have guards, Carmen, My mom, and Leyanne. Stay safe. If vampires flood the manor, get out of the way and don’t go inside for anything. I’ll be there as soon as we control the threat to the rest of the pack. They’re hitting the villages first. Furthest from the manor…. I’ll get back to you before they do.”
I know what he’s thinking. Deal with the attack, rally the pack, and put me furthest away from the fight while he does it. His plan to stay with me isn’t going to work if the vampires have separated to flank the entire village. He won’t be able to fight hard and gain control with one eye on me the whole time.
He knows he must come to the manor where his father will be hiding, so right now. He thinks it’s the safest place for me to wait. Varro won’t know where Juan is and will expect him as alpha to come to the aid of his pack at the south edge. They don't know that Juan will happily watch his blood die to save himself and his loyal.
“Okay… I love you.” I don’t know what else to say beyond that. I can argue and beg him to stay with me, but we both know he needs to lead. Our pack is strongest with him at the forefront.
“Take her and go.” Colton nods to Radar, who immediately comes to my side and presses my shoulder with his. Flanking me, I’m almost squeezed as another wolf approaches my other side. Colton leans in fast and hits me on the forehead with a firm kiss before spinning away and leaping backwards into the air, turning mid-flow. From beautiful human to fierce beast as he lets out a war howl, and it seems to erupt all around us.
In the blink of an eye, he’s gone, along with a trailing tail of wolves coming from the undergrowth. Heading where they are needed, where the battle is already beginning.
Luna… Please,
Radar links me, and I am nudged out of my trance-like state and pushed into moving in the direction their bodies force me. I glance back to see my entourage forming a circle around me, and Sierra comes up at my rear, so her nose is an inch from my neck.
We will get through this together. Don’t be afraid.
She links me with that sweet and calm tone. The mother in her needing to console me.
We move stealthily through the woods and out into the open, the night air chilling my skin into goosebumps. The sight of familiar old territory churns my soul strangely as my homeland appears like a dark and haunting memory. We are fast to close the gap across wide open space and head to our destination with intention. To the Manor, the place I never thought I would return to, and the man hiding within its walls I hoped never to lay eyes on again.
I can feel the tension in the air, and the sounds of a raging fight begin to echo our way on the wind, which is strangely soft tonight. My hair rises on my skin as the hackles on my wolf guards follow suit. The noises of war are familiar with past experiences yet different from this distance.
Calls, cries, ripping and crunching. It sounds like trees being pulled from the earth while rocks crumble and wood splinters. Howls circle us, and links from the pack begin a dizzying crescendo in our heads as they communicate and try to filter one another out amid the frenzy of battle.
Block the links, and don’t listen. I’ll tell you if you need to hear anything.
Carmen comes through the deafening mess with her sweet and strong tone. Commanding me yet saving me at the same time.
As Luna, I shouldn’t block out my people, but I don’t have the mental capacity in human form to separate the links the way I can as a wolf. It’s all coming at once and ripping my heart to shreds as I absorb the fear and pain of my pack in our special way of communicating.
“She’s right. You are here to be seen and nothing else. When your father shows up, then you can do something. Let your mate do what he needs to and block the rest out.” Leyanne pats me on the head, and it’s only now I realize she is with me, not them. I turn with a sudden flinch and glare at her.
“Why aren’t you with Colton? Where he needs you the most?” I blanche.
“Oh, pet. You really have no faith in your mate or your pack. I am where I need to be. You are important to your people and the future of two breeds, maybe even three. I am only doing my civic duty as an immortal sister.” She smiles in her carefree and grating way and saunters ahead, lighting the way with a dull glow from her palm, yet it irks me on many levels. I open my mouth to protest but am silenced by Sierra.
She’s right. You’re in the center of all this. Colton wants you protected, and the witch is useful to us if we are strolling toward the lion’s den. Juan may not stay inside and hide when he knows you and I are standing at his front door. In fact, I’m hoping on it.
Sierra sounds detached and almost cold. Her emotions swirling with bitterness and hatred that I know are aimed at her mate. I blink at her and have a moment of doubt. Knowing how desperately Sierra wants to see Juan fall, feeling it in her every breath. I suddenly become scared that she would feel the change in our bond. Maybe somehow, she knows the witch has done something.
There’s fight in her words, a weird sense of fire and fury coming through, and I hesitate at the possibility that Sierra is hoping for Juan to face us while the pack is distracted. Maybe she knows already. Perhaps this is what she wants. If somehow, in some crazy way, she sensed the bond between us has been unlinked, then maybe right now, all she is focusing on is heading to a target she now thinks she has the power to take on alone.