Unexpected Attack

Unexpected Attack
The clash came suddenly.

Nick’s wolf senses caught it first—an echo in the bond he shared with his pack. Pain. Struggle. The unmistakable call of wolves fighting for their lives. His head snapped toward the horizon, every muscle going rigid.

“No…” he muttered. His heart pounded as the faint thread of a mind-link opened, voices of his warriors bleeding through. Alpha! Alfonso’s troops—vampires—attacked without warning. We’re holding, but…

The link shattered with a burst of agony.

Nick’s body shook with fury, golden eyes glowing as his claws burst from his hands. “Alfonso.”

Behind him, Lena appeared, her crimson dress whispering against the stone, eyes narrowing at his sudden change. “What is it?”

“My pack,” Nick growled, voice low and savage. “They’re under attack.”

Lena studied him, her gaze sharp and cool. “Of course they are. Alfonso’s no fool. He knew you’d come for Erin. He sent his troops to bleed your people dry while you’re stuck here.”

Nick turned toward her, his wolf clawing to break free. “Open the portal. Now.”

Her crimson eyes flashed. “You think I’m at your beck and call, Alpha?” She folded her arms, head tilting. “Erin’s safe here. If you leave, you may not get another chance to see her. Are you really ready to turn your back on her?”

The question cut deeper than claws. His wolf roared in protest. Every instinct screamed to stay—to fight for Erin, to hold her until she finally believed him.

But he heard his pack’s cries again, echoing through the fraying bond. Wolves he had sworn to protect. Brothers and sisters who trusted him to lead.

Nick’s breath came ragged. “An Alpha doesn’t abandon his pack.”

For a fleeting moment, Lena’s expression softened, as though she glimpsed the weight he carried. Then she exhaled sharply and flicked her wrist. A black rift shimmered into being, pulsing with unstable energy.

“Go,” she said, her tone clipped. “But know this—you’ll pay for every time you tear Erin apart by leaving.”

Nick’s jaw tightened, but he nodded once. He looked back toward the courtyard—toward Erin’s shadowy silhouette lingering by the arch, half-hidden. She wasn’t watching him directly, but he knew she felt him leaving. The bond between them ached like a wound.

“I’ll come back for you,” Nick whispered, his voice low, meant only for her ears though she pretended not to hear.

And then he stepped through the rift.

The Demon Realm swallowed behind him, replaced by the bloodied soil of his own territory. Smoke rose into the night, and the cries of his warriors filled the air. Alfonso’s troop was here, vicious and relentless.

Nick’s wolf surged to the front, his growl shaking the battlefield.
“Hold the line!” he roared, charging into the fray, eyes blazing gold. “Your Alpha has returned!”
The battlefield was chaos.

Nick lunged into the fray with claws bared, his wolf half-shifting as golden light seared his eyes. Alfonso’s vampire troops snarled and lunged, their pale faces dripping with bloodlust. The scent of scorched earth and spilled blood filled the air.

“Protect the young!” Nick roared, his voice carrying above the din.

Jara was already there, her gamma ferocity unmatched as she cut down a pair of vampires with a vicious swipe. Henry fought nearby, his blade flashing as he struck at anything that moved too close, though his eyes flicked often toward Nick—something unreadable lurking there.

Nick’s wolf was a storm, tearing through the enemy with relentless rage. He knew Alfonso hadn’t sent his best soldiers. This wasn’t meant to destroy the pack. It was a message. A warning. A leash around his throat: Stay away from Erin—or they suffer.

The thought only fueled his fury.

A vampire beast lunged for one of the younger wolves, its fangs snapping for her throat. Nick was there in a blink, shoving the creature back with a snarl, claws rending through its chest. He pulled the young wolf behind him, his golden eyes blazing. “Stay with the line!”

The pack rallied harder with every roar of their Alpha. They were bloodied, battered, but they were unbroken.

Yet beneath the battle-rage, Nick’s heart burned with another pain. He could feel it—the tug of the bond fraying at the edges. Erin. She knew. She felt him leaving.

\---

Far away, in the shadowed courtyards of the Demon Realm, Erin stood frozen where she’d been watching from the arch. The moment Nick stepped through Lena’s rift, a cold emptiness tore through her chest.

The bond thrummed painfully, screaming of distance, of battle, of danger. She pressed a hand to her chest, gasping as the ache overwhelmed her.

He had left her.

Not because she’d asked him to. Not because of the curse. But because his pack needed him.

Tears blurred her vision, hot and relentless. She wanted to run to him, to cross the rift herself, but her feet refused to move. She was trapped between the walls she’d built and the storm raging inside her.

Lena appeared at her side, watching her with that cool, sharp gaze. “Now do you see? That man would burn his entire world for you, and still you try to push him away.”

Erin bit down hard on her lip, choking back a sob. “And what happens when I kill him?” she whispered, broken. “What happens when the curse takes him from me? I can’t—”

Her words cut off as she felt another surge of pain through the bond. Nick was fighting. Bleeding.

Her knees buckled, and she clutched the arch for support, her tears falling freely now. “Please, Nick… don’t die…”

The battlefield stank of ash and iron.

Nick stood amid the ruin, chest heaving, his claws dripping crimson. Around him, the bodies of Alfonso’s fallen troops smoldered in the moonlight, their pale skin dissolving into ash where his wolves had torn them down.

The pack had survived.

But at what cost?

Jara limped to his side, blood running down her arm, her face streaked with dirt. “We held them, Alpha,” she rasped, pride shining in her eyes despite the wounds. “They won’t forget this night.”

Nick gave her a tight nod, his gaze scanning the battlefield. His wolves were battered but alive. Henry leaned heavily on his sword nearby, sweat and blood mixing down his cheek, though his eyes gleamed with something Nick couldn’t quite place.

The Alpha tilted his head back, breathing deep. The scent of his pack grounded him, steadying the furious storm inside his chest. Yet even as his wolf settled, another ache remained.

The bond.

He could feel Erin through it, even across realms. The faint tremor of her fear, the way her heart had spiked when he left, the sorrow that tasted like salt and rain. He clenched his fists at his sides, golden eyes flickering.

“She’s hurting,” he whispered under his breath, the words torn raw. “Because of me.”

His wolf whined low inside him, restless, yearning for their mate. But Nick forced himself to stand taller, to hide the break inside him. His pack needed strength, not grief.

The night stretched endless above him, stars sharp against the velvet dark. He let the mask slip only then, his face tightening, his chest heaving as though he’d held back for too long.

“I won, Erin,” he murmured into the night. His voice cracked on the word. “But what good is victory when you’re there… and I’m here?”

His claws dug into the stone as he shut his eyes, forcing the ache back into silence. The bond still throbbed, alive and insistent, but all he could give her across that distance was a whisper of his strength.

“I’ll wait to come back for you,” he swore softly, the vow carried into the wind.