AZALEA

Liam was trapped, so I had to end this now. I looked down at the watch, still wondering if it was going to work. It had a time limit, and I didn’t know how close I would have to be to make it work. Warwick’s intent was clear, so he would get closer to me soon. Azeron was on edge, trembling as he stared at Warwick with intent to kill. I didn’t think he was scared; it looked like he was struggling to contain his wolf. I had to kill Warwick to protect Liam, to protect everyone. I prayed to the Moon Goddess that Liam was only trapped, and this wasn’t some magical way to kill him. The only thing I could think to do was kill Warwick or the witch he had cast the spell. I lamented how I’d deceived Felix’s witch friend and destroyed that potential partnership. Warwick had a witch, so we should have seen this coming. He would use whatever he could to knock us down and destroy our lives.

Warwick started walking towards us, slowly clapping as he did, “You’ve finally made it. I have to commend you, Azalea. No matter what happens, you cannot stop yourself from rushing into danger to save the ones you love. You even convinced him to bring you right to me this time!”

Warwick motioned to Liam, who roared, still trying to escape through brute force. Nothing he did was working. My heart plummeted watching Liam struggle as Warwick slowly neared. I could feel his terror and frustration with being trapped and unable to protect me; it was only making it harder to stand confidently now. As much as I trusted Azeron, I didn’t think he would be able to protect me from Warwick by himself.

“Azeron,” I said softly, placing my hand gently on his back. “You don’t need to risk your life like this. Warwick wants me. Get out of here and find a way to help Liam.”

“I’m not leaving,” Azeron growled. “Thank you for trying to let me go, Luna, but I won’t leave you this time. Not again.” I knew that he felt guilty about Robert, but dying wasn’t going to solve that.

“Azeron, I’m ordering you as your Luna to go.”

“Azeron!” Liam yelled, clearly about to argue with my order.

“With all due respect Luna, you can put me in prison if we make it through this, but I’m not going anywhere,” Azeron said, steeling himself. Shame blossomed in my chest. I didn’t want him to die senselessly protecting me. He had time to get away.

“Now that we have settled that,” Warwick interjected, bringing us back to reality. “I would like to remind you that you’re all about to die. Having your side conversations is not helping your cause here.”

“f**k you,” Liam roared. “I swear to the Moon Goddess-”

“Your Goddess holds no power here,” Warwick warned him with a condescending smile. He looked up and opened his arms to broadly gesture to one of the brightest moons I had ever seen in my life. I hadn’t noticed it with everything going on. “She bathes you in her light, yet you are still trapped, Alpha. Your Luna is moments from being in my hands once more. Do you still believe in that w***e of a ‘Goddess’? She will not save you. No one will. You’ll watch as I slowly kill this sweet flower you try so hard to protect but can never seem to. My family will dispose of the rest of your little pack and those puppies too. Then and only then will I give you the death you deserve.”

“I’m still here,” Azeron reminded him while baring his teeth.

“That is of no consequence, mutt,” Warwick replied with disdain. “Pretending you matter only prolongs me taking your Luna by mere seconds. Your Alpha and Beta together didn’t kill me. You think you can alone?”

“Don’t underestimate me,” Azeron retorted.

“You overestimate yourself,” Warwick chided. “Come, show me what you’re capable of.”

“Luna, run,” Azeron demanded.

“No!” I shouted after him. He ignored my words and shifted, charging at Warwick.

Liam began to panic, and he turned to beg me to go, “Azalea, please listen. Find Damien. Get out of here. He just wants to kill you, and I can’t… I can’t break this circle.”NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

The desperation in his voice tore me to shreds, but I had to stay. I knew that Greyback left me this watch for a reason, and it had to be the key to beating Warwick. If it wasn’t, we were all doomed anyway. My heart thundered in my chest as I turned my gaze back to Azeron; Liam continued to beat at the magical barrier dividing us.

Azeron made it to Warwick, but the fight was short-lived. Warwick punched Azeron in the forehead hard enough that I could hear the cracking of his skull. He drove Azeron’s head into the ground and then stomped on him viciously until he stopped moving. I could see Azeron’s fur matted with b***d, and tears stung my eyes with the fear that he was dead. His body slowly shifted back to human form, but he remained unmoving on the ground. I prayed he was only unconscious.

I watched Warwick bring his foot up for a final blow to crush Azeron’s now human head, and I felt the scream tearing out of my throat before I heard it, “STOP!”

Warwick turned to me and broke into a sickening grin, “Are you ready for me now?”

“Yes,” I managed to get out. “Take me and leave him alone.”

“As you wish,” he teased, lowering his foot and walking away from Azeron towards me.

Liam must have lost the ability to hold back Gavin because as Warwick closed the distance between us, he shifted. His roars, howls, and the sound of him beating himself against the barrier between us were heart-wrenching. I couldn’t hold back the tears as I watched my mate try so hopelessly to get to me. My eyes darted back and forth between Warwick approaching and Liam trapped. Liam wouldn’t stop until he got to me. I could see Liam bleeding from his self-inflicted injuries.

“Oh, calm yourself, Liam,” Warwick scolded as if talking to a child as he came to a stop in front of me. I tried to hold myself up straight and not let my fear show. “It will be over soon.” He softly caressed my hair, looking down with pity. “You’re lucky I find wolves reprehensible, or I’d make you watch as we made a new litter here in front of you. I do have to admit, even though she’s a mutt, she is rather attractive. I seem to remember she doesn’t have a wolf, so she is technically human, right? Maybe…”

As his fingertip traced the lines of my face, my skin crawled. I could handle dying. I wasn’t prepared for Warwick to be so base. I opened my mouth to speak the watch’s inscription, but I was met with a hard backhand that threw me to the ground.

I tried to push myself up as I spit b***d from my mouth. My head was fuzzy from the impact, and my jaw ached. I closed my eyes and shook my head to get my bearings again.

“If I wanted you to open your mouth, I would tell you. The men are talking now, Luna,” Warwick chastised me. This was going to be even harder than I expected.

LILY

Michael and Quinn were a force of nature. They ripped through the never-ending flood of vampires. I was able to stop any that got past them but just barely. I collapsed on the ground next to Quinn as she shifted back. Moments ago, the vampires all stopped and crumbled away before us.

Quinn and Michael were smiling excitedly at each other as we caught our breaths. Suddenly, I remembered the kids, and panic overtook me. I stood to my feet quickly when Damien’s voice broke through my thoughts, “Lily, are you okay?”

“Oh my Goddess, I’m so glad to hear your voice, Dai.” Relief poured through me, and the pressure in my chest eased just a little.

“I’m with Liam, Azalea, Maddox, and Missy. Missy and Maddox said Delilah and Lucas are with Liam’s kids at the packhouse right now. They got them from Lyssa’s.”

I let out a heavy breath; My kids were safe, and so was my mate. I fell back to the ground, letting the exhaustion consume me for a minute now that my adrenaline was waning.

“Are you okay?” Quinn asked, her face concerned.

“More than okay,” I laughed. “Damien and my kids are all safe for the moment.”

“Listen, are you still with Michael and Quinn?”

“Yes, why? Do you need me? Tell me what to do,” I replied, ready to fight again.

“I stopped a Sire who came with Warwick, but Warwick is still out there. He is taunting us.” Pride swelled in my chest, knowing Damien was why all the vampires here were gone. I couldn’t believe he killed a Sire.

“All the vampires here just crumbled away not long ago. They had to be his kin. Wait, is Liam alright? If you killed a Sire by yourself….”

“Don’t worry,” he stopped me. “He is fine, and I can explain it all later. Right now, we need your help searching for Warwick. We are headed to the woods from the training ground. I don’t want to move any warriors from the packhouse, so I need your help. Try to get Michael and Quinn to help you; we will owe them a debt. Start in the park and work your way toward us.”

“I can handle this, Damien. Find Warwick and help Liam stop him. If I find anything, I will tell you immediately. Be careful, Dai.”

“I’ll try Lilypad. I love you.”

“And I love you.”

The whole conversation only took a minute or so, but I wished I could have had more time. I had an awful feeling that it felt like goodbye, and I couldn’t handle the thought of never seeing him again. I had to help end this. I wouldn’t go through that again.

“What’s going on?” Michael asked. I quickly explained what was happening, and they were immediately ready for action again.

“Of course, we’ll help you,” Quinn insisted, dismissing my apologies for dragging them into this.

“We agreed to help you in this war, whether it be surprise attack or planned,” Michael inserted. “I won’t let our allies die when we could have helped stop it. We are just grateful to be here as this happened.”

“We are grateful, too. I don’t think we could ever repay you.”

We quickly decided to fan out and thoroughly search the park. Michael pointed out that the park provided a great hiding spot with its position. Just because the other Sire’s army was gone didn’t mean all the vampires were. We split up, Quinn and I moving around one side of the pond with Michael going the other direction.

We took our time, trying to decipher the lingering vampire stench for any new scents. When we reached the other side and Michael caught up to us again, Quinn caught onto something. She led us into a tree grouping, where we found a frail-looking woman huddled against a tree. Her pale skin was sunken and hollow on her frame, and she looked terrified. She didn’t smell like a vampire or wolf at all.

“She’s a witch,” Quinn said softly, looking as concerned as I felt about her. Neither Michael or Quinn looked defensive at all despite the witch in front of us.

“I am,” she confirmed, smiling weakly.

“You’re here to help Warwick then?” I asked, wanting to hear the confirmation.

“Yes,” she answered weakly. “Not by my own will, though. He’s been keeping me as livestock to feed some vampire monster he’s created, and he uses me for my magic. I haven’t been strong enough to leave since he took me.”

“Magic is emanating from her. It’s flowing to spells or magical items that are tethered to her,” Quinn told us.

“How do you…?” I wasn’t sure what I was asking. How could she know that?

“We’ll have to explain later, but Quinn can sense magic. You can trust her,” Michael explained. I didn’t have time to question any of it; we needed to stop anything Warwick was doing.

Quinn bent down in front of the woman. “Is there any way I can talk you into stopping? I don’t want to hurt you,” Quinn asked gently. Her voice was firm but also held compassion. I could tell she was a strong Luna that wasn’t afraid to handle an enemy if she had to.

“I will do whatever you ask if you promise me something,” she said sadly. The look in her eyes was broken. “Kill me if he tries to retake me. I can’t go back.”

Michael nodded, “We’ll do everything we can to keep you safe, but if we fail, you have my word that I will end your life if it comes to it.”

“Thank you,” she exhaled in relief. She struggled to her feet, using the tree as a crutch. “It is done. All his magic is broken.”

“She’s telling the truth,” Quinn confirmed. “There isn’t any magic coming from her anymore.”

I offered a hand to the witch, “You’ll have protection in our pack, and we won’t let anyone hurt you anymore.”

She averted her gaze from us as I reached out, “Are you aware that you’re naked?”

I looked down, laughing a little. Maybe she hadn’t been avoiding our eyes but more our nakedness. “It’s normal to us; I wasn’t even thinking about it. We tear our clothes apart when we shift.”

“I still have some magic left. Do you want some clothes?” she asked, her cheeks red as her eyes traveled up Michael’s legs.