Chapter Seventy-One: Flames at the Gate

Chapter Seventy-One: Flames at the Gate
The night did not wait.

By the time the first silver slice of moonlight crowned the eastern wall, the drums had grown louder, and the air thickened with smoke and ash. Faith felt the vibrations through the stone beneath her boots, a steady thrum that reminded her of a heartbeat — not her own, not David’s, but the approaching pulse of war.

Divine’s army was coming.

The torches swayed like a forest of fire among the trees, spreading out wider than she had thought possible. From atop the wall, the sight was endless: wolves in shadowed armor, rogues with crude blades, witches cloaked in smoke and chanting low hymns to whatever dark gods Divine had bound herself to.

Rainfall’s warriors shifted uneasily below. Some had already shed their human skins, wolves pacing the dirt with hackles raised, lips peeled back in silent snarls. Others gripped spears and axes, their knuckles white, eyes darting to the horizon where fire advanced.

Faith’s wolf stirred beneath her skin, restless. Her claws ached to unsheathe, her body demanding to meet the fight head-on. She stood shoulder to shoulder with David, their scents bound so tightly now that the warriors around them breathed deeper, steadier, as if courage itself hung in the air.

“Remember this,” David’s voice cut low, meant only for her. His eyes never left the horizon. “This is not just battle. This is survival. Do not hold back.”

Faith’s lips curled in a sharp, determined smile. “I don’t know how anymore.”

His glance flicked sideways, just long enough to drink her in, the faintest trace of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Then the drums broke into a thunderous roll, and the first wave came crashing out of the trees.

The battlefield erupted in chaos.

Arrows streaked through the night sky, flames trailing behind them. The eastern gates shuddered as they were struck with firebombs, wood splintering, sparks raining down. Wolves howled on both sides, the sound rising to a deafening roar that shook Faith’s bones.

David leapt down from the wall first, his body already shifting mid-air. The sound of tearing flesh and bone cracked in her ears, and when he landed, it was not David but the massive black wolf — a beast wreathed in shadow, his golden eyes glowing like molten fire.

The pack howled with him, the call splitting the air in two. Then they surged forward, claws and steel colliding with Divine’s forces in a storm of blood.

Faith did not hesitate. Her wolf tore free of her skin with a fierce rush, her body stretching, bones snapping into place until her paws hit the ground. She bounded into the fray beside David, her fur blazing moonlight silver, her teeth sinking into the first rogue that dared come too close.

The scent of iron hit her tongue. The battlefield was alive with shrieks, growls, and the wet sound of tearing flesh. The enemy pressed hard, but Rainfall met them with fury, the wall itself vibrating from the force of impact.

David’s wolf was unstoppable. She caught glimpses of him between the blur of bodies — leaping, tearing, his jaws crushing through throats and armor like paper. Where he moved, the enemy scattered, but his fury was not clean. It was wild, almost feral.

Faith pushed closer to his side, unwilling to let him lose himself entirely. Her wolf matched his pace, snapping through enemies that tried to flank him, every motion honed by the bond that let her anticipate his moves before he made them.

And yet, even as her wolf reveled in the fight, another rhythm pulsed beneath her ribs.

At first, she thought it was adrenaline. Her heartbeat was faster than usual, pounding wildly as she tore through an armored scout, feeling bone crunch between her teeth. But then it shifted — low, steady, tugging deeper.

Her pup.

Her wolf stumbled in the middle of a leap, claws scraping stone instead of sinking into flesh. A sharp ache rippled through her abdomen, almost like a cramp but fiercer, primal, a reminder from within. Her pup stirred, reminding her that she carried not just herself into this battle.

Faith snarled in frustration, shaking the dizziness away. This was no time — no time to be weak, no time to hesitate. The pack needed her, David needed her. She lunged back into the fray, ignoring the twinge that pulsed with every movement.

But her wolf knew. Her body knew. The life within her demanded to be heeded.

David’s wolf tore down an enemy alpha, jaws snapping his spine clean. He turned, muzzle dripping crimson, only to freeze.

Faith was faltering.

He could feel it through the bond — the sudden tightness, the flash of pain buried beneath her determination. It was faint, almost drowned by the noise of battle, but it was there. His wolf snarled, rage and terror flooding him at once.

“Back!” His voice was half-growl, half-command through the bond. “You’re pulling back, now!”

Her silver wolf spun toward him, eyes blazing, blood flecked across her muzzle. No. Her voice cracked through the link, raw and sharp. I can still fight. I won’t leave you.

His wolf lunged closer, pressing muzzle to muzzle, growling so deep the ground seemed to tremble. You carry my blood. Our future. You will not gamble it here.

For a heartbeat, their wolves clashed not against enemies but against each other, growls vibrating between them, eyes locked. Then another surge of enemies crashed into them, snapping the moment apart.

Faith fought them savagely, but every slash burned more than the last. She felt the rhythm again, her body warning her, her pup demanding retreat. She hesitated, only for a second — but in battle, a second was everything.

An enemy blade grazed her flank, slicing fur and skin. She yelped, spinning too slow, and the rogue raised his arm again to strike.

David was faster.

His wolf collided with the rogue like a storm, tearing his chest open with one swipe. The body hit the ground headless, blood steaming in the dirt. David’s eyes snapped back to Faith, fury blazing, his growl sharp with command.

“Go!” His voice was thunder. “Go now!”

Faith’s chest heaved. Every part of her rebelled, her wolf clawing to stay in the fight. But the tug in her belly did not stop. Her pup shifted within her, small but insistent, as if reminding her she was not just a fighter tonight. She was a mother.

Tears stung her wolf’s eyes as she backed away, blood dripping from her jaws. She did not turn her back — she retreated step by step, fighting off stragglers, unwilling to leave David’s side until she was forced.

David’s wolf pressed forward, shielding her, every motion brutal and precise. He tore down anyone who dared close in, his body becoming a wall of fur and blood between her and the enemy.

Finally, Faith’s paws hit the stone of the inner wall. Rainfall’s healers surged forward, grabbing her arms as she shifted back into human form, sweat and blood slick on her skin. She wanted to scream, to fight them off, to run back into the fray — but her body shook violently, her womb contracting in rhythm with the chaos outside.

The pup was not waiting.

Faith’s gaze locked on the battlefield one last time. She saw David’s wolf leap into the thick of the enemy, a shadow of rage and power, golden eyes burning as if the moon itself fueled him. He was a storm of claws and fangs, unrelenting, unyielding.

Her lips moved, though her voice barely carried. “Hold on, David. Hold on for us.”

Then the healers dragged her into the inner halls, and the sound of war thundered on without her.

The eastern gate burned, the night a storm of fire and blood.

David’s wolf stood at the center, feral, unstoppable, but more dangerous than ever. His mate was gone from the battlefield, his pup stirring inside her — and without their steadying presence, his wolf clawed closer to the edge of madness.

And as Divine herself stepped out from the treeline at last, cloaked in silver fire, her smile was sharp and merciless.

“You cannot protect them both, Alpha,” her voice carried across the battlefield, smooth and venomous. “Not your brother or your Luna or even  your blood.”

David’s growl shook the earth. His golden eyes blazed, a storm barely contained.

And Faith, deep within the stronghold, felt it through the bond — the beast within her mate slipping loose once more.