Chapter 205

Logan’s POV

He walked closer. Casually. Like we were having a conversation instead of standing in the middle of a battlefield.

"So I set a trap of my own. I sent five hundred warriors down the main road. Made them obvious. Easy to track. While my real force, seven hundred strong, circled around."

Seven hundred. Not five hundred.

My stomach dropped.

"You're surrounded, Logan. Your warriors are scattered. Half of them are already dead. The other half will follow soon."

I tried to shift back to Axel. But my body wouldn't cooperate. Too much damage. Too much blood loss.

Ashwood smiled. "Don't bother. You can't beat me. No wolf can beat a lion. We're apex predators. You're just... dogs."

He shifted back to lion form. Stalked toward me.

I stumbled backward. My injured leg gave out. I fell.

Around us, the battle raged. But it wasn't a battle anymore. It was a massacre.

Kestrel's warriors were being cut down. Their numbers dwindling rapidly.

My own warriors were fighting desperately. But they were outnumbered. Surrounded. Dying.

I saw Alpha Kestrel herself. Fighting three enemy wolves. She was good. Experienced. But she was exhausted. Wounded.

One wolf got past her guard. Bit into her neck.

She shifted to human form. Blood poured from the wound. She fell.

"KESTREL!" I tried to stand. Tried to reach her.

But Ashwood's massive paw pressed down on my chest. Pinned me to the ground.

"Watch," he said. His voice was cruel. Satisfied. "Watch your allies die. Watch your warriors fall. And know that you failed them."

I struggled. Tried to push his paw away. But it was like trying to move a mountain.

Through the pack bond, I felt them dying. One by one. The connections severing as warriors fell.

Ryan was still fighting. Bleeding from a dozen wounds. Surrounded by enemy wolves.

Bastian and his team had formed a tight circle. Back to back. Fighting with everything they had. But they wouldn't last long.

Ashwood lifted his paw. Gave me a chance to stand.

"Run if you want," he said. "I'll even give you a head start. It'll make the hunt more interesting."

I didn't run. I couldn't. I was Alpha. If I ran, if I abandoned my warriors, I'd be nothing.

I shifted into Axel again. Ignoring the agony. Ignoring the broken bones and torn flesh.

One more time. I'd face him one more time.

Ashwood laughed. "Brave. Stupid. But brave."

He charged.

I tried to dodge. Too slow. His jaws closed around my hind leg.

I felt bone shatter. Felt tendons tear.

He threw me. I hit the ground and tumbled. Came to rest against a boulder.

I couldn't stand anymore. My hind leg was destroyed. My shoulder was torn open. Ribs broken. Blood everywhere.

Ashwood walked over. Placed his massive paw on my neck. Pressed down just enough to make breathing difficult.

"Any last words?" he asked.

I looked up at the cruel smile on his lion face.

And I felt something I'd never felt before in battle.

True fear.

Not fear of death. But fear of failing. Fear of letting everyone down. Fear of leaving Valencia alone in this world.

Valencia.

Valencia, I sent through the mate bond. My thought was weak. Desperate. If you can hear me... we lost. I'm sorry. I love you.

I closed my eyes. Waited for the killing blow.

It didn't come.

Instead, Ashwood lifted his paw. Stepped back.

"Not yet," he said. "I want you to watch. Watch the rest of your warriors die. Then I'll kill you last."

He turned away. Stalked toward where Ryan was fighting.

I tried to stand. Failed. My body wouldn't respond anymore.

All around me, the battle was ending. Ashwood's forces had won. My warriors were scattered. Broken.

I saw Ryan go down. Three wolves on him at once. He fought bravely. Killed one. Wounded another. But the third got his throat.

The pack bond severed. Ryan was gone.

Bastian fell next. One by one, the connections through the pack bond disappeared. Like stars blinking out in the night sky.

Soon, there were only a handful left. Maybe thirty warriors. Maybe less.

They were retreating. Running toward a small hill at the edge of the battlefield. Trying to make a final stand.

I forced myself to shift back to human form. Crawled toward them. Each movement was agony. But I had to reach them. Had to be with them at the end.

Somehow, I made it. Collapsed at the base of the hill.

Elias appeared. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to be back at Cliffwatch Pack.

But he was here. Fighting alongside what remained of our forces.

He grabbed my arm. Started dragging me up the hill.

"Alpha! Come on! We need to hold this position!"

"Elias... why are you here?"

"You needed everyone. Every warrior. So I came." He pulled me to the top of the hill. Propped me against a rock. "We're going to hold. We're going to survive."

I looked around. Counted the warriors still standing.

Twenty-eight. That's all that remained of four hundred.

Twenty-eight warriors against seven hundred.

It was over.

Ashwood's forces surrounded the hill. Circling like vultures. They didn't need to rush. We were trapped. Wounded. Exhausted.

Ashwood shifted back to human form. Walked slowly up the hill. His warriors parted to let him through.

He stopped about ten feet from us. Looked at our pitiful group with amusement.

"This is it?" he asked. "This is the great Cliffwatch Pack? The pack that destroyed Emerald Grove? Twenty-eight wounded warriors?"

No one answered. We were too tired. Too broken.

"Where's your Luna?" Ashwood continued. "Where's the dragon? I was hoping to fight her. To see if dragon fire could burn a lion."

"She'll come," I said. My voice was hoarse. Weak. "And when she does, you'll burn."

Ashwood laughed. "She's not coming, Logan. She's hundreds of miles north. By the time she reaches here, you'll all be dead. Your pack will be destroyed. And she'll find nothing but corpses."

He was right. Through the mate bond, I felt Valencia. She was flying as fast as she could.

"Kill them," Ashwood ordered his warriors. "All of them. No survivors."

The circle of enemy warriors began closing in. Weapons raised. Teeth bared.

This was it. The end.

I looked at Elias. At the warriors beside him. All of them injured. All of them ready to die fighting.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I failed you. All of you."

"You didn't fail us, Alpha," Elias said. His voice was steady. Brave. "We chose to follow you. We chose to fight. No regrets."

The other warriors nodded. Murmured agreement.

I felt tears forming in my eyes. These warriors. These brave, loyal people. They deserved better than this.

Valencia, I sent through the mate bond one more time. I love you. I'm sorry I couldn't protect our pack. I'm sorry I won't be there to see you again. Please... survive. Please live.

The enemy warriors were five feet away now. Close enough that I could see the hunger in their eyes.

I closed my eyes. Made peace with death.

Then I heard it.

A sound that made my heart stop. Made every hair on my body stand on end.

A roar.

Not a wolf's howl. Not a lion's roar.

A dragon's roar.

My eyes snapped open. I looked up at the sky.

There, silhouetted against the setting sun, was a massive shape. Wings spread wide. Scales gleaming red and gold.

Valencia.

She'd come.