Chapter 141 Almost Doesn’t Count
Mark's POV
The King's don't explain themselves. They don't need to. Sending me with 20 Lycan Warriors at my back was very strategic on their part. We are the reinforcements sent to help the Fading Light and Rising Tide packs. Which this means only one thing. This fight cannot turn. If Raging Rapids holds, they become the pivot. The one pack left standing with enough reach to hit the palace. That ends tonight!
We link up with Alpha Rudolph at the edge of Fading Light territory. Alpha Larry arrives moments later with Rising Tides force, already shifted. The tension is sharp in the air. We give no speeches. There is no endless chatter. We move.
The border comes up fast. Dense brush and uneven ground. The sound of rushing water masking the movements. This is classic Raging Rapids terrain. So far nothing is unusual or nothing obvious sticks out. That should've been a warning.
The fucking world explodes!
The blast behind us isn't random. It's directional. It's meant to shove us forward, deeper into enemy territory. Dirt and stone tear upward. Bodies slammed into the ground. One Rising Tide wolf crashes into a tree, hard enough to crack the bark.
Before one of us can regroup, there is another explosion. Left flank, then the right.
"Contact" someone screams.
I barely have time to register it before the third blast goes off. This blast is smaller and sharper. It is meant to disorient us, not to kill us.
"THEY WIRED THE BORDERS!" Larry roars. And then Raging Rapids Pack hits. They are not howling. They don't charge at us blindly.
They surge out of hidden trenches. They drop from the trees. They erupt from the riverbanks. They are timed perfectly with the chaos. Wolves lay into our scattered allies, claws flashing, teeth, sinking in deep.
This isn't brute force. This is calculated slaughter. "FORM UP.!" I bark "DON'T CHASE! HOLD!"
Fading Light and Rising Tide stagger under the sudden pressure. My Lycan unit does not break. We were trained for this.
These explosions were meant to scatter, to fracture command, and to turn discipline into panic. My warriors didn't flinch. They snapped into formation around me on instinct. They tighten the ranks, rotating positions, exactly as a drilled.
I move constantly. I'm calling shifts and redirecting pressure. I'm sealing the gaps before Raging Rapids can exploit them.
Everyone of my commands are answered instantly. Every maneuver is deliberate. That control and discipline is what keeps the odds in our favor.
"These bastards planned this." Rudolph snarls as he tears a wolf off one of his men and snaps his neck.
"There not stronger." Larry shouts, dragging a wolf off his beta and ripping its throat out.
"They're thinking." he says, as he goes for another wolf that leaped towards him.
"That's what makes them dangerous." I growl.
"Shift" My Lycan army shifts. The sound of bone snapping and crunching. Our Muscles move into place, is drowned out by screams as our Lycan form rise. We're taller, broader were built for exactly this kind of hell. Momentum now swings.
I tear through the first wave. My claws shredding fur and flesh. Blood is spraying hot across my arms and chest. A wolf lunges for my throat. I grab it mid air and slam it into the ground hard enough to crater stone.
Raging Rapids adapts fast.
A coordinated swarm drags two wolves down, ripping at joints, throats, and eyes, efficiently and brutally. A third Rising Tide warrior is blown sideways by a buried charge and doesn't get back up.
"RISING TIDE HAS THREE DOWN" Larry shouts, his voice is raw.
"LYCANS STATUS!" I roar through the chaos.
"No losses!" comes the reply. "One wounded, on his shoulder. He still mobile." he said. "Pull him back!" I order. "NOW!"
The wounded Lycan is dragged clear just as another charge detonates where he'd been standing seconds before. That was way too fucking close!
Smoke thickens. The air reeks of blood. The river runs red in places.
And then I feel it. The pressure shifts. That instinctive pull.
Alpha Renaldo steps out of the haze. He hasn't shifted. He stands there way too calm and unrushed. Blood streaks, his face like war paint. The cocky bastard is smiling.
"Gamma Mark" he says smoothly. His voice carrying even over the screams.
"You brought Kings soldiers to a thinking man's fight." he smirks, arrogant as hell.
"You buried explosives in your own land." I reply coldly. "That's not intelligence. That's desperation."
He laughs and lunges.
Fast and clever, blade in one hand, detonator, in the other.
He tries to draw me towards a marked zone. I feel it. My instincts screaming. I don't follow. I charge. He triggers the charge anyway.
The explosion hits me from behind. It tears into my back and launches me forward. Pain detonates white hot through my spine. I hit the ground and then roll back over onto my feet. His eyes widen a fraction as I slam into him. My claws ripping through his chest, tearing muscle and bone.
He screams. He swings his blade, slashing wildly, and cuts into my side. It don't do any good. He's already losing.
I grab his head with both my hands, blood slick and hot.
"You we're smart." I snarl in his face. "Just not smart enough." I twisted hard. His head comes free with a wet crack. Silence slams down across the battlefield.
"ALPHA DOWN!" someone howls.
Raging Rapid Breaks.
Some flee into the rivers. Some dropped to their knees. Some fight on and die where they stand.
I drop Renaldo's head at my feet. I'm breathing hard. Blood is dripping from my claws. Larry steps up beside me. He's torn and bloody, his eyes blazing. "It's over" he says, as he's trying to catch his breath.
Rudolph joins us. His chest is heaving, his gaze hard.
"Borders secured."
I key the comm.
"Raging Rapids neutralized. Alpha eliminated. Losses sustained. Victory achieved."
I scanned the devastation. Craters. Shattered traps. Falling warriors. Smoke drifting under the moonlight.
"They almost had us." Larry muttered.
I let out a dark, breathless laugh.
"ALMOST DOESN'T COUNT!"