Chapter 70

Aurora

“No, you don’t,” Jaxson growls, grabbing me by the hips and tossing me back a few paces, cornering me in the bedroom. My hands are shaking and I try to push past him, I have to, but he persists, standing like a board that’s nailed over the doorway. “You will stay here.”

The screaming grows louder and I swear I can recognize who is being tormented now. I see their faces, the faces I’ve lived with in passing for weeks now and I’ll be damned if I let this happen again. Jaxson stood up the first time, at the market. I refuse to cower now when it’s our pack, our new home. Not again.

I edge myself under his reach, practically crawling past him, before I bolt to the living room where I am immediately pounced on from behind. Jaxson pins me sideways to the floor, throwing himself over me with all his strength and weight. It’s impossible to fight this royal, this beast of a body built with muscles I couldn’t pronounce if I wanted to, but I can’t allow this to continue.

If Jaxson stands up to them, then I want to as well. I should have a long time ago.

“Alpha!” someone screams outside, followed by the guttural sounds of flesh ripping and blood pooling under their gargle of a scream.

Jaxson throws a hand over my mouth, ducking down lower over me, trying to keep quiet as I can now feel the heavy wave of a royal’s stench overcome our little pack land. It makes me sick, but even in my attempt to run off and try to help, it makes me fearful. I’m not built for war.

My mate lowers his lips near my ear, his hand still firmly over my mouth. “Don’t make a single sound. Don’t even move an inch.”

His eyes are black now, his posture tight as he watches the front of the hut, waiting for something to happen. I close my eyes for a second, picturing that fateful vison from the blood moon tonight. Tonight was such a blissful night. One of several we have had in our new life. So why this? Why now? Have we not endured enough?

Heat rises up my throat, something terrifying about having our past return, even while knowing I am well protected by Jaxson, I fear that it won’t be enough for the pack.

He moves his hands slowly from my lips, giving me a stern look. “Go to the bedroom and get under the bed,” she says, his voice not of his own. “Do not move from that spot until I come back to get you. Do you understand me?”

I nod hastily, my heart racing so loud, I wonder if the royals attacking the village can hear it. They could already be here, ready to break through the house and kill us both, or at least me. They might still be scared of Jaxson. Hopefully they are.

I push myself to a shaky crouch and crawl to the bedroom, doing as instructed, sliding under the thin bed frame and grabbing for Snowflake in the process. I hug her to my chest while I hear the door fly open on Jaxson’s exit.

When he shifts, there are growls of defense. The royals didn’t expect to be challenged like this. It feels like ages are flying past me in just a few seconds and I wish he had the chance to mark me as his mate before this all happened. I need to link to him; I have to know he is okay and the royals are fleeing. Maybe they all surrender to Jaxson and all the screams are just a reminisce of the aftermath. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

I hear a slight creak along the wooden floors, my heart jumping at the thought of Jaxson being back and ending this ordeal so quickly. I find out quickly that it’s not Jaxson. I see paws on the floor, a light gray color with small specs of brown against the fur. Jaxson’s fur is black as night, and when this unfamiliar sight stops just beside the bed, I know I’m not in the company of an alley. Not a single bit.

His snout lowers, twitching at my scent, and Snowflake freaks. She claws at my chest, bolting out from under the bedframe. I jolt backwards against the wall, the sight of the bed completely soaring midair for a minute, gray, unfamiliar eyes catching mine for just a moment, it’s clear I won’t be waiting for Jaxson to return.

The bed falls back to the floor between us and I shoot toward the doorway, shifting as I throw myself out the living room window. It’s not the best idea, my white fur tainted with little cuts of blood, my commoner scent invading even my own nostrils.

I’m a blood puddle in the middle of sharks. I count three at least, then the wolf that pounces out of the hut behind me, and without Jaxson in sight I consider surrender. I’ll die immediately if I shift. I don’t have time to consider such nonsense. One of them bolts toward me, head down, teeth already stained pink from another victim.

Jaxson never taught me to fight. But he did teach me to run like hell.

I find a break in the formation of royals all zeroed in on my throat and manage to slip past them, my legs carrying me further down the beach, looking back just once to see a crowd of fast royals nearing in. I can’t outrun them forever. I feel some pride in distracting them, though, knowing that if they focus on me, they can’t be busy killing commoners from our petite shore pack.

I try to turn, to bolt into the woods, but I spot more royals, more warriors, and I’m cornered by at least twenty wolves in a matter of seconds. I am entirely surrounded. I wait to be pounced on as I shrink myself down in size, feeling like I may faint under the pressure, but something catches the focus of the royals and in a matter of mere seconds, unfamiliar wolves can be seen pouring out the tree line, flooding the beach of royals.

There are growls and snaps of teeth into necks—I need out of this gruesome war.

I slip through the fighting, trying to appear small and nonthreatening as to not drawn any attention from the wolves fighting the royals, or the royals wanting me dead. I reach the exterior of the fight soon, slipping out of the battle where the new wolves are very keen on killing off any royal in sight. I ger far enough away, my white fur glistening under the bright moon above.

I shift back, sinking my knees into the sand, trying to catch my breath. Whatever is going on, I at least don’t have to take on the royal warriors all at once, alone, and end up dead. I bury my hands into the sand, panting heavily, my heart racing right of my chest. The ocean tips up in shallow waves, pushing against my hands and legs while I try to make sense of this never-ending night.

Paws hit the sand behind me, my breath catching when I turn away from the fight, a large, daunting silver wolf charging me with his head down. By his sheer size, I can tell he is a royal. His strength is insurmountable, and I feel it hit me all at once, throwing me clear across the shore and into deeper waters. I dig myself into the sand, waves crashing into my hips and lapping over my head, a pool of red blood surrounding me immediately.

Looking up, the royal is growling, snaping, and my arms break under my weight, my chest falling into the waters as I grow weaker. He doesn’t stop, snarling, teeth wide and ready to snap close. I let my head fall, unwilling to watch death as it approaches.

There’s a crashing sound that pulls my focus back, seeing an auburn color wolf standing over the gray one that had been ready to kill me seconds earlier. His teeth are sunk into the depths of his shoulder, blood and flesh and fur ripped from his massive jaw.

I take another brute wave trying to push me up the shore and drag me back into the deeper waters. I sink into the sand, stilling in this harsh tug-of-war of my bleeding body. I’d know those cunning, devious eyes from anywhere.

Xander’s wolf watches me, and I watch him back, just waiting for the pain to come quick and the death to come slower. He doesn’t satisfy my fears, instead dropping the royal in his muzzle and turning quick, leaping back into stance against the dwindling amount of warriors left in the crescendo battle on the beach.

I allow the water to press over my wounds, the salt stinging me slowly, making each of my injuries more and more apparent. I would move if I could but I fear my leg is broken, perhaps both, and I don’t intend to make matters worse. If I leave the shore, I’ll be attacked again, perhaps by the Apogee pack where Xander leads charge or the warriors of the Royal pack, and I fear both sides very differently.