Epilogue
CALAN
This battle was proof of my failure.
It hadn’t even begun, but that we had two clans surrounding us was proof enough.
We were going to die here today.
Because I’d failed.
Logan stood beside me his jaw tight. He carried the same shame. He was the spy, I was the enforcer. He hadn’t seen this coming until it was too late. Then, when he finally had, I had no plans in place to stop it.
That didn’t mean we were surrendering. Far from it. All of our warriors were assembled here on the front line. We hadn’t risked leaving any in the centre of the clan lands, trusting those there to defend themselves if necessary.
Themselves, and the humans. Chester, Reid, and the others were locked in a panic room, several shifters outside. None of us liked it, but the reality was that we needed all of our power here, ready to face what was coming.
If they got past us, it would be too late. It’d mean we were already dead.
And everyone else would be too.
Evan was already shifted, along with his friends Hamish and Brodie. The three of them were crouched in defensive positions, each facing a different direction.
We were being surrounded.
Herded.
Finlay stepped forwards. “McCarthys! This is our land, and we will defend it or die trying.”
As far as motivational speeches went, it wasn’t long, but that didn’t make it any less powerful. Those shifted howled, while the rest of us cupped our hands around our mouths and howled along with them.
There was no fear in Finlay’s voice as he stepped close to speak to me. That didn’t mean he wasn’t feeling it. With his human mate several miles behind us, he was terrified. As his brother, I was able to see it when others couldn’t. “They’re too far away.”
I gave a clipped nod. Finn wasn’t referring to the shifters racing towards us from every direction. If anything, we’d have loved for them to be further away.
No, Finn was talking about the demons currently flying here as fast as they could, carrying Danny and several other supes with them. We’d put out an SOS when it became evident that the situation was beyond anything we could contain.
We knew Danny would come. As our former alpha, that was a given. Finn had hoped he’d bring others too, but none of us had expected all of them to come.
That’s right. Flying our way were Danny, the four sons of Lucifer, the former Grim Reaper, a once-upon-a-time member of the Seraphim, two mages, and two vampires.
It was a fucking shame they were going to arrive too late. At least we could die knowing our immortality would be avenged.
Danny and the others would destroy them all.
I hadn’t even protested about demons being the ones to come to our aid. Right now, our standing in the community wasn’t as important as surviving was.
Besides, it wasn’t like he’d be among them. To be completely honest, I wouldn’t even give a shit if he was.
I’d accept whatever help might save us.
Even from him.
“We can hold the line,” Finn said confidently. “We will hold the line.”
More howls rang out, from myself and the inner circle too. It didn’t matter that we knew better. We weren’t going to let our warriors go into this believing we were going to fail.
We might be going down, but we’d take as many of them with us as possible before we did.
The final marker pinged and I rolled my shoulders. As enforcer, I’d be the final one to shift, using my human voice to shout orders. To plan our attack as it happened.
As I should’ve done beforehand. Maybe then we wouldn’t be about to witness our own demise.
“First line ready,” I barked. At my words, Finn and Logan shifted. There were no final goodbyes. No words of love or wishes for what might’ve been. We were soldiers, at the end of the day.
Soldiers who knew we’d failed to do the one thing we’d vowed to do.
Protect our clan.
We’d failed, and now we were about to pay the ultimate sacrifice.
I could hear them now, countless padding footsteps crashing through the forest.
“Hold steady,” I barked at a wolf who looked like he was going to break formation. “Steady!”
He fell into line. I couldn’t blame him. This was the hardest part. To fight your instincts as death careened towards you.
I gripped my sword tighter. I might not be shifting just yet, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to be fighting.
Shapes appeared between the trees. Jaguars and wolves fighting together. Something that had never happened before.
I wondered if it’d ever happen again. I couldn’t see how these two clans would split our land, but that wasn’t really my problem.
I wouldn’t be here to see it.
The first few broke through the tree line. Wolves all around me braced, waiting for my order.
But I didn’t get a chance to give it.
Light filled the meadow along with an almighty crack. Several beings appeared as the bolts of lightning cleared, massive white wings peeking over their shoulders.
“Hold,” I bellowed, recognising Micah and Benji. In the back of my mind, I wondered how the fuck they even knew we were in trouble. Logan had reached out to them at the same time Finn had called Danny, but no one had answered. “Hold, McCarthy, hold!”
Shields of shimmering light erupted around us, the attacking shifters bouncing off of them.
No.
Wait.
That wasn’t just light.
It was fire too.
My mouth dried out.
No, he can’t be here. Why would he be?
Two angels parted, and I saw black wings and long blond hair.
Blond.
It wasn’t him.
The relief didn’t last. Not when the demon lowered his shield, calling something to a purple-haired angel.
But the fire still burned.
He wasn’t the only demon here.
The bottom of my stomach fell out. I might’ve thought I’d accept his help a moment ago, but having to face him after last time…
Oh fuck.
All of this happened in a matter of seconds. There was a lot of noise as the attacking shifters regrouped, Finn having shifted back into his human form to converse with Micah.
Something I should’ve been doing.
Shock was holding me still. Shock and foreboding.
Because he was here. I could feel him.
Then, I could see him.
Cutting through the swathes of shifters, his long, dark hair in an elegant bun, he didn’t attempt to hide the fury on his face. I was in for an earful.
Not that any of our other encounters had gone any differently. Except the last one, of course. The one I didn’t allow myself to think about. Ever.
If I didn’t think about it, maybe I could pretend it didn’t happen.
A voice that sounded oddly like his jeered back. “Keep living in denial. You’re good at that.”
He strode right up to me, knocking the breath from my lungs. That too wasn’t unusual.
It was always difficult to breathe with him around.
He grabbed my throat and squeezed. Logan wheeled around, ready to jump to my defence, but I held up a hand to stop him. “No. Don’t touch him.”
“So you’re not a complete idiot.” His crisp, cool voice was like a salve. One I expected to sting, but instead it soothed. “Could’ve fooled me. Did you really think I wouldn’t come?”
I hated that my heart was racing. I hated that he could feel it. “Why would ye?”
Oh, I’d done it now. Flames flickered in his eyes as he dragged me closer. “I might be nothing to you because you’re straight, but if you truly think I wouldn’t come to save you, then you’re a bigger moron than I believed you to be.”
With that, he shoved me away in disgust, striding off towards a third demon I hadn’t even noticed. He was glaring at me, his dark eyes full of suspicion.
His weren’t the only ones.
Logan shifted, hands going to his hips. “Want to tell me what the fuck that was about, Calan? Who is he?”
“Darius,” I said numbly. I couldn’t believe it. The truth I’d so carefully concealed was finally coming to light after all these years. “I’m his fated mate.”
Thank you for reading Evan!