Chapter 59

• Everyone collided with a thunderous bang, snarling and baring their teeth, every single one of them prepared to go for the kill without even the slightest hesitation. There was no mercy here, no room for second chances or backing down. They were not prepared to go for anything less than total annihilation, because anything less meant defeat, and defeat meant death. Our men knew this. They knew what they were fighting for, and they were not about to let a ragtag band of rogues, no matter how desperate or savage they were, get the best of them. They had trained for this moment, drilled for nights and days on end, learning to move as one, to think as one, to strike as one unstoppable force that would defend its own to the last heartbeat.
• The sounds of the battle were deafening. Snarls and growls mixed with the vicious sounds of claws ripping through fur and flesh. The air smelled of wet earth, iron blood, and the raw stench of rage and fear. My own pulse was pounding so hard that I could feel it through every inch of my wolf form, each thud echoing like a war drum that pushed me forward. Bodies slammed together in the moonlight, the silhouettes of wolves locked in a brutal dance that turned the clearing into a nightmare of flashing teeth and glinting eyes.
• And while they were all occupied, while their claws and fangs were locked on each other, I seized my chance. I knew this was my moment, and I would not waste it. Even Ethan was too occupied to notice what I was doing. I watched him, my mate, the powerful Alpha who tore through rogue after rogue without a moment’s pause, his massive wolf form a blur of white and grey as he fought like a demon born of the moon itself. But while he was distracted, I slipped to the side, my paws silent on the dirt and fallen leaves. I weaved through the trees like a shadow that no one could see, moving along the edge of the battlefield, away from the snarls and the blood-soaked ground, until I was behind everyone.