Chapter 76 The Fight
Jolie Pov
Midnight approaches like a countdown to war.
The pack gathers in the compound's center, wolves in leather and steel, weapons checked and ready. The air feels dangerous.
I stand at the front, moonfire already building under my skin. The full moon hangs overhead, bloated feeding power into my veins.
"Listen up." Ryder's voice carries across the assembled wolves. "We're not going in blind. Gio's given us layouts, guard positions, and weak points. Luna's going to hit them hard and fast. Our job is to capitalize on the chaos she creates."
He pulls up a map on his phone, projecting it against the garage wall. "The fortress has four defensive lines. Luna breaks the first two with moonfire. We handle the third while she deals with the Council members themselves. The fourth line is our extraction route."
"What about the two hundred defenders?" someone calls out.
"Most of them will be too busy with Luna to worry about us." Ryder's smile is sharp. "The few that do notice are your problem. Deal with them."
I step forward, letting moonfire blaze to life around me. "Before we go, I need to touch each of you. To boost your abilities."
Knox steps up first. "Let's see what divine juice feels like."
I place my hand on his chest. Moonfire flows between us, finding his wolf, his strength, his protective instinct. I pour energy into those traits, amplifying them until his eyes glow white.
"Holy shit." He flexes his hands, staring at them. "I feel like I could fight a hundred wolves."
"Don't get cocky." But I smile, moving to Luna next.
One by one, I enhance them. Luna's stealth becomes supernatural. Mara's aggression turns into focused violence. Phoenix's speed doubles. Doc's healing abilities sharpen.
By the time I reach Ryder, I'm breathing hard, but the power still flows strong.
"Your turn." I place both hands on his chest, over his heart.
His wolf rises to meet my moonfire, Shadow recognizing Ash. The mate bond flares as our energies intertwine, and I pour everything I can into him. Strength, speed, durability, tactical brilliance.
When I pull back, his eyes are pure black. "Damn."
"Yeah." I sway slightly, and he catches me. "Okay. That was more draining than expected."
"You good to fight?" Doc moves closer, concerned.
"I'm good." I straighten, drawing on my power to steady myself. "This is the moon's full. I've got plenty of reserves."
"Then let's ride." Ryder swings onto his bike.
Engines roar to life. Twenty motorcycles, twenty enhanced wolves, and one divine vessel riding toward war.
The highway flies past under our wheels. Wind tears at my hair as I press against Ryder's back, feeling his enhanced strength through the mate bond.
Ahead, the Council fortress rises against the night sky like a dark castle. Walls topped with silver wire. Guard towers at each corner. Lights blazing from every window.
Two hundred wolves waiting inside those walls.
We slow as we approach, cutting engines a mile out. The final approach happens on foot, silent and deadly.
I can feel them now. The guards, the Council members, the prisoners. Hundreds of emotional signatures blending into a symphony of fear, arrogance, and cruelty.
"There." I point to the eastern wall. "It is the Weakest point, it has twenty guards instead of fifty."
"Only twenty." Mara mutters. "Great odds."
"They are when I'm leading." I let moonfire explode outward, a wave of fire that lights up the night.
The guards see us coming and alarms start blaring.
"Now!" Ryder shouts.
We charge.
My moonfire hits the eastern wall like a battering ram, blowing a hole clean through stone and silver wire. Guards scream, diving for cover as the divine light burns through their defenses.
The pack pours through the breach, enhanced wolves moving with supernatural speed and coordination. Knox takes down three guards before they can raise their weapons. Luna's daggers flash in the moonlight, silent and lethal.
I run at the center of the formation, moonfire blazing around me like an aurora. Anyone who gets close burns. Anyone who aims a weapon at my pack finds their gun melting in their hands.
"Second line!" Ryder points ahead.
More guards, better armed, better trained. They've formed a defensive position behind concrete barriers, silver bullets loaded and ready.
"My turn." I sprint forward, ahead of the pack.
The guards open fire. Bullets scream toward me, each one blessed silver designed to kill divine entities.
And for a moment, I feel it. The burn of holy metal cutting through my moonfire. The searing pain as blessed ammunition finds its mark.
The power within me surges, and everything changes.
Ryder POV
The blessed bullet hits Jolie square in the shoulder.
I watch her stumble, moonfire flickering like a candle in the wind as my heart stops.
"Jolie!" I'm running before I realize I'm moving.
But she doesn't fall. Instead, she straightens, and the moonfire around her explodes outward in a blinding wave.
"Stay back!" Her voice echoes with divine power. "I've got this!"
The blessed silver embedded in her shoulder starts to glow. Not burning her but fueling her.
"What the hell?" Knox slides to a stop beside me.
More blessed bullets slam into her moonfire shield. Each impact makes her power flare brighter instead of weaker.
"It's not working!" One of the guards screams. "The blessed ammunition isn't stopping her!"
"Impossible!" Another guard empties his clip. "Divine power can't overcome holy weapons!"
But Jolie's laughing now, wild and free. The moonfire around her pulses with each blessed bullet that hits, absorbing the holy energy.
"They don't understand." She turns to look at me, eyes blazing. "I'm not fighting their weapons. I'm feeding on them."
A blessed bullet melts mid-flight, dripping liquid silver that evaporates before hitting the ground. Then another, and another.
The guards' weapons become useless in their hands.
"Fall back!" Someone with an officer insignia shouts. "Fall back to the third line!"
"No." Jolie's voice carries across the battlefield. "You don't get to run."
Moonfire lashes out, wrapping around fleeing guards and pulling them down.
"Move up!" I signal the pack. "Before they regroup!"