109: Phoenix's POV

She was a force to be reckoned with and was strikingly beautiful while doing it.

It was a shame that neither of my brothers were here to witness her coming into her confidence in battle. Ada moved fluidly, going from one strike to the next with ease. The only sign of any exertion was the sweat dripping down her forehead. She took the blood spatter, the flying organs, in stride. She’d not even questioned my request to clear the battlefield.

I was incredibly glad that I hadn’t forced Finn to get her the hell out of here like I almost had. I’d seen her the second she’d blinked into existence, and I’d let out a sharp cry that was half rage and half fear. It turned out, she was exactly what we needed to give us an edge. Watching her, it wasn’t even the training that paid off for her in this battle. She was simply a natural.

I’d made my way to the center of the battlefield, where she and Finn were fighting together. I joined them, the three of us forming a tight inner circle. Our soldiers fought just as hard beside us. More had begun to fall as the exhaustion set in, but we were still faring better than the Midnight Pack’s armies. In the end, we’d lose a couple of hundred soldiers. They’d lose thousands. Though they did seem endless at this point.

My blade — a broadsword that had been embedded in the ground at one point — sliced through the neck of a wolf, completely removing its head from its shoulders. Before the body fell to the ground, I turned to deal with another approaching wolf. My muscles were already sore, my heart thundering. I could feel my own body growing tired, the adrenaline of battle no longer enough to keep it pushing forward. This battle needed to end soon.

Ada was amazing, and Finn should have been called a vampire god instead of a king. But I was a bit nervous being the last Alpha King standing on this field. Without Darius and Nik here, every soldier on this field was looking to me for orders. I felt eyes looking at me the entire time, as if they were all occasionally looking at me for signs. Of what, I wasn’t positive. Probably some clue as to whether or not we were winning.

I fell into a rhythm as I thought. The motions became thoughtless. I’d see a flurry of movement, I’d swing. Something would near me, I’d duck or side-step. Bodies were beginning to pile up around us, the tang of copper filling the air. A quick movement to my right caught my eye, and I spun, bringing my sword down hard and fast. Shadows caught it, stopping it mid-slice.

My vision focused on the person behind the shadow, and I blinked. Ada was standing there, an annoyed expression on her face. She removed her shadows from my blade, which had come inches from her shoulder. Her voice was sharp as she snapped, “Focus, Phoenix.”

Fuck. A shudder ran through my body as I tried not to think about what had almost just happened. I faced forward, gripping my sword tightly in my hands. The sounds of war began to ebb around me. After nearly a full minute of no one attacking me, I lowered my sword and let my eyes scour over the field. Several skirmishes were still taking place, but for the most part, our enemies were retreating into the woods.

Our soldiers erupted into cheers. Ada, breathing heavily, clapped a hand on my shoulder. She sucked in one deep breath and ran toward the woods. I followed suit, on the heels of several enemy wolves that managed to escape the fights they’d been in. As we neared the tree line, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

The wolves that were running into the forest were getting about twenty feet into the forest, and then disappearing. They simply blinked out of existence.

Ada stopped and turned to look at me, her head cocked to the side, “Am I seeing shit?”

I shook my head as Finn appeared beside me, watching the scene before us. Several of our own soldiers ran out after our enemies, and they also disappeared. After we watched the third one blink out of existence, shadows unfurled and formed a barrier at the beginning of the trees. I wasn’t sure if they came from Finn or from Ada, but it didn’t matter. It was effective in keeping our people safe.

The squelch of the earth behind me signaled someone was approaching. I turned to find Cade, drenched in blood and grinning, “Looks like we won.”

“The battle, not the war,” Ada muttered, turning to face him as well, “Where is Darius?”

“I took him back to Oberon Castle,” Finn said quickly, resting his hand on Ada’s shoulder.

White-hot jealousy tore into my stomach. A growl escaped my lips, “Hands off.” I shoved Finn back. He arched an eyebrow at me, but removed his hand from Ada. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest as I turned my attention back to Cade, “Get everyone home. Let them know a month’s worth of supplies will be sent to each of their homes and a banquet will be thrown in their honor within a month.”

“What should I say about King Nikolai?” Cade bowed his head, eyebrows furrowed, “Everyone saw him fall.”

He was right. They all had seen Nik fall to the ground, lifeless. Before I could respond, Ada spoke firmly, “Tell them he is recovering with his brothers and his mate.” he grabbed Finn’s hand and motioned for me to do the same, “Take us home, Finn?”

The vampire king extended his hand, and I took it. Battle statistics, clean up, and figuring out what the fuck that disappearing act had been could wait until the morning. Both of my brothers had been injured enough to be removed from battle, and that hadn’t ever happened before. At some point, I would learn to trust my gut. Sometimes, running away from a fight was the better option. It didn’t make you a coward; it just made you smart enough to know you were going to lose.

Considering the three of us were currently alive, we’d somehow fared pretty well. This wasn’t always a guarantee, though. I took Finn’s hand and felt the odd sensation of floating through space. What would have happened if we hadn’t had Finn today? He wouldn’t be here for every battle. Ally or not, he had his own worries. Would they have made it out if he hadn’t been here? Ada’s room came into focus around us. Finn released my hand.

Eric, the pack doctor, was kneeling over Nik. He was drenched in blood, dripping sweat. Several others were in similar states over Darius’s still form. My stomach dropped as I took in the sight.

Maybe we weren’t quite as free and clear as I thought.