Theo’s growl could be heard for miles. He was halfway shifting, trying desperately to hold onto his human side, but it was a losing battle.
Reed stepped in front of Albia protectively at the new threat. His eyes darkened, and I knew he was fighting his own wolf. Theo shifted completely, lowering himself into a crouch, ready to attack. Reed pushed Albia back into the arms of his warriors and shifted as quickly as he could.
This snapped the other wolves into motion, and suddenly they were all shifting.
Eli pulled my arm harder, and we quickly ran to the back of our wolves. I knew very little about wolf fights, but I did know it was heavily dependent on strategy. With Reed and Albia as mates, it set both sides back. No one on our side wanted to hurt Albia, and no one on their side wanted to hurt their new Luna’s family or friends.
It was an impasse. No one moved. They bared their teeth at each other, their fur stood up, making them look larger, and they looked to Theo and the other Alphas for an order to attack.
I didn’t know what God to pray to, humans believed in many different gods, but wolves believed in the power of the moon. I prayed to both asking for protection and guidance. Eli placed his hands on my shoulders, standing almost a head taller than me. His grip was tight.
I knew he wanted to be fighting with his pack and family, but Theo needed someone he could trust to watch over me. There were a few others that stayed back near us when the other wolves moved forward.
“How can they be mates?” I murmured, more to myself than anyone else.
“Because fate is cruel,” Eli responded, giving my shoulders a quick squeeze.
It became silent across the field. My blood began to chill me from the inside, my veins were frozen.
To the left, a wolf from Reed Porter’s side jumped across the small barrier and launched itself at one of our wolves. That was enough to send wolves from either side into a cataclysmic fusillade.
It was impossible to see who was who, but the wolves knew each other’s scents, they wouldn’t attack someone from their own side. In the woods to either side of us, wolves from our packs created a system of lines that moved into Porter’s group at different angles, forcing them straight into the group of Warriors.
I couldn’t look away, as much as I wanted to. The battle entranced me. It was like a dance of sorts, wolves jumping over each other, rolling under others, bouncing off the trees for more power. My eyes sought out Theo’s wolf; I scanned through the wolves I could see and became increasingly panicked when I didn’t see him.
Eli’s hand came over my shoulder, and he pointed to the left where Theo’s large wolf was. He was tearing through other wolves like they were pillows, the tuffs of white and gray, and brown flying out from the attack.
“You would feel something if Theo was hurt,” Eli told me. “The bond connects you both, you would feel it.”
I took mild comfort in that while I followed Theo with my eyes. Reed’s warriors formed a circle around Albia, who hadn’t shifted yet. Her head whipped around, eyes glancing from wolf to wolf, not knowing who she was fighting for or against anymore.
Theo was searching for something, someone; Reed. He made his way through the wolves towards Albia, looking for the wolf he assumed would be close by. Albia shook as he got closer.
My eyes began searching through the wolves, wanting to find where Reed was. The trees provided cover, which was an advantage to us because we knew the woods better than our enemies, but it provided them as much coverage as it did us. Something glinted in the light, and my eyes narrowed in.
Two shifters, in human form, were dragging a wolf by its hind leg away from the fight. I knew in an instant it was Reese, bucking and trying to escape the silver chains that were wrapped around him. I could smell the burning flesh from fifty feet away.
“Eli,” I barked out quickly. He was next to me in a second and looking around for danger. “Look.” I pointed. His eyes narrowed in, and he was deciding his next move. “You have to go help him.”
“I can’t leave you.” His orders were clear.
“You can’t just let him die.”
“Stay right here,” he growled, checking to make sure the other guards were still close. He shifted mid-run and tore into the woods. He was gone behind the trees in seconds, but my eyes still watched his path, waiting for him to return.
Instead, someone else came into my line of vision that made my heart stop beating, Reed Porter, with a blade to Sloane’s neck, staring directly at me, beckoning me.
His warning was clear, he would kill her without blinking his eyes. He planned this carefully; the other wolf had just been a distraction to get Eli away from me.
He held Sloane by her neck, cutting her air off just enough to keep her docile, but not kill her. She scowled, kicked, and jerked around, trying to break free. I knew what he wanted me to do, and I didn’t see any other way around it. Maybe someone would get to me in time, but Sloane wasn’t going to die in place of me.
The guards around me were faced outward from the small collection of trees we gathered around. I could squeeze right through the trees, and they wouldn’t know I was gone.
So, that’s what I did. I left the safety of my guards and walked straight towards Reed Porter, who smirked as I got closer. Sloane’s eyes widened as I approached, realizing what was going on. Her eyes bulged, trying to give me a signal to stop moving, but I swallowed the fear building in my throat and stood right
