Chapter 95

Arthur leaped up from his place over Mamie and shifted into his wolf form with a flash of light. He roared and jumped back into the fray, struggling to push through the rabid werewolf whether they were in their wolf forms or not. It was the only hope he had to make sure that daphne made it out of here alive and safe.

Nicole watched him tearing through the bodies and clenched her draw. He took after his father a great deal. It was a lot like watching Dean tear through the battlefield in a fierce streak of gold. She had fought him once and neither of them had walked away unscathed.

The red light in Arthur’s eyes seemed more furious than Dean’s had been years ago. She looked at Daphne thinking back to what Daphne told her about Arthur’s control. Two weeks had probably pushed him to the limit, let alone the blood bond that John had tried to force on her.

Based on Daphne’s words, he would fight until he couldn’t any longer so long as Daphne was in danger. She looked back to where more rabid werewolves were coming and grit her teeth, turning to face them with her sword in front of her.

“All forces focus on clearing us a path out of here!”

Arthur dashed through the battlefield in fury. All the anger he’d been restraining for the past two weeks was unleashed on the oncoming werewolves. He shifted between his human and wolf forms when it suited him, driving a knife through the hearts of some of them before tearing their heads off. He didn’t know if turned werewolves resurrected as easily as vampires, but if they got up, he would just kill them again.

He pushed through the group until he reached the werewolf side of the clearing where most of the attacks were still occurring and away from where the vampire forces were fending off the turned werewolves. A turned werewolf leaped on Rex's back, forcing him to stumble back before biting down onto his shoulder. Rex cried out as Arthur reached him and tore the werewolf off of him.

Rex stumbled, gritting his teeth to keep from crying out and clutching his bleeding shoulder. He heard Arthur’s growling as he tore the person into pieces, relishing the splatter and gush of blood. He shuddered, remembering Blade’s reports of how Arthur would lose control sometimes.

Blade.

He staggered to his feet and looked around before Blade’s screaming reached his ears. Rex froze, his heart lurching with fear before he rushed towards him.

Red lights swirled around him, flickering in his eyes as fur rippled in his skin.

“Blade, no!” He reached Blade, falling to his knees beside Blade and grabbing him by the shoulders. “You have to focus, Blade. You’re better than this.”

“Mamie,” he said through a clenched jaw, barely a snarl and hardly recognizable. His eyes were wide as he stared into the middle distance, not seeing anything but the remains of his shattered bond and likely the face of the woman he loved. “Mamie…. Mamie… Mamie!”

“Think of your son!” Rex urged. “Your son needs you! You have to calm down! You have to focus!”

Arthur's roar ripped through the air again and Rex turned back frantically and fearfully. It seemed that Arthur was losing himself to the battle. A bloody gash had been torn across Arthur’s shoulder, but he kept killing. Maybe he would end up killing a few actual vampires while he was at it. It would go a long way toward helping them out in the war that was going to come. He shuddered. Tom had been wrong. There was nothing they could have done to avoid the war. It was clear that someone among the vampires was willing to do whatever it took to make it happen.

He hadn’t made his mind up about Daphne, but it was clear that she was on the vampire’s side now.

For now, he was grateful that Arthur was dealing with the bulk of the turned werewolves and getting them a chance to escape. Several of the alphas were injured and they needed to get Blade back to the castle, to his son, if they had any hope of keeping him sane.

“We have to get out of here,” Rex said. “We're outnumbered and it's too dangerous. We need to get back to the castle and talk to the other alphas to come up with a plan.”

Blade wept curling into himself, shaking and sobbing, “Mamie… Mamie…”

His skin was growing cold to touch as he was slipping into shock. Rex grimace. He’d seen this progression before. He was perilously close.

“I know, Blade. I know. They won't get away with this. We'll figure something out. We'll get revenge for this atrocity, but we have to go now. Your son needs you. Hold on to that, do you understand? Mamie would want you to take care of him”

Blade shuddered, shivering before he nodded his head wretchedly and allowed Rex to pull him to his feet. Rex turned back to the rest of the group.

“Retreat! We head back to Sharp Armor as fast as we can then to the castle through the canyon.”

“We can't just leave them here!” One of the alphas protested, gesturing towards the fray, “Those are my pack members!”

“They’re gone,” Rex said darkly. “They’ve been gone for a long time. They've turned them, and honestly, the only thing we can hope for now is a quick death. Now let's go while the king is giving us a chance to leave.”

“And what about the king? Do we leave him too?”

Rex turned back, wincing at the sight of Arthur tearing through the turned werewolves. He was becoming overwhelmed with their numbers, roaring at each slash of claws and bite. There had to be at least a hundred of them and more pouring into the clearing.

The vampires on the other side of the clearing were fighting as well and seemed to be struggling under the numbers. It was strange to see them fighting if these werewolves were a part of their forces, but he ignored the suspicions. It served them right to have their weapons turn against them like this.

“We can't stay. We’d only get in the way or end up killed ourselves.”

“I thought having a mate was supposed to keep him in control.”

“I doubt we can call this a normal circumstance,” Rex said watching Arthur fight. “Our best chance is to get away, tend the wounded, and hope that the king makes it out alive. We’ll stop at the mouth of the canyon to regroup and treat the injured for a few hours.”

He didn't know how they were going to manage the war ahead, but he pulled Blade along as they started to make a retreat hoping that Arthur’s loss of control would give them enough time to get away.

Nicole cut through another werewolf growling. How many were there? How many others were still being held somewhere else? Someone was going to pay for this in due time, but for now, they had to get out of here. She had to get Daphne out of here for her sake and the baby’s sake.

She went to Daphne who had gone catatonic staring at the body of the young woman who had been a part of her escort. Nicole’s heart clenched in grief. The young woman, who had been Daphne’s closest companion, had been nice, and she would have been alive if she and Daphne’s relationship had been strong enough if she had suggested shortening the time or arranging an earlier visit as soon as she knew the truth about Daphne and Arthur’s relationship. She had not thought the rest of her escort had ended up turned like this. She sent up a soft prayer to the goddess for her next life and peaceful rest. If any of the others were still alive, she hoped their deaths were quick.

“We have to go,” Nicole said, grabbing Daphne by the arm. “Are you hurt?”

A growl came from nearby. She looked up as Arthur turned towards her, as blond as his father had been and twice as ferocious as he rushed towards her across the clearing. Nicole left her sword prepared to fend him off. He was injured and enraged with pain and blood, she would only injure him enough to stop him.

His paws thudded against the ground and for a few moments, Nicole swore that time slowed.

Daphne shrieked, finding the will and consciousness to move. She dove forward before Nicole could stop her.

“Daphne–!”

“Arthur, no!” Daphne screamed.

The air grew hot around them, burning hot like the midday sun at the height of summer. Energy zapped and shimmered in the air, buzzing and sending a prickly feeling along Nicole’s skin as Daphne’s voice echoed through the clearing. Light sparked and jumped between them and Nicole gasped at the sight as it exploded, throwing Arthur and several other werewolves back several feet.

The turned werewolves screeched and thrashed as the fire caught on their clothes burning them. Arthur dropped to the ground, rolling around in the dirt to try and put out the fire in his coat.

Nicole gasped in horror and looked down at Daphne as she swooned and cried out in pain.

Daphne wasn't ready to start using magic that way, let alone magic that powerful in her pregnant state.

Would she fall into another Eternal Sleep?

Would the baby survive?