Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Elena

We were heading out of our house with the captain and Jasper, I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as the realization of what that hit me. I looked at Bernard and saw the hurt in his eyes. I looked at all the men behind me who had similar expressions on their faces, I reached my hand out to Bernard.

"Bern?"

His face morphed from one of hurt and pain to one of sheer anger. I had never seen him look so angry before, his forest green eyes illuminated. He is on the verge of shifting.

"Bernard," I tried to gain his attention but his body was already shaking. He let out a low growl.

"I am going to kill him," he snapped his neck in my direction.

"War is here, Elena and we are going to avenge my patrol wolves. He killed my men and now I will kill him."

I wanted to tell him to be calm and to go into this level headed but his hand had already left mine and he was running towards the clearing. The rest of the Captains followed closely behind him, leaving Jasper and I. They all surged into the sky and shifted into their wolves effortlessly. They took off running and then a whole stampede of wolves followed suit.

I stood completely frozen and unable to move, the world around me was in play and I felt like I was moving in slow motion.

"Luna, you need to shift, we can't stay here. Richard is looking for you and we can't let him get too close to the townspeople. He is ruthless, he will not care if they are human, his Pack is as good as rouge wolves."

I snapped out of my trance and sprung into action. I nodded with a newfound determination I had to dig out of myself. Jasper took off running and I followed closely behind him, the time had finally come to prove myself, not only to my mate and my Pack but to myself as well. I was without an Alpha gene but I had the blood of Alphas running through my veins. I looked to the sky.

'Moon goddess,' I thought.

'This is the path you have given me and I only ask that you give me the strength I need to get through this.'

I leaped into the air and shifted into my wolf, when my paws hit the ground, I took off running. Surprisingly, my wolf was able to keep up with Jasper's, he was a caramel-coloured wolf that I remembered seeing the very first day I arrived in this pack.

'They need us, Luna.' Jasper's voice echoed in my head. I grunted and pushed my legs faster until we came to the clearing.

All hell had broken loose, there were wolves all around us snapping and clawing at one another. Some were dropping to the ground and others' mouths were coated in thick red blood. Jasper surged forward and went to push off one of the wolves that were attacking our wolf. I turned to my left and saw Bernard taking on the enemy one after the other, moving with expert speed and agility. When I looked to my right, I saw Alisha struggling as she tried to fight off one of the wolves that was much bigger than hers. The wolf snapped his teeth at her but luckily she jumped out of the way. My eyes zeroed on the next wolf and I surged forward. I leaped into the air and twisted so that I landed between Alisha and the enemy. The wolf bared its teeth at me and snarled in return.

It surged forward and went in for the attack, when it was close enough, I moved out of its way only by a small margin. I snapped down on its tail causing it to squeal out in pain. I tasted the metallic taste of blood on my tongue. The wolf reached back and readied its claws ready to strike but before it could do anything, Alisha's wolf went in for the kill and snapped her mouth down on its neck. The wolf went limp and fell to the ground, I released my grip on the tail and let the body fall. The wolf shifted back into human form, my heart stood still at the face of the wolf. I knew him.

His name was Kelly, ten years had passed but I knew this man's face from anywhere. Both of us went to the same high school, his mother had been friends with mine and we had often spent time together on the weekends. He was a child who came from a good home. I remembered him being funny and light hearted at school and now I had just helped to kill him.

We had prepared for this fight and repeated to ourselves that these wolves were the enemies and they were nothing but pure evil. We had dehumanized them so much that we had forgotten that they were humans. They were not acting on their own free will, they were acting at the command of their Alpha. I looked up at the scene before me, wolves from both parties going at it. Striking to kill with every slash of the claws and every deadly bite.

I felt conflicted at the moment, some of these wolves on the other side were like Kelly. They were wolves I had known as I grew up with, they were wolves who were part human. I knew our mission was to kill and win but now, killing them seems rather abrasive and merciless.

'What are you doing,' Bernard's voice echoed inside my head.

I shook myself out of my reverie only to see a wolf charging right at me. Frozen in place, I couldn't move. Alisha pushes me out of the way and runs towards the attacking wolf. I fall to the ground, losing my footing, when I look up, I see a snarling wolf above me. I roll out of the way and get to my feet. The wolf snapped its teeth at me trying to intimidate me a little bit, it worked. I stupidly took a step back and the wolf knew that it had the edge on me.

It charged forward and leaped into the air, I dodged it but not before its claw scratched through my fur. I instantly felt the burn of the slabs and I knew it was their poison. Thankfully, we had prepared for that, we had all taken the antidotes that Liam prepared for us and now I could only hope they were working. I stood to my feet and looked to my side where the wolf is, I watched the gash slowly begin to heal, the antidotes were working.

The wolf looked at me astonished and slightly confused. It looked down at its claws and then back to me again. I used its momentary distraction to my advantage. I pawed the ground and leaped into the air and landed behind him. When it turned, I slashed its face causing it to whine in pain then rammed right into it, taking both of us to the ground.

I had the perfect opportunity to kill but I hesitated, I still felt conflicted at the moment. I knew what I had to do but I didn't know if it was what I needed. The wolf lay beneath me, whining in pain ready for me to take the last and final strike.

'What are you doing?' Bernard's voice boomed in my head.

'Kill him!'

'I can't.' I replied.

I turned to the direction where I could see Bernard and saw him with a limp wolf on his teeth. His eyes connected with mine, he dropped the wolf and bounded in my direction. He expertly dodged wolf after wolf that tried to have a go at him. He came to a halt in front of me, his wolf was much bigger than mine and easily towered over me. He huffed, fanning my face with hot air, he nudged me with his nose and pushed me off the wolf.

Bernard took my place and elongated his claws, with one swift movement, he slashed the wolf's throat clean. Blood spattered on my white fur.

'That is what you should do.' he stared me dead in the eyes.

'You said you could handle war, Elena. You either strike to kill or I have someone escort you to the bunkers. You wanted this and you wanted to be here, so act like a warrior and fight for your people like you told me you would.'

He didn't wait for my response, he turned back and went back into the thick of the fight. The wolf shifted back into its human form and I had to turn away when I saw his face. Another person I knew, another person I had shared a past with, another person whose only mistake was being born into the Silver Crest Pack. We were executing innocent people. I couldn't do it, there had to be another way, I knew that.

'Liam?' I called through the mind link.

'I need you to do me a favor.'

I knew I was going against Bernard's order but I also knew that I needed to follow my gut. Killing them all was wrong, there was only one person who deserved to meet death and that is Richard Brown. He was the cause of all this. I didn't want any more souls to perish today on either side. I am going to take a stand and this would either work on everyone's lives or it could backfire. I could make us lose this battle but I was hoping for the best.