Page 8 of For Her, He Falls

I feel every cell in my body come alive and splinter, my fur rippling as the transformation sweeps over me. Then, I am neither girl nor wolf but rather a cloud of bats the color of moonlight.

For once, there is no fear, but it is not quite courage either. It's bigger than that, something born of everything that's happened from the moment the Rogue Alpha set foot in my life. It's trust. I have faith in Tristan, in my pack, and in myself.

So I take flight, feeling my consciousness spread out into silver-white fur and fluttering leathery wings that are pearly and almost iridescent compared to the other nightwalkers.

I'm distantly aware of Mark and Tristan tearing the enemy Alpha into bloody ribbons somewhere behind and below me as I soar out of the keep. They will be alright. They have to be. And me? I know what I have to do.

Vanessa Massen is alive. She's out there right now in Viktor's clutches, and the Night King is risking everything to go after her and save her.

How could he not? And how could I not do the same for him? He's my father, after all.

And she's my mom.

Chapter Five

Tristan

I watch the life drain out of the Alpha's eyes. Besides me, Mark is panting from the fight, but there's a vicious glint in his eyes. Through flashes of the mindlink I know Lucy got to Amara and dragged her off the battlefield, but there's no telling if she'll survive.

She killed Oscar.

Viktor's miserable son attacked Amara with two other wolves in a fight that could not have been further from fair. I felt her hatred when she snapped Oscar's neck, and for a moment, I envied her. I'd seen the marks of the boy's brutality on my little flower, the evidence of how she'd been violated marked forever onto her skin. I'd wanted to make Oscar bleed for every scar on her body, and Amara did just that.

She avenged my mate with everything she had. But if the injuries Amara sustained during that fight cost her her life, I will carry the guilt with me for the rest of mine.

'Go find your mate,' I snap at Mark once the first Alpha falls dead at my feet.

'There is still work to be done,' he answers without flinching.

Two more Alphas are still inside the keep, along with two more outside. One of those was Viktor, and with every passing second, the love of my life flew further away from me and closer to him.

I'm about to insist, but before I can give the command, my Beta gives me a low growl.

'We don't have time to argue. Lucy is with her, and there's nothing I can do for her.'

He's right. Even if we had the time, I wouldn't be able to argue with him. It's more than loyalty driving my Beta to stand his ground. He cannot save Amara, but he can tear the Banes' army apart for what they did to her. There is something desperate behind his bloodlust, not just a hunger for revenge but a need to keep going, to keep fighting.

It's what Amara would do. It's what she would want.

If his mate dies, Mark will never forgive himself for not being by her side. But if she lives, she will never forgive him for abandoning the fight. Either way, it's not my choice to make. Mark knows his mate best, and this is the only way he knows of to honor her.

'I can't help my mate, but you can help yours,' Mark says, and there is no trace of resentment or regret in his voice, only savage determination. 'The nightwalker healer went after the scarred Alpha. I'll find the other one.'

'Thank you, brother.'

Mark huffs, tail flicking impatiently as his eyes scan his surroundings for his next target.

'Just shut up and get out there. You've got a bridge to cross,' he says, and with that, he vanishes into the sea of shadows and bodies.

I don't know what's going on out there, but I know I cannot let the girl face it alone. That thought alone sharpens and brightens in my mind, guiding me like a lighthouse across the darkness and death that surrounds me as I battle my way through the steady torrent of soldiers spilling into the keep.

I'm fighting my way against the current, biting and clawing my way through the Banes' army in a relentless fury until I've fought my way back to the entrance of the keep.

Outside, the sun is rising higher in the sky and the mist has thinned, with clouds and towers casting shadows over the citadel. Still, there isn't enough cover for the nightwalkers to fight without having to worry about the sunlight. Besides, by this point, all the nightwalkers have retreated into the keep, strategically killing their way through Bane soldiers as they spill into the dark castle, like moths flying towards a bloodthirsty flame.

No one else can fly out to help the Night King. There's only her.

I cast my mind out through the link, trying to reach my mate. The bond is there, but our connection is limited since I cannot mark her. I've wanted to mate with her so many times, the longing for her threatening to consume me and destroy all logic and reason. But for once, the desire is practical. I cannot see what she sees, know what she knows. With the chaos unfolding in every direction, the best I can manage are flashes of thoughts as my mind reaches for hers, but a single word stands out.

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