Chapter 20 #2
I hit him once. Twice. Then my claws rip brutally across his cheek. He howls in agony and stumbles backward.
“Thank you, Luna!” a man and woman cry out while pulling their son tightly into their arms.
The title makes me flinch for half a heartbeat. I haven’t officially been crowned Luna yet, and I can’t protect them. But there’s no time to dwell on that irony now.
“Follow that guard,” I order quickly while pointing toward the man already guiding several terrified women through the chaos. “Go to Mrs. Geeny’s house to the west.” Within seconds, they disappear into the forest.
“Alexa! What the hell’s goin’ on?” A curly haired man runs toward me with ragged breathing.
“Alpha Romero! You came.”
Relief strikes me instantly like lightning. I never expected reinforcements.
“I was stunned when I reached the main gate. Hundreds of them swarming the front. I had to circle through the forest and find a quieter path. Even then, I had to fight off a dozen before I made it here. Who are these people?” he asked.
“They’re Blood Moon Pack soldiers, Alpha Alastair’s men,” I said, trying to steady my breath.
“Damn it,” he grunted. “He knew you were vulnerable. With Gabriel gone, there’s no Alpha or Beta. No mind link to command troops and summon reinforcements. Where’s Mr. Pascoe?”
“He stayed behind to fight Alpha Alastair. He gave me the chance to escape.” My voice trembled with both rage and fear. “What do we do now?”
“Alexa!” Harlow appeared, sprinting toward us. His face glistened with sweat and streaked with claw marks. “We have to evacuate. Now.”
“Evacuate? Shouldn’t we be fighting to protect the territory?” My brow furrowed at his words.
“No,” Romero cut in. “Harlow’s right. They have surrounded this pack. The main gate is overrun. Other entrances are under attack. And without the Alpha or Beta to command, there’s no one to organize the guards. We can’t fight like this.”
“Which gates are under attack?” Harlow asked.
“Main and east. I came through the north. There were fewer attackers, but some followed.” Romero explained amidst his quick breaths.
“Then there’s only one way left,” Harlow said. “The western cliff. They won’t expect us to go that way, and it’s too difficult for them to climb.”
“But it’ll be difficult for others as well,” Romero frowns.
“We’re surrounded,” Mythril grumbles.
A monstrous roar splits the air, rumbling from inside Mr. Darius’s house like something clawing its way out of hell itself. On the second floor, a blinding red light bursts through the curtains. It is thick and ominous. The crimson glow looks horribly out of place against the storm-darkened sky.
Black energy swirls violently through the air, dragging storm clouds across the sky until darkness swallows the entire estate. Through the window, I catch the silhouette of something massive. A towering figure stands there, its elongated snout curled into a feral grin.
My pulse spikes as the pressure in the air crushes my lungs. This aura feels far more oppressive than any Alpha energy I have ever felt.
Then suddenly, someone is thrown through the second-story window. Glass explodes outward. A body crashes onto the ground right at my feet.
I freeze as my gaze slowly drifts toward the body. Black suit. Blood soaking through the fabric. A ripped crimson tie hanging loose from the ruined collar. Above it, there is nothing. No face. No head.
My stomach twists violently as realization crashes into me. Mr. Pascoe. The man who saved me.
Now there’s almost nothing left of him except shattered bones and a mangled heap of flesh and fabric. The sight is horrifyingly similar to the corpse Harlow and I found on the cliff. The corpse on the cliff, the black ritual. It was all connected.
My knees buckle beneath me. My trembling hands hit the dirt to keep me from collapsing face-first onto the ground. The metallic stench floods my senses until it becomes the only thing I can smell. A violent nausea twists through my stomach, and I jerk my head aside before vomiting onto the grass.
“I’m sorry. Stay with me, Alexa.” Alpha Romero drops beside me, rubbing my back carefully.
Harlow immediately steps in front of me, trying to block my prolonged view of the corpse. Then another deafening crash erupts above us. The beast leaps from the shattered second-story window. It lands hard enough to crack the ground beneath its feet.
It towers above us, its fur red. Red? No. The fur is gray, drenched in blood.
Grotesquely uneven muscles bulge beneath its skin like something stitched together wrong. Even from several feet away, I can see saliva dripping from its massive fangs. The creature slowly rises to its full height.
“So damn nice of y’all to show up to my party.” His voice comes out rough and distorted, yet dripping with sinister amusement.
That voice... Alastair?
“What the hell did you do to yourself, Alastair?” Harlow asks, narrowing his eyes at the monstrous figure.
“You wouldn’t get it.” The beast grins wider. “You were never invited to be part of this little secret. I only told the Alphas there was another path to power. Ain’t that right?” His glowing eyes shift toward Alpha Romero, who already stands poised to fight.
“So this is what you meant by gaining power? Is this why you asked for that meeting that night?” Romero growls. “You turned yourself into a fucking monster. You sacrificed people for this? You wanted me involved in that ritual too?”
He chuckles. “Gabriel tried, but he was too much of a coward to finish the ritual. Funny, isn’t it?
” Alastair sneers. “Why should Harlow and Alexa be the only special ones born with ridiculous Lycan power?” His monstrous chest rises with excitement.
“I can become even stronger than him. No man or shifter can beat me anymore.”
“You betrayed the Moon Goddess,” Romero says coldly. “You chose darkness over everything else. All this just because you wanted more strength?”
“Why the hell not?” Alastair lets out a low chuckle that makes my skin crawl. “I’m sick of this tiny patch of land. I want more territory. More power.” His eyes lock onto me.
“If Alexa had chosen me, that supreme power would’ve awakened through our bond. We would’ve become unstoppable.” His muscles tense as he crouches lower, ready to attack.
“But she chose him instead.” His grin twists wider as he turns toward Harlow. “So before the two of you become something greater than me, I’ll burn this entire pack to the ground first. Don’t worry, Romero. First Light Pack’s next.” The sound of his laughter sends ice through my veins.
“Alexa, go.” Romero shrugs off his suit jacket, his eyes blazing with determination. “Help Beta Julius evacuate everyone. I’ll handle him.”
“I’m staying too,” Harlow says. His bones crack and muscles expand as he shifts into his massive gray Lycan form. “I may not be an Alpha, but I’m not letting him hurt anybody else.”
“Two against one?” Alastair bares his bloodstained fangs. “That’s pathetic.” He laughs again. “But it won’t matter. I’m stronger than all of you now.”
“Alexa, c’mon!” Beta Julius grabs my arm and pulls me upright. “We gotta move. Where should we go now?”
At first, I resist. Every instinct screams at me to stay.
But Beta Julius forces me back onto my feet anyway.
I turn away reluctantly, each step feeling heavier than the last. I want to help.
I can help. But I also have to lead my people somewhere safe.
Right now, they need me more than they need another fighter.
I glance back one final time. The last thing I see is Alpha Alastair lunging straight toward Harlow before I run.