by Grey, Aspen
My pack was ready, as was Larcon’s. We were seconds from engaging—something there would be no coming back from—but instead of leaping into battle, I took a risk. I shifted back to human form and called out.
“Larcon! This is your last chance! If you take your pack and leave our territory now, we will not pursue. We will continue to uphold the peace. But if you do not, we will show you no mercy. We will kill each and every last one of you, including the betas you have brought with you. I will not say this again. Leave now!”
I expected him to at least ponder my declaration, even if he didn’t shift to human form to discuss it with me. But again, I had underestimated Larcon’s cruelty. He leapt forward at me, jaws open and ready to strike. I barely had time to shift back to wolf form before he was on me. I threw myself out of the way, but his claw caught my side and tore flesh. It wasn’t deep, but enough to draw blood. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction, I did not cry out. Instead, I threw myself into battle.
Marco had been beside Larcon and was now on his own. I was faster than him, and caught his right shoulder in my jaws. But just as I bit down, the brown beta slammed into me at the right angle, causing my mouth to spring open and sending me tumbling to the side.
I heard Tyrese cry out, and as I got to my feet, saw him engaged with Tony, the black beta at his side, snapping his teeth in an attempt to gain ground. I spun back to my feet just in time to avoid being caught in the brown beta’s jaws, and lashed out with my claw, catching him on the side of the face. He cried out and leapt back behind the shelter of Tony, whose behemoth mass hid him easily.
Larcon came at me again. I jumped back, avoiding his jaws, then leapt forward immediately and snapped at him. He ducked his head and twisted out of the way and my teeth clamped down on nothing but air.
The battle raged all around me. I heard the snarls and cries, the snaps and snarls as the Webbers and Kurrens finally broke the twenty-two-year peace and went to war.
Why did it have to come to this!?
Jasper howled behind me, and I whirled around to see Marco had somehow managed to get his teeth around his front right leg. Jasper snapped at him but missed. I leapt away from Larcon and drove my head into his hind, knocking him away. But his jaws stayed clamped on Jasper’s leg and the two ended up tumbling down the slope together, Jasper yelping in pain.
I wanted to leap after him, but someone slammed into me from behind and sent me spinning into the trunk of a tree. The impact took the breath from my lungs, but I managed to scramble out of the way of the follow-up attack. It was Larcon, of course, the dirty fighter that he was. I slashed out at him and caught his right hind with my claws, tearing deeply into his flesh. He cried out and I leapt forward to seize him, but he ducked and I soared over him.
I vaulted off a tree, redirecting my momentum to the left where Eric was facing off with Tony. He dashed in, snapping at Tony’s fat legs, causing him to dart back, leaving himself perfectly positioned for my attack. I soared through the air towards him, opened my jaws, aimed straight at his neck and bit down.
The bastard was thicker than I thought. Any other wolf’s neck would have burst beneath such a bite. I would have shredded their arteries and left them bleeding out on the ground—but not Tony. Tony had layers of gluttonous fat protecting him, and although my teeth sank deep into his flesh, the wound was not deadly.
But then, from my left, came Terrence Mitchell. His age was apparent in his coat, which had flecks of gray as though he’d had paint splattered on him, but his speed was on the same level as any other member of my pack.
He sank his jaws into Tony’s side and yanked his head to the side, tearing a huge hunk of flesh from his body. Tony howled in pain and tried to get away, but Eric seized the opportunity, latched onto his back leg and pulled with everything he had, causing the big son of a bitch to slip and crash down on his belly.
There was little time to finish him off before one of his pack attacked us, so I leapt on top of him and snatched him by the neck. He yelped with pain, and as I pictured all of the horrible things he and Larcon had done to their harem, and would have done to Blue if they’d had a chance, I swept my head up and back and snapped his neck.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Blue
“Aaaah!” I howled as another contraction, fiercer and more all-encompassing wrenched through my stomach. “Oh, he wants out!”
“It’s getting close to that time,” Clarice told me, wetting the washcloth with cold water now and pressing it against the back of my neck. My body was hot and it helped a lot to keep me from feeling like I was overheating and about to burn to a crisp or boil from the inside out. “You’re going to need to push soon.”
“NO!” I snapped. I was irritable and being rude, but I couldn’t help it. I’d apologize to her later. Surely she understood. I couldn’t be the only parent she’d helped through their labor, shifter or otherwise. “No, Alexander has to be here. He has to!”
“I don’t know if that’s going to be possible, sweetie,” Clarice said kindly, sounding like a mother. “This baby boy wants to come and he’s not going to wait.”
“Ahh, he’s like his father,” I groaned. “Headstrong and knows what he wants.”
Clarice laughed and pressed her hands against my belly again and closed her eyes.
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“He’s fine,” she replied, opening her eyes again. “But he’s ready to come. You can’t wait, Blue.”
“I have to!” I snapped again. “He has to be here!”
“Honey,” Clarice said sweetly, but with that tone that let me know I wasn’t going to like whatever she was about to say next. “Alexander is fighting the Kurrens right now. He’s strong, but we have to accept the possibility that he might not—”
“NO!” I howled. “He’s coming back, Clarice! Don’t even put that out there!”
“I’m just saying—”
“Well, don’t! That’s not happening. Alexander is strong. He’s saved me twice already and he’s going to do it again!”
“Okay, okay,” Clarice replied. She didn’t agree with me but she also didn’t want to argue. But I didn’t care what she thought. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was what I thought—what I knew—and I knew that Alexander would be coming back to me. Maybe he’d be wounded, maybe he’d be seriously injured, or maybe he would be completely fine, but he would be back.
But Clarice was right; my baby boy was ready to join the world. I knew it was just my body doing its thing—my labor—but it felt like he was doing his best to eagerly crawl his way out of me.
For a moment, I thought about taking Clarice’s advice and giving in, pushing and bringing our new cub into the world. I wanted to meet him so badly, cradle him in my arms, bring him to my chest and love him. But then I thought about when I was back at the bar, passed out from whatever Larcon had slipped into my drink. He’d come for me then, and then again when Tony was dragging me around by the chain, a metal collar around my neck, taking me off to do who knew what with me. He’d come for me again then too, and he would be coming back now. I couldn’t bring his son into the world without him by my side—I owed him that much and more.
Please wait, baby boy. Please wait for your father!
Chapter Thirty-Three
Alexander
I dropped Tony’s lifeless body from my jaws and whirled around just in time to see Marco collide with Tyrese. Tyrese was bigger, but Marco was quick and savage and instantly had the upper hand. He sank his fangs into Tyrese’s haunch and tore, causing Tyrese to roar with agony. He tried to get away, but Marco’s grip was firm and unflinching.
I dashed towards him, but Larcon slammed into me and sent me spinning away. I slammed into a tree trunk, shattering it. Shards of wood rained down around me as I got to my feet. Tyrese snarled with pain and I heard his jaws snap together as he tried to sink his teeth into one of his attackers. But it was two on one now, and I watched in horror as Larcon snatched him by the neck and to
re.
Blood spilled out onto the forest ground as Tyrese struggled to scream. But his entire throat was gone. He couldn’t make a sound. All I could do was cry out as his legs went limp and he collapsed to the ground. I wanted to do something, but the wound was too severe. In seconds he would be dead.
Enraged, I threw myself at Larcon, but he whipped his hind around and slammed it into my face, driving me into the ground. I stumbled as he snapped at me, but righted myself and leapt back, facing off with him.
I heard Terrence snarl and glanced to my side to see him face to face with Marco, whose eyes were filled with an evil rage. Beside him, Jasper was squared off with the two betas, doing his best to keep them away from the battle so the alphas could fight. They nipped at him, but even with the two of them side by side, they weren’t confident enough to attack. It was a standoff.
It was in that moment that I realized just how much I hated the Kurrens, especially Larcon. I’d been so intent on keeping the peace and protecting Blue, that I’d put my own hatred out of my mind. It served no purpose before, but now it was the fuel for the fire within me that would be what I needed to win the battle. Eric roared from somewhere. It was chaos.
The pain in my side was dull and barely noticeable as I glared at the leader of the enemy pack. I’d been wounded, sure, but I wasn’t down or anywhere near out. Unlike Larcon, who lived in depravity and cruelty, I had something worth fighting for. I had love. I had a mate, a fated-mate. I had a son on the way. I had a future. With that inside me, I braced myself, stared into the eyes of the alpha in front of me, and launched myself forward.
I snapped at Larcon’s throat, going for the death blow. But Larcon was still fast and ducked and bit back, catching my chest and sinking his teeth in. He didn’t manage to latch on, though, and I soared over him and landed, my breath heavy in my chest. I was bleeding from two places—I couldn’t keep going on like this. One of us was going to have to die, and it damn sure wasn’t going to be me.
Before he spun around, I snatched his tail in my mouth and tugged hard. He yelped, clawing at the forest floor as I pulled him back towards me. He spun to the left to snap at me, but I dodged to the right and kept myself away from him. I heard Marco howl and looked up to see Terrance and him flailing their claws at each other. It looked as though Marco had the upper hand, but there was no time for me to focus on that now. I had one opponent to deal with.
Larcon spun to the right again in another attempt to get me to let go of his tail, but I wasn’t letting go. This was no way to win a fight, of course—you couldn’t kill a shifter by biting his tail, even if you tore it off—but I was wearing him down, causing him to panic.
He roared with anger and tried to spin again. As his head came back around at me, I waited, biding my time for the right moment. Then, as he spun back and tried to pull away, I released him.
He shot forward with more speed than he’d expected, and slammed straight into a tree in front of him. He slumped forward, dazed from the impact, and I saw my chance. I leapt at him, my jaws open and my fangs aimed right for the sweet spot at the base of his neck.
This is it, I thought. I’ve got you, you bastard!
But at the last moment, somehow Larcon had a moment of brilliance. He shifted, returning to his human form. Instantly smaller, my attack completely missed him and I flew past him and glanced off the trunk of the tree. It sent me spinning, twisting into a barrel roll before face-planting into the ground.
I coughed, inhaled dirt and coughed again. I looked up to see Jasper flanked on both sides by Larcon’s betas. He was bleeding badly from somewhere, and I felt a pang of terror as one of them slammed into his front legs and took them out from under him. He collapsed and the other attacked.
No!
But just as the beta was about to bury his teeth in Jasper’s neck, something happened that I never could have seen coming.
All three omegas we’d saved from Larcon’s harem came streaking out of the trees and slammed into the betas, knocking them to the ground. They were small, much smaller than even Larcon’s betas, but there were three of them and it had been a surprise attack. They wouldn’t be able to win the fight on their own, but it was enough to keep Jasper up and alive, and that’s all he needed. He scrambled quickly back to his feet and leapt on one of the betas and tore a hole in his side so deep with his claws that there would be no recovering.
We’re winning!
I heard Larcon shift behind me. I only had a second, two at max. I threw myself onto my back—doing something shifters never want to do as it exposes your soft belly—and as Larcon crashed down on me, I kicked hard with all four legs.
Perfect.
My claws tore into him. Blood sprayed down on me like crimson rain. Larcon howled in pain as I kicked him away. He crashed down in a pile of fallen branches, shattering them beneath his weight. And then I was on him.
My teeth found his neck and I clamped down. I had him.
I hesitated, just a brief moment to let the reality of the situation sink into him, and thought about all the terrible things the bastard had done, and then, with everything I had in me, I bit down.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Blue
“Blue,” Clarice said. “You really need to start pushing. This baby isn’t going to take no for an answer any longer.”
“I can’t,” I muttered again. Alexander was out there, fighting for his life and ours, and I’d be crushed if he wasn’t here for his son’s birth.
“There’s nothing more I can do,” Clarice explained. “Nature is taking over now, and it always wins.”
My vision began to blue as tears filled my eyes. Clarice was right of course; the baby was on his way and Alexander was going to miss it. What made things worse was that I had no idea whether he was safe or not—if we were winning the battle or not.
Whether or not I liked to admit it, Larcon was a formidable alpha and I suspected he had more experience fighting than Alexander did. My mate was a nice guy. Larcon was a prick. Pricks always got into more shit than nice guys. But Alexander was no slouch either, and had already gotten the best of Larcon’s alphas.
No, I thought. He saved me twice; he’ll do it again!
“Can you see anything?” I asked Clarice. “Out there?”
I nodded towards the French doors that led out to the balcony that overlooked the forest. Clarice got up and went over to see. But after a moment, she shook her head.
“I’m sorry, Blue,” she said. “The battle must have taken them deep into the woods.”
“SHIT!” I roared, louder than I’d anticipated. My outburst of anger actually frightened me, and I forced myself to take a breath and calm down.
You don’t want to bring your son into an angry world.
Tears continued to pour from my face and I inched back on the bed and rearranged the pillows to prop myself up more. Clarice rearranged the towels beneath me without being asked. I knew she wanted to tell me to hurry up and start pushing, but she also knew what kind of state I was in, so she waited.
I was a wreck. My mate was out there and my father too. If I lost either of them…
But then, a scent came sweeping through the open French doors. My heart leapt. It wasn’t Alexander’s, but it was friendly. It was Jasper’s.
“Jasper!” I shouted. Clarice was on her feet instantly. She raced to the doors and looked out.
“Are you okay!?”
“I’ll live,” he called back.
“The others?”
“We lost one,” he replied. I cried out.
“WHO!?”
“Tyrese,” he shouted back.
Tyrese…I thought. My heart ached for him—an alpha lost in a pack war that I still felt was partially my fault—but at the same time, that meant Alexander was alive. And sure enough, seconds later, his scent drifted into the room.
I tried to sit up, but a contraction hammered me and put me back down. I groaned and put a hand on my belly as the scents of the pack grew clos
er.
“Alexander!” I cried out.
“Blue!” His voice was strong but I could hear a slight bit of weakness. He’d been wounded. “Is he here yet!?”
“No! Get your butt up here!”
Another contraction, worse than all the others, spun through my insides like a tornado. All I could think of was mashed potatoes.
His scent hammered my nostrils and I looked up to see him, in full wolf form, land on the balcony and step into the room. He shifted back to human for and I saw the blood dripping out of him. He had multiple wounds that needed attention.
“Oh, look at you,” Clarice muttered as she went over to him. But Alexander didn’t stop or hesitate. As Clarice did her best to get gauze over his cuts, he walked straight towards me and didn’t stop until he was at my side.
“We won,” he told me. “It’s over.”
“You came back to me,” I smiled. “Clarice wanted me to start pushing, but I told her I wouldn’t until you were here with me!”
“You doubted I would be?”
“I—I was afraid, Alex!” I protested.
“I’m only teasing,” he replied as he took my hand.
“You’re bleeding like a stuck pig,” she cursed as she wrapped a bandage around him to secure the gauze.
“I’ll be fine now,” Alexander replied.
I looked up as my father stepped into the room. There wasn’t a scratch on him.
“Dad! You’re all right!”
“Not bad for an old man, eh?” he smiled as he came into the room. He casually picked up a stick-on bandage from Clarice’s side and slapped it onto one of Alexander’s wounds. “Here you go, big guy.”
Alexander smiled but his eyes were on me and nothing else.
“He’s coming, Blue,” he smiled. “We’re going to be fathers.”
