Chapter 14. The Alpha
We were standing on a pile of bodies. At least twenty, thirty men were scattered around us. Throats cut, limbs torn off, too much blood wasted. It was a massacre.
Did the six of them really do all of this? Was that even possible?
"Round one goes to us," Darren grimly said, spitting out blood as he inspected a long slash on his chest. He seemed rather unbothered by it, but then again, maybe he was used to this.
Danny wiped blood from her cheeks and I noticed that oddly enough, it matched her hair colour. "We still have a long way to go. There are more of them waiting up the hill."
I followed her gaze and felt my stomach tighten. She was right. More men had gathered on the hill as they were watching us. They were probably trying to tire us out and overwhelm us, until they were sure they had the upper hand and could kill us off. We'd never make it if I kept being so useless and kept getting myself in trouble.
A soft hand found my lower back. "You're still safe. I'm glad," Ashleigh whispered, a deep gash splitting open the skin on her forehead.
"Ash!" I cried out, almost literally jumping into her arms. I wasn't sure when or how she had gotten back up, but all I knew was that she was alive and standing. What about Aspen? Was he okay?
I scanned the corpses for my other mate, silently begging he wouldn't be one of them. But if he had died, if either one of them had died, wouldn't I have felt it? Wouldn't my wolf have felt it?
Holding on to that, I let my eyes glide over the bodies, until they landed on a naked heap. Aspen was curled up in a ball on the ground. He was rocking himself back and forth, and while part of me felt relief, another felt a sharp pang of guilt. I had broken a promise to Ashleigh and had let both of my mates down. I was supposed to protect Aspen, to keep him out of the fight, to keep him safe. But I hadn't managed to do any of that.
Now he was reduced to a miserable pile, clearly in pain, struggling to keep himself conscious.
Why was I so useless?
I was ready to start beating myself up again, but there was no time for more self-loathing today. I guess I would have to schedule it in tomorrow. If there was a tomorrow for me, at least.
JP had just jogged back to our huddle and smiled gratefully when I handed him his knife. He also gracefully ignored the fact I had almost got myself killed like an idiot.
Regan and Danny ran towards us and I noticed that Regan was lagging a tad behind her. He looked somewhat different than usual, but I couldn't put my finger on it. That was until they rejoined us and I noticed he kept lingering behind her. It finally clicked as I realised he was using his broad shoulders and chest to shield Danny from any potential incoming attacks, even if the immediate threat was gone.
I felt the corners of my mouth tremble in an almost smile. I wasn't sure if she knew he was doing it or if he even did it consciously. But it was easily one of the sweetest things I had ever seen.
Glad the rest was okay, I turned back to Ashleigh, ready to shamefully beg for her forgiveness. I had let her and her brother down, I needed her to know how sorry I was.
I was met with two eyes looking warmly and affectionately at me, like I was the only person in the world. Even in the middle of a circle of corpses, she somehow managed to take my breath away and whisk me to another place. A place without death, war, or the scent of battle.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Will Aspen be okay?"
Ashleigh gritted her teeth and nodded. "Just barely."
Before I could apologise, Darren rejoined our little group to reclaim his blade and nudged to the rest of our enemies standing on the hill. "What are we going to do about those?"
Regan grunted as he stretched his arms and cracked his neck. Danny was admiring a sword she had looted from a corpse and tested it out by swinging it over her head. After all the killing and fighting they had just done, they looked plenty revved up. This definitely wasn't their first fight.
"C-Can we take them?" JP asked, wiping his glasses with shaking hands. He barely resembled the ninja I had seen on the battlefield and I was amazed at his sudden transformation.
Ashleigh tilted her head back. "I believe Camille is with them. She has finally shown herself. With Aspen tired out and Akira to protect, I think we could get ourselves in a lot of trouble."
Danny nodded, tying up her red hair and readjusting the straps of her clothes. "We're in a bad situation here. Aspen can't keep fighting. It's already bad enough he shifted again. I don't want to die tonight, but our lives shouldn't cost him his soul."
In unison, the rest of the group nodded as we worriedly glanced at Aspen. His naked body was covered in mud and dirt and while he was hugging himself. He seemed to be muttering words as he rocked back and forth.
He was obviously having a hard time staying in control of himself and I felt for him. Both my wolf and I felt for him. We could sense how his soul was being driven in a corner, how his mind was fogging over, how his control was slipping away. It was terrifying.
"I-I don't think we have t-time to discuss what to do," JP alerted us, pointing at the nearest hill. Three men were jogging toward us, the blades of their swords glinting in the last sunlight of the day.
"Damn it, looks like Camille wants to tire us out," Danny cursed, crouching down to dig in the pile of satchels and backpacks. With a rattling sound, Danny revealed a long metal chain. Why did they carry that around?
Danny threw one end at Regan and skillfully, her mate caught the chain and wound it around one his wrists. It was a weapon. With a nod, they confidently strode towards the three incoming attackers.
I figured they knew what they were doing, but one metal chain against a bunch of swords seemed like something that could go horribly wrong. For our side.
With my breath trapped in my chest and my fingers itching in fear, I watched how the pair waited patiently.
For a moment, everything was quiet.
And then steel clashed against steel, bodies hit bodies, mud sprung to life under their feet. Regan absorbed the first hit with his arms, which made no sense. How could he have blocked the hit of a sword?
Looking closer, I caught a glint of something metal. He must've had some kind of steel bracers hidden under his jacket that he was using as defence. Smart. And a testament to how strong he really was.
As he took the hit, Danny twirled to his other side and I saw the first man fall down at their feet. A small trail of blood gushing out from the wound on the back of his neck. He never even saw it coming.
With Regan skillfully blocking another hit from the side, and all of us watching the battle in front of us, I suddenly realised what was going on. Danny and Regan were fighting them off on their own so the rest of us could recover. Damn, that was smart.
I let out a small yelp as I realised the second man had somehow managed to get behind Regan's back. Just as I was about to yell a warning, Regan turned on his feet and swung up his arm to block the incoming hit. Before I well and truly realised what was happening, their second attacker was lying lifelessly on the cold ground.
They were good. As much as I admired Danny and Regan's skill, I feared them for it. I silently thanked the spirits I had taken good care of Aspen because these were not people you wanted to turn into your enemies. They proved that point with the massive pile of bodies around us.
It wasn't before long that the last man joined the rest of his fallen comrades and fell into his forever sleep.
With the chain rattling as they rolled it back up, the pair rejoined us. Danny wiped some dried blood from her forehead, but it looked like she barely broke a sweat. How she and Regan managed to fight together like this without even talking, was beyond me...
"Good job." Ashleigh nodded, and to my dismay, I had to agree. My eyes fell onto the gash on Ashleigh's forehead and the same searing anger as before welled up in my stomach. They had tried to take my mate away from me, they deserved to die. She was right. They had done a good job. Killing people, nonetheless. But yes, good job.
"Yes, nicely done," I blurted out, my voice only slightly shaky. I had to stop being a wimp and try and see this situation for what it was. There were people attacking us. People trying to kill my mates, my friends, and me. All I was doing was protection myself, protecting the ones I cared about. How could that be wrong? How could fighting to preserve life be wrong?
I balled my hands into fists, telling myself to woman up. This was no time to be the helpless little girl. I almost died today. I couldn't let them come that close to killing me again. I needed to figure out how to stop being a burden and start pulling my own weight. I was going to protect all of them, even if that meant taking a life from the other side.
"You need that?" I asked JP, pointing at the knife in his hand. The knife that had almost killed me earlier.
"T-This thing? No." He shook his head and threw me his spare dagger. I hadn't noticed earlier on how heavy the blade felt in my hands, but that had probably nothing to do with the actual weight. Before, it was a knife to protect me. Now, it was a blade to kill.
"Let's just hope you don't have to use it again," Ashleigh spoke softly, her hand reassuringly warm on my arm. I threw her a puzzled look, wondering how she always seemed to know the right thing to say.
She grinned. A rare smile in the middle of doom and death, but it lifted my spirits. It awoke my wolf. Ashleigh was here and she was okay. I would be okay. A calmness settled in and I felt the ball of stress in my stomach disintegrate. I wouldn't die today. She wouldn't let it happen. None of them would.
I glanced at all the men lurking in between the long shadows of the trees and just wished they would leave. That they realised how dangerous my friends were and turn around, to go home alive. But they didn't seem to care about the loss of their men. They didn't seem to need the numbers. The third man barely hit the ground and five more were running down towards us.
I wondered if Danny and Regan would keep on fighting or if someone else would take on the next group. Nobody really seemed to talk. They all seemed to know exactly who would do that, something that could only have grown by working closely together for years.
"I g-got this," JP confidently stuttered, swinging two short blades up in front of his face. I wondered where he got them from and how he was going to stop five men with swords, but I didn't need to worry.
As the men surrounded him, swift and fast, he danced around in his little circle. A swift jab here and a slash there, metal hitting metal, blood hitting ground. It was over before it even started. Five grown men fell almost at the same time as JP expertly shielded his blades in sheaths hidden under his shoulder blades. So that is where he kept them.
"D-Done."
"If they keep this up, we'll be dead before morning," Regan grunted, stretching his shoulder as Danny seemed to be rubbing his back. They were keeping up a brave act, but underneath Regan's stern face, I could tell he was concerned and tiring fast.
"If they keep coming in small groups like this, we can take them," Darren argued, polishing and cleaning his blade. His dark eyes were glittering with an emotion I couldn't exactly place but he seemed to be in his element.
"Depends on how many they send," Ashleigh sighed, tying up her own hair in a quick ponytail. Looks like they all meant business. I should probably tie my own hair up as well and avoid fiascos like before.
"Looks like we won't have to worry about small groups," Regan groaned, pointing upwards. As if the hills came to life, more men than I had expected suddenly charged towards us. There were easily twice as many men as the first wave and as skilled as my friends were, I doubted they could take on this many people.
JP and Darren looked ready for a fight, but both Danny and Regan seemed to be much more tired than they had let on. Ashleigh had a fierce look in her eyes, but I could tell her arms were already trembling from exhaustion. And Aspen? Aspen was still curled up in a ball, unable to stop shaking.
With my wolf roaring in my chest, I ran through the mud and wrapped myself around him. A hug to comfort him, to let him know he wasn't alone, to protect him. I had failed the first time, I wouldn't let it happen again. This time, I would make sure nobody touched Aspen until he was back to his cocky, cheeky self.
Covering his ears with my hands, I hoped I could keep spare him the noises of death. If he was already struggling with all the killing he had done, he didn't need to hear last words and cries as lives were ended for good right beside us.
The second wave of men was easily much more skilled and even JP was having a hard time. Beads of sweat were pearling on his forehead and his glasses were fogging over. Darren had resorted to using his dagger and I could tell he had finally got serious. He was fighting for his life. They all were. And not just for their lives. For mine and Aspen's as well.
And all I could do was sit in the mud and cower in fear. Watching as the people I had started to love were defending me with everything they had.
The glint of a knife temporarily blinded me and warm drops hit my cheek. With trembling fingers, I swiped my face. Blood. I wasn't sure whose, but as I checked my friends for any new wounds, one thing became very clear. We were losing. And I was letting it happen.
Frantically, I racked my brains, trying to figure out what I could do to help. The ground around me was empty and I'd already proved how utterly useless I was with a blade. Was there anything I could do?
I helplessly looked at my companions, but they couldn't help me any more than I could help myself. The only one who could make a difference was shaking in my arms, caught in his own mind.
But that gave me an idea. If I could draw out Aspen's Alpha and let him release all his anger onto our enemies, maybe he would go back to sleep. Maybe.
I knew it was a gamble. A big risk. If this didn't work, I'd have just condemned Aspen to his own personal brand of hell. But if I didn't try, we could all be dead meat before the sun rose again. Maybe if I just waited a little longer...
Another splatter of blood hit my face and this time I did see where it came from. Ashleigh. Someone had badly cut her thigh and as she sank to the ground, that same blinding rage shot through my chest. No one was allowed to hurt my mate. Either of my mates.
I drew my wolf as close to the surface as the shackles of my curse let it happen and called out to Aspen. But not to his human form. To his wolf. My mate. My Alpha mate. I drew him to me, begging for his help. For him to save his human, to save his mate.
And unexpectedly, the Alpha complied. A chill vibrated through the air as suddenly Aspen surged with unlimited amounts of raw power. Wolf or not, nobody would be able to resist a force like that.
I had been right.
The loud screams and fight noises suddenly stopped as our enemy stopped. With dull thuds, their weapons fell to the ground as they cowered underneath Aspen's command. Under my command.
Without any sign of exhaustion or hesitation left, he veered up from the ground. With his eyes dark and frightening, he walked around the circle of men. His arms stretched wide as he instilled fear in the hearts of our enemies. His whole body trembling with energy so pure it made me uneasy. I could almost see the ancient magic dance and swirl around his naked chest, but that was impossible.
Bound under his spell, all the attackers hesitated for a brief moment. That moment was enough. It was all I needed. With a simple nod from me, both JP and Darren expertly slit every throat and in less than thirty seconds, the men followed their weapons as they fell to the ground. Their blood spilling into the once white snow as it soiled the earth beneath, the forest returning to its usual quiet interior.
The fight was over.