5 hours until the full moonAVAAt 7pm on the dot, I burst into the clearing to see Elijah waiting for me, just as expected. I shifted back, standing opposite him, not really caring that I was naked.I dropped my guard, making sure that my scent would be all over this clearing if anything were to happen.“Oh, Avelina,” he drawled. “You really did grow up to be a beauty, didn’t you?”I didn't answer, instead, I just stood and watched him. The longer I silently watched him, the more agitated he got.“Avelina,” Selene whispered in my mind. “From here on, I'm limited on how much I can help you, my child. As soon as you truly confront him, you're on your own, I cannot interfere.”“Selene… What should I do? How do I… win this?”“Avelina… There are no true winners tonight. You live, as do your mates. But sacrifices will have to be made before the night is over.”“What sacrifices?”“Your lover will have to make a choice, Avelina. A choice that will cut him deeply for the rest of his life.”“O
4 hours until the moon is fullAVAI woke up freezing cold and wet. At some point whilst I was unconscious, someone had pulled clothes on me, so at least I wasn’t naked.I could hear Elijah talking to someone near me, and decided that my best chance of survival was to pretend to still be asleep.“Artemis, are you okay?”She didn’t respond.“Artemis!” I shouted in my mind.Fuck, why can’t I talk to Artemis?I heard footsteps walking towards me, and felt someone kneel by my side, just before fingertips stroked my cheek. “Soon, my dear, you will be mine,” Elijah drawled. His fingers moved to my neck, scratching the three marks on my neck. “These will be gone, and you’ll be bonded to me. I will control you. Together, we’ll rule Eclipse Mountain. We will reinstate the old ways, where the Lycans hunt werewolves without retribution. Together, we’ll remake the world.”I fought to stay still, to keep my body limp and my breathing even, even though his touch made me want to be violently sick.
OSCAR“Selene said I’d know when to go to Ava, that time is now, Callum. We need to move.”“She said the same to me, Oscar. I don’t think it’s time yet.”I stared at him.Then it clicked.“Our times are different,” I whispered. “Maybe I’m meant to go now and I go straight to Ava, but you come later? What did your prophecy say?”His mouth fell open like he’d just had an epiphany. “I take the long road. I must have to deal with the rogues. ‘Her protector walks the weary road, bearing the weight of the heavy load… with every step, a challenge new, obstacles that block his view.’” He met my eyes, his still wide. “I know what I need to do. You go straight to Ava. You are her strength, you help her keep going, no matter what he puts her through.”“What do you do?”“I take out his army.”My mouth fell open.“‘And when the final hour draws near, when all is lost and ruled by fear, he’ll rise above, through blood and flame, to save her soul, to speak her name.’”Fuck, that meant we had to spli
3 hours until the moon is fullAVAI came around on the wet ground. Apparently Elijah had knocked me out again. My body was in agony, I still couldn’t talk to Artemis and I had no idea what any of my kings were doing.“What the Moon Goddess doesn’t want is inconsequential, Avelina,” Elijah smirked. Oh how I wanted to punch his stupid face.“The Moon Goddess gives us all our mate bonds, Elijah, she can break them too.”There was another massive thunder clap, as if Selene herself was helping me illustrate my point.“Where are we?” I growled. “We haven’t gone far, my dear.” He stroked one finger down my face, sending shivers, and not the good kind, down my spine.His hand moved back to my neck, tilting my head to the side, his fingers lingering around my mating spot. “Maybe I should just mark you now?” he murmured, stroking my skin. “You can’t mark her yet, my King,” the doctor from earlier moaned as he spoke.“It won’t stick, she… she’s not your mate.”Elijah stomped towards him and b
AVAI wasn’t looking forward to this conversation with Oscar.I knew what the endgame for the night was.Somehow, at midnight, I needed to (eww) be in front of Elijah letting him sink his disgusting teeth into my neck. At the same time, I now knew that Artemis needed to still be unconscious, so the mark from Elijah doesn’t stick.But I also need to somehow sneak up on him but not have him catch me whilst Artemis is unconscious… this was starting to feel impossible.“We need to find him, we need to know where he is going to be at midnight and make sure we’re there. I need to be there the second the moon is at its peak.”I paused, searching Oscar’s eyes. “I… he…” I let my eyes fall closed. Oscar wasn’t going to like this bit. “He has to think he’s going to win. He has to think he’s going to get… me.”What I wasn’t going to tell him… is that Elijah has to actually bite me for this to work. The concept made me feel sick to my stomach, but it was true. His teeth actually need to sink into
One hour until the moon is fullNOAHAn hour before the moon peaks and the pack was chaotic. All night, Beta Alex and I had been turning the pack territory upside down, digging out weapons, traps, all kinds of random stuff we’d not even realised that we still had after the last major battle a decade ago.Anyone who could fight was ready to do so, with newer and weaker fighters backed up by more experienced members in the areas that were best protected naturally.We’d moved pups, pregnant women, the elderly, unwell and anyone else who couldn’t fight into the safe rooms earlier in the day since we had no idea when the attack would actually come. Now… we just waited… for the attack to come.Rogues were lining up all around the border close to the trap that Ava and Jeremiah had concocted, so we’d placed a good chunk of our forces there, with the remainder spread out around the rest of the border to go after the stragglers.I’d tried to reach Ava a few times over the last hour… I couldn’t
MidnightNOAHI was in the middle of a battle when it happened. When I felt it.When I felt my mate being ripped away from me.My knees buckled and my body forced me to shift back to human form as a shooting pain shot through my body starting from my heart. I lay on my side, and I could feel myself shaking in agony.“Noah!” I heard someone calling, but they seemed far away. “Noah, fuck!”A face appeared leaning over me. Alex.“Noah, can you stand?” He was checking my body for signs of injuries that would explain my collapse, but didn’t find any.I shook my head, my breathing heavy.Alex’s arm wound around my waist, helping pull me up to stand. He motioned for someone to help, one of the warriors.The pain eased off and I was able to take some of my own weight, but that didn’t last long. Another sharp pain shot through my body, bringing me back to my knees. When I woke up, I was in the hospital.OSCARI knew he was going to bite her, but nothing at all could have prepared me for the a
ALEXA battle still raged throughout the pack territory.We weren’t entirely sure what was happening out in the big, bad world, we just knew that it wasn’t good. After he collapsed, we’d taken Noah to the pack hospital. He had been screaming, truly screaming in pain, crying about Ava, but not able to tell us what happened.The awful thing is… how he was reacting reminded me of something horrible.Fifteen years ago, I lost my wife. My fated mate. The mother of my boys.The only reason I got through it was my boys.There’s a reason a lot of wolves lose themselves, their minds and often their lives after their mate dies. Our mates are the other half of us. If you lose them, well. It’s like you are being torn apart from the inside out and your soul is being ripped out. It’s like your very being is being destroyed.You had to find something to live for to be able to carry on living.If Noah was in this much pain… something happened to Ava. Which meant my boys would also be in this much pa