Chapter 87

My muzzle was wet with blood, and I could barely taste the tang of it anymore as I shredded the soft bodies of my opponents. I couldn't tell how deep we were into Lionel's army, only that the lines of enemies never ended, and the choking congestion of bloody warfare never ceased.

I'd seen a blur of Phoenix fire on the horizon for a moment twisting through the sky, and that had felt like a win right there. Our queens joining the battle and taking charge. It had gifted me another bolt of energy, but I could feel my limbs tiring, every kill I made a little harder to secure.

There was no time to shift and heal the wounds on my skin, but I was sure nothing was deep enough to kill me. So I forged on. Tirelessly ripping through Fae and Nymphs, desperate to find that I'd finally led my pack to the end of their lines. But there was no end. And that fact grew more certain in my mind with each minute that passed. My pack was growing weary at my back. How much longer could we go on like this?

To my right, Frank and Alice took down a Nymph together, and my parents took another one down to my left while I snapped the neck of a fire Elemental between my jaws.

A flare of chaos went up further away in the battle and I reared up to see better, my eyes setting on an enemy legion of Fae marching for the front line in their shifted forms; Nemean Lions, Werewolves, and Repsian Tigers, all with huge metal guns mounted on their backs.

I swiped my Phoenix fire claws down the chest of an attacking Fae, shoving him to the ground beneath me and turning to look for Athena and Grayson. They were close on my heels, each of them in the midst of killing their own opponents, but when it was done, I barked to catch their attention and turned my nose in the direction of the Fae carrying those new, deadly weapons.

The twins ran to me, our noses touching for the briefest moment before the two of them raced away into the fight, peeling off from my pack and heading on their own mission. I wished them all the luck of the stars and tried not to wonder if I'd ever see them again, the thought too painful to consider. They had a job to do now, and I hoped the stars were watching over them to see it done.

A guttural roar made the air shiver, then another and another. My heart dipped as I tried to find what had made those bone-shuddering noises, but it seemed to be coming from the mountain to our right.

A battle cry went up and Lionel's army turned and ran, sprinting away from me and my pack while we remained on the bloodied ground, panting and staring after them. I looked to my family, hope caressing my heart at the sight of the retreating Fae. Was it over? Had we won somehow?

I turned to my mom and my dad beyond her, the two of them nuzzling one another in a moment of relief before they looked to me with bright eyes. Further away, a group of Polar Bear shifters stood among a line of our Elemental soldiers and a group of Nymphs were clustered around them, their alliance clear. Bonds forged in battle that could be openly seen in the way they grouped together, gazing outward instead of in suspicion at each other. They glanced our way, confusion passing between us as our adversaries retreated. Behind us, the hundreds of Wolf packs were reforming, taking stock of their injuries and licking their wounds.

But then those roars sounded again and the mountainside quivered, the ground rumbling beneath us. An ominous bellow of rending stone made my heart quake, and the mountain opened up, a great rift splitting through the rocks. Fear drove me to action, and I did a circuit of my pack, nudging them closer together and releasing a howl that they echoed, the sound filling my heart with courage. Then I took up the front position again, my parents on my flanks as we prepared to face whatever was coming.

The thundering of what sounded like a giant's footfalls came our way from within that rift, and horror licked its way along my spine as I took in the hulking body of a monster stepping out of that dark crevasse.

I dug my claws into the earth, a growl building in my throat as more horrid creatures appeared from the depths of the mountain.

Monsters. Some of the beasts were twenty feet tall with countless legs and hard-looking armour on their bodies, others were scaly, smaller with disproportionately-sized limbs and torsos, as if an array of strange animals had been stitched together. They were so terrifying to behold that fear rocked my soul, because they were headed right for us.

One of the many-legged monsters came charging our way, its beetle-like body coated in black armour, its beady eyes locked on me and my pack. I howled a charge then I was running to meet it, my Wolves tearing along behind me while another monster sped towards our allies.

I ducked the swipe of two sharp pincers then lunged for the monster's chest, my teeth crashing against the hard shell of its body and making me yelp in pain. There wasn't a dent in its armour and one of its legs slammed into me, knocking me down beneath it.

I growled, sinking my teeth into that spindly leg, working to tear it off as my Wolves descended on it as a unit. A twist of my jaws wrenched its leg off, then I barked at my Wolves to do the same. Together, we brought the creature to the ground, but before we could kill it, another being of nightmares came at us.

This one towered over us, even larger than the first, spikes sticking out of its fleshy body and three heads with jaws like a crocodile's aimed our way. It moved fast, lunging at my pack and my mom leapt up, going for its throat and trying to rip into its skin. She fell to the ground, spitting out a wad of flesh, but there was no blood, the creature seeming entirely unharmed. A bolt of adrenaline sharpened my mind as I raced to help her, clawing at the beast's chest, and my Wolves came to our aid along with a line of ally Nymphs.

The monster caught two of the Nymphs in one of its mouths, ripping them up and tossing the pieces of them away. One of its ugly heads turned its eyes on me and its jaws opened, trying to snatch me up. I swiped out with my Phoenix claws, tearing bloody welts across its eyes and darting aside before it could grab me. But its teeth snapped shut around my tail and I was dragged into the air with a yelp of pain tearing from my throat. The monster whipped its head sideways, releasing me so I went flying through the air, slamming into a soft body and gasping for breath as I found my cousin dead beneath me. I released a bark of grief and shoved myself up, running back into combat to seek vengeance for her death.

My heart thrashed in my chest as Frank was snatched into the monster's jaws and with a yelp of terror, he tried to get free. A wailing howl left me and I ran faster, trying to get there before those jaws crushed him, but a snap of teeth and sudden silence made me certain I was too late. Blood oozed from the monster's jaws before it tossed Frank's broken body into a heap at Alice's paws. She let out a pained bark and ran to meet the monster head on.

I was right there at her side, grief blinding me for a moment as I raced to avenge my pack mate. It was too awful to process, and I let out all of my agony as I clawed my way up the monster's side and onto its back with Alice, the two of us scratching and biting to try and mortally wound it.

The monster shrieked, shaking its giant heads and two of its crocodile jaws twisted around to snap at us. I slashed my claws at the face of the one aiming for me, but Alice wasn't fast enough, her body caught in the snare of those savage teeth. I lunged for her in desperation as blood poured and bones cracked, Alice thrashing and barking for help.

I howled in alarm, leaping at the monster's middle head, scratching at its face to force it to release her. The monster tossed her away and she hit the ground close to Frank's lifeless form, her body too still, too shattered to still hold life.

My ears rang with the knowledge of their loss, and I saw red as I turned and ripped into the flesh of the monster's neck. I gouged out great chunks of flesh, burrowing into its vile form and finally finding bone. With a snap of my jaws, I shattered the top of its spine and the monster began falling, hitting the ground, the force throwing me off of it and sending me tumbling across the battlefield.

It was dead at last.

My mom was there, nudging me up with a whine and I rose at her side, turning to find another monster headed straight for us. There was no time for my grief to claim me, the fight too thick, and too many of my loved ones relying on me. I couldn't let them down.

This scaled creature was horse-like in its gait but had an awful, ant-like face with serrated teeth in its open jaws. It sped towards us faster than my pack was ready for and one of its thick hooves slammed down on my dad's back, his body buckling under the pressure. A pitchy howl tore from my throat as I ran as fast as I could possibly run towards my dad. The man who had bounced me on his knee as a kid, who had taken me for trail hunts in the snow, who had taught me how to be strong, how to protect those I loved. And I was failing him now, not doing what I had been made to do.

The monsters lunged for the rest of my pack, leaving my dad in a crumpled heap and I dropped down at his side with a whimper, ready to shift and heal him, but his body was broken, no breath left in his lungs.

I bayed in utter grief, nudging his nose with mine, begging life to stir in him. But he was gone. I only managed to turn from him because my mom let out a sharp howl of pain, and then I was running, needing to reach her. To save her before any more precious souls could be stolen from me. My pack were falling, snatched up in the teeth of more and more monsters as they closed in on all sides. The other Wolf packs were running to help and I raced into the fray with them, but my kind were being torn to shreds around me, caught in the jaws of wicked, unspeakable beings and tossed into a mountain of bodies.

My mom was thrown down among them and I leapt onto the heaped corpses of Wolves, panic all I could feel. I caught the russet fur of her scruff between my jaws, trying to tug her away from danger, but another body fell on top of her and I had to try and prise her out from under the bulk of my uncle. It was too much, but if I could save her. If I could just save my mom-

I dragged her free, but found her lifeless eyes gazing back at me, too still, all too fucking still. My nose met hers, searching for breath, but no more would find her in this life.

Before I could process her loss, sharp jaws latched around me and teeth buried in my back, my flank, busting through my armour and piercing skin. My bones crunched and my mind turned to Caleb, my lasting love in this world. I didn't want to die in fear, I wanted to die with him in my mind, all the smiles of our past crossing my memory now. Him and the Heirs. We'd left our mark, we'd fought our fight, and in the end, I couldn't make it back to them. But their love would go with me into the dark.

As the sharpened teeth of the monster sank deeper, I felt myself falling, death's hand taking mine. And I said my last goodbye.