Chapter 120 CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY

Chapter 120 CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY
CAIUS

I barely have time to breathe before another rogue launches itself at me. I twist away then push into its ribs. Bone cracks at the impact, but it refuses to fall. Madness burns in its yellow eyes as it comes again, snarling through bloodied, and broken teeth. I meet it head-on. My jaws close around its throat. One violent shake and his body goes limp. I drop it without a second glance, looking for the next rogue.

The clearing has become a sea of blood and fallen wolves and rogues. The air reeks of iron and rot. Growls echo from every direction, mixed with the cries of injured wolves and the chants of the witches. There are fewer rogues now. For the first time since the battle begins, I can actually see through a wall of righting rogues. Their losses are bigger than ours.

"We're almost there!" Clayton shouts through the mind link.

A surge of adrenaline rushes through me. Their numbers when they came were daunting but we did it. We fought and we won. Maeva barrels into a rogue trying to reach Moira, knocking it sideways before tearing open its throat. She spits out the blood and doesn't stop moving.

Another rogue leaps at her. She ducks under it and I attack. A rogue falls by my side from the sky, the work of Augustine and his falcons. Behind us, the witches continue fighting.

Aliyah puts both hands on the earth and three rogues in front of her are swallowed up. A rogue crashes against the barrier and Moira and the witches wince. Her face is pale and sweat pours from her forehead. Something shifts with the rogues and they all start trying to leave. They throw themselves at the barrier, trying to weaken it. I run to her side to make sure that the rogues don’t make it to the barrier.

I howl, signaling other wolves to come to the barrier.  The wolves and the other shifters move past the rogues to protect the barrier. We circle them, ready to end this. I look around the battlefield. They’re less than a hundred rogues remaining. This battle will be over soon.

The realization spreads through the battlefield. Their exhausted movements gain new strength. Their snarls grow louder. Owen makes the first move and charges at a rogue and we all join. The fight continues for a few minutes. When we finally step back, no rogue is alive.

Silence falls over the clearing. No snarling, growling rogue, only our heavy breathing. I slowly turn in a circle and everyone does too. Dead bodies litter the ground, both wolf and rogue. But they’re no standing rogues left. The cheers that erupt are almost deafening. Wolves and other shifters shift and hug each other in celebration.

Moira lowers her arms and the barrier collapses. She starts falling and Aliyah and Elaine catch her before she reaches the ground.

Maeva. I shift and start looking for her. I see her running toward me and I run to catch her. I pull her into a hug and kiss her head. We did it. We finally did it. Cheering still continues around us, howling too. I pull away from the hug and check her for bites or scratches. She has a few claw marks and bites on her but I think she’ll be fine. To be safe, Raina and the witches will check her out. We will all be checked out for any rogue infections.

“Fellow wolves, witches, and allies!” I shout into the crowd and the response is a chorus of cheers. “We have fought and we have won. This victory here today will be remembered for a very long time. This Alpha king that has destroyed the peace we once had will have no choice but to face us or keep hiding. He cannot hide forever and when he comes out, we will be ready.”

They cheer again and I smile. “We will rest today and give those who led this destruction in the name of the Alpha King the chance to surrender. Tomorrow, we will go after them and make them pay for destroying our land!”

The cheers erupt again and I pull Maeva into a hug.

An hour later, we’re all clothed and carrying the dead away from the battlefield. The heavily injured are taken first to the long house to receive care. After that, we start carrying the dead to a separate place where they can be buried later when everything is calmer.

“Caius,” Maeva says, tapping my back.

I turn to face her and the look on her face stops me cold. “What’s wrong?”

“I just saw a rogue I recognize from the attack on my pack.”

“What do you mean? Are you sure it’s the same rogue?”

“I swear it’s the same rogue. I’m not making this up. I recognized the ugly gash across its snout. Do you know what happens to the rogues we kill?”

“We dump their bodies somewhere hidden and leave them to rot.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t think they rot. I think they use the witches to bring them back.”

I look at the field of dead rogues and anxiety begins to rise. They could come back.

“I think we should burn the bodies to ashes so they never come back.” Maeva suggests and I nod.

“Listen up!” I yell out and everybody turns. “We’re going to make huge piles of these rogues. If any one of you has taken any rogue to dispose, bring them back.”

The witches walk up to me, confusion on their faces. “What’s going on?” Aliyah asks.

“Maeva thinks that the rogues are being brought back to live and she suggested we burn them to ashes.”

“They won’t come back if they don’t have a body to come back to. Witches fire burns hot very quick. Do you think you’re up to burning them today?” Maeva says.

The witches look at Moira who smiles. “We’ll do it today.”

UNKNOWN

I don’t know how to feel about Caius’s victory. On one hand, he’s alive to make the child that will save my son. On the other hand, he won before I was able to pull my rogues out. When the witch came to me with the news, I tried to make the rogues leave but somehow Caius had found a way to make the witches in his pack impervious to the rogues.

They couldn’t leave and were defeated. Which means that he would have won anyway. The army I spent many nights with irritating witches perfecting, lost. That is time, energy, and ambition wasted on them. If I had gone with them, he would have defeated me.

I throw the second bottle of wine at the wall and I watch the pieces scatter around the room. Why do things always seem to work out well for him? He doesn’t deserve it at all.

I won’t fail next time. I only have to wait a few months for the pup they don’t even know they’re going to have, to come. I will make sure I don’t fail then. I will put my life on it.