Chapter 17: Mazie

17

MAZIE

I don't know how much time had passed when my eyes opened again. I was sprawled across the dirt, like a rag doll tossed aside. As images around me started to come into focus, I thought of him.

"Ajax," I whispered, the name feeling like a lifeline. It was as if my words had conjured him. My heart seized when I saw him, his large frame cramped in a cage too small, his body covered with blood. The sight of him, once a towering pillar of strength, now wounded and confined, ignited something primal within me.

"Hey," I called softly, ignoring the pain that radiated throughout my body. I needed to see if he was okay. He had to be alright. I crawled towards him. "Ajax? Please be okay, please."

His head lifted, eyes unfocused as they tried meeting mine, and the pain reflected there was a punch to my gut.

"Mazie," he rasped, his voice raw with desperation. You have to get out of here. Warn the others. The hunters…"

I lifted my arm, showing him the iron cuff and chain, anchoring me to his cage.

"Like hell I'm leaving you here." Determination surged, an ember fanned into flame by the need to protect one of my own. I couldn't abandon Ajax when every instinct screamed that we were pack, bound by something more profound than blood.

I yanked against the cuff, not caring as my skin came into contact with the iron. The scent of burning flesh filled the air, but I wouldn't stop fighting.

"Mazie," he cried out weakly, "you're hurting yourself. I'm sorry. So damn sorry."

My umbra clawed to the surface, trying everything to shift despite the iron cuff. My body was caught in mid-shift. The pain was unbearable.

"Mazie," Ajax cried out, louder this time. "Stop it. You are going to send your umbra into a feral state. It will die attempting to free itself. Fight the urge to shift."

He was using his alpha tone, but it didn't matter. My umbra wasn't afraid of dying, not if living meant being without Ajax. I'd been a fool to run away. I knew that now. I was ready to do anything to save my mate and my pack.

A pulse of energy rippled through the air as if hearing my silent plea, making my skin tingle with power. It was her—the Moon Goddess—answering my call. I could feel her presence wrap around me, silver eyes in the darkness, whispering promises of strength and vengeance.

"Guide me," I murmured, closing my eyes. The world fell away, and in that moment, I was nothing but a conduit for her celestial might.

My body responded, stretching bones, tightening sinews, and sprouting fur in a rush of heat. The transformation enveloped me, but this time, it was different—my fur gleamed white, a stark contrast to the surrounding shadows. I was a beacon, a testament to the Goddess's favor, and I reveled in the raw power that coursed through my veins.

I snapped the iron cuff like a twig beneath my paws.

"By the Goddess..." Ajax breathed, awe coloring his tone even through his pain.

I flexed powerful muscles, feeling the surge of divine energy propel me forward. It was time to show these captors what happened when they cornered an umbra blessed by the moon herself.

Blood pounded in my ears, a primal drumbeat urging me to act. With the Moon Goddess' power singing through my veins, I turned toward the metal bars of Ajax's prison. My hands, now massive paws tipped with gleaming claws, reached out and grasped the cold iron. I could feel the resistance, but it was nothing compared to my fury.

"Stand back," I growled, low and dangerous. Ajax scrambled away as far as his cage would allow.

With a roar that echoed off the stone boulders, I pulled apart the bars with a screech of rending metal. They bent like straws in a child's grip, yielding to the divine strength that filled me. The cage door fell to the ground with a thunderous clatter, and Ajax stumbled out, blood matting his hair but determination lighting his eyes.

"Thank you," he said, his voice hoarse but resolute. "We need to get out?—"

His words were cut short as a hunter lunged at us from the shadows, an iron blade flashing dangerously in the dim light. Instinct took over, and I leaped before Ajax, interposing my larger frame between him and the threat. The hunter's knife struck home, but it was no match for the ethereal armor the Goddess had granted me. Sparks flew as the blade glanced off my luminescent fur without leaving a mark.

"My mate," I snarled, swiping with a paw. The force behind the blow sent the hunter sprawling across the room, his weapon skittering into the darkness.

More assailants emerged, their eyes filled with greed and malice. But they were mere mortals, and I was a vessel of celestial wrath. I charged, feeling the earth tremble beneath my paws, and met them head-on. Each strike was precise, each movement fluid—there was no hesitation, only the dance of combat, as natural to me as breathing.

"Keep behind me, Ajax," I commanded in thought, every word laced with authority. I could feel him in my mind again, as I'd done the night our union was blessed by the Moon Goddess .

He nodded, limping but ready to fight by my side. He'd lost a lot of blood, and that worried me. But I hadn't the time to fall apart now. Once he could shift into his umbra form, he'd have an easier chance of healing. I needed to get him to Kyle.

Together, we moved. I protected Ajax with a whirlwind of teeth and claws. No matter what they came at us with, guns and knives, I was untouchable. I fought not just for survival but for retribution—for every fear instilled, for every wound inflicted upon my kin.

One hunter mistakenly aimed for Ajax, thinking him the weaker target. Hot and blinding rage erupted from within me. I intercepted the attacker, my jaws closing around his arm with a sickening crunch. His scream pierced the chaos, a symphony to my enraged senses. I tossed him aside like garbage, turning to face the next challenger.

Eyes widening, I saw some pack members slip out of the shadows into the moonlight. At the back stood Raylene, whose face was marred by a look of pure evil.

"No!" I uttered to Ajax, worried what he would think of his pack's betrayal."

A roar shook the earth as fur and claws extended on Ajax's body. Despite their attempts at killing him, he'd still found the strength to shift.

"Stick close!" Ajax warned through the mind link. "I don't know how long I will last."

The battle was a blur of motion and sound, pain and exhilaration. With each enemy that fell, my fury burned brighter, affirming my purpose, my place in this world. I was more than the lost woman who'd first come here. I was Mazie Green, protector, fighter, umbra. Ajax fought with the zeal of a man betrayed by the people he loved. I could feel his anguish and heartache as he destroyed the rogue umbra's who had targeted their own pack.

Blood thundered in my ears, a primal drumbeat echoing the fury that scorched through my veins. My claws raked across another rogue's chest, ripping through fabric and flesh with equal disdain. They came at us in waves, but I stood my ground—fierce and unyielding .

"Come on, you cowards!" I roared, panting, my voice a guttural challenge amidst the snarls and growls. The scent of blood and fear hung heavy in the air, but it was their fear, not mine. Not anymore.

Ajax fought valiantly beside me, his rage mirroring my wrath. We were two halves of a whole, our synchrony decimating those who sought to chain us. Each time a claw or tooth threatened to reach him, my instincts flared, propelling me to intercept with a ferocious protectiveness that surprised even me.

"Watch out!" Ajax warned, his voice gruff with effort as he dispatched another rogue that had crept too close.

I nodded, barely registering the pain from the cuts and bruises that marred my skin. This wasn't about pain but about reclamation—of my life, freedom, and soul. I ducked under a swinging blade, feeling it whistle past my fur, and retaliated with a swipe that sent the hunter sprawling.

"Never again," I whispered, a mantra against the darkness that had once threatened to engulf me. With every takedown, I shed the helplessness that had dogged my steps like a shadow.

The last rogue, Raylene, fell with a choked gurgle, her eyes wide with disbelief as he clutched at the gaping wound on his neck. Silence crashed around us, punctuated only by the whispers of the wind rustling through the trees. The metallic taste of blood threatened to overwhelm me. It was all I could smell, taste, and see.

"Is it over?" I asked through the link. The events of the evening weighed heavily, as if the adrenalin had begun to fade.

"Did you get the Dr?" Ajax's voice cut through, buzzing in my mind.

I scanned the area, ensuring no more threats lurked in the shadows. Dr. Baker stood apart from the carnage, her eyes cold and calculating.

"Mazie, I can hardly believe it's true. You're one of the beasts," she commented, as if she wasn't standing in a clearing with mangled humans and rogue shifters in various stages of death scattered about like confetti.

It was clear she'd thought herself untouchable, pulling strings from a distance, manipulating lives as if we were nothing but pawns in her sick game.

"You'll never have power over me again," I said, though because of my umbra form, all she heard was a roar. I strode toward her purposefully. My umbra urging me onward to rip her throat out, to crush her beating heart in my paw.

Her hand twitched toward her pocket, likely for another syringe, but I was faster, fueled by a rage that had been honed to a razor's edge. I seized her wrist, twisting until I heard the crunch of bone, and she cried out in pain.

"Please—" she started, her voice now a whine of desperation.

"Please? Like you've ever shown mercy?" I spat in my thoughts as my umbra continued to roar at her.

Fear so thick you could taste it filled my senses, as did the smell of urine as she released her bladder. I might have felt bad about scaring her so much at one point, but that was before her betrayal and deceit crystallized into a singular point of white-hot anger.

With a roar that shook the remnants of the stone clearing, I ended her, biting down on her neck and ripping it out. Her blood filled my mouth and sprayed out as I spat what remained in my muzzle onto the ground. I released her body, and she slumped to the forest floor.

Standing over her, chest heaving, the weight of what I'd done. Blood pounded in my ears. The silence after the chaos throbbed with its rhythm. I barely registered the slick warmth that coated my hands or the acrid scent of iron heavy in the air. Turning slowly, I surveyed the surrounding carnage. Bodies lay strewn across the floor, lifeless eyes staring up at nothing. A growl rumbled deep within me, satisfaction and sorrow mingling in a bitter cocktail.

"Nice work, baby," Ajax's voice cut through the fog of my adrenaline. His tone held admiration laced with concern.

I went to him, seeing that he'd already returned to his human form. I followed suit, and Ajax took me in his arms immediately. "I love you, Mazie. So fucking much."

I tried to reply, but my throat felt lined with sandpaper. My eyes burned with unshed tears, and my legs trembled, threatening to buckle beneath me as the surge of power that had fueled my fury began to ebb away.

"Hey, look at me," Ajax said, tipping my chin up so that I could meet his eyes. He reached out, his hands framing my face, forcing me to meet his piercing blue gaze. "You're safe now. I've got you."

A dizzy spell hit me like a freight train, and the world tilted dangerously. "I don't feel so good," I whispered, the words slurring as my eyelids fluttered shut.

"Shh, I know. You've been through hell." His voice was a soothing balm, but it couldn't stave off the darkness clawing at the edges of my consciousness.

"Did I... did we win?" My voice was a mere breath, each word punctuated by the labor of drawing in air.

"Without question." Pride swelled in his voice. "You were magnificent."

"Guess I'm not just a pretty face," I tried to joke, but it came out as little more than a rasp.

"Never were, Mazie. Never were," he murmured, his thumb gently smoothing over my cheekbone.

My body chose that moment to betray me, strength dissipating like smoke on the wind. Everything hurt. My muscles screamed in protest, my bones weighed down by leaden fatigue.

"Can't hold on," I mumbled, feeling the pull of the void.

"Then let go. I've got you," Ajax insisted, his arms sliding under me as I began to fall.

True to his word, he caught me, pulling me into the fortress of his embrace just as the world went black. The last thing I was aware of was the steady thrum of his heartbeat against my ear, a reminder that I wasn't alone despite everything. Ajax was there, and with him, I'd found an unexpected haven—a place where maybe, just maybe, I could belong.