Chapter 35: Shadows of War

The night air had a distinct smell of blood and pine, and I could feel the weight of the battle ahead of us. We had just pushed back Jared's scouts, while Derek and myself stood beside him, looking out over the battlefield. The only sound that permeated the room was the wind rustling through the trees. 

The dead were still lying in the ground, stains on my hands, and words I could not articulate to the Alpha next to me. 

As Derek bowed his head in an exhale, his golden eyes met the night sky, he whispered: "Lila," as though the name were a curse. 

I balled my fists up.  Derek, she's dangerous.  More than you think.  

His expression was unreadable as he turned to face me.  Then let me know.  Claire, no more secrets.  What precisely are we up against?  

I took a deep breath.  I had hoped to escape my past by avoiding this conversation for weeks, but the truth had finally caught up with me.  "Lila is Jared's weapon, not just his partner."  

Derek scowled, but he didn't say anything.  

Her training to manipulate, deceive, and break people from the inside out began at birth.  She can destroy someone without using claws by using schemes, whispers, and a smile that conceals a dagger.  I exhaled a trembling breath.  Jared didn't kill me outright when he rejected me because of her.  Instead, she persuaded him to let me suffer, to break me, to humiliate me.  

Derek balled his hands into fists.  "And she's coming here now."  

"Yes," I replied somberly.  She'll figure out a way to enter Redwater, either physically or by using our pack members' thoughts.  She will sow doubts and sway their allegiances.  Before Jared actually attacks, she will rip this pack apart from the inside if we are not careful.  

Derek's eyes were dark with thought, and his jaw tightened.  Then we deny her that opportunity.  We strengthen Redwater, our people as well as our boundaries.  Nobody moves by themselves, and nobody pays attention to rumours from the outside.  He fixed his gaze on mine.  And you—remain near me.  Lila is most interested in you.  

I knew he was right, but I detested the thought of being defensive.  Lila would have done much worse now that she had her own power if she had persuaded Jared to let me suffer once.  

A loud knock on the door of the war room cut us off.  Sienna stepped inside, her expression grim.  "We're having trouble."  

After exchanging glances, Derek and I followed her outside.  

---  

The problem was standing at the border.  

A single figure, draped in a dark cloak, their hands raised in surrender.  They weren’t Midnight Moon, at least not officially—but something about the way they stood, eerily still, made my skin crawl.  

Derek approached first, his stance wary but commanding.  "Who are you?"  

The person lowered their hood.  A female.  Pale, sharp-featured, her dark eyes unsettlingly familiar.  

"My name is Lysara," she said in a silky voice.  "And I have a message for you from Lila."  

Derek felt a muscle in his jaw twitch.  "Talk."  

A ghostly smile curved Lysara's lips.  "Lila proposes a ceasefire."  

Before I could stop it, I let out a chilly laugh.  "A truce?"  I took a step forward and spoke sharply.  "You're saying that she wants me to give up so she can enjoy seeing me plead?"  

Lysara's head cocked.  "War will arrive in Redwater sooner than you think if you don't.  And believe me.  She grinned broadly.  "You're not prepared."  

With his wolf barely contained beneath his skin, Derek's eyes flashed.  "Cowards who send assassins in the middle of the night are not people we negotiate with."  

Lysara gave a shrug.  "Then get your graves ready."  

As soon as she finished speaking, a sharp whistle sounded through the trees.  My instinct cried out to me.  

"Derek!"  I sprang forward in time to see an arrow emerge from the shadows.  

Derek swerved, narrowly escaping the lethal missile, but that was just the start.  

Shouts rang out as figures burst from the shadows, wolves clad in dark armor, their eyes glowing with Midnight Moon’s colors.  

All along, it had been a trap.  

I didn't have time to chase after Lysara, who vanished in the confusion.  The moonlight glinted on a warrior's blade as he charged at me.  I spun to kick him back after ducking under his swing and slamming my elbow into his ribs.  

Derek had moved in mid-stride, his great black wolf tearing with frightful accuracy through assailants.  We were unprepared for the charge of Redwater's warriors.  The Midnight Moon had deceived us by appearing when we least expected it to.  

The battle was vicious, a flurry of steel and claws.  Wolves' howls filled the night as warriors clashed, spraying blood onto the ground.  

Dodging, hitting, and refusing to fall, I gave it my all in the battle.  However, it was insufficient.  

My leg suddenly felt like it was burning.  

I looked down and gasped, stumbling.  A dagger.  Someone had stabbed me in the back.  

Before I could even comprehend the pain, a powerful force struck me.  

With the wind knocked out of my lungs, I struck the ground hard.  A figure loomed over me, his blade raised, and my vision became blurry—  

Derek then tackled him in a flurry of black and gold, his snarl tearing through the darkness.  

Derek's jaws closed on the Midnight Moon warrior's throat before he could even scream.  

Around me, the battlefield became hazy.  My leg hurt a lot, and I was losing strength.  The world tilted dangerously, and I fought to get myself up.  

"Claire!"  

Derek’s voice sounded distant.  Warm, powerful hands seized me and dragged me up against something firm.  

I blinked up at him, gasping for air.  "Have we won?"  

Anger tightened his face.  It wasn't a true assault.  Just a heads up.  

I could tell it was more than that, though, by the way his hands shook a little against mine.  

It was a declaration.

Lila and Jared weren’t coming to bargain.

They were coming to burn Redwater to the ground.

And I wasn’t sure we could stop them.