Chapter Thirty-Seven

Wave after wave of shadow creatures came at us.

Blood wisps, trolls, minotaurs and centaurs. All creatures that had not been seen since the days when magic became known to the world. Before, it had become a fairy tale to the humans and dwindled down to only the three beings born of its power.

Creatures that were known in their time as great powers and warriors of the gods.

And yet, we held them all off. Just three hybrids against the legions of monsters sent to keep us from their master.

"Watch out!" Aurora's voice called. I turned to see a large shadowy form of a dragon opening its jaws to shoot a ball of black fire my way. Aurora leaped in front of me before I could react. Her hands reached out with a spell on her lips before a fire ball of her own formed between us and the beast's open mouth. "Have a taste of summer."

With her words, the fire flew at the dragon, halting the path of its fire. Heat blew back from the collision of the two flames. I ducked down and stared in awe at the full strength of my mate's cousin and the future Crete Coven leader.

I had always known the Crete bloodline was powerful. They had a high affinity for natural powers and a strong connection to The Fates. And much like my own bloodline, people believed that they had descended from the first witches. The sister who chose to draw her magic from the very source of life on earth. The first Sun Witch and sister of my ancestor, Alkmene.

Watching Aurora and her power, I couldn't doubt the possibility. If anything, Aurora was proving the theory to be true.

She grunted as she pushed forward with her magic. She put all her strength into fighting against the shadow dragon, her fire winning in the battle of strength. With another firm push of magic and a battle cry befitting any warrior, she overcame the dragon's fire, and her harnessed sun was swallowed by the shadow creature.

We stared for a moment, watching and waiting for something to happen. Baer rushed to our sides in his wolf form and shifted back as he reached us. I watched with envy as he leaped between his mate and the potential danger. Watched as he could stand on his own two feet in his human form as I was stuck in my wolf's body.

The dragon let out a sound that resembled a scoff. His toothy grin turned up as he lowered his head and opened his mouth for another shot of his fire.

"Step back, Rory," Baer growled, with his arms outstretched. "I'll take it from here."

Aurora laughed and shook her head. "There's no need, look."

At that moment, light began to illuminate inside the dragon's stomach. The shadows which made up the dragon's body dissipated with each escaped ray of sunshine. The grin that had curved the creature's mouth fell, and the fire that had been building inside his jaws flickered out like a candle blown by the wind.

With a final burst of heat and power, the dragon exploded into sunlight. For us, it felt like the kiss of a warm summer's day as the air warmed and the breeze from the explosion blew past us with the scent of wildflowers and lemonade. But for the surrounding shadow creatures, it was as much a death sentence for them as it had been for the dragon.

The sunlight decimated all the nearby shadows. The number of the current wave cut down significantly from just one of the spells in Aurora's arsenal.

I chuckled to myself. ‘To think, we all considered Aurora the tame one between her and Sasha.'

‘Never underestimate the quiet ones, Ayden. They always show their strength when it matters most.'My wolf growled.

‘Aurora certainly proves that.'

I looked toward the castle, the number of shadows now dwindling between us and our goal. The wolf let out a snarl as we caught the scent of dark magic in the breeze with the sound of music carried from the open windows nearest the gates.

"We're almost there, Ayden," Baer said in response to the growl. "Just hold back that wolf behavior a little longer. I don't think Sasha is much into house training her mate."

I snorted in response and stepped out towards the next wave of monsters, ready to take this fight inside the castle and take back what The Dark Fate dared to take from me.

‘I can feel her,'my wolf barked at the feel of a gentle touch along the bond. ‘Her wolf is there as well. They aren't fully together, but they're close. Whatever was blocking them is weakening.'

‘Good,'I growled and lunged for a shadowy troll's arm as he attempted to swing a club at Baer's head. ‘If they can connect then Sasha will be at full fighting force. We just have to get there to back her up.'

The other two followed my lead. They put their trust in me to lead them this far. Trusted me to not lead them astray in our new quest to rescue Sasha from the darkness. To guide them precisely to their intended destination, finally ending years of being tormented by dark magic.

"I can feel that shadow guy here," Baer called out to Aurora. "It's the same energy I felt when he took Sash. We're definitely going the right way."

I snorted again as I looked over at the two of them. They took down shadow creature after shadow creature in the same fluid motion as myself. Aurora with her fire magic, and Baer with his own blend of earth and water magic.

"What?" he said as he caught my eye. "You're going feral, you can't blame me for being a little worried this was a wild goose chase of a wolf out for blood."

He laughed as I growled. ‘Ignore him,' I told my wolf. ‘Just keep your focus on Sasha. Keep your attention on that bond and the way it glows and pulses between us and her. Don't give in to anything but that instinct to protect our mate. That's the only instinct that matters.'

Those words were becoming my mantra. The only thing keeping me from truly going feral was Morus's spell pushed against the psyche of my wolf to take complete control and push my human consciousness out of the way. We both stayed in control together, just as we were intended to be, thanks to that mantra.

Baer leaped forward and took out the last shadow guard at the gate as Aurora aimed another powerful ball of harnessed sunlight at the wooden gate. As the smoke cleared, we found ourselves once again blocked in our path by the very witch and her vampire mate, who had first sent the legion after us.

"Well," Minerva said with a slow, sarcastic clap. "I have to say I am surprised. You certainly have earned your reward."

I bristled as I watched the witch, and my wolf began to pace impatiently.

‘Mate,'he said with a growl. ‘She's close.'

‘I know,'I said. ‘I feel her too.'

"Are you really surprised though?" her mate chuckled. "I'm not. That red head there, she's the daughter of the Crete hybrid who killed your little wolf friend, remember? She certainly has her parent's fiery spirit, I mean, for wolves anyway."

He smiled and wiggled his fingers at Aurora. "If you get home, tell your mother hello from me." Baer growled and stepped in front of Aurora, turning the vampire's attention to him. "Same to you. Your mother was one of my students after all."

"John," Minerva said, her brow raised. "Let's give him the choice before we give requests. After all, depending on what he chooses, they may never be able to deliver those messages for you."

John sighed and nodded as he took Minerva's hand and kissed her fingers. "You are right as always, My Love. Go on and give him his options then."

Minerva smiled, then tilted her head to me. The scent of magic swirled around me, and I felt my throat tingling as a strange shift began inside me. I howled out in surprise, my voice coming out not as a wolf, but as a man.

"There," Minerva said. "I can't fully shift you back to human. Not with you so close to the castle that is. The closer you are to her, the more wolfy you will become, you see. That's my king's wishes, but I can't possibly know what you choose if I can't understand you."

I let out a cough. "What the hell?"

Baer and Aurora both gasped. Their eyes widened as they looked down at me.

"Yes, yes, talking wolf. So, surprising. Anyway, I promised you a choice. Are you ready to hear it?" she asked.

"Where is Sasha?" I demanded instead of answering.

She laughed and shook her head. "Well, I will tell you depending on the choice you make."

"Why don't you just tell us now? Would make all of this a whole lot easier for everyone." Baer cut in.

Minerva looked over at him and cocked her head. "And what fun would that be? Nothing that is easy is worth having. Trust me, I've spent a millennium working towards my goals." She looked back at me. "Now then, you have two options. You can leave here now without the girl, return home and give your dear, sweet, magic-less uncle this vial," she waved her hand, revealing the vial in question. "And become his hero just as you had set out to be. The moment you leave this realm you will be able to shift back to a human and walk away from all of this mess with the very goal you left home to complete."

I stared at the vial with widened eyes as she paused and smiled back at me.

"Or" she continued. "You can walk right past me and through those double doors and try your luck at taking the girl back from the very creator of dark magic himself. The choice is entirely up to you."

My eyes remained glued to the vial in her hand. Images of Atlas sitting alone in the field when he thought no one was watching. His eyes filled with longing as he turned his gaze to the moon, twitching his finger in a desperate yearning for that blood-induced magic.

He always swore he was fine. Put on a radiant smile with the family as he taught each of the kids in the coven how to use the syphoning magic he discovered in his trials. He always said that it wasn't the magic that mattered, but the love that he surrounded himself and the people who he shared those feelings with.

The night before I left, I had seen him once again sitting alone on the hill and staring up at the moon. It was then that I swore to him in secret that I wouldn't return home without the magic that was rightfully his, and there it was. I could feel it. The family magic radiated out to me as it recognized the familiar bonds.

It wasn't a bluff on her part. She held the true magic in her hands that would return my uncle to his full self. Make him whole again.

"Ayden," Aurora gasped as she watched me.

"Shh," Baer coaxed her as he wrapped his arm around her. "You have to trust him. He will do the right thing. Just give him a minute."

"Tick, tock, Moon Witch," Minerva mocked as she twitched the vial back and forth. "This is a timed choice. Take the win or risk the loss. I think it's a no brainer personally."

‘Mate,'my wolf howled in my mind. ‘Mate, mate, mate.'

Images of Sasha flashed in my eyes as my wolf pushed memory after memory forward. Each one becoming a little more blurred with the feral curse pushing at our mind once more.

Then Atlas's voice came into my mind again. "It's not about the power or magic, Ayden. You have to remember that magic is what you make of it. What really matters is family and having your family's best interests in mind above all else. That's why wolves run in packs and witches practice in covens."

I looked back at Baer and Aurora. Two people who had once only been acquaintances, old schoolmates that I never spent much time with aside from competing with them and Sasha. Two people that after leaving the school I hadn't given too much thought about.

Yet now, as I looked between them, I saw them as so much more.

They were just as much my family now as my uncle, and it wasn't in their best interest to leave Sasha behind. It wasn't in Sasha's best interest to leave her behind, either. Hell, it wasn't in my best interest to leave her behind.

I looked back at Minerva and took a step forward, her eyes sparkling with interest as she held out the vial.

"My uncle has lived two decades now without that magic. Twenty long years of missing a piece of himself that no witch should ever have to go through." She reached out towards me with a smile, the vial in her open hand. "But he accepted that fate a long time ago. And he'd never forgive me if I turned my back on my family. It wasn't what he taught me."

Minerva's smile fell as she realized what choice I was making.

"I choose Sasha. And I will always choose Sasha till the day I die."

Her response of a cackling laugh as she threw the bottle in the air and I watched it disappear.

"Well, that day will certainly be today. Enjoy your choice while you can."

She and her vampire mate disappeared into the dark smoke of her magic, the path between us and the gate now wide open. I opened my mouth to speak to the others, to give them encouragement as we stepped into our next fight, but only a bark came out.

"Well, guess she took that spell back from you," Baer said with a pat to my head. "Don't worry, we know what you wanted to say. Let's go get our girl back."