Behind Enemy Lines | 2

Chapter Thirty Five

I can't hold cliff-hangers for long ;) Enjoy the next part of the battle! 

Libby xx

Raven's roar of vengeance was cut short as Buchannan's hand locked around her throat. He hadn't even turned around, his arm outstretched behind him, as he held her above the ground. Her wolf writhed, especially as Buchannan slowly turned to look her in the eye. 

"Tsk-tsk, little Reaper." The Master purred, smiling slightly. "Trying to be a hero?"

Raven struggled against the grip on her throat, fear hollowing out her chest. The soul of her monster wolf started to overpower her mind as she lost her breath. As her mind fumbled for control, Raven watched as King Elliot managed to get to his feet, and run. The King of the Wolves, his marvelled silver wolf, ran as best he could back to the decreasing safety of the castle. His dark blood dotted his path and set a mixture of dread and relief into her stomach. 

He left... Raven thought with panic. But the King's safe.

Buchannan laughed in glee as he threw Raven on the ground before him, landing in the Wolf King's blood. Her mind screamed as the Master stepped forward. "You're a monster! You're my Reaper!"

Raven roared in anguish as she felt her wolf start to take over, and her eyes burned as a black haze overcame them. Seeing through the dark mist the werewolves still fight, Raven struggled against herself.

She was a werewolf. With no identity. She was saved. But you're back in Buchannan's hands now.

I will fight. You will lose. Then I will die doing something good.

In her mind, Raven struck out against her wolf's soul. She poured all her energy into fighting back, but even she knew that you couldn't fight against yourself for long. Still, she wouldn't give up at his feet. Not now. Not ever. 

"Stop fighting Reaper." Buchannan ordered, seeing her eyes flash between black and gold. "It's no use."

He's right. The monster wolf assured, grinning behind her eyes. You're fighting a lost cause.

I won't let you win.

You already have.

Raven screamed, her wolf roared, and they battled mentally for control. Raven knew that Thalia would fight – and that was enough to go head-to-head with her wolf. Buchannan had destroyed her, but Thalia saved her. Raven had to honour that, even if she went down too.

While Buchannan was watching his Reaper convulse on the floor in front of him, Seraphina rose from behind the hill next to the Royal Castle. Her white dress, with her dark blue cloak billowed out behind her, danced in the moon's light. Seraphina's blonde locks were pinned back by a silver circlet but she still wore a face of worry. With the full moon behind her, its cool rays calming her, reassuring her, Seraphina stood on top of that hill with sudden motivation. She saw Raven fitting in front of Buchannan, saw Thalia struggling to take on five vampires at once, and Jackson being thrown into a neighbouring tree – the distinctive crack of a broken leg a warning bell in her mind. 

The Lady of the Wolves drew deep in her soul to that well of emergency power. She was the last Lady, the final Priestess, and her wolves were losing. They needed back-up, and Seraphina had already received permission from the Moon Goddess all those months ago.

Her Elliot had told her of a potential war when they were at the Celebration Ball several months ago, and Seraphina knew of an army which would help them. An army that the Vampires had wiped out all those years ago, an army which still craved its revenge... Seraphina would raise them. 

The moonstones above their graves trembled as Queen Seraphina called upon her fallen brethren. Calling upon that vow they all swore, one imbedded in their bones, one that will never fade.

To the Moon I will swear
Oath of blood and bone pair
I shall live
I shan't stray
You, Luna, to serve and pray

Of soul carved from dark night
Eyes of glowing moonlight
Call my faith
I, the wraith
Through Your name I will fight

To the Moon I will shine
Follow your way divine
I will serve
I will thrive
Your child for all of time

"I call upon you." Seraphina chanted as the ground broke beneath the moons headstones, all those miles away. "Wraiths, I call upon, exact the justice you deserve. Help your fellow Priestess, the last of us. Fight amongst your kin one last time."

The fight between the werewolves, vampires, and Elijah halted as the ground shook beneath them. A bright white light beamed from atop the hill, turning all eyes towards it. The sight marvelled their minds; Queen Seraphina, Lady of the Wolves, glowing. Her white dress flamed with blue smoke, eyes an iridescent blue of her wolf, as the Moon's full rays downed on her Priestess.

And behind her, another army.

Not just an army though – a lost pack. Arose from the graves to exact their revenge on the vampires that slaughtered them. The wolves that were cut down, the holy pack to the Moon, had returned. 

They weren't of flesh and fur; their scratched skeletal bones were all that were visible, and midnight blue smoke poured out of their eye-sockets. They were snarling, somehow, and the vampires shivered. Four of the wolves strode forward, two on either side of the glowing Wolf Queen. The blood-fanged creatures amongst the wolf army almost screamed – even with their flesh gone, they still remembered those four wolves. 

Alpha-Lord Alastair and Luna-Lady Maude stood on either side of their daughter; the two largest bone wolves and the ones that seemed to be snarling the loudest. Next to the great Lord Alastair, was a slightly smaller wolf. Seraphina's brave brother, Lord Thaddeus. And the incredibly small but furious wolf next to Lady Maude was, no doubt, Lady Sybil.

The Moon Pack, and its Alpha family, had returned. Seraphina had called upon her dead brethren to turn the tide of the battle.

"NO!" Buchannan roared, looking between the still Raven and the illuminate Seraphina. For the first time, Raven saw what appeared to be fear spitting in his evil eyes. He spluttered. "This wasn't a part of the plan..." 

All the wolves hunched, prepared to pounce on the vampires once again. The blood-suckers were scattered, out of formation, but they still had strength in numbers. With the remaining sixty wolves of the Royal Army, and now the two-hundred dead Moon Pack wolves backing them up, they still five-hundred short... But with eight-hundred vampires panicked and unsure about the fight, the wolves could take them down. They could win. They could be victorious.

Thalia, bloody and burned, felt re-filled with motivation and looked between the five vampires that had surrounded her. Lorraine and Jackson too, looked who to kill next. Even Lara erupted with a wet snarl, bracing for her charge. Elijah spun his soaked knives, a new fire burning in his stomach. 

Even Raven, weak and almost-broken on the ground, felt another wave of determination go through her bones.

All Lady Seraphina Moon had to do was throw her hands out before her, and she watched the blood-thirsty bone-wolves charge.