Page 43 of The Dark War

“Can you tell me what happened?” One of the boys’ eyes continued to look out the window, watching three dark figures ascend from the forest. They all shook their head, except for one boy, maybe eight years old.

“Them,” he spoke utterly quiet as the children sobbed. “They killed my family, my pack.” Not one tear fell from the little boy’s cheeks. His brows furrowed, fists tightening. “That witch.” His mouth ticked. “I’m going to kill her.”

My mouth hung open, and my hand went to lock the carriage door to make sure he didn’t flee, but he was too fast with the girls in my arms. He pushed the carriage door open, falling into the dirt.

“Wait!” I cried, causing Raine to turn around. “Get him! He’s going to the witch!” The witch heard her species being called. The dark smile strewn across her face had her huff with laughter. The boy grunted, his fingernails lengthening into claws. A growl left the boy’s lips only for Raine to grab him, wrestling him to the ground.

Shit. Is he shifting!?

Raine cried out, the claws in her forearm causing her to bleed. Wincing, she looked down at the boy. Pushing his hands back, the blood continued to drip down her arms. “Stop this.” She growled, showing her fangs. “You’re going to get yourself killed!” The boy didn’t listen, his back coming up off the ground, face contorting with hair.

“He’s shifting!” I cried. Dean, who was making sure the vampires and witch didn’t come closer to us, looked back, allowing a vampire to strike him. Dean took a hit to his jaw, his neck contorting backward. The crack was heard by Raine. Smelling the blood of her mate, her grip loosened. The boy growled, pushing her back onto the ground, and took a running start to the witch.

Giana howled inside me. She was shifting us faster than I could think. Putting the girls down, Giana’s voice used our luna command, telling them to stay. The opened door of the carriage had me leaping outside. Trying to mind-link Raine, static hummed in my mind.

Right, no mind-link.

Giana pounced three times, pushing the boy into the dirt. He groaned, feeling the abrupt impact. With the witch’s loose long, blue hair, the witch swayed in the calm wind. “Silly wolf.” Her hand reached into her pocket, and a white substance decorated her fingers. Using our swift speed, Giana pounced on her before she could blink. My jaws clamped down on her neck, twisting as her screams filled with blood gurgled until her breathing stopped.

I just killed her.

I stepped back, blood dripping down my maw. The little boy looked up in horror as he watched me approach him. He fumbled back, staring at me. His body shook, continuing to fall as he crawled away from me.

My heart fell into my stomach as I watched this terrified boy be afraid… of me.

Dean rushed over, his neck cracking back into place as he ran. “Thanks, Luna, you just saved my neck.” He chuckled, pulling the boy up to standing. “If you didn’t kill her when you did, I don’t think I would have made it.” Raine stood by the carriage, watching Dean and the little boy. The boy continued to stare at me and back at Dean, who he then realized was a vampire.

He screamed, pushing away from him and falling back to the ground. Shifting into my human form, I went toward him with my bloodied body. “It’s all right. He’s with us. He won’t hurt you.” The once stoic boy that stared out the window, the courage deep inside him broke. He began to cry, putting his arms around my neck.

“It’s all right.” I rocked him. “Everything is going to be fine.”

Kane’s shoulders slumped, anger in his eyes, and the horrible feeling in my chest let me know. Everything was not fine. This little pup had no family, no home to go back to, and the way Kane and the warriors just walked out of the forest, I would have to say his entire pack had been slaughtered.

“What’s your name, honey?” I petted his hair.

“Roland.” He sniffed. “Alpha of the Gold Paw pack.”

Chapter Twenty-four

Under the Moon

Thecarriagecontinuedtoroll along with a smooth dirt path. No voices could be heard inside, and there were little pants from the tiny, sleeping princess. Marcus’s wolf stayed glued to the side of the carriage caravan that went through the countryside of Bergarian.

They had just crossed over into the Cerulean Moon Kingdom territory, the sky now darkening as opposed to the Golden Light Kingdom that had the constant glow of flora and fauna. Warriors continued to walk in their wolf forms, keeping quiet and listening to the small breeze that blew their way.

The wind shifted, causing Marcus’s fur to stiffen. Wolves continued their trotting, staying true to the path. Unfortunately, Marcus’s curiosity made him wander off the path. His wolf urged him to go just beyond the trees, to search deeper within the forest. No sounds could be heard, and the thick darkness inside that held only small creatures that slept in their burrows.

Marcus paused, looking back at the carriage and back into the wood. Something was calling to him; his wolf pushed him further into the blackness as he traveled half a mile. He could still hear the carriage on the other side of the thickness of the trees, making sure to pay attention to how far away he was.

“Round them up,” a cold voice snapped. Marcus’s fur stood up on end, crouching into the thickness of a deep purple bush. Peering over the large vegetation, he saw a fire that had been put out, the smoke still rising from the water covering the ashes. “Hurry up, don’t have all day.” The lack of a heartbeat in the person’s chest had him growling.

Vampire.

Why couldn’t he smell them? His nose went straight in the air, and not one bit of their scent was pulled into his lungs. “I’ve got the ward up, should be an in and out job,” a woman’s voice came from a small rudimentary building.

It was one of the outlying packs, one that stuck more closely to nature. They had their small cabins, washing hung on the line, furs and skins stretched across easels for the light sources to dry. A small group of wolves, mostly women and children, were all huddled together, maybe twenty to thirty of them. They did not fight back.

Where are the men?

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