Chapter 63

Lana's POV

I took my position where I'm supposed to be, and the soldier beside me does the same. I can see him warming up, moving his hands and legs, and getting ready.

"I think you should transform into your wolf first," I say. "It will give you an edge," but he shakes his head.

"I want to be able to completely be among them and turn to them. I won't be able to do much as my wolf then since I'm only a distraction, and I'm not really going to be fighting much."

I think about it for a while but decide in the end that he should suit himself if he thinks he's going to manage it in his human form. He could try anyway - he has his wolf with him always, and he can transform if things get tough. I simply think that it would be better if he prepared for it beforehand, but it's fine how he wants it.

He smiles at me. "Make sure to come in and do your part in the nick of time," he tells me, looking as if he was really counting on it. "Because I'm not sure I'll be able to hold them up for so long," he says.

I smile, nodding in agreement. "I'll do exactly that. Just do your part and leave the rest to me. I won't disappoint."

"Make sure you beat him," he says again, looking a little apprehensive. He doesn't seem to really trust in my abilities, and it makes me a little less confident. Hell, I don't trust my own abilities in the first place, so I don't really know how I'm going to manage it yet. I manage a confident smile because, well, I just have to. I'm the leader here, and even if people didn't believe in me, I needed to believe in myself.

He nods curtly before making his move, shooting out into the distance for everyone around to see him. I close my eyes, knowing that things are about to really get rough, and if he's not careful and if I'm not perfectly timed, it's all going to fall apart.

"Hey guys!" he shouts. "You think you've won now, do you?" he questions. They all look at him, and I know he's gotten their attention totally. He smiles as he takes a step forward. "I've come, and I've come with my army. You guys are all toast," he bluffed.

I can hardly believe that he is able to say such words with such a serious expression on his face. Honestly, if I was among their lot, I might probably be fooled, but at the moment, I know that it's not real. Hopefully, the rest of them are just as fooled by his words. I know the chances that he actually manages to deceive them are not that high, but I really find myself hoping.

I start shifting slowly, positioning myself even more because their leader is moving towards the other guy now. "No, you're supposed to stay away and let your men fight him," I think to myself in panic. I'm a little annoyed that he's not going according to the script. Well, I can't really blame him - he's human after all, and he has a mind of his own. Naturally, he's not going to do exactly what I planned for him to do, and that's one of the factors that I should have taken into consideration when making this plan. I should have also made a backup, I think to myself, frowning.

Maybe I wasn't as prepared as I was supposed to be to carry out a seamless plan. We should at least be able to escape with our lives at the very least. If this falls apart, at least I should be able to come out alive, because if I, the loner, am captured, it's going to be a lot of trouble. It's too late for me to back away and consider another course of action now, and it's too late for me to start making another plan because I've already committed to this. The soldier that had been left with me is now risking his life, putting it all on the line as he distracts them, hoping that the plan would work.

It's not forthcoming yet, but it just has to work out. If not, things are going to be really terrible. I'm not about to give up on it now and just escape with my own life because I would be destroying all of them and their trust, especially that one that had been left with me, that would have been saved with me if we simply ran away like he suggested.

I am not about to be the cause of all their deaths, and I'm not about to turn what can be a great victory and great deliverance for us into something entirely different because of my fear. I wait for him, judging that he's going to let his men handle it like he's supposed to, and actually saying a prayer to the moon goddess Diane so that she would make it actually happen.

There was no sign yet, nothing at all. I feel very apprehensive, but finally, he stops, relaxing his shoulders and then laughing out loud. The sound carries through the night, a cackle of pure mockery, and I find myself smiling in return. Somehow, the laugh that is supposed to be one of dominance from him is the perfect sound I need to hear right now because it means that he's not going to take this guy seriously.

"You'll come up and meet me. I'm going to teach you a lesson," he says, taking a step towards them. "Cowards!" he calls once again.

The leader of the road shakes his head and then looks at his people. "You heard him now, didn't you? Go and bring him to his knees, but don't kill him yet. Maybe break a couple of bones, but bring him right here before me so that I can teach him a lesson. He thinks he's a champion now, doesn't he? We'll teach him what it means to be in our territory and how people are supposed to act."

They get all around, and then moved, all of them in their wolf forms, and none of them as humans at all. I know already that he won't be able to do anything at all against them by himself at the moment because, well, it's simply impossible. If he doesn't transform into his wolf form, then it's a lost cause already, and he's not going to win. There's no way he can, and so I wait for him to act, knowing that until he has engaged them, I won't get a chance to get to the leader.

If they simply take him down in a minute, I still won't get my chance to get close enough to act. He needs to hold them off for at least one minute because I'm already moving, but I need more time, and he needs to distract them for longer. He seems to understand this himself, and he transforms swiftly into his wolf form, baring his teeth at them as they approached him without any form of hesitation.

They seemed to throw themselves at him, knowing that one way or another, he would be defeated in the end. Therefore, they didn't really care about the injuries. People fighting like this without any care in the world were the more dangerous fighters because they didn't care how much damage came to them as long as they harmed their enemy. What's more, if this enemy was harmed enough, it was already their automatic win.

I find myself clenching my face beside me at how brutal they were being, at the ruthless tactics they were using in hopes of winning this, and also at the prospect of it actually working out in the end. I inch closer and closer towards the leader from the back, hoping that he doesn't sense my presence. I'm in my wolf form once again, and I'm trying to be as stealthy as possible because that's the only way I can actually see myself finally getting to him and being a big surprise to him, attacking him from the shadows and taking him unawares.

If he doesn't find me yet, then that would be possible, but if he does, if he knows I'm here and he's simply pretending not to know, I know that I'm the one who is doomed and that he's going to really defeat me through and through. If he's prepared for my attack, I have to give him my all, I think to myself. I have to burst out against him immediately when I get up to him.

The thought rings in my head for no more than a second, and the next, I'm charging, getting my attack ready. I'm running towards him but moving as silently as possible at the same time. It's almost impossible, but somehow I manage it. I manage to cover the distance between us while maintaining that steady control over my movement so that he doesn't know that something's coming for him. He doesn't know that I'm a freaking cannon ready to explode on him.

If I'm going to use the element of surprise to my advantage, I have to do it quickly. I have to take him out before he regains his balance and gets his footing in our little fight that's going to come soon. I know that that's my best chance, and so I'm ready to put my all into my first attack. Maybe if it shocks him enough and if it's powerful enough, it will give me the edge to carry the initiative through the battle and finally defeat him, ending everything and saving my men at the same time.

"They're counting on me," I think to myself as I move faster. He turns around but turns too late - my claw swipes into his face, and he lands on the floor, banging his head. The moment I reach him, I make more contact, executing a sweep of deadly combos. There is not much technique to it, but there is the brutality of my movements, and the speed that I used to come towards him in the first place is another contributing factor that makes it difficult for him to cope.

I continue for a while, trying to end his life if possible, but naturally, he is stronger than to let me kill him. Within just a moment, he stands up and starts defending against me, and then I know that things have actually begun to get rough. However, I'm not about to give up. Once again, they are counting on me, so I bare my teeth against him and move forward.