Forever Broken

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Audrey was still part of the Aspen Pack. She hadn’t cut her ties. She had explained that she needed to remain Beta despite her Alpha, because she needed to protect those who needed help. There were those in the Aspen Pack who were good but had been cowed and ordered not to do anything. Even the Alpha’s son hadn’t been seen in ages because Blade had made it so. So, Cheyenne understood that Audrey had her own loyalties, and it wasn’t to the Alpha of the Aspen Pack but to those in the Aspen Pack who needed her.

  “You’re going to fight on the other end,” Gideon said. “We’ll figure out exactly where Blade is, and we’ll make sure we hide you. You fighting alongside us…you’re a blessing. You’ve already helped us so much, and if you don’t want to fight right now, if you want to stay back and heal and be ready to take care of your Pack when the end comes, you are more than welcome to do that. Because, Audrey? We’re going to need you when this is over. So, stay alive, stay safe. And stay out of Blade’s sight.”

  Audrey met Gideon’s gaze for a moment before lowering hers. Then she looked over at Cheyenne and held out her hand. Cheyenne frowned and held out hers, as well, grasping the other woman’s palm.

  “Cheyenne, thank you. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him from attaching you to the artifact. But if you do what I think you’re about to do, I hope you find a way to make it through.”

  Max growled. “What do you know?”

  Audrey held up both hands, her eyes wide. “All I know is that Blade is trying to use whatever that artifact is to take out as many people as he can at once and show his power. And if you’re saying that she’s the Conduit between Blade and the artifact, then maybe she can stop him. But I know as well as you that it’s dangerous. That’s all I’m saying. You know more than I do. I’m just saying thank you.”

  Cheyenne put her hand on Max’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “It’s okay. I knew what she meant. But I think it’s time.”

  The Alphas gave the orders, and soon, everyone was as ready as they were going to be. All of the wolves looked at one another and practically moved in unison before they slowly walked through the forest to the clearing.

  Cheyenne’s hands shook, but she was ready. She had to be. Those she cared about surrounded her, and the man she loved was right by her side.

  She could do this.

  They made their way to the clearing. Blade and his men stood across the way. Not a single woman was part of the crew, even the witches were males now. Cheyenne had to wonder what Blade thought about that, or if he had done it on purpose. Considering what she knew about the man, he’d probably done it on purpose because he was a misogynistic prick.

  Blade seemed to sense that something had changed when everyone took their positions, and then Cheyenne watched as Gideon nodded at Leah. The woman of the Talon Pack, the strongest witch of their time, lowered her hands, and the wards fell.

  Blade growled, and the Aspens moved into position. But nobody attacked.

  Cheyenne knew the time for attack would come, but first, Blade had work to do. So she reached out and gripped Max’s hand, knowing that she would need him.

  Knowing that this was her time.

  The moon goddess whispered in her ear, the warmth and strength that filled her seemingly out of nowhere surprising the hell out of her.

  Close your eyes. Believe in yourself. Close the Conduit. Wrap yourself around the power and close it. You can do this, Cheyenne. I believe in you.

  And then, the moon goddess moved through her, warming her from the inside. Cheyenne threw her head back and screamed as Blade gripped the artifact in his hand. People were looking all around, wondering what was happening, but Cheyenne knew.

  This was a battle between her and Blade, with the moon goddess all around.

  Cheyenne was the Conduit, the one in between.

  But she couldn’t do this by herself. She couldn’t stop the immense power slamming into her from either side without the bond she knew had been made for this purpose—and for so much more.

  In her head, Cheyenne heard Max scream, and she squeezed his hand, the bond between them flaring.

  People fell to their knees all around them, and she knew that the artifact was slowly leaching their power from them, then moving it through her to the Aspen Alpha. Blade shouted from the other side of the clearing, and Cheyenne knew that she wasn’t stopping the power, he was still stealing it and taking it into himself.

  This had to stop. Max whispered into her ear, only she thought maybe it was just in her head. She didn’t know anymore.

  “Take what you can from me. We can do this together. It’s not just you who’s the Conduit, I’m here, too. Use our bond. Use me. I love you.”

  And she loved him. But she couldn’t say anything, could only open her mouth in a silent scream. But she did as the moon goddess had told her to do, she wrapped her power around the cord that connected her to the artifact and the one that tethered her to Max.

  Heat blazed, and she shook, falling to her knees. She knew that Max was holding her, but he was falling, as well. People were shouting all around them, and light blazed, but she couldn’t focus on that.

  She could only concentrate on closing down the power, severing the loop. And with her power mixed in with Max’s, she knew she could do it.

  So she tugged on the power that connected her to Max and pushed it towards the artifact itself.

  Blade screamed, and she opened her eyes to watch the Aspen Alpha fall to his knees. Blood filled his mouth and rolled down his chin, but he was healing right before their eyes.

  But the artifact wasn’t.

  In fact, the stone had a huge crack in it, and as Blade clenched his fist, it’s slowly turned to dust, the winds taking it as the moon goddess let out a soft sigh in Cheyenne’s mind.

  She knew the moon goddess was hurt, but she didn’t know what that meant.

  But as Cheyenne got to her feet, still holding Max’s hand, all of the other wolves on her side of the battle looked at them. Their eyes wide, one by one, they went to their knees. The Alphas went to their knees.

  And she had no idea why.

  “That is what Blade was missing,” Gideon said, his voice reverent.

  And then the moon goddess spoke to all of them, her voice filling the field, though she wasn’t corporeal.

  Here are your Supreme Alphas. There was never one. It was always a pair. They are the ones who will take these wolves, these cats, and all of my other creations into the new world. They are the ones you will answer to. Not this man who defiles our greatest lore. They are the Supreme Alphas. And they are mine.

  She screamed the last word, her pain so deep that tears filled Cheyenne’s eyes.

  Cheyenne looked up at her mate, her fellow Supreme Alpha, and knew the world had changed yet again.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Max nearly fell to his knees again, wondering what had just happened. Power thrummed through his veins, power that had been there all along, waiting, anticipating.

  And now it was free because of a goddess he had never met but heard and loved and worshiped.

  One who had given him his mate.

  His future.

  But there wasn’t time to think, wasn’t time to wonder what would happen now that the moon goddess had declared him and his mate the Supreme Alphas.

  He would think about the details of that later, wonder about the ramifications of what had just occurred.

  Now, it was time to fight.

  Because Blade was ready to go. The blood had been wiped from his chin, the artifact long gone. But the man was still a wolf, still an Alpha with immense strength, and he still had magic surrounding him thanks to his witches.

  It was time for the battle to truly begin.

  Cheyenne pulled Max against her and kissed him. “I’m going to fight by your side,” she said. “And you can’t stop me.”

  “I’d rather have you by my side than anywhere else. Because you’re mine, Alpha.”

  Her eyes widened, and she shook her h
ead. There would be time to talk later. To understand. “Okay, then, let’s fight.”

  Max kissed her hard, and then they were off.

  Kameron fought alongside them, his claws out as he took down one of the wolves coming at them. Some of the Aspens were in human form, others in wolf form. It was the same with their own Packs, but it was insane how many Aspens there were. Audrey had said that not all of the Aspens were there, that, in fact, most of them were not. And yet the number of men that Blade had with him that called themselves Aspens, or were at least allied with them, was far more than all of the men and women they had, combined with the humans, the Coven, the Redwoods, the Thames, and the Centrals.

  No wonder they hadn’t been able to defeat the Aspens until now—because Max knew they would win today. They had to. It had taken combining the true power of so many on one side, despite any of their differences, to make it here.

  And Max wasn’t going to lose today.

  So he took out one wolf, his claws bared. Cheyenne did the same with her blade, but she was lower to the ground, using the fighting stances she had learned in training. She was slower, not as good as the rest of them, but she had far less training, too.

  She was still doing fantastically. And any wolf that got too close to her, he gutted with his bare hands.

  One of the Aspen wolves jumped at Max’s face, and he clawed the asshole’s eyes out. It fell to the ground with a whimper, and he killed it quickly, snapping its neck. He didn’t want any of them to feel too much pain, only Blade deserved that.

  Max knew what it felt like to almost die on a field just like this, and he knew the horror that dawned when you were too hurt to do anything but hope someone might save your life. Or put you out of your misery.

  He didn’t wish that on anyone, except for maybe Blade.

  And maybe if Max were a better person, he wouldn’t have wished it on anyone at all, but he wasn’t a better person. All he wanted was revenge against Blade. The man had almost killed his mate, multiple times. Had nearly killed those close to his family.

  And Blade deserved what was coming to him.

  But the others, those who followed blindly…maybe they didn’t deserve that horror. So Max would make it quick. Would make it easy.

  That would be their mercy.

  Not their lives.

  If they fought against those who just wanted peace? Then they didn’t deserve a second chance. Or a third. Or a fourth.

  Max pulled Cheyenne out of the way as one of the wolves came at her, and she wasn’t able to duck in time. It hit Max in the shoulder, its fangs sliding through his skin. He growled and then punched the shit out of it. Cheyenne didn’t have her claws out, wasn’t able to yet, but she did have a knife. She was a vet, after all, and she was decent with a blade, even though she never liked when he joked about that.

  Max grunted at the pain of the bite but ignored it. But then, Walker was right there, his hands on Max’s shoulder for one second. And then the pain was gone.

  His Healer cousin ran off, actually running towards where Mitchell was now, to put his hands on Max’s brother. Mitchell had a huge laceration on his gut, one that would’ve been fatal for any human, but thank the goddess they were all wolves. Parker held Mitchell up, making sure no one came at any of them as the wolves continued their attack. There were fire witches, water witches, all types of magic users throwing power at them. But Leah and the other Coven members were ready. Max watched as they used their combined powers to create a force field of water, fire, and earth. They threw back whatever the Aspen witches sent towards them.

  And though Leah was the strongest, and the Coven was pretty damn strong, they didn’t use dark magic. And so, the Aspen witches were equal in power because they used dark magic. Because they sacrificed their blood and the blood and lives of the other Aspen Pack members at their disposal.

  They literally used the deaths of their own to create stronger magic, and that made Max want to throw up. But he ignored that and went back to fighting the wolves in front of him.

  Mitchell was up on his feet again, only wavering a little bit and shaking his head. Walker growled, but then he had to go because one of the other Talon wolves was hurt.

  Out of all of them, Walker would probably end up the most drained by the end if they weren’t careful. His cousin put everything he could into saving his people, and if he didn’t watch it, he’d put too much.

  And Walker didn’t have his mate with him to protect him this time. To make sure he didn’t cross that line. But others were there to make sure he didn’t. Parker let Mitchell go off with one of the other Redwood wolves and followed Walker, most likely screaming at him to take care of himself.

  All of them took care of each other, and Max was no different. He threw a wolf off one of the Redwood members, one named Maddox, the former Omega of the Pack before he’d given up the title to the next generation.

  Max knew him well and refused to let Maddox die today because of someone else’s rage.

  Then, Max when to Cheyenne’s side again, and the two of them fought off two more wolves and a witch who tried to get at them. And yet, it was Gideon, Kade, Cole, and Allister who fought Blade now. No one could get to the group of Alphas that were fighting each other, yet they still tried to help.

  But because Blade had four witches using death magic surrounding him, there was no way for anyone to get near unless something changed.

  Max growled and ran past Finn and Brynn, who were fighting another set of wolves and witches. Cheyenne was right by his side, staying out of most of the horror, and he was grateful for that. Her job was done, and theoretically, she should’ve left, but for some reason, the moon goddess had made them both Supreme Alphas—and that meant they were going to fight together.

  They weren’t going to let anyone fall.

  They wouldn’t leave anyone behind.

  And, somehow, Max and Cheyenne would make sure that the witches using death magic died.

  Because, if they were gone, the other Alphas—or even he and Cheyenne, new Alphas in however the moon goddess intended—could maybe take out Blade.

  “I can help you with the witches,” Audrey said, coming up from behind them, blood covering her but not her own from the scent of it. Good.

  Max looked over at the lion shifter. “Are you sure? How?”

  “As soon as he sees me, he’ll want to come after me, and that means the witches will focus their magic on me, as well. Use me as bait and get in there and kill those witches. They should be exhausted by now because Blade doesn’t know how to protect them. So, make sure they see me, make sure it looks like I’m weak, and then get in there and take them out. The other Alphas can get Blade. You just have to make sure you get those witches.”

  “Okay, but don’t you dare die. I’m going to hate if you die.” Cheyenne was the one to say this, and Max nodded. “Got me?”

  “She’s right,” Max added. “You might not be a Talon, but you’re an honorary one. And we don’t take kindly to our people dying.”

  Audrey gave a ghost of a smile before nodding. “I don’t plan on dying. My Pack needs me. Now, let’s go.”

  Then, the three of them were off, doing their best to try and get into Blade’s line of sight. Finally, Audrey screamed. She screamed like the weight of a thousand terrors were on her shoulders and years of pain and exile had been pulled out of her.

  Max moved out of the way, knowing that she needed to be the bait, yet knowing they wouldn’t let her die either.

  Blade finally looked over, his eyes wide. Max had never seen so much anger, horror, and hatred in a man’s eyes before.

  Blade hated Audrey with every ounce of his being.

  And Blade would die today.

  There wasn’t another option.

  Suddenly, Blade moved forward, the witches turning to look at Audrey, as well. And, in that instant, Max knew that what Audrey had said was the exact opposite of what needed to happen. Audrey would be safe if she stayed behind and, thankfull
y, she did. Max and Cheyenne moved up as one, and each of the Alphas of the Packs took out a witch.

  Gideon took care of air.

  Kade defeated fire.

  Cole handled earth.

  And Allister slew water.

  The four witches who had used their power for death and destruction crumpled in front of the Alphas as each of them took out one who dared to harm their Packs, who helped to take out the wards of each of their dens over time.

  These four witches with no names had been part of Scarlett’s crew.

  They’d been part of what Blade needed to kill so many of them time and time again.

  And, as the other wolves from the Aspen Pack fought all of the other Packs, humans, and the Coven, Blade was by himself, standing amongst the ruins of his power, the remnants of his greed.

  And then the Alpha who had declared himself more didn’t have time to tell his story, to give a diatribe about what he had done and why he had done it.

  He’d had enough time to talk. Had more than enough opportunity to tell them of his greed.

  They didn’t need to hear any more.

  Blade didn’t have to say anything.

  Instead, Max and Cheyenne ran as one, and Max jumped on Blade, throwing him onto the grass. In an instant, Max was transported back to a time when he was the one on the ground, his arm splayed out, his other arm having been half blown off in an explosion. He remembered looking up into the eyes of a human as the other man practically vivisected him on the field. And, all at once, Max knew he couldn’t wait any longer to end Blade. Blade might deserve horror and pain, but Max wouldn’t be the one to give it to him.

  It was true then, apparently, that he wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

  Not even his greatest enemy.

  Cheyenne stood above him, ready to fight, prepared to attack.

  And Max looked up at his mate, knowing that he wasn’t alone.