Chapter 88


    -Angie-


    Fac’s howl was loud at my shoulder as Gideon’s lifeless b*dy fell to the floor. I stared down at him for a


    moment before shaking my head and growling at the Tally shifter standing before us.


    There was no time to mourn, no time to grasp the fact that one of my closest Inends was dead at my


    feet. Far was stunned, her cries were loud enough to drown out the sound of battle that echoed from


    beyond the treeline.


    Thest time I had seen Gideon he had waved to me from the other side of our army. His boyish grin


    had been afort even from afar. I couldn’t recall what was said thest time we had spoken. I


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    couldn’t remember if I had told him that cared. Had he known how much he meant to us?


    “Sorry,” the Tally shifter’s voice was a strained, gravelly sound. It scratched across my brain like nails


    on a chalkboard, “But you’re down ten members. It wasn’t too difficult. They didn’t even see using”


    His yellow teeth glinted in the moonlight and his face twisted into an eerie unsettling smile. We had


    been tricked. They were masking their scent and using Gideon’s to lure us deeper into the forest, away


    from the battle. Away from Dorothy.


    I wanted tounch myself at his throat. My anguish tightened my chest and I pulled my lips back over


    sharpened fangs as I snarled at the evil being before me. We had to think quickly.


    There were ten of us and five of them. They may have taken Gideon’s team by surprise but they got co


    cky. They had lured us away but chose to reveal themselves. That was a mistake on their part. We


    would not go down so easily.


    Fae’s agonized cries told me that she was more than ready to fight. I knew she was hurting just as


    much as I was. We had gone into this battle knowing that we might lose people, but we weren’t ready


    for it all the same.


    I growled for my team to stand at the ready. We were all rearing to fight, thering at the mase by the


    time the Tally shiftersunched themselves at us. We fought to avenge our fallen members. I fought for


    Gideon and as much as I would allow myself to ept it. I fought for Dorothy too.


    -Dorothy-


    I gained a nasty sh to the hind leg from the Tally shifter that rounded me. It was another she-wolf like


    me, only much bigger with fur the color of charcoal and ash She was faster than the others, more


    focused and streamlined with her attacks.


    While the other shifters I had faced were ready to throw themselves headfirst at their victim, this wolf


    was calcting and precise with her attacks. That coupled with her insane strength was a dangerous


    I tested my weight on the injured leg that had begun to bleed profusely, wincing as a sharp pain shot


    through my limbs when I stepped too heavily. Things weren’t looking good for us. There were too many


    of them, and our backup teams were still nowhere in sight.


    I tried to stay focused, to figure out where we had gone wrong. Something must have happened to the


    teams in the woods. Could the Tally have predicted our attack? Or maybe they had backup soldiers


    stationed within the woods to ensure no one would be able to escape.


    Either way, we were outnumbered and our ranks were dwindling at an rming rate. It was only thanks


    to Rence that 1 remained unaffected by the carnage around me. I could not afford to be appalled by the


    sights of violence and bloodshed. All I could do was try desperately to stay alive and take down as


    many Tally as possible in the process.


    The charcoal she wolf tried another attack, this time her fangs sliced at my nk, aiming for the break in


    my armor and tearing my side to ribbons and staining my white fur a deep shade of crimson. I howled


    at the sharp sting of her teeth. The pain was made worse by my own salty sweat that caked my b*dy


    Afternding her attack, she darted away once again and I roared at her, limping on my three good legs


    as my b*dy tried to heal itself. All the while I knew I was slowly draining my energy away, all of my


    lifeforce pouring into the glowing nket that was wrapped around my children in my womb. No matter


    what happened, no harm woulde to my children. I


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    wouldn’t allow it


    The she wolf seemed to sense the twins too. Her yellow eyes narrowed as she examined my stomach


    which I tried to hide from her by shying my b*dy away.


    A new, primal instinct took over when I realized that she intended to go for my children. Both Rener and


    I fumed with anger and 1 bared my teeth ma herce snarl. She could try. She wouldn’t get very far. I


    would make sure of it.


    And try she did. She propelled herself forwards at unnatural speeds. When she feigned to the left I


    anticipated her attack and met her head-on when she instead lunged to the right. I locked my jaws


    around her neck and hit down with every ounce


    of force Lamuld muster


    She backed up and struggled under my grasp as she tried to thitiw me off but I would have none of it.


    She was purposefully targeting my children, and that was as cruel as it was unforgivable


    It was a brutal fight, and the she wolf managed tond a few deep w marks into my skin before I


    finally took her down. pressed my iron armor close to her skin and held her in ce, my fury overtaking


    me as I grappled with therger woll


    She howled when the won burned into her skin and tried to pull away from me with no sess. I was


    seething with rage and my adrenaline granted me strength that I wasn’t aware Thadd. After much


    grappling and tearing until the grass beneath us became shick with blood, the she-wolf began to falter


    as the iron took effect.


    She released one final earsplitting howl and then fell still. Inded on top of her as her b*dy copsed


    and the iron spread poison through her system. I kept my jaws tightly locked until her final twitching had


    subsided. After a few more shakes to ensure I had truly seeded, 1 stepped back, mortifed at what I


    had done.


    H ooked around me at the fighting that continued Howls punctuated the air and blended into onerge


    echo like the earth herself was mourning at the blood that soaked into the soil. Above the writhing


    bodies and shing teeth, I could see the moon, glinting down at me from her seat in the sky.


    It looked so peaceful up there. If I kept my eyes up, kept my head craned high enough, I was able to


    block out the chaos around me entirely and instead stared up at the tranquil night sky that seemed so


    far out of reach.


    Sull, the moon glinted back at me. I wondered what we looked like to her. A mess of bodies writhing on


    the surface of the earth blur of fur and teeth, ws and iron.


    My heart was beating so fast I could hear the blood rushing in my head, enveloping me in a haze that


    made it difficult to think. Frouldn’t hear lenatius. I couldn’t hear anyone.


    The scuffling around me became a muted drone as I swayed on my feet. The taste of poisoned blood


    in my mouth.


    1 knew my b*dy was Tailing: I couldn’t keep up my protective flow of energy around my infants for


    much longer. We had to put an end to this quickly. With the help of Renee, I pulled myself from my


    dissociative stupor, flinching as I came back to the loud and overwhelming chaos of reality.


    I forced myself to remember what I was fighting for. Who I was fighting for. I cleared my head with the


    remainder of my goal of the one true enemy I had to face.


    Amidst the brutality of the battle that raged around me. I scanned the grounds for Johan. I knew he had


    to be close by and I was determined to face him myself. It was time to put an end to this feud that had


    kick-started the day Johan ran out of that vi mito the snow


    Even before that, at was an inevitable battle that began the day 1 awoke on my eighteenth birthday and


    set out to and my true mute. None of us could have foreseen the events that would follow. None of us


    could have prepared for the countless lives that would be lost for the sake of vengeance,


    How could I have known what Johan would be? There was no point in grieving over the way


    things turned out. It was matter of fate unfolding and we all had no choice but to go along with it and to


    respond to whatever consequences care of


    I finally spotted Johan some way off. He must have sensed me ton because he lifted his eyes from


    where he was in the process of taking down one of my members. Hissed as our eyes met and I took off


    towards him ignoring the searing pain


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    that shot through my hind leg.


    My fur was more red than white at that point, dirtied by both my blood and that of the Tally. I was a


    warning sign, a reckoning to therge shifter who I had once called my mate.


    Johan watched my approach with a nk expression on his dirt-streaked face. No inkling of the man I


    used to know was still present behind those putrid, yellow eyes. He was a shell of a shifter, a monster


    fueled by rage and a desire for unjustifiable


    revenge.


    He dropped the lifeless b*dy of the Bielke shifter that he had caught in his sh aggy jaws. The young s


    soldier dropped to the floor, wide empty eyes forever frozen in a look of pure terror. No doubt his final


    moments had not been pleasant ones.


    This only spurred me on, fury burning through my veins at what Johan had done to my people. To my


    new family. I finally understood his n. It wasn’t enough to take me down alone. He didn’t just want


    my life. He wanted to take everything from me, everything that I had fought for and aplished.


    He wanted to take everyone that I cared about. He was willing to go through anyone to do this. He had


    proven himself a heartless killer, and I would fight him to my veryst breath. I was fueled not by


    vengeance, but a deep desire to save my pack.


    My new Luna status hade with more than just credit to my name and a fancy house. I had been


    granted the strength of both b*dy and mind. It was only right that I used these gifts to protect the people


    who had epted me as their queen in the first ce.


    John watched my approach, rooted to the spot. Right before I could reach him, however, he turned and


    darted away again. This time I wouldn’t let him get away. I howled a warning, a death toll as I followed


    him. Hisrge wolf form sped across the clearing in a blur, spinning and dodging the shing wolves


    around me, I followed close on his tail.


    I paused only when Johan disappeared into the woods and I finally understood his intentions. In the


    woods I was vulnerable. There was no one to protect me, no space to fight freely. It would just be me


    and Johan


    Two individuals who had once shared an intimate connection. That connection was forever tarnished. I


    understood then, that there would be no going back. Not now, not ever.


    I took a deep breath, nced back at my soldiers who fought valiantly against our enemy. I sent a final


    loving thought to Ignatius who was out there somewhere, fighting to get back to me. I was unsure if he


    would make it in time.


    I steeled my nerves and then followed the monstrous shifter into the darkness of the forest.


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