Chapter 6: Ambush

Noah's POV

I noticed that my newly wedded wife, Anastasia, had been avoiding me ever since the prophecy talk between me, her, and the High Priestess. Frankly, I would be lying if I said it didn’t bother me. My heart felt tight every time I met her eyes, only for her to avoid me as if I wasn’t there. 

For years, I had battled with countless creatures ever in this world. But I managed to beat them. Yet, I felt like an idiot when it came to her. It seemed those years of fighting other creatures that threatened us werewolves had dulled my sense when it came to affairs of hearts. I was very clueless about this! 

'What can I do to make her not avoid me?' I asked myself as I played with my fingers, which was my habit every time I was thinking hard.

A slightly cheerful voice surprised me.

"You've been sighing a lot, Commander." 

When I looked at the voice owner, I realized that I sighed again. It turned out to be Hugo Wallin, the vice leader of Bloody Fangs. Although this man could be jolly, he was the most reliable person. There were times when I was sure I would die if he wasn’t by my side. That was how reliable he was. 

"Must be about your wife, I presume?" he asked correctly.

"How can you know me so well?" I asked him back in response.

"We've been together for years, idiot! I'm your work husband," the man joyfully replied.

Hugo's response made me chuckle. I just hit his arm playfully, to which he responded by pretending to be in pain. Being in the Bloody Fangs for years, both he and I knew well that he wouldn't be hurt. Our training was so intense that it could literally kill people. But that was how it was. If it wasn't very tough, our Bloody Fangs wouldn't be feared. 

Again, I asked my vice leader, "What do you think about Anastasia?"

He just frowned as he asked me back, "What do you mean? Like impression? She's obviously very beautiful! I guess King Stefan was also eager to bring her to that vampiric land for that very reason. Forgive me for my words."

Before I realized it, Hugo quickly shut his mouth as he slightly bowed. That was when I realized that I glared at my vice leader. So, I stopped glaring at him as I closed my eyes to let him continue.

"Well, I think she's still wary of us, Commander. But it was pretty much predictable, though. She just lost her father and her throne because of her evil stepmother and half-brother. If I were her, I would be wary too," Hugo said as he bowed again before he left.

What Hugo said was right. After everything that Anastasia had gone through, it was reasonable for her to be wary of everyone. Not to mention, it was also my fault for telling her about the prophecy. 

'I'm an idiot,' I told myself, being upset about my recklessness.

'Yes, you are. I'm always impressed that you can be very naive when it comes to love.'

There was another voice inside me. Axel, my wolf, was the one talking earlier. Even though it often teased me, it was the one who understood me the most. It even knew better other things that I had kept from Hugo, including the prophecy part. Only some people knew about it.

Besides, wolves were a part of us werewolves. There was no way I could hide things from Axel. Including my own feelings.

'You should've been more tactful, Noah. You hurt her, frankly speaking,' Axel told me.

It was hard to swallow, but that was the truth. For me, it would be better to be frank from the beginning compared to telling the truth later. That would hurt her even more. Still, I had to admit that it wasn't the best move.

Without even waiting for me to speak for him, my wolf spoke again, 'You're not wrong, Noah. For now, only time can tell. Let her alone. She needs to heal from what has happened to her. But you shouldn't fear more because we are fated.'

After that, Axel went quiet. However, I heard my wolf clearly. 

'Both Anna and I are fated mates?' I asked myself, wondering whether it was true or not.

Unfortunately, my idleness didn't last long. There was a familiar smell from outside that alerted me. Not to mention, the shouts were loud. Immediately, I ran outside my camp with my sword. Sure enough, I was right. There were vampires only 100 meters ahead of us. 

My warriors and some of the warriors from the Lykos Pack prepared ourselves to face the vampires. The reason why they were here was very clear. Those damned vampires wanted to take back my wife, Anastasia. But that would never happen. After all, they messed with me, the Crimson Warrior. No one would stay alive after messing up with me or my loved ones.

Without further ado, I immediately drew my black steel sword as I slashed a vampire who rushed into me in half. I did it again and again. Trained to go against the vampires, I got used to it. However, my mind was wandering.

I contacted Anastasia through the mind-link. Since we got married, we were able to communicate through the mind-link. So, I told her through the mind-link, 'Anna, I want you to hide in your tent with Ophelia and Andreas.'

Anastasia replied shortly, 'Okay. Be careful.'

Although she was very short with her response, I was glad that she still talked to me. I hoped the three of them would be safe.

'Is Anastasia safe? The vampires must've been doing this to distract us to get her,' I told Hugo via mind-link.

'I'll check on her, Commander,' Hugo responded to me through the mind-link as he ran to Anastasia's tent.

Hugo's response made me calm down as I said through the mind-link, 'Good. Now let's teach these jerks that nobody messes with the Bloody Fangs!'

"Warriors! Shift!" I shouted an order to my warriors.

All of them howled in sync as they shifted into wolves like me. My wolf, Axel, was the biggest one among the other warriors. It seemed that it was inherent in my pack, the Varg Pack. After all, the Varg Pack was known to have the best warriors among the other two packs.  Its fur was blonde like mine with piercing green eyes. 

Soon enough, my wolf howled as loudly as I could. Hugo had told me through the mind-link that there were 50 middle-class vampires and 15 high-class vampires seen, which was a lot compared to the Bloody Fangs warriors who were only 30 in comparison. I wasn't worried. We warriors were trained for this very moment. Fight to our death was our motto.

I could see that the vampires were trembling in fear as the Bloody Fangs in the wolves' forms rushed to attack them. To be honest, staying out of the battlefield had made me rather bored. Going against these weak vampires who wanted to take away my wife fired me up. 

The blood quickly spilled to the ground. I had torn 5 middle-class vampires with my fangs. There was one injured vampire who tried to run away, but I quickly caught him.

"Please forgive me! Let me live!" the vampire shouted, begging for his life.

"Too late," I told him as I bit him until he died and turned into ash.

Since the situation had calmed down, I rushed to check into Anastasia's tent myself. Hugo was fighting 5 middle-class vampires and 3 high-class vampires in his wolf form. His wolf, Erik, was a huge red wolf with brown eyes. Although Erik wasn't as big as Axel, it was capable of tearing 4 middle-class vampires apart easily. 

I managed to kill the last middle-class vampire before I focused on the remaining 3 high-class vampires. My vice leader was struggling to fight them. The high-class vampires were indeed very hard to kill as they possessed the ability to change into animals like us werewolves and hypnotize their enemies to turn into their allies, which made them difficult targets. Not only that, they could even create barriers.

I joined Hugo to slay the remaining 3 high-class vampires with my fangs and my sword. Both of us managed to kill two high-class vampires. Unfortunately, the last high-class vampire turned into a bat and rushed to fly to Anastasia's tent. The worst thing then happened. That vampire created barriers!

"Anna!" I shouted as I shifted back into my human form to slash the barriers with my sword.

Unfortunately, the barrier was too strong. Every time I slayed the barriers, they created another layer. It seemed that I had no choice. I had to use my dagger made of pure silver, including its holder. Without waiting any longer, I instructed Hugo to bring me my silver dagger. In no time, the dagger was already on my hand, which was covered with thick cloth cover.

Silver was considered to be the werewolves' weakness as well as the vampires. It caused us unbearable pain all over our bodies. However, the Bloody Fangs did use the silver dagger to make us get used to the pain. It didn't mean that we were immune, though. We still felt the pain, but it was a bit bearable for us.

As soon as I unsheathed from its cover, I gritted my teeth to hold the pain. After that, I began slashing the barriers. They weakened, which allowed me to enter the tent. The tent was a mess. A wolf, which I assumed to be Andreas, was fighting against the high-class vampire. But it seemed to be overwhelmed as I could see terrible scars on its back. 

On the other hand, Anastasia and Ophelia tried to attack the vampire too. Both of them were very vulnerable as they hadn't reached 18 years old, except Anastasia who was able to transform early. Still, her transformation seemed to be unstable as she hadn't transformed in a critical condition like this.

"Anna! Ophelia! Run behind me now!" I yelled at them.

Both of them nodded. The vampire then switched his focus effortlessly to Ophelia, dragging that poor girl as well as attacking her mercilessly. Seeing this, Andreas' wolf tried to attack the vampire with no use as it was already injured badly. In fact, I was actually impressed that he was able to fight in this kind of condition. 

Anastasia then faced the vampire. She used her wooden dagger to block the vampire. I had to admit that my wife was pretty good. Still, it wasn't good enough because she was quickly overwhelmed. 

When I was about to slay the last barrier, the vampire attacked Ophelia in the chest. Soon, Anastasia jumped to the vampire, feeling enraged. Thinking that my wife was likely trying to protect her maid, I hastened to break the last barrier with my silver dagger forcefully.

Unfortunately, the last barrier was the hardest one to break. I couldn't help but feel like a weak man as I desperately tried to slash the barrier repeatedly to make sure I was able to enter. My palms were burned badly at this point. Yet, it didn't matter. 

'Fuck pain! I had to save Anna!' I thought to myself.

However, something then happened. My wife’s body then shone brightly. To be frank, it was something that I had never seen before. Not long after that, my wife shifted into her wolf form. Anastasia's wolf was indeed a befitting wolf for Axel. 

Her wolf form was the most beautiful worm I had ever seen. Its body was slender and its fur was shiny black like her hair, paired with mesmerizingly beautiful sapphire eyes. Immediately, I could feel Axel growling inside me. 

'Mate,' Axel said as it growled again.

Then, Anastasia's wolf rushed to attack the vampire. Initially stunned, the vampire quickly threw her wolf form. That caused me to see red. I immediately broke the last barrier as I stabbed the vampire with my silver dagger mercilessly. To my surprise, the vampire was still alive. How could this happen?

"What kind of vampire are you?" I shouted in frustration as I told Hugo through the mind-link to bring reinforcements to save Ophelia, Andreas, and Anastasia.

The vampire just grinned maliciously. He quickly flew to attack Ophelia. Even though Anastasia's wolf was thrown badly against the tent, it quickly woke up to attack the vampire. Ophelia tried to protect my wife in return by throwing things at the vampire angrily. 

Unfortunately, it just made the situation even worse. The attack caused my wife's wolf to be distracted, allowing the vampire to fly her wolf away only to throw it powerfully to the ground. Anastasia shifted back to her human form, vomiting blood. After that, she fainted. 

"Fuck you!" I shouted at the vampire before I stabbed him again with my silver dagger, causing the vampire to scream in agony.

This time, Hugo came with reinforcements. Without saying anything, my vice commander calmed me down as he ordered the warriors to put a silver handcuff onto the vampire’s wrists before he was dragged forcefully by those warriors. On the other hand, my healer was taking care of Andreas and Ophelia's injuries.

'Commander, we need him to stay alive to tell us his plan,' Hugo told me through the mind-link.

Even though Hugo knew what he said would provoke me, he stood firmly. I knew he was right, so I relented. I made sure to tell Hugo that I would be the only one to interrogate that man. He quickly nodded before he left the messy tent.

Then, I glared at Ophelia who was crying as she tried to wake her mistress up with Andreas who had shifted back to his human form.

"You do know that your reckless action has caused your mistress, my wife, to be injured, right?" I asked her, barely containing my anger.

She whimpered as she tried to speak, "I-I-"  

"Shut up! Get the fuck out of my face!" I yelled at Ophelia as I directed my silver dagger to her.  

"Stop, Noah!" Anastasia shouted at me, which surprised me.

It turned out that Anastasia woke up. My wife was surely angered by what she saw. I immediately put my silver dagger back on its cover while I gritted my teeth again.   

Again, my wife yelled at me, "Don't you ever dare to hurt my maid!" 

"Isn't that your promise to me, Crimson Warrior?" she asked me, trying to remind me of my promise.

Before I could say something, Anastasia vomited more blood before she lost consciousness. 

"Anna!" I shouted as I carried her, leaving both Andreas and Ophelia behind.

My healer, Elias, quickly rushed to check Anastasia's condition with both Ophelia and I held my wife tightly. It had been a while since I saw his grim face. My heart was beating quickly and not in a good way. 

"Commander, we must hurry to the Lupin Pack. Lady Anastasia is injured badly because of her early transformation," the healer reported to me.

When I heard it, I almost fell to my knees while Ophelia was crying sadly. But I nodded and thanked him and sent him to take care of Ophelia's wounds and bring her to Andreas. Through the mind-link, I notified my warriors to pack up quickly as we wouldn't stop to arrive at the Lupin Pack as fast as we could.

"I'm sorry, Anna. It's all my fault," I told my unconscious wife as I kissed her forehead.

A single tear fell on her face before more tears fell on her beautiful pale face. For the first time in 5 years since I joined the Bloody Fangs, I cried my heart out. I prayed hard to the Moon Goddess to save my wife. I hoped that the Goddess heard my plea. I really did.