Chapter 44: I Want To Protect You

[Dove]
A hand pressed on my shoulder.

Claire - my mother, Alisa - stared at me with her usual stony expression. Then, her arms went around me and she hugged me gently.

"My baby,” she whispered softly in my ears. “Your power is what you make of it. It's your choice."

"But I don't know what it is! How do I use it?" I wailed anxiously.

She pulled back and stared at me with a keen look. "You know what it is."

I sniffed. Studying her face, a wave of calmness overtook me, then a series of flashbacks screened in my mind like a human movie. One thing stood out clearly and it was something that I had been trying my best to achieve, all this while.

I want to protect the people I loved.

Instantly, my hair burst into a glorious white silver light. It grew stronger and brighter, and my eyelids grew heavier. I closed my eyes and all the smiles that I wanted to protect flashed before me.

My body exploded with warm energy.


******


[Cole]
There was silver in the veil of smoke weaving around them.

Cole wasn’t prepared for this. He wasn’t sure why, but an image of Dove flashed into his mind. She had tried to warn him about some red candle that was laced with silver. He howled a signal and swiftly shifted back to human form before the silver penetrated his system, then covered his nose with an arm.

Immediately, his pack shifted smoothly back to human forms and mimicked him.

Oscar sounded a howl again and the four clans charged forward with half-covered faces.

Frustrated by the unfairness of the battle, Cole headed towards the wolf who started this all.

This time, Oscar went over him, landed behind him and swiftly pounced onto Cole’s back. His sharp claws struck the giant’s back and blood splattered out.

Cole grunted in pain as the grey wolf sunk his teeth into his neck. Swiftly, he fell backwards to slam Oscar on the ground.

The grey wolf quickly leapt off, unhurt. “Not so fast anymore, huh?” He growled.

Panting deeply, Cole gripped his hands into tight fists and charged forward.

Around him, the Whispering Moon Pack was also becoming lethargic. Unable to shift back and forth between the two forms limited their skills and they were soon bitten, gnawed and clawed ruthlessly by the strong opposing side.

After a few more rounds, Cole was soaking in blood, panting heavily and grunting frequently. He fought hard to hang onto his rapidly depleting energy. The open wounds were not healing and his skin was burning.

From the corner of an eye, Jude had fallen; a platinum wolf and a brown wolf were closing in on him.

In his other eye, a group of wolves were viciously biting and striking one of his limped wolves.

The grey wolf in front of him cackled with laughter. “We can end this now.”

Cole backed away with unsteady footsteps, maintaining his gaze on Oscar. Is this really the end? Panting hard with anger and disappointment, he took one last fleeting glance around the battlefield. His wolves were dropping like flies. Wesley and Edgar were holding onto Jude, about to break his neck.

An image of Dove flooded his mind. He hoped that Dove would live on with the love from the remaining villagers as he had since his parents’ death. He hoped that she wouldn’t be as sad as he was. A weak smile appeared on his face as Oscar moved nearer to him.

And then a blinding white-silvery light erupted across the field.

The blockages in his system dissolved in an instant and warm energy raced through his veins, breathing life into his body. His heart pumped faster and faster to swiftly replenish the lost energy and heal the wounds.

“Cole!”

His eyes opened to the beaming face of a fully recovered Owin.

Before Cole could respond, Owin said with a bright smile, “Let’s end this! Fair and square.”

Cole hastily stood, feeling refreshed as if he had just woken from a nightmare. His eyes quickly scanned the area. One by one, his wolves were getting up with the same vitality and gathering around him.

Jude was beside him. His entire body was stained with dried blood, but he looked as strong as he was before the poisonous smoke hit them. “We’re ready, Cole.”

“Yeah!” Owin shouted and then his eyes glowered in a threatening green at the grey wolf who was surveying the miraculous event with utter confusion. “Oscar’s mine.”

Cole watched as Jude flashed his grin at the young fighter. “He’s all yours.”

Tearing his gaze from his fighters, he returned to the front with his smiling eyes that dissolved into a dangerous glare.

Sensing that their tricks had once again failed, the baffled enemies backed away cautiously.

It’s time to end this, Cole thought. “For the pack!” He thundered and howled his battle cry across the battlefield. Following his lead, his pack swarmed forward like energetic bees, echoing his howl, crossing the gap and striking the expiring enemies with renewed motivation.



******


Cole grabbed the tail of a wolf with his sharp teeth and flung it across the space at a large oak. The wolf hit the trunk, howled in pain and dropped to the ground. Panting slightly, the giant’s eyes swept the scene before him.

Far from him, Jude was on top of a few whimpering wolves, keeping them on the ground with his sharp claws and rendering them immobile.

His pack was still busy fighting the remaining wolves of the four clans who were obviously exhausted, struggling to stay alive.

Then, he noticed Owin all ready to strike his final blow on the limp grey wolf.

Cole bolted over and stopped him. “He’s not worth it.” The young Gamma stared at Cole until the fury in his eyes dissipated, then he quietly removed his claws and stepped aside.

Wesley and Edgar appeared in front of Cole. Panting heavily, hanging onto the last shred of energy inside them, they unwillingly pleaded with Cole not to kill Oscar.

Cole and Owin stepped away from the almost lifeless body of the grey wolf.

“We won’t forgive you for defying the Moon Goddess,” Wesley lifted his snout bitterly.

Edgar glared ferociously with his bloodshot eyes. “This is not the end.”

Slapping Oscar on Wesley’s back, the two Alphas ran off, howling to their packs to retreat.

As the wolves cleared, his own pack gathered to exchange hugs of relief.

Cole turned to Owin and asked about the light and the strange occurrence. The spiky-haired Gamma pointed to a cliff above them and cried with his bright smile, “It was Dove! I don’t know how she did it but we healed twice as fast.”

Wide-eyed, Cole followed the finger and saw her. Perched on the cliff, gazing at them, was a large white wolf radiating a beautiful silvery glow. Cole realized that Dove had single-handedly fought the wolves who were on that cliff earlier, casting bottled chemicals at the battlefield.

A proud feeling filled his chest.

Keeping his eyes on his wife, Cole stepped forward, wanting to go over to Dove when the silver glow slowly went out and her snowy white wolf form collapsed to the ground.