Chapter 23: The Battle
Rhys's P.O.V:
"STAY AWAY FROM MY MATE."
The words reverberated through the mountains and through my mind, over and over again.
Mate! She accepted me as her mate!
"Whoa!"
"What the hell?"
Groans sounded from all around us. The wolves who weren't used to Mikalya's power took some time to get her voice out of their head. Hierarchy can go fuck itself, I was too damn proud of Mikalya to think otherwise.
"What on earth was that?" Aiden asked, rubbing the side of his head.
"You didn't think she was joking about being an Alpha, did you?" I asked smugly.
Wipe that stupid smile off your face. It looks creepy.
Love you too, darling.
Even if Mikalya's glare went unnoticed by the others, I'm pretty sure they heard the growl.
"How-who the hell are you!" Devon growled, one of his hands rubbing his forehead, trying to get rid of the aftereffects.
"Like I said," Mikalya walked forward to stand in front of me. "I'm the white wolf. The only Female Alpha."
"Right," Devon held out his hands, palms up. "We can do this the easy way sugar, no need to get violent."
Clearly, they were up to something. They way Aiden moved back slightly, his stance battle ready, told me Devon was planning something big.
"And what would that be," Mikalya smiled sweetly at the men.
"As you can see, you're outrageously outnumbered here-"
Both Aiden and Devon jumped back a few feet as a bullet hit the ground an inch away from his previous standpoint.
"The fuck!" Aiden cussed.
"You were saying...sugar?" Mikalya smiled again, this time there was an edge to her voice.
"We are done being nice here!" Aiden pulled Devon back with him, their eyes wolf golden, a snarl on their faces. "Who do you think you are, you little bitch! I'll show you what it's like to mess with us! Now!"
At first we didn't understand what Aiden was yelling for, but the sound of another chopper and gunfire cleaned our confusion within a nanosecond. And then came Devon and Aiden's packmates in combat gear and guns.
"Watch out!" I flung myself towards Mikalya, moving her and myself out of the way just in time to dodge an incoming bullet. We landed behind a boulder just as firing started from both sides and everyone else started looking for shelter.
"I could've moved out of the way myself; there was no need for you to be so dramatic!" She pushed at my chest.
"Really? I'm the dramatic one?" I raised an eyebrow. "Then why don't you have a look at that."
I pointed towards the ground beside the boulder where the empty shells of the bullets had landed. Mink's eyes widened as she took in the sight.
Mink's P.O.V:
I reached out with my hand carefully, took the shell in my hand before pulling it back instantly. The skin on the tip of my fingers were bubbling. I rubbed them on the snow before the sting could register over the adrenalin rush.
"Silver bullets!" A growl escaped through my clenched teeth. "We were trying not to kill but clearly they didn't have mercy on their minds."
"My pack's fighting off the wolves." Rhys said, having already commanded his pack to attack.
"Alpha, do you read me? Come in, Alpha. Maa?"
"Aya, what's the condition out there?" It was impossible to move out from this shed with bullets raining down on us from every possible direction.
"It's bad. Two of our men got hit. None fatal, but they're down. Should we switch bullets?"
"Not yet," I looked towards Rhys who nodded his head in agreement. "Keep that as a last resort. But shoot that damn chopper down, it's getting on my nerves!"
"Thought you'd never ask." The link disconnected.
"I thought you said no explosives?" Rhys jerked away as a silver bullet went flying past his head.
"She doesn't need explosives. Aya's a sharp shooter."
Aya's P.O.V:
"Alright kiddo, time to show them who's boss." Kashmira, our third, told me as she took down another wolf in a pantsuit.
"Shut up and let her concentrate." Zyane snapped at Mira from my other side. He wasn’t supposed to be here with us but the guy had somehow managed to wiggle his way into our unit.
"Shut up. Both of you!" I held the sniper rifle in place on top of the makeshift 'boulder' we'd made by collecting several smaller rocks.
I honestly don't know what this whole mate thing is supposed to feel like because my wolf wasn’t fully awake yet. But it'll be in a few months I’ll be turning eighteen and I was not looking forward for the mating bond to show up. I mean, he was attractive and all, but he was old enough to be my uncle or something. To be honest, I didn’t feel the least bit attracted to him and I just hoped it stayed that way.
"Target locked." I pointed my gun right at the centre, where the chopper blades were attached to the central stand. The blades weren't visible but the central stand was. The chopper wasn't making it any easier either, it kept moving from one please to another, trying to pinpoint our location.
"It's stable! Do it now kiddo!" Mira yelled over all the noise of the blades.
I took aim...as everything happened in slow motion for a second. I could see the central stand clearly…and pulled the trigger.
Mikalya's P.O.V:
The helicopter blades exploded in a blast of noise and fire. The infantry separated, clearing away as the chopper hit the ground and exploded, sending a cloud of fire and smoke into the air. But not everyone was able to escape the blast unscratched. Several of the enemy wolves as well as a few of Rhys’s wolves got caught by the flying debris from the blast.
"Shit!" I pressed the button on my earpiece and took out my guns that were laced with silver bullets. "Aya, how bad is it?"
The connection crackled to life. "Not that much smoke. We're clear."
"Good. LET'S GO!" My roar was followed by a number of shouts as several of my soldiers came out of their hiding place and pounced on the unsuspecting enemy. Rhys and I jumped up and rounded the boulder, guns in hand, ready to fire.
The scene ahead was horrifying. The pure white snow on the ground had turned red with the blood of the fallen. Rhys's wolves were at the upper hand. Most of the armed soldiers were down, injured or dead. We had tried to save as many alive as we could, but in a war, casualties were inevitable.
I shot at a wolf trying to bite off one of my girl's head off and jammed my elbow into the stomach of one wolf that took a jump towards me. I heard the sickening crack of bones breaking as it went down.
"There's still too many of them." Rhys said, snapping the neck of a reddish brown wolf that had tried to ambush us from behind.
"It's time." I told him, looking forward at the battlefield. What I'm about to do now is going to be very dangerous, because it's not only going to paralyze the enemy, but our pack members too.
"What are you...?"
I took a deep breath and let my wolf into my voice, using all of my power and energy into this one sentence.
"EVERYONE...STOP!"
The entire place came to a standstill. Everyone just…froze in their spot.
Aiden and Devon came out from behind their chopper where they'd been hiding. Their shocked expression reflected in Rhys’s face as they stared at me with wide eyes. The enemy wolves all stood still, my power keeping them from moving and so did our allies and my pack.
This wasn’t the first time I’d used this power, a power that I’d discovered by accident. It was a revelation that I wasn't just any female Alpha, I was the Female Alpha. I had the power to command wolves from any pack I wished to command. And they'd do just as I say like helpless little puppets. No questions asked. Even though their minds will still be active, their bodies won't. It was compulsion on a larger level.
At first, I could only do it for a few minutes. Now, I can do it for a maximum of half an hour. But I've never compelled this huge a pack before. I have no idea when it'll wear off but my best bet would be ten minutes.
And that’s why I took the opportunity to undo the brainwashing these bastards had done on their pack.
"There's already been enough bloodshed. Every one of you has someone waiting for them at home; don't waste your life for the greed of your Alpha! You complete the pack, you're the soul reason an Alpha can be who they are. Don't stand back and let them do whatever they want. Don't sacrifice your life so they can satisfy their greed!"
"What the-why aren't you moving? Idiots! Do something!" Not a surprise there, Aiden and Devon are both powerful Alphas and thus, immune to my compulsion to a certain level. But their movements were sluggish and there was no power behind their command.
"What did you do?" Rhys whispered; his voice barely audible from the shock.
"I compelled them to stop. But it won't be for long. A pack this size...my best bets would be ten minutes max." I told him before turning to the other two Alphas. "It's over. They can't fight anymore. Give up."
"Not yet." It was Devon who spoke up with a smirk on his face. "You see...most of these wolves here...they belong to Rhys. Most of our pack isn't even here. You want to know where they are. Well...at Jever of course!"
"Shit!" Rhys looked at me hopelessly, his eyes showing his desperation.
"Rhys, brother," I clenched my hands into fists at Aiden's smile. "Did you really think that we hadn’t planned every possible scenario? You can't be an Alpha anymore if your pack's already taken, can you?"
That's what the real plan was all along! Coming here was just for show. What they were really after was Rhys's lands which was now completely unprotected from the enemy.