Page 82 of The Alpha Wolf Defying Fate

Waveafterwaveofshadow creatures came at us.

Blood wisps, trolls, minotaurs and centaurs. All creatures that had not been seen since the days when magic became known to the world. Before, it had become a fairy tale to the humans and dwindled down to only the three beings born of its power.

Creatures that were known in their time as great powers and warriors of the gods.

And yet, we held them all off. Just three hybrids against the legions of monsters sent to keep us from their master.

“Watch out!” Aurora’s voice called. I turned to see a large shadowy form of a dragon opening its jaws to shoot a ball of black fire my way. Aurora leaped in front of me before I could react. Her hands reached out with a spell on her lips before a fire ball of her own formed between us and the beast’s open mouth. “Have a taste of summer.”

With her words, the fire flew at the dragon, halting the path of its fire. Heat blew back from the collision of the two flames. I ducked down and stared in awe at the full strength of my mate’s cousin and the future Crete Coven leader.

I had always known the Crete bloodline was powerful. They had a high affinity for natural powers and a strong connection to The Fates. And much like my own bloodline, people believed that they had descended from the first witches. The sister who chose to draw her magic from the very source of life on earth. The first Sun Witch and sister of my ancestor, Alkmene.

Watching Aurora and her power, I couldn’t doubt the possibility. If anything, Aurora was proving the theory to be true.

She grunted as she pushed forward with her magic. She put all her strength into fighting against the shadow dragon, her fire winning in the battle of strength. With another firm push of magic and a battle cry befitting any warrior, she overcame the dragon’s fire, and her harnessed sun was swallowed by the shadow creature.

We stared for a moment, watching and waiting for something to happen. Baer rushed to our sides in his wolf form and shifted back as he reached us. I watched with envy as he leaped between his mate and the potential danger. Watched as he could stand on his own two feet in his human form as I was stuck in my wolf’s body.

The dragon let out a sound that resembled a scoff. His toothy grin turned up as he lowered his head and opened his mouth for another shot of his fire.

“Step back, Rory,” Baer growled, with his arms outstretched. “I’ll take it from here.”

Aurora laughed and shook her head. “There’s no need, look.”

At that moment, light began to illuminate inside the dragon’s stomach. The shadows which made up the dragon’s body dissipated with each escaped ray of sunshine. The grin that had curved the creature’s mouth fell, and the fire that had been building inside his jaws flickered out like a candle blown by the wind.

With a final burst of heat and power, the dragon exploded into sunlight. For us, it felt like the kiss of a warm summer’s day as the air warmed and the breeze from the explosion blew past us with the scent of wildflowers and lemonade. But for the surrounding shadow creatures, it was as much a death sentence for them as it had been for the dragon.

The sunlight decimated all the nearby shadows. The number of the current wave cut down significantly from just one of the spells in Aurora’s arsenal.

I chuckled to myself.‘To think, we all considered Aurora the tame one between her and Sasha.’

‘Never underestimate the quiet ones, Ayden. They always show their strength when it matters most.’My wolf growled.

‘Aurora certainly proves that.’

I looked toward the castle, the number of shadows now dwindling between us and our goal. The wolf let out a snarl as we caught the scent of dark magic in the breeze with the sound of music carried from the open windows nearest the gates.

“We’re almost there, Ayden,” Baer said in response to the growl. “Just hold back that wolf behavior a little longer. I don’t think Sasha is much into house training her mate.”

I snorted in response and stepped out towards the next wave of monsters, ready to take this fight inside the castle and take back what The Dark Fate dared to take from me.

‘I can feel her,’my wolf barked at the feel of a gentle touch along the bond.‘Her wolf is there as well. They aren’t fully together, but they’re close. Whatever was blocking them is weakening.’

‘Good,’I growled and lunged for a shadowy troll’s arm as he attempted to swing a club at Baer’s head.‘If they can connect then Sasha will be at full fighting force. We just have to get there to back her up.’

The other two followed my lead. They put their trust in me to lead them this far. Trusted me to not lead them astray in our new quest to rescue Sasha from the darkness. To guide them precisely to their intended destination, finally ending years of being tormented by dark magic.

“I can feel that shadow guy here,” Baer called out to Aurora. “It’s the same energy I felt when he took Sash. We’re definitely going the right way.”

I snorted again as I looked over at the two of them. They took down shadow creature after shadow creature in the same fluid motion as myself. Aurora with her fire magic, and Baer with his own blend of earth and water magic.

“What?” he said as he caught my eye. “You’re going feral, you can’t blame me for being a little worried this was a wild goose chase of a wolf out for blood.”

He laughed as I growled.‘Ignore him,’I told my wolf.‘Just keep your focus on Sasha. Keep your attention on that bond and the way it glows and pulses between us and her. Don’t give in to anything but that instinct to protect our mate. That’s the only instinct that matters.’

Those words were becoming my mantra. The only thing keeping me from truly going feral was Morus’s spell pushed against the psyche of my wolf to take complete control and push my human consciousness out of the way. We both stayed in control together, just as we were intended to be, thanks to that mantra.

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