MISSY

Maddox was barely hanging on, and I could feel our bond starting to shred. This was worse than thinking he was dead; he was dying right before my eyes. I moved as carefully but quickly as I could. I knew what direction Liam and Lea went but didn’t know exactly where. I used my nose, desperately searching for their scents. Lea was the only thing that could save Maddox, and I knew it.

Finally, I caught their scent and headed toward them. I could hear fighting, and I grew worried as we got closer. There was a squishing thud sound before they finally came into view. Liam was rushing to Lea, who was on the ground. I stopped a few yards away and carefully got Maddox onto the ground. I shifted back to check on him.

“Maddox, please, hang on. I found her, okay? I found Lea, and she’ll fix you,” I told him. He coughed weakly, and I looked up to my parents quickly. Warwick wasn’t here. The vampire smell lingered, but it wasn’t as strong as it should be.

“Maddox, they did it! They stopped him,” I said quickly. “It’ll all be alright now. You just have to stay with me, okay? Don’t close your eyes.”

A wolf came over and gently set Maddox’s severed arm down next to me, right where it would be lying if it were attached to his body. The two wolves that had followed me here stepped back.Content rights belong to .

I looked over at Liam and Lea, ready to call out and tell them I needed help but stopped quickly. Something was happening. Lea was still in Liam’s arms, but her body was at a weird angle, and a pink light was erupting from her. Liam was screaming her name as he held her, and my stomach filled with trepidation.

The sky around us seemed to glow with the same pink hue fueled by the moon’s light. Light shed from the sky, leaving warmth in its path. Maddox made a soft grunt behind me, and I turned back to him, panicking. His face was screwed up in concentration, but I quickly realized his color was returning to normal.

I gasped as I looked down at his injured extremity. It was magic because slowly, his skin was knitting back together. His arm glowed slightly pink as his body healed. As it happened, I felt our bond repairing and strengthening. Within only moments, his arm was wholly reattached, and Maddox let out a heavy breath.

His eyes opened and found me. “Missy,” he whispered.

“M-Maddox?” I stammered. He pushed himself into a sitting position, and I watched him in disbelief. “What?”

“I’m okay,” he said softly. I shook my head.

“H-how?” I started to ask. I realized immediately I didn’t care how. I launched myself at him, and he caught me in his embrace.

“It’s over,” he whispered into my hair.

“You scared me half to death, Maddox. I thought I was losing you!” I cried. He squeezed me even tighter.

“Never, Missy. I just won’t let that happen,” he promised. Reluctantly, he pulled away. “Is everyone else okay?”

“I don’t know,” I told him. “I brought you to my mom to heal you, and then…” I trailed off, pointing up at the pink sky. He looked up first, then behind me to Liam and Lea.

“Come on,” he said gently, pushing me up to my feet.

FELIX

I held my small son in my hands, not believing this was happening. “Lacey, stay awake,” I told her. She hummed softly as Miss Marci tried to help her.

So many things were going through my head. I looked down at the tiny bundle of blankets in my hands. My son was here; Lacey had brought our pup into the world. But she wouldn’t stop bleeding, and I had no idea what to do.

“We really need a doctor,” Miss Marci said quietly.

“Just keep her alive,” I growled. She turned to me with a serious look, and I softened a bit.

“I know this is scary for you, Felix, but I am trying to help Lacey. Do not order me around!” she snapped.

“Sorry,” I sighed. She nodded her head and went back to my mate.

“Get closer to her. Help her hold the pup. Maybe her body will heal, and we can fight this a little longer,” she instructed. I nodded and moved over beside my mate’s head. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and her eyes were half-closed.

“Lacey,” I whispered. I adjusted our pup over her chest, grabbing her arm to wrap around him. “You did it. He’s perfect. Stay with us, okay?”

Her eyelids fluttered slightly. I kept one hand on our son, making sure he stayed supported on her. I used my other hand to push away the loose hair clinging to her face. “Please open your eyes,” I begged her.

The door to the safe room opened, and silence settled around us. I tore my eyes away from Lacey to find Sean coming toward me. “Felix, I am sorry, but I need your help,” he started quickly.

“Unless you have a doctor behind you, get out!” I growled.

“Felix, Lily, Quinn, and Michael brought-”

I roared loudly at him, and he shrunk back. I held no position of leadership in this pack. I was only in charge of Luna’s safety. Right now, my mate was bleeding uncontrollably on the floor of our safe room; I did not give a s**t about what Quinn and Lily were doing.

“Look!” someone said. A pink glow filled the hallway. As it did, the light started to illuminate the safe room. I looked around, confused as warmth started to permeate my skin.

“What is happening?” Sean asked, looking around us.

I felt a soft hand at my wrist, and my attention snapped back to my mate. “Felix,” Lacey said softly. Her eyes were open and clear again. Her hand rested on mine that held our pup to her.

“She stopped bleeding,” Miss Marci exclaimed.

“Felix, I’m okay,” she repeated.

“Lacey,” I gasped. She nodded her head before her eyes wandered down to our pup.

“He’s beautiful,” she whispered. Her hands came up to support him as she marveled at the little life we created. “Felix, your son is here,” she smiled up at me.

DAMIEN

I breathed heavily as Axel stood next to me, doing the same in wolf form. We managed to take out one of the legs of this behemoth, but the only thing it seemed to do was root him to the spot. He stood sturdy on one leg, his balance unfazed. What had Warwick created?

Every part of my body screamed in agony, but I knew it wasn’t an option to quit. This thing could not get near the packhouse. Axel’s team had finished off the rest of the vampires that joined this monster when it first appeared. A few were injured and trying to recover while the others paced around us, waiting for the order to strike from Axel.

Every time we got near enough to this thing to strike it, it swung at us. Even when we attacked at the same time, it managed to push us away. Nothing we had done since we caught its leg was working.

“What do we do?” Axel asked. I was at just as much of a loss as him, but we couldn’t do nothing.

“Maybe we need to attack with more of us,” I answered him. I was worried that if we took much longer, Warwick’s creation would somehow begin regrowing its leg.

Before Axel and I could formulate any more of a plan, the monstrous vampire in front of us dropped his head forward then fell to the ground. We jump back as his body made an echoing crash as it hit the ground.

Axel and I looked at each other before looking to the body of our enemy again. Suddenly, he began to crumble away, leaving a pile of dust and a few bones and teeth in his place.

“What just happened?” Axel asked me.

“I think we won,” I said, letting out a heavy breath. I fell back, landing on my a*s.

Axel shifted back. “Does this mean they stopped the Sire?” he asked.

“I think so,” I said. I stared at the pile in front of me in disbelief. Was it really over? My other axe was discarded near the remains.

“What do we do now?” he asked. I looked up at him. The enemy may be defeated, but it wasn’t over just yet, and we both knew it.

“I need to get to Liam and Azalea. Take your guys back to the packhouse. Get your injured help or shelter and tell them what happened. I need to make sure our Alpha and Luna are alright,” I told him, my mind easily switching right back into Beta mode.

“Right,” Axel said. He looked over his shoulder, but his team didn’t seem to need more direction, having already heard me. He held out a hand to help me up. “Need a hand?”

I grabbed it and, with enormous effort, got to my feet. I was going to need a lot of recovery time after all of this. I lumbered over to my second axe and retrieved it from the ground.

“Are you sure you’re okay to find Alpha and Luna?” Axel asked.

I didn’t get to answer him because all of a sudden, a pink light invaded the sky. The moon’s light only made it brighter. Something rained down over us. It left warmth dancing over my skin.

“This warmth, this light, it’s familiar….” I thought. I closed my eyes as I felt it sink into my body. Slowly, all my pain eased, and I could feel my muscles relaxing. My skin closed around my cuts, and my bruised skin faded. “Azalea…”

Somehow she was healing us. I looked around to see everyone else recovering in a similar manner. No one understood what was going on, but I did. Azalea was a Harvest Moon Wolf.

LILY

The witch magicked some clothes for Quinn and I, but Michael opted to shift. We knew we needed to take her back to the packhouse because she wouldn’t be safe just sitting here.

After a little convincing, we managed to get her on Michael’s back, and we set off to the packhouse. Quinn and I were able to jog to make the trip faster. We were about halfway to the packhouse when I started feeling pain. I stumbled a bit, feeling like the wind was knocked out of me. Quinn and Michael stopped.

“Lily, are you okay?” Quinn asked.

“Damien,” I gasped. “Something is wrong.” I clutched my chest, scared for my mate.

“Michael, we need to hurry,” Quinn said, grabbing my arm. She pulled me with her, leading me back to the packhouse. “Let’s get this witch to safety, then we can find your mate,” she told me. I nodded, trying to ignore than pain.

When we got to the packhouse, Sean ran out to meet us. “Lily, where have you been? Who is that?” he looked at the woman on Michael’s back.

“I don’t have time to explain everything. I need you to take her to safety so I can go help Damien,” I said quickly. Quinn helped the girl down.

Sean made a disgusted face. “She isn’t one of us, and she may not be a vampire, but she smells like one,” he sneered. “We can’t allow her safety here!”

“Sean, just do it!” I argued with him.

“No!” he argued back. “I will not risk the lives of everyone in this packhouse for this one person. She is clearly in league with them!”

“She was a hostage and has agreed to cooperate with us,” I gritted out. “Just keep her safe until I get back!”

“I’ll stay with her,” Quinn butted in. Sean threw his hands up in frustration. “I know this is not my pack, and you are not my warrior, but allow me to watch her. I will make sure she does nothing to hurt your pack members.”

“You answer for this if anything goes wrong, and I am informing Felix,” Sean said, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Fine!” I said. I pushed past him and led Quinn, Michael, and the witch toward the packhouse.

“Put her in someone’s office! Don’t go near the safe room with that woman! ” Sean yelled after us. I sighed.

“We can go to Damien’s office,” I said as we got inside. Michael straggled behind us as he shifted and pulled on a pair of shorts.

“You shouldn’t be upset with them,” Quinn commented. “He is simply doing his job.”

I rolled my eyes, but the witch piped in. “I am the enemy technically,” she said.

When we got upstairs, I settled her in a chair and turned to Quinn. “Are you sure about this?” I asked. The longer this took, the more I could feel Damien’s injuries.

“Michael will go with you to find him,” Quinn said. She gave a pitying look to the witch. “I have it handled here.” I looked at Michael, who nodded.

“Thank you, Luna. Really,” I told her. When I opened the door, there was a commotion coming from down the hall. I looked into the hallway cautiously to see people rushing around. Turning back to Quinn, I noticed a pink glow in the sky outside the window.

“What is that?” I whispered, going over to the window. I threw it open only to be met with a strange pink light. Everything felt warm as the light invaded the room. Suddenly, warmth was spreading through my body. The aches and minor wounds from our fights were disappearing. “Lea, is that you?” I whispered.

I whirled around, looking at the witch. She looked healthy again, her face rosy and skin no longer sallow. Quinn and Michael were looking down at their own bodies.

“Damn, Q, whatever this is, it’s better than your tea,” Michael said, opening and closing his fists. He looked up at her with a smirk. Quinn puffed her cheeks out and pouted at him. Michael laughed and looked at me. “Do you know what’s going on?” he asked.

“I think this is Azalea,” I said. I didn’t know how it could be possible, but I knew my best friend had figured out how to save her whole pack.