“Yeah, do you know why?”
“Raven said they are hexed.”
Atara and Zara looked out on the battlefield and witnessed the utter chaos of battle. There was not a single wolf that did not have blood stained on their fur, but there was no one dead on the ground. The Coven was in a circle and chanting. Zara assumed it was to break the hex.
Cyrus was still in the back, waiting the battle out.
“How is Cyrus not fighting? He started the charge toward us. I am so confused.”
“I am just as confused as you are. Come on, we need to get back in there.”
They charged back into the battlefield. Their paws dug into the blood-stained mud as they gained speed. They were surveying the chaos trying to find Cyrus. As they charged through the chaos, they would tag team Kingdom Pack members. Atara would run in teeth bared and snarling to get their attention and Zara would blast them back with magic. For every feral Kingdom wolf, they incapacitated was a freed ally who could help turn the tide of the battle and yet it never felt like it was enough. Cyrus’s wolves were feral and unpredictable. Atara and Luna were only able to have as much success as they did because they worked as a team. For those taking on these berserk wolves’ one-on-one were at a disadvantage. These wolves did not know when to quit and they did not tire. One of the Lunar Coven’s allied wolves began to pant, and three Kingdom wolves fell upon their friend. Zara leapt into the air as Atara charged in. One Kingdom wolf lunged for the throat, but Atara managed to ram the wolf just in time. The wolf rolled and smacked his head off a rock. The feral wolf yelped, and his leg began to twitch. At the same time Atara’s head rammed the wolf Zara landed and blasted the wolves away with a blast of energy. A wave of luminescent blue magic radiated out from where she landed. Their ally rose from the ground and gave an affirmative nod. One feral wolf sprang back up into action and the other one rose slower. The sisters took the quicker wolf and their ally took the slower one. They both neutralized their wolves and ran back into the fray.
Yelps, snapping jaws, battle cries, and the chanting of spells filled the air yet that did not distract the sisters from stalking their foe. They kept fighting wolves and freeing allies. It was at this time they saw Xander and Sophia’s wolves in the battle. Their wolves were circling a perimeter keeping two large feral wolves at bay. While Cyrus’s ferals were normally fearless and aggressive, Xander and Sophia were holding a line with them. Every time a Kingdom wolf would get too close Xander of Sophia would lunge snapping teeth, snarling, and growling at their faces. They both had an instinctual urge to protect each other to the point that it instilled pure terror in any that would oppose them. Scare tactics would only work for so long though as eventually this stalemate would have to end. The sisters came in to free the couple. Each one picked a wolf and broadside charged their opponents. All four of them were able to take on these downed wolves to get the upper hand. Zara and Atara looked at each other and once more scanned the battlefield. Zara felt dread as she realized that both sides were still evenly matched on the field. Bloodied wolves fighting one another for what felt like hours and yet nobody had the upper hand. Even with as many allies they freed they were still no closer to winning the battle.
The only way they can get the upper hand would be if they can snap these wolves out of the hex. If the Kingdom Pack were reverted to their normal state of mind, then perhaps they can force them to surrender or at least level the playing field. Zara reverted into her human form. She can fight these wolves all day but that would only tire her out in the face of an endless enemy that did not know fatigue. She began to run back to the Lunar coven to where they were performing their spell.
Zara, it is black magic. We cannot break it!
Zara wanted to run to help the Coven. She turned to go to them to help boost their spell, but instead saw a Kingdom pack member about to drive his sword in Tobias’s back. NOOOOO! Zara’s magic reacted instinctively. In the next second, Zara was clashing a sword against that pack member’s sword. This man was taller than Tobias and had more muscle. How he was holding his sword and his stance, she knew he was deadly with a weapon. His hair was dark, but his eyes were light. He furrowed his eyebrow and snarled as he realized that Zara had stopped his sword from connecting.
In that moment, the pack member lifted his sword in the air, swung in an arc from the right side to strike her on her left. Zara brought her sword to meet his. The clash of metal rang in her ear and he quickly swung to her other side. She collided her sword against his once more. He snarled again, not liking that she was a match for him. His movements became swifter, but Zara was matching his sword work. She heard metal clanging on metal within her fight with this man but was also hearing metal striking Tobias’s bow staff with a clunk. The pack member she was facing swung in an arc to strike her left side again. Zara met his sword with her own once more, and then threw her right hand forward to allow her magic to blast him backward. Once the man hit the ground, she used her Elemental magic from her bond with Tobias to bring roots out of the ground and hold him in place. She turned to face Tobias and he too used his Elemental magic to throw the person to the ground. “Are you hurt?” Tobias asked her and examined her quickly. “I’m fine. Let us get back into the fight.”
Zara looked over the battle to analyze where she needed to be. She noticed that Atara was trying to make her way to Cyrus but was engaged with two wolves and handling herself well. She glanced over to where the Coven was in a circle attempting to break the hex that placed upon the Kingdom pack. There was a glimmer of magic, but no Coven. They are behind a barrier. Smart plan, Raven.
Zara, I need your help NOW! Raven screamed in her mind. She reached out to use Raven’s ability again and then she teleported just outside of the Coven circle. We cannot break our circle, but we need more power! The hex will not break. The Sorcerer’s hex is black magic. Zara thought about it for a second. More power? She used the ability again to put herself next to Atara. Once her feet hit the ground, she sent out a surge of magic to blast the wolves she was fighting. The wolves did not know what hit them and went flying. Zara put her hand on her sister’s shoulder and teleported again. When they landed by the Coven’s circle, she told Atara to shift. “What are you doing? We need to fight! Once a wolf gets knocked out, they spring back up!” Zara pulled on her magic and instructed Atara to do the same. Atara may not have mastered her magic fully yet, but this was just pooling her power for the Coven to use. Both girls held their hands six inches apart and their magic formed into a ball. As they moved their hands outward, their magic grew. Against better judgement, Zara teleported them both in the middle of the circle. Zara then mirrored Raven’s ability to use telepathy. Atara, throw your magic down! It will power their spell! Atara listened and threw her magic at the same time as Zara.
Zara grabbed a knife that was strapped to her leg. Zara, no! She cut the meaty part of her thumb and said break this spell, let them be, bring these wolves back to me! Zara thought that she would see her magic turn sickly black and vibrant red like it had when she broke the spell on the ring containing Atara’s magic. It flashed silver and her normal pearl color. She looked up and Raven’s eyes were wide with shock.
Zara grabbed Atara’s hand and teleported them out to the battle. Snarling, snapping of teeth, clashing of metal on metal, smell of blood, smell of magic all invaded her senses. She scanned the battle and noticed that the red eyes on all the wolves from the Kingdom pack were gone. A few new wolves ran into the fight with swords raised. Atara dashed out onto the field to meet them so they could not use those swords on unsuspecting wolves. The Coven began to throw spells right and left to help the pack fight.
Zara then began to stagger. The world began to blur, and she felt lightheaded. Her knees hit the ground and she threw hands out, so she did not fall over. Tobias was screaming her name, but she could not move. That made the dizziness worse. There was a surge of power, the ground shook. That did not help her situation and she fell to her side.
Tobi
as came to her side. She felt his power and then her body felt warm. The dizziness went away, and her vision became clear. Tobias guided her to her feet and the battle was still commencing. She looked at her mate. He looked worried and there was blood on his clothes. Looks like someone he had managed to slice him a few times during the battle. Thanks to Zara’s healing ability, none of them were deep. “What happened to me?” Tobias was still holding on to her. He would not let her go in fear that she would fall again. “You used too much magic. I shared mine with you to keep you in fighting shape.”
Atara snarled viciously and Zara scanned the battle to find her. When she found her sister, she was engaged in fighting with Cyrus. He was still in human form and he was swinging a sword to keep Atara at bay. Zara reacted immediately. She shifted and ran across the field. Each wolf and man were engaged with another. All the Kingdom packs were fighting, and it was a good thing that the Coven had joined them, or the Midwest pack would have been outmatched. It gave her a clear path to reaching them.
When Zara reached where Cyrus and Atara were fighting, Atara lunged at Cyrus. He swung to hit Atara with the back of his closed hand. Atara yelped as it collided with her jaw. She landed on the ground and Cyrus clasped both of his hands around the hilt of his sword, raised the sword above his head and began to bring down the tip of the sword to stab Atara. Cyrus did not see Zara coming due to his back partially facing her direction. Zara jumped and threw her body into his to knock him sideways. Cyrus staggered but stayed on his feet. Zara landed on her feet, turned, and faced Cyrus. She bared her teeth as she lowered her head and growled. Atara got to her feet and did the same.
Cyrus began to swing his sword, first at Zara and she jumped away and then at Atara. Zara was surprised by Cyrus’s speed. He was able to continue doing this for quite some time. Atara managed to land a few cuts across his arms and sides. With his healing ability, they began to close immediately. Cyrus also managed to land a few cuts, but nothing deadly. Atara had enough and shifted back. Zara saw her hands illuminate and then she had two stiletto daggers in her hand and engaged Cyrus in combat with her new weapons. How the hell did she do that? Was that her magic? Atara was handling herself well within the combat. Zara would lunge on occasion and snap at Cyrus’s feet or hands to distract him.
Then Cyrus brought his sword straight down. Atara crisscrossed her daggers and caught the sword. Cyrus smiled at Atara and it made Zara’s hair stand up. “You’ll never amount to anything with this kind of sloppy fighting, Atara.” Atara growled. Her aura changed and her obsidian black colored magic flared around her. Zara noticed the gold laced within and wondered where it had come from. Then Atara screamed and her magic blasted itself forward and struck Cyrus in his chest. He flew backwards and on his ass. Zara lunged when he landed and wrapped her jaw around his throat. Cyrus stopped moving when he realized that her teeth were against his skin.
Atara walked over and stood above Cyrus. Her obsidian aura flaring around her like fire and made her look like a badass queen. Her eyes glowed her wolf’s gray. There was blood running down her arms from the cuts she endured, but it only made her look fiercer.
“Any last words, Cyrus?”
“I knew you would be a disappointment.” Zara closed her jaw more and Cyrus let out a gargled scream.
“I want you to know some things before we kill you. You never deserved the throne. You murdered a great king due to your jealousy. You could not face yourself in the mirror, and when you did you hated what you saw. You were nothing. A submissive wolf that no one cared about. So, you made a bargain with a Sorcerer and killed a man who was admired by his people. Your hate consumed you to the point that you took a life that should not have been taken. Then you learned of a prophecy that twins would be born, and your dream come true would end. So, yet again you kill innocent people to keep a throne you did not deserve. That night I ran and stumbled over a rock and lost where Zara went. I was too frightened to think of tracking her by her scent and I got turned around. I ended up on your doorstep. You took me in, you raised me in hopes that this day would not come. Instead of providing me with love, you trained me to be a weapon. You feared my magic surfacing, so you hid it from me. Now, I stand before you with my magic at my fingertips. I stand over you as my sister has your life under her teeth. You are looking at me now with fear in your eyes. You now know how our parents felt when you held their lives in your hands and you took it from them. You took them from us.”
Atara paused. Zara watched as her sister did not waver in any way. She feared that when this moment came, Atara would let Cyrus go. Instead, she was telling Cyrus how she felt. She was telling him who he truly was and why this moment was happening. Zara smelled the fear coming off Cyrus in waves. She even smelled the hints of magic that Cyrus had from the deal with the Sorcerer begin to fade. The magic that allowed Cyrus to hold the pack magic and be an Alpha was gone.
“He will come for you.” Cyrus strained to say these words. Zara’s teeth were beginning to draw blood.
Zara glanced up at her sister and waited. She knew she had to wait for Atara's signal. She knew her sister needed this moment to take her life back and let go of the man who took her in and acted like he was her father. She is taking back what he stripped of her.
Atara gave a slight nod. Zara threw her head from side to side to tear through the muscle. Cyrus began to scream from the pain, and he gurgled as blood poured into his throat. Zara threw her head to the side to rip open Cyrus’s neck. He grabbed at his neck, but Zara snapped her jaws back over his neck and continued to rip his neck open more. She snarled when his hands reached her face and kept her jaws over his neck until he went limp. Zara stepped back. Her snout, chest and paws were covered in his blood. She watched his life drain out his eyes and howled in victory.
Zara scanned the battle, and everyone halted. They felt the Alpha’s life drain from the pack bond and looked to where the former king laid. Raven teleported to where the girls were and threw up a barrier. Atara dropped to her knees. Zara walked slowly to her sister and her ears laid back on her head. Atara looked at her when she approached and threw her arms over her. She buried her face in Zara’s fur and she felt Atara’s body shake. Zara felt like her sister deserved this moment to mourn the man she thought was her father for twenty years. She sat down and allowed Atara to cry into her fur.
It took a few moments, but Atara recovered. She stood up and looked at Cyrus’s body. Raven dropped the barrier and Tobias ran to Zara’s side. He ran his hands over her fur to inspect her. Zara licked his face and Tobias set his forehead onto hers. He then stood up and walked over to Atara. Tobias held out his arms and Atara hugged him. “It’s over.” He murmured to her. Atara nodded her head.
Xander and Sophia ran to the girls next. They hugged and inspected them for any wounds. All Atara’s were healed by now from their ability to heal. Then a man Zara recognized only due to Atara’s description of him walked over to Atara. Marcus. He too was healing from cuts from the fight. Atara looked at him, smiled, and threw her arms around Marcus’s neck. He hugged her tightly and told Atara that he was proud of her.
Zara shifted back and stood next to Atara. Every wolf and witch within the fight were standing before them. The girls did not say a word. Those who were still in their human skin kneeled and bowed their head, and those in their wolf form bowed their head to the side to bare their necks. Atara and Zara looked at each other then back to the wolves.
We are the new Alpha’s of the Werewolf Realm.
Anastasia walked to them and Zara noticed that Deck took a few steps forward as if he was going to follow her. Is Deck afraid she will attack? Instead, she bowed her head in respect to the girls for a few seconds and looked at them once more. “Anastasia, is everything okay?” She nodded and gave them a small smile. “There are two people who would like to speak with you.” She looked over to where Raven was standing. “High Priestess, would you please put a barrier up. They would like some privacy.” Raven did not question the Necroman
cer and did as she was asked. Zara was confused for a few moments and then understood what must be happening. Once the barrier was in place, Anastasia took a few more steps and her light gray magic poured from her hands. Zara watched as it fell to the ground and glided across the ground past where she stood. As she turned, she was nervous to see what was behind her. Nervous to see the faces of the two people she had prayed to the Goddess each night before she slept that she would get to see again someday.
Zara was not disappointed. Atara had grabbed onto Zara’s hand as she too slowly turned to face the ghosts of their mother and father.
Michael and Danni stood before her. Zara choked on the breath she had been holding and tears began to well up. Her lip was trembling as she tried to not let the tears fall.They were not fully corporal, but enough to see that Atara had their father’s eyes and she had their mother’s. The more she focused on their faces, the way that they were standing, the smiles on their faces; the more she realized that she was their mother and Atara was their father. Zara’s tears were now rolling down her face. She was not sure what to say. After all of these years, after all of the prayers she had sent, she still could not manage to produce the words she had always imagined she would say if she got this chance. Thankfully, she was not the one who spoke first.
“Hi Mom. Hi Dad.” Atara managed to say, but not much more than a whisper.
“My girls. You two are as beautiful as I imagined you would be.” Danni said with a smile.
“We have been waiting for this day since we learned of your prophecy. We are so proud of you.” Michael said with a shaky voice.
“I wish you were still here.” Zara whispered.
“My Princess, please do not continue to mourn us. We have never left your side since that night. We have watched you grow into the wonderful and powerful women you are today. We are your mother and father. Nothing was going to stop us from watching you grow up. The day we heard that prophecy, I knew what I had to do. I learned everything I could to ensure that you two had the best future.” Danni looked to Atara. “I am so sorry, Atara. I wished every single day that I could kill him for you. When I performed that spell, it had only shown me the ending of the timelines. It never showed me what would happen to you in the process. I did not know he would treat you that way.”
Wolf Unleashed (Hybrid Prophecies Book 1) Page 22