Chapter 180: Luna Vs Alpha

Calix Pov

The gravel under my paws felt sharp and dry as I stepped into the middle of the circle. The remaining seventeen wolves of WolfTrail stood perfectly still against the log bins, and nobody breathed loud enough to make a sound. Maddie was standing ten paces away from my front chest, her white wolf body low to the moss, and the dark gray lines along her spine were twitching under the noon sun.

I kept my brown head low to the dirt path, ears flat against my skull. My front claws dug deep into the loose stones to lock my position. The air smelled of sweat, fear, and the faint metallic tang of old blood still lingering from the war.

"I am not going to strike your chest, Maddie," I growled, my voice steady even though my heart was hammering against my ribs. "Fight the mountain ink. You can hold the fingers back if you focus on the center post. Come on, love. I know you’re still in there. Push him back. You’ve fought harder things than this."

"The post belongs to the peaks now, valley boy," Maddie retorted. The deep, double voice pushed out through her white jaws with a heavy rattle, and her yellow eyes flared bright like hot grease. "The white fur line does not take orders from a broken leader who cannot even protect his own female from the ridge contract. You think your words can reach her? She’s mine now, Calix. She’s always been mine."

She launched her white shape across the clearing with huge speed, her front paws hitting the dirt right where my boots had been a second before. I dropped my hip down and rolled sideways into the high weeds, avoiding her teeth by three inches. The impact of her body hit the dry ground hard and sent a small cloud of gray dust over my brown coat. The dust stung my eyes, but I blinked it away fast.

"Maddie, look at my eyes," I roared as I scrambled back onto my four legs, shaking dirt from my fur. "Focus on me. Remember the night we marked each other. Remember how the bond felt — warm, real, ours. That’s stronger than whatever he’s feeding you. Fight him, baby. I’m right here. I’m not leaving you."

She turned around fast, her tail sweeping across a low pine stump, and her jaws snapped shut inches from my left ear. The sound was like steel traps closing. I did not swing my claws at her throat. I just pushed my heavy shoulder directly against her ribs, using my weight to force her away from the weapon rack where Rex was watching with wide, terrified eyes.

"You are missing the target, Alpha," Maddie jeered and her white head tilted sideways with that dry mountain smile that wasn’t hers. "You always miss what’s right in front of you. She begged you to kill her earlier, didn’t she? And still you hesitate. Pathetic. How many times will you watch her suffer before you admit you’re not strong enough for her?"

She did not use her teeth this time. Her right front paw swung out and caught the side of my face, her sharp nails dragging three long lines across my jaw line. The pain was hot and sharp, and my head jerked to the side while two drops of red fluid hit the dry grass. Blood trickled down my muzzle, warm and sticky.

"I am not trying to kill you," I barked and I blocked her next strike with my forearm, the impact jarring through my bones. "I will never try to kill you, Maddie. Even if it costs me everything. You hear me? This isn’t you. This is him. Fight him. Remember our first real kiss after the marking — how the world disappeared and it was only us. Hold onto that. Please."

"Then you are going to die in the dirt," she snarled, the double voice cracking like thunder. "She wants you to end this. She’s screaming inside, begging me to let her die so you don’t have to watch her become a monster. Why won’t you listen to her, Calix? Why do you always make her carry everything alone?"

She came at me again, her white teeth flashing under the bright sun, but her movements were slightly jerky now. Her left back leg lagged behind the right one, and her white ears kept twitching toward her collarbone like she was pulling against an invisible rope. I ducked my neck under her chin and shoved my skull straight into her chest, knocking her back two paces onto the loose gravel.

"Maddie, I can see you pulling," I called out and I did not move forward to follow the hit. I stood completely still with my chest heaving up and down, blood dripping from my jaw. "The gray lines are not moving down to your paws. Hold the contract right there. You’re stronger than him. You’ve always been stronger. Remember the night in the dorm after the ritual? You saved me. Now let me save you. Come back to me."

"I cannot hold the gate anymore," Maddie whimpered.

The double pitch cracked down the middle and her regular voice came out through the white teeth, high and thin like a young pup crying in the winter. Her white wolf shape trembled from head to tail, and her yellow eyes flickered back to a clear gray color for two seconds. Those two seconds were enough to break my heart all over again.

"Keep the voice steady, Maddie," I urged and I took one slow step toward her front paws, lowering my head to show I wasn’t a threat. "Breathe with me. In and out. Feel the bond. It’s still there. I can feel you fighting. Don’t let go. I love you. I love every part of you — the light, the power, the pain. All of it. Stay with me."

"I cannot hold the gate anymore," she repeated, her voice breaking completely now, raw and desperate. "He’s tearing at the edges, Calix. It hurts so much. Every time I push him back he laughs and shows me images of you dying. Of me killing you. I see your blood on my claws and I can’t… I can’t stop seeing it."

Her white body suddenly dropped flat onto the gravel, her front legs bending until her chest hit the dirt right in front of my brown paws. The gray lines on her spine began to swell up, turning into a dark, thick color that looked like wet charcoal under her white fur. She did not try to stand up or lift her head to look at the circle of wolves.

"Calix, take your knife," Maddie pleaded and her gray eyes came back, staring straight into my face with an immense agony that I felt in my own chest. "The seed is opening inside the chest bone. He is going to take the whole brain before the sun goes down behind the ridge. Please. I’m begging you. End this before I hurt someone I love. Before I hurt you."

"We can find another code, Maddie," I responded and I dropped my wolf form, my human skin taking over my limbs as I knelt down in the dirt beside her head. I placed my hand gently on the side of her white muzzle, feeling the heat of her fur and the tremor running through her. "We’ve beaten worse. We’ll beat this too. Just hold on a little longer. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. You are my mate, my Luna, my everything. Fight for us."

"There is no other code," Maddie whispered, her voice barely audible now, cracked with exhaustion and pain. "He’s too deep. He knows every weakness, every memory. He shows me the night my parents died over and over, but twisted — like I was the one who let it happen. Like I could have stopped it if I was stronger. Calix… I’m so tired."

She pressed her white forehead flat against my bare knee, and her breath felt cold and dry against my skin. The yellow light started to crawl back around the edges of her pupils, and her long white claws dug deep into the dirt path, locking her body into the gravel.

"Kill me right now, Calix," Maddie begged and a fresh tear dropped from her gray eyelid onto my foot. "Do it before he makes my teeth take your throat. I do not want to watch your blood go cold on the pine boards. I don’t want to be the one who kills you. Please… if you love me, set me free."

I swallowed hard, my throat tight, my hand still cradling her head. The entire circle of wolves watched in dead silence. My heart felt like it was being ripped in two.