Chapter 2 Combined
Ryder’s POV
Brianna didn’t just buy us time. She took the battlefield and tore it open.
The ground had split beneath our enemies, swallowing some whole while others stumbled back just long enough for us to regain footing. For a heartbeat, it felt like control had switched back into our hands.
Then they kept coming from every direction. Relentless.
The perimeter we thought we had carved out collapsed again under their large numbers, bodies pressing in, claws flashing, snarls cutting through the chaos like blades. We weren’t just surrounded anymore, we were being overrun.
“We need to shift,” Ronan growled.
“Not yet,” I snapped, sidestepping a lunging wolf and driving my claws through its shoulder before tearing free. “We use what we have.”
I forced myself to focus. Noise pressed in from every direction. The shouts, impacts, the sickening sound of bodies hitting stone but I pushed it back, narrowing everything down to what mattered.
Control.
I reached for it. And it answered.
The ground beneath my feet pulsed, responding to the surge of power as I drove it outward, a shockwave rippling through the earth. It hit fast and hard, knocking several attackers off balance, buying us another second to breathe.
“They’re using magic!” Elara’s voice cut through from somewhere nearby. “They cast something, we’re being pushed!”
I couldn’t see her but I trusted her.
I turned my head just enough to catch sight of Atlas and Cassian. Both in their lycan forms, both holding their ground, though barely. Four, maybe five wolves each circled them, darting in and out, testing for an opening.
They weren’t slowing down. Which meant neither could we.
I scanned the rest of the field. Everywhere I looked it was falling apart.
Guards were being driven back, warriors struggling to hold formation as the attack broke through every line we tried to form. This wasn’t a raid. It was a full assault. And they came prepared.
“They came to destroy us,” I muttered under my breath, more realization than statement.
And right now, they were doing it.
I turned sharply.
Brianna.
She stood out immediately, her lycan form unmistakable, her presence commanding even in the middle of chaos. The elements moved around her like they belonged there, responding to her without hesitation.
She wasn’t just holding her own. She was pushing back.
“Princess!” I called out, blocking another strike and driving forward.
“Yes, my prince?” Zia answered, her tone steady, almost amused despite everything happening around us.
Ronan let out a short snicker. “Is she flirting right now? In the middle of this?”
I couldn’t help it. A brief laugh broke through as I ripped another wolf off its feet and threw it back.
“Focus,” I muttered, though the edge of it softened.
I moved closer to her, closing the distance between us as another wave pressed in.
“Princess,” I said louder, forcing my voice over the noise. “We need to combine our elements. Work together, at the same time.”
Her gaze snapped to mine. Understanding.
“That’s the only way we turn this,” I added.
She didn’t hesitate. Zia stepped closer, her presence locking in beside mine as if we had done this a hundred times before.
“Let’s do it,” she snarled.
Everything changed for the better.
I drove my foot into the ground again, harder this time, channeling everything into the strike. The ground responded instantly, splitting open in jagged lines that tore through the battlefield beneath the advancing wolves.
At the same time wind surged.
Zia’s power hit like a wall, forcing the attackers forward, pushing them directly into the fractures I had created. Bodies dropped, some disappearing entirely as the ground swallowed them before sealing back in violent bursts.
“That’s it,” I said under my breath.
We didn’t stop.
Another group charged at us. We met them the same way.
Earth opened.
Air drove them in.
Fire followed, spreading through the cracks in bursts that cut off retreat.
They couldn’t adjust fast enough. Couldn’t counter it.
We kept moving, side by side, our rhythm locking in with every strike, every shift in power, every move that pushed them further back.
The pressure eased.
Not all at once but gradually.
The numbers thinned. The chaos dulled. Until there was no one left coming at us.
Silence didn’t follow. But the absence of attack was loud enough.
I straightened slowly, my chest rising as I took in the field around us. Bodies scattered across the garden.
Broken stone. Burn marks cutting through what had been carefully laid paths only hours ago.
The celebration. Yeah. It was gone. Replaced by the aftermath of something far worse.
Zia shifted back. Brianna now was in control. I took my shirt off. Yes it was dirty but it would do. I slid it over her head.
I let my gaze sweep across the area again, searching. Counting.
Atlas and Cassian shifted back, moving toward us, Elara close behind them, her expression tight but controlled.
They reached us quickly.
Atlas let out a low breath, shaking his head slightly as he looked between us. “Damn,” he said. “You two were…”
“Amazing,” Cassian finished, a faint grin breaking through despite everything.
I didn’t respond. Because something else had just moved from right in front of us.
Five women approached, stepping through what remained of the garden with a calm that didn’t match the destruction around them. No panic. No urgency. Just deliberate, measured steps as they closed the distance.
Elara straightened beside me, her presence sharpening immediately.
One of the women stepped forward slightly. “Elara,” she said softly.
My head snapped in her direction. “That’s Queen Elara,” I corrected, my tone colder than I intended, but I didn’t pull it back. “And those are the kings. Atlas and Cassian.” My gaze hardened. “And you’ll address them correctly.”
The woman didn’t flinch.
Didn’t react at all.
Before she could respond, Brianna stepped forward. “And that,” she said, her voice steady but edged with authority, “is Prince Ryder.”
I glanced at her briefly. Then back to them.
“I’m Princess Brianna,” she finished. “Now you know.”
Something in my chest tightened for a second. Pride settled in quickly.
Unexpected. But there.
The woman bowed her head this time. “My queen,” she said, correcting herself without hesitation.
Better.
She lifted her gaze again, her expression calm in a way that didn’t sit right. “We are from the Moonshade Coven,” she said.
Every muscle in my body tightened.
Coven. Of course they would show up now.
“We’re not here to fight,” she continued.
I didn’t believe that for a second.
Her eyes shifted, landing on Elara. “We’re here,” she said carefully, “because it’s time.” Silence stretched. It felt like an eternity. “For you,” she finished, “to take your place.”