Chapter 88 - Surprise Attack

An hour had passed since Rae had successfully activated her invocation of Tara. She had managed to hold the form under Kai's instruction the whole time, but it was incredibly draining. Her eyes flickered from red back to green as Kai approached her. He could see the strain in her face.

"Seriously... how do you maintain this?" Rae questioned as beads of sweat ran down her face. She huffed as she released her control and sat down in a heap on the grassy meadow. Her red eyes were now back to their original emerald green colour. "I feel like I've been running a marathon when all I've been doing is standing here trying to breathe"

Kai's face broke out in to a small smile as he knelt down next to her "It gets easier with time. You've done an amazing job. Not many people can achieve what you've done in such a short period of time." Kai tucked some of Rae's loose hair behind her ear. "You know how it feels now. You just have to remember that feeling. That bond between you and Tara. She trusts you enough to share her power with you and be submissive to you. That bond will keep growing with time. Then you’ll be able to switch it on and off with ease”

Rae put her hand to her chest. She could feel her connection to Tara. The energy between them was smooth and calm. It was like a warm glow in her chest. She’d spent so many years warring for control with her wolf, but now, they finally felt like one. She wondered if this is what everyone felt like with their wolves. She couldn’t stop the smile from spilling out on to her face.

Kai raised an eyebrow up at her curiously. Her smile always had a way of lighting up her face like Christmas. “What is it?” he asked suspiciously.

“Nothing” Rae replied back simply, with her smile all innocent.

It was already evident to Kai that a lot of what she was experiencing with her connection to Tara was still new. It made his heart content to see her so happy.

Rae suddenly shot up to her feet.

"Woah!" Kai yelled out, as he rocked back on his heels.

"I think I'm ready to go again!" Rae called out excitedly. Whilst it felt like she was making some head way, she was keen to progress things as quickly as possibly with the limited time that they had. Springing back upright so quickly made her suddenly feel a bit woozy. She blinked a few times and became unsteady on her feet.

"Easy there sleeping beauty!" Kai gripped her shoulders to steady her. "I think we've done enough for today."

Rae blinked her eyes and shook her head to try and shake the feeling away. "No, I know I can still do more."

"No. That's enough. The last thing I need is you passing out in exhaustion. That form takes it's toll on your body in human form. Rest is just as important as training."

Rae had to admit that her body had felt like it had been worked to the bone. Kai had felt the same too. It had taken a lot of his strength to try and subdue her without hurting her when Tara tried to force her to shift.

"We could both do with a timeout. And a change of clothes for that matter" Kai consoled her. "Let's shift and head back to the house. It will be a lot easier in wolf form.

"Okay.." Rae huffed again as she relented.

Rae quickly shifted. Her wolf felt so happy to be free. She stretched then waited patiently for Kai to follow suit.

As Kai lifted off his shirt a breeze blew through in to the clearing in the woods where they had been training. Kai stilled suddenly as he sniffed the air. Something felt off. Inside Pax was feeling the same.

Rae's wolf, Tara, prodded him gently in the back with her snout. She'd picked up on his tension immediately through their mate bond.

'What is it?' Tara questioned him through their mind link.

Kai was unsure as how to answer her. "I dunno..." Something just didn't feel right. He couldn't put his finger on it. There was no specific smell but everything just seemed quiet. Unnaturally quiet. Pax was right with him, feeling slightly on edge. His intuition and instinct for pre-meditating potential danger was something that he had relied on over the years, so he saw no reason to try and dismiss it now.

Kai used his invocation to utilise his heightened senses. Having fought with Raeliana in that form for so long it was a drain on his body to try and do so, but it would be the quickest way for him to work out what was going on.

Silence. The birds had stopped chirping. Even the wildlife in the area had gone quiet, like they were try to hide themselves. But hide themselves from what? The only thing they would be hiding from is a... predator.

Kai turned quickly to the right as he heard a crunch of a leaf and the oh too familiar footsteps of a wolf. Kai tilted his head as he focused on what he was hearing. He mentally counted as he took note of each unique movement.

"One, two, three?" Three wolves were steadily stalking towards them. Nobody stalking toward them as if they were prey could have been friendly. How had he not sensed or scented them earlier?

Kai huffed angrily as he lost his grip on his invocation. Kai’s eyes flickered from red back to blue. How he have allowed wolves to have snuck up on them so easily. Of course. They'd both spent so much time fighting that they had drained their energy and as a result they're awareness for what was going on around them until it was too late.

'What is it Kai?' Rae asked again

From the way they were moving, it wasn’t hard for Kai to discern that they didn’t have good intentions, but why were they here. For him? For her?

One was coming from directly in front while the other two were coming at a slightly slower pace from either side. These weren’t regular wolves. Their masked scent, even the way they were approaching suggested that they were highly trained.

‘Soldiers?’ Kai thought, apprehensively. If they were ours he could just use his alpha command to get them stop, but with their scents masked, there would be no way of knowing until they got a lot closer. He couldn’t chance waiting that long. ‘Fuck!’

Whilst fighting a few soldiers was never a problem for him, fighting with Rae for so long in his invoked state had depleted his energy. He felt confident he could fight them off if he shifted in to his wolf, but could he do that against three whilst also protecting Rae? Even if they both ran, it’s likely that two moving in from the side would cut them off and only put them at a disadvantage in their tired state.

"Listen to me." Kai said quietly through tight lips. His focus remained away from her as he spoke. “I can sense three wolves heading in our direction. More importantly, I don’t know who they are as they’re masking their scent.”

Rae’s wolf bared her teeth as she started to catch wind of their approach.

“No, you’re not fighting Rae!”

"Like hell I’m not!"

“These are trained soldiers! You’re not in any condition right now to be challenging a trained fighter”

Rae’s wolf puffed up. She was tired, she couldn’t deny that, but she felt she could still outmaneuver them with her speed and get the best of them.

Kai shifted just as one of the wolves peered through an opening in the bushes, at the back of the clearing. A large grey wolf snarled as it came in to view. Locking eyes with the enemy wolf, his instincts instantly told him this was not a wolf from Galas. An alpha command on a foreign wolf would be completely useless. But how could a foreign wolf have gotten so far inland in to Galas without anyone picking up on it. It had to be a Sirran wolf.

"One of Colton’s?" Rae questioned as if reading Kai’s mind.

Pax firmed up his grip in the dirt to prepare himself to attack.

"When I give you the signal I want you to head back the house"

"I’m not going anywhere without you Kai!"

"You've been fighting in your invoked state for hours. Now's not the time to test your strength! Not if these are his men."

Just as Kai finished speaking another grey wolf came in to view on his left hand-side.

Tara's paw shifted in the dirt in anticipation.

"Please don't..." Kai pleaded. "Today isn't the day. There's too much at stake if you fight now. Fight them on your terms, when you're at your best. Leave these pawns to me"

Rae couldn't deny his logic. She was exhausted, but how could she she leave Kai behind to face them on his own? He had been fighting with her. Surely he must have been worn out too. Her mind wrestled with the thought, but she knew that if she stayed, his need to try and protect her would only put him at further risk.
"Fine. I'll see you back at the house. If you're not back in 5 minutes I'm coming back whether you like it or not!" She yelled it at him through their link. Almost as if it was threat.

Pax chuffed a reassuring snort in acknowledgment just as Rae quickly turned on her heels and allowed Tara to guide them back to the house.

Relieved that his stubborn mate had taken his advice, he knew he'd have to take them down as quickly as possible. He wouldn't have the energy to maintain a long, drawn out fight. The sooner they were dispatched, the sooner he could return to his mate.

Pax growled loudly as the two wolves fully came in to view. He used his alpha command in his growl, but this clearly had no effect on them. This fully confirmed his suspicions about them being Sirran wolves. The third wolf was still hiding on Kai's right in the bushes. 'As an ambush?' he thought to himself. Not a very good one.

Kai expected them to charge the second that Rae took off, but they appeared to approaching at a leisurely pace. 'Were they not after her after all? What were they waiting for?'

Kai could sense that Rae was getting good ground ahead of them. If she kept up at the pace she was at, it seemed unlikely they'd be able to catch her. Kai didn't have time for this. He wanted to be done with them and catch up to Rae as soon as possible. Either something was up or they were...'stalling for time?' he questioned. "1, 2, 3", he quickly counted the wolves he could sense. "4?!" He could feel the vibrations of a fourth wolf running behind him. Running after Rae?

"Fuck! That third wolf hiding in the bushes was just a decoy to stop me picking up the fourth one sneaking behind me"

Pax whirled around as his mate bond urged him to go back to his mate. Just as he did, the other three wolves, seemingly realising that their plan had been rumbled, rushed all at once to tackle him. If he was going to get to Rae he'd have to fight these three off first.