Chapter 47 MEANWHILE - THE PACK UNDER SIEGE
CHAPTER 047: MEANWHILE - THE PACK UNDER SIEGE
The corrupted wolf's claws missed my throat as I dodged the attack.
I grab its neck and snap it before it can stand well. The body drops on the ground and immediately three more take its place and attack me.
"There's too many," Cassian shouts from somewhere to my right.
He's not wrong, for every creature we kill two more emerge from the forest.
I move through the chaos with vampire speed, pulling pack members out of danger when I can. A young wolf barely older than a pup is cornered by two corrupted beasts. I reach him before they do, my fangs finding throats.
The pup stares at me with wide eyes.
"Run," I order.
He does.
Cassian's flames light up the night sky. He's standing on top of the main hall, raining fire down on anything that moves. But even his phoenix power is finite. I can see him wavering, exhaustion setting in.
Zev is on his knees in the center of the fighting, eyes glowing that eerie green. He's turned at least a dozen corrupted creatures against each other, making them see their allies as enemies. But the mental strain is visible. Blood runs from his nose.
"Zev pull back," I shout.
He doesn't respond. Can't respond. He's too deep in their minds.
A massive corrupted bear charges toward him. I intercept it, my claws raking across its face. It barely slows down.
Morgana's shadows wrap around the bear, pulling it to the ground. She's standing on the hall steps, both hands raised, controlling a dozen shadow tendrils at once.
"I can't hold them much longer," she gasps.
Sofia is behind her, coordinating the evacuation of non-combatants. She's got a cut across her cheek and her clothes are torn but she's still directing people with that bossy efficiency she's known for.
"East tunnel is clear," she shouts. "Get the children out now."
Magnus fights like the alpha he is. His wolf form is massive and gray, scarred from decades of battles. He's holding the main gate almost single-handedly. Beta Kira fights beside him, her grief transformed into savage fury.
But we're losing.
I can feel it. For every inch of ground we hold they take two more.
A howl cuts through the battle. Different from the others. This one is familiar.
Luna bursts through the tree line in silver wolf form. Kieran's golden wolf is right beside her. Reyna and another wolf I don't recognize follow.
Luna shifts mid-run. "Where's Thalira?"
The question stops my heart.
I reach for the bond, the connection that's always humming in the background.
It's there but muted. Like there's a wall between us.
"Alaric where is she?" Luna demands again, her voice climbing toward panic.
"I don't know. The bond is blocked."
Cassian lands beside us, flames dying down. "What do you mean blocked?"
"Something's interfering. I can feel her but I can't reach her."
Zev finally pulls out of the corrupted creatures' minds. He stumbles to his feet, wiping blood from his face.
"He has her," Zev says flatly. "Marvin. I felt it happen through the bond before he cut us off."
Luna's face goes white. "No. No she was supposed to destroy the weapon and get out. That was the plan."
"Plans change," Kieran says. His voice is rough, barely human even in this form. "Where would he take her?"
"Somewhere we can't easily reach," Magnus says, padding over in wolf form. He shifts, not bothering to hide his nudity. "Somewhere he feels safe."
Before anyone can respond Kieran loses it.
His shift is violent and complete. His golden wolf form explodes outward, larger than I've ever seen it. His eyes burn pure gold, no trace of human left.
He launches himself at the nearest corrupted creature, tearing through it with savage efficiency. Then the next one. And the next.
Luna joins him, her silver wolf moving in perfect sync with his. Twin storms of fur and fury cutting through the enemy.
The rest of us follow their lead.
Cassian reignites his flames with a roar. Zev sends a psychic shockwave that makes half the corrupted creatures collapse. Morgana's shadows expand into a massive barrier that holds the main wave back.
And I let the monster out.
My vampire nature takes over completely and I move through the battlefield like death itself.
It takes two hours to finish the fight.
When the last corrupted creature falls the silence is deafening.
There's bodies on the ground. Pack members and enemies mixed together. The smell of blood and death is overwhelming.
Magnus does a count. Thirty three pack members dead. Another forty injured badly enough they might not make it.
The pack center is destroyed. Half the buildings are burning. The other half are collapsed.
"This was a distraction," Magnus says, his voice hollow. "He wanted us focused here while he took her."
"Where would he bring her?" Cassian demands. He's covered in blood and ash, barely standing.
Reyna limps forward. Her broken arm is in a makeshift sling. "There's one place. The Deep Chamber. It's the oldest part of the mine system. Where the pack used to execute exiles."
"How far?" Luna asks.
"Six hours on foot. The journey will be less if we run."
"Then we run now," Luna says.
"No." Magnus steps forward. "Everyone needs rest. We're no good to her dead."
"I don't care," Luna snaps. "She's my sister."
"And she's my mate," Kieran adds. His eyes are still more gold than human. "We're not waiting."
Magnus looks at the boys, then at Luna, then at the destroyed pack center.
"Two hours," he says finally. "Rest for two hours. Eat, bandage wounds, prepare. Then we move."
"Two hours is too long," Cassian argues.
"Two hours keeps you alive long enough to actually save her," Magnus counters.
"I'm going now," Luna says, her voice breaking. "I don't care if I go alone. She's my twin and she's in danger because I let her stay behind."
"You're not going alone," I say quietly. "We're all going."
"Not all of us," Magnus says. "I need fighters here to defend what's left of the pack in case he sends another wave."
"Fine," Luna says. "Me, the four boys, Morgana and the tracker twins. That's the team. Everyone else stays."
Sofia steps forward. "I'm coming too."
"Sofia you're not a fighter," Morgana says gently.
"I'm her friend. I'm coming."
There's no arguing with the tone she used.
Magnus sighs. "Eight people then. Against a serial killer with dark magic and who knows what else."
"Better odds than Thalira has right now," Zev says.
We scatter to prepare. We got our weapons, supplies, and first aid and everything we might need.
I'm checking my knives when Cassian approaches.
"We're going to get her back right?" he asks quietly.
"Yes."
"You're sure?"
I meet his eyes. "We've lost her four times across multiple lifetimes. I'm not losing her a fifth time."
He nods and walks away.
Zev joins me next. "The bond is still muted. I can barely feel her."
"Can you tell if she's hurt?"
"Yes. And she is. Badly."
My hands clench around the knife handle hard enough that the metal bends.
"When we find him," I say very quietly, "I'm going to make him suffer."
"Get in line," Zev mutters.
Luna is pacing near the tree line, her wolf barely contained beneath her skin. Kieran sits nearby, silent and radiating violence.
Morgana is the calmest of all of us which is somehow more disturbing. She's checking her shadow magic methodically, making sure she has full control.
The tracker twins, Reyna and Rafe, are studying a makeshift map of the mine system. Marking exits and entrances and weak points.
Sofia is crying quietly while packing a medical bag. She knows what condition we're likely to find Thalira in.
One hour passes. Then another.
As we gather to leave Magnus approaches with something in his hand.
A piece of paper.
"Found this pinned to the pack center door," he says, his voice grim.
Luna takes it.
Her face goes from pale to ash white.
"What does it say?" I demand.
She hands it to me with a shaking fingers.
The handwriting is neat, and elegant.
"Come alone or she dies screaming. You have until dawn. -M"
I check the sky. The horizon is already starting to lighten.
"How long until dawn?" Cassian asks.
"Four hours," Reyna answers. "Maybe less."
"Then we need to move now," Luna says.
"He said come alone," Magnus points out.
"He also said he'd stop the attack if Thalira surrendered," Kieran growls. "He's a liar. His conditions don't mean anything."
"They do if he kills her the moment we show up," Zev says quietly.
"We split up," I finally say. "Some of us go loud, draw his attention. The others sneak in through another entrance and find Thalira."
"Who goes loud?" Sofia asks.
"Me, Kieran and Luna," I say. "We're the ones he wants to fight anyway."
"And the stealth team?" Morgana asks.
"You, Cassian, Zev, Sofia and the twins. You find her and get her out."
"That leaves three of us against him," Luna says. "He's killed dozens. He has dark magic. He's basically a demon."
"Then we better fight dirty," Kieran says.
Magnus steps forward. "If you're not back by tomorrow night I'm bringing what's left of the pack to burn those mines to the ground."
"Fair," I say.
We move out.
The forest is dark and cold and the closer we get to the mines the more wrong everything feels. The animals are silent.
Four hours until dawn.
Four hours to save her.
Four hours before Marvin makes good on his threat.
We reach the mine entrance as the s
ky starts shifting from black to deep purple.
Three hours now.
The entrance is dark and yawning like a mouth waiting to swallow us.
"No turning back," Luna says.
"Never planned to turn back," Kieran replies.
We step into the darkness.