Greykin Valley

| 76 | Winner Takes All

⥐ ⋞ ☽ ⋟ ⥐

| Jackson |

There were Etas everywhere; in the derelict houses, the watchtower, and the catwalk overlooking an oily ditch. Kane was well prepared, but Cyrus was, too.

Jackson watched as the huge white wolf commanded his pack, guiding them through blind spots and finding cover in places Jackson wouldn't have even thought of. They used the snow the same way Jackson and his packmates once used it to hide from cadejo, slithering through it like fish in water. Cyrus elite wolves pounced on Kane's Etas before they knew what hit them, knocked them out, and dragged their bodies away before they were seen. It was like something out of a special-ops movie, and Jackson was in awe.

But the time to watch and gape in awe was over. Everyone had their jobs, including Jackson, and when Cyrus gave the order, each wolf hurried to get into position. Jackson stuck with Julian, Wesley and his Epsilons, and one of Cyrus' Betas, and once they got into position on the outskirts of the abandoned mining town, they waited.

Jackson's heart raced in his chest as his anxiety rose a little more with each passing moment. He could hear the voices of Kane's wolves, and they all sounded either worried or determined to prove themselves to their Alpha.

"I, uh...I have a bad feeling," Julian murmured.

"Shh," Wesley snapped.

Julian shuffled around uncomfortably, but after a few seconds, they said, "Kane's smart—really smart. We may have gotten rid of his Amarok, but he has to have something else. He knows how to use the cadejo, so who's to say he didn't move some of the ones from the pit? W-what if he unleashes the entire pit on us?"

"Lumi would have said something, right?" Ezhno said.

"She had a lot of useful information, and she didn't mention other Amaroks or anything similar," Cyrus' Beta muttered. "Stop freaking out and wait for Alpha Cyrus' call."

"Yeah, but I didn't even know Lumi existed," Julian replied. "She can't have known everything being locked down in that meat dungeon."

Leon sighed irritably and said, "Just stop and concentrate. We're supposed to be looking out for cadejo, and we can't do that if you're yapping on and making us all feel anxious."

Julian went quiet but the nervous look on their face didn't wither, and it was starting to make Jackson feel worse.

But he couldn't let his nerves get to him. For Cyrus' plan to work, he had to focus. He had to do his part. However, he couldn't help but worry. What if something went wrong? What if Kane did have a hidden weapon? Or what if Damon and Cyrus weren't enough? What if Cyrus lost? He frowned nervously but tried to ignore the angst. If Cyrus didn't know that he was a match for Kane, then he wouldn't have dragged everyone out there, would he? He wouldn't have sounded so confident when he talked about taking Kane on. No, Cyrus had this...Jackson just needed to calm down.

The shadow of Sebastien's dragon-like wings stretched across the snow and raced past where Jackson lay; he looked up and watched as the winged hound swooped down towards the centre of the mining town, and on the other side, another creature did the same. Its body looked like that of a bipedal, hairless wolf, but it had the face of a bat and the wings of a demon. It raced down towards the town, and after a blinding, white light lit up the darkness, a rain of blue smoke gushed down from the sky.

Horrified yelps filled the air, and Kane's wolves burst into action.

Cyrus' attackers raced out of the snow and swarmed the town as Kane's pack rushed around in panic. Those who'd been in the mines hurried out, coughing and gasping for air as the blue wolfsbane smoke Maleki and Sebastien had rained down on them poured out behind.