Chapter 22

I could hear howls from within The Moonlight territory once again; some of them were full of sorrow, others signaling attacks or defeats as I looked to the sky, over the gently swaying trees, as though it would help me to see what was happening elsewhere. Each cry sent a pang of fear to my heart for my pack members as I worried about their safety.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see dark figures emerging from the forest; some in wolf form, and some in human, each of them moving at different speeds. Some charged their way out of the thick darkness to surprise nearby enemies and fight, whilst others moved more stealthily further into the bloody battle going on around them as they tried to get to wolves that had already been restrained and attempt to free them.

Panic surged through me as I tried to think of what I could do to help. I watched as Pops ran to a woman panicking on the ground and assisted her to stand, then urged her to run.

“Enough! That will fucking do!” Corbin was losing his shit over the spanner thrown into his plans. His face was a deep red as his anger hit a lethal level, and spit flew from his mouth as he screamed orders to try and regain some control of the situation that he had created.

“Kill them all! I want anyone that dares to fucking move, dead!” He kept shouting, adding to the roar of deafening noise as every wolf battled for survival or control.

It was funny that the power-hungry freak avoided any direct conflict himself, but was not afraid to make others do his bidding, regardless of their own safety.

Reid was an animal; he was tearing through the throng of wolves, killing each one that he went up against. The power he exuded was burning, causing an unusual pulsing feeling in my pussy. I was hard to believe that I was getting aroused with all the death that was happening around me.

It was only when I stood in front of Reid that I noticed I had even moved. He straightened from his fighting stance and turned to me, confused that I stood before him in the centre of all the gruesome carnage. My hand moved as if it had a mind of its own; I lifted it and placed my palm gently on his bloody, stubbled cheek. He reacted by leaning into my electrified touch, instantly calming his wolf and reverting his eyes back to his blue human eyes.

I got lost as I focused on every little detail on his handsome face, trying to commit every dimple and crease to memory.

Both of us snapped back to reality at the same time. I pulled my hand away quickly, as if it had been suddenly burned by his touch and backed away a few steps to put some distance between us, before something else funky happened because of the mating bond.

Once my mind came back to focus again, I noticed that the deafening cries and growls from before had stopped. I looked around to see that again we had lost our attempt at freedom, and probably for the last time. Our numbers were severely depleted this time, and I knew that any further attempts were pointless and would just get the small amount of us that remained killed.

Still looking around at all the destruction, I noticed that dad was struggling against new bindings of rope and chains that were most likely made of silver, with many of Corbin’s wolves attempting to pin down his thrashing body. Corbin stood over him like he was an almighty conqueror of the world, watching Dad with a smirk as he snarled threateningly. Dad roared with all his remaining available effort, and with so much of his Alpha power, I saw all the surviving members of our pack and the lower-level status wolves of Corbin’s drop to the floor shaking, exposing their necks in submission. It held so much of his Alpha strength, that even I felt this strong pull to obey his every command. My hands and legs trembled as I fought through it; both Corbin’s seemed to be having the same trouble as me.

The pompous prick did not seem to have his fill at seeing Dad reduced to just his prisoner though. He raised his foot and stamped down on his head with all his strength; his extra weight helping to inflict more pain and damage.

Dad instantly stilled in his own form of obedience, but he refused to completely silence. There were still small rumbles constantly emanating from him.

“Just shut the fuck up!” Corbin screamed at Dad, completely losing his composure. “All of you can shut it and give up! There is no chance at getting away or any of you overpowering me. I am going to be king whether you like it or not, so you must obey me!” Sounding and looking like nothing other than a spoiled brat not getting his own way, Corbin was red in the face as he threw his tantrum, even resorting to stamping his feet as he screeched.

And of all the times in in the past, present and future, Pops decided that now would be a great time to laugh from her kneeling position on the floor.

Corbin stormed over to her, and without a word he bent over and punched her. The force of the blow pushed her sideways to the ground, where he then straddled her and threw punch after punch at her face.

“Get off her!” I panicked and ran towards them to try and stop him from hurting her.

He stood up straight and stamped on her face for good measure before he turned to face me, making me halt just a few metres from him. His face had warped majorly from the phony composure that he held earlier at the start of the night. Now he just looked wild, rabid even.

“You want to join her?” He pointed to Pops’ bloody, beaten and shriveled figure on the floor. But before I could answer, he ignored me and turned to Reid. “Sort her. Now.”

My eyebrows pinched in confusion, wondering what on earth he meant by that.

Reid slowly walked to me, looking unsure as he got closer. I could see in his eyes some sort of mental battle waging on in his head, making me even more confused.

I did not have to wait long to find out what the Corbin’s intentions were. As soon as Reid was close enough, he did not hesitate. Out of the corner of my eye, I seen his right arm lift and draw back.

The last thing I saw was a set of hard, pointed knuckles coupled with a blast of pain around my left eye, then the ground as I fell towards it.

~☆~

I kept drifting in and out of consciousness. I could feel myself floating and could see the ground moving along underneath me, but I did not have any strength to do anything. I could not control any part of body, leaving me extremely vulnerable to the person carrying me.

I started to feel scared at all the possibilities of what was happening, but the scent around me soothed my trembling nerves.

Eventually, I slipped unconscious again and this time when struggled to open my eyes slightly, it was dark.

I could feel a rumbling vibration underneath my body. I was laying on something that was cold and metal but that was all that I was able to figure out for a few minutes. I still felt weak and as though I could go to sleep for a whole week.

I could hear whimpers and others were crying. There were some small whispers of comfort to scared children, and I could hear something else, but I could not tell what; it was a whirring, crunching type of sound.

I tried to push myself up to sit when a hand pushed gently on my shoulder.

“Stop, don’t try to sit. You need to take your time.” Mum softly whispered to me.

I dropped back down to the hard surface, ignoring the jolt that it sent through my already sore and stiff muscles.

“Where the hell are we?” I croaked, not realising how thirsty I was and how dry my mouth and throat were until I had spoken in my raspy voice.

“We’re in one of their vans.” Mum whispered to me, her voice lowering more with each word, depression lacing everything that she said.

My stomach plummeted as a cold fear instantly washed over me.

“They’re taking us to their pack, aren’t they?” I asked Mum the one question that I did not really want answered but hope of any other possible reply is what had me ask.

“Yeh, they are.”

“Oh shit.”