Page 26 of Bond To The Alpha (Fated Bond #1)

LIANA

It’s mayhem.

The roar of battle drowns out everything else. From inside the base, I can hear the savage snarls and yelps of werewolves locked in mortal combat. The ground trembles with the force of bodies slamming into each other, and the air is thick with the stench of blood. Trees are splintered and uprooted, and the ground churned to mud by countless paws and feet.

In the distance, I spot a massive silver wolf that can only be Kane. He's in the thick of it, taking on multiple rogues at once. Even from here, I can feel his determination through our bond. He's fighting not just for Moonlight pack, but for our future.

Other alpha wolves are scattered throughout the battlefield with their larger forms standing out among the chaos. They rally their packs, coordinating attacks against the seemingly endless waves of rogues.

The growls, howls, and cracks of breaking bones.

I remember the frantic preparations days ago, before this battle. Alphas from neighboring packs came to our aid, with their most skilled healers working tirelessly to fortify the fighters against the rogues' poisonous claws.

“This will help guard against the rogues' poison," one of the healers had explained, her hands stained green from crushing herbs. "It will not only make you immune, but it will also buy precious time if you're wounded.”

I watched the pack members line up to drink the bitter brew. Kane had been at the forefront, organizing defenses and strategies with the other alphas. Afterward, he pulled me aside, his blue eyes intense as he cupped my face.

“Liana, I need you to stay here.”

I'd started to protest, but he shook his head.

“Please, listen. You can't shift, and it's too dangerous out there. We need someone to keep the non-combatants calm and organized.”

I knew he was right, but it didn't make it any easier to accept.

“What about Lina?” I'd asked. “She's out there somewhere, Kane. I can't just sit here while—“

“We'll find her,” he promised fiercely.

“I swear to you, we'll bring her home. But I can't focus if I'm worried about you too.”

That's when Mrs. Thompson, my friend from the tavern, came forward.

“I'll go with her,” she offered.

“We can search for Lina at the base while you handle the main battle since we already have news she’s there. Two pairs of eyes are better than one, and I can protect her if needed.”

Kane hesitated at first, then nodded.

“Be careful,” he'd said, kissing me quickly before turning to join the others.

Now, while the battle is raging outside, Mrs. Thompson and I move silently through the corridors of the building where Lina was reportedly kept; it also was the same place I’d escaped from days ago. We check every room we come across with hope rising and falling at the turn of a doorknob.

My mind continues conjuring horrific scenarios of what Lina might be enduring. The thought of my baby girl in the hands of these monsters makes me sick.

I hold my breath as Mrs. Thompson eases open another door. The room beyond is dark, but as my eyes adjust, I see something that makes my heart skip a beat.

“Lina,” I whisper, rushing forward to pick up a small sandal from the floor, cradling it like it's the most precious thing in the world.

“She was here,” I mutter, now teary-eyed as I clutch the tiny shoe to my chest. It still smells like her sunshine and strawberry shampoo.

Mrs. Thompson's hand on my shoulder is gentle but insistent.

“We'll find her,” she says softly. “Come on, we need to keep moving.”

Reluctantly, I nod and follow her out of the room. As we continue our search, descending deeper into the building, the sounds of battle above have started to grow fainter.

Suddenly, a low growl breaks the quiet.

A rogue jumps at us from the shadows.

“Stay back!” Mrs. Thompson shouts as she pushes me behind her. And I watch in awe as she fights with the beast.

At first, it seems like she has the upper hand. The rogue goes down hard, but it's back on its feet in an instant, and before I can blink, it has Mrs. Thompson pinned to the floor. It begins crushing her throat.

The silver knife Jimmy gave me is in my hand, and without thinking I lunge at the rogue and bury the blade in its side. It goes rigid with a strangled whine escaping its throat as it topples off her.

“Are you okay?” I ask, helping her up.

She nods and rubs her neck.

“Thank you,” she says hoarsely. “That was close.”

I pull out the knife from the rogue, then wipe the bloodstains on its fur. At the same time, I see her eyeing the knife warily.

“Silver,” she says. “That's dangerous for all of us.”

I nod as I carefully sheath the blade and tuck it away behind my shirt, in my pants.

“It's insulated. It won't weaken our aura unless it touches blood,” I say, continuing down the underground stairs.

We reach another door, this one stubbornly refusing to budge when Mrs. Thompson tries the handle. Without hesitation, she slams her shoulder into it. The door crashes down with a thunderous bang that echoes through the hallway.

We freeze as we wait for the sound to die away until she nods an indication that it's safe to move on.

The air soon grows colder and damper, and I shiver, but it’s not from the chill….

Halfway down, I grab Mrs. Thompson's arm, stopping her

“Wait. Can you hear that?”

She cocks her head and listens intently.

Then I see her eyes widen as she picks up what I've heard—it’s the faint sound of whimpering, of a child crying. And then, so quiet I almost think I've imagined it, a small voice calls out.

"Mama?"

My heart immediately churns and leaps with an ache.

“It's Lina,” I gasp, already moving. Mrs. Thompson calls out for me to wait, but I can't.

I race down the stairs and my daughter's cries grow louder with each step. At the bottom, in a narrow hallway lined with heavy metal doors, I press my ear against each one, listening desperately.

“Lina?”

“Lina, baby, where are you?”

“Mama?”

It's coming from the last door on the left.

I rush to it, yanking frantically at the handle, but it won't budge.

“Lina? Sweetheart, can you hear me?”

“Mama!” Her voice is clearer now, filled with hope and fear in equal measure.

“It's okay, baby. I'm here. I'm going to get you out.”

I turn to Mrs. Thompson, who's caught up with me.

“We need to break it down,” I gesture at the door.

She nods quickly then says, “Lina, honey? I need you to move away from the door, okay? Go to the far wall and cover your head. Can you do that for me?”

We wait a moment to give Lina time to get clear.

Then Mrs. Thompson takes a deep breath and kicks the door with all her might. The metal groans but holds. She kicks again, and again, until finally, with a screech of tearing metal, the door gives way.

And there she is.

My baby girl, huddled in the corner, her eyes wide with fear and disbelief.

“Mama!” Lina wails and launches herself into my arms.

I scoop her up, holding her tight against my chest as we both dissolve into tears. Her little body shakes with sobs as she clings to me, her face buried in my neck.

“Mama,” she hiccups. “Mama, you came.”

“I'll always come for you. I'm so sorry, Lina. I'm so, so sorry.”

I sink to the floor as I continue cradling her in my lap, while Mrs. Thompson stands guard at the door.

Something soon shatters our moment of reunion.

It’s a loud crash, which is Mrs. Thompson being pounced on by a rogue larger than the previous one, its jaws snapping inches from her face.

I quickly set Lina down.

“Stay here, baby,” I whisper, stroking her hair.

She clings to my shirt and her eyes are wide with fear.

“I'll be right back, I promise,” I assure her and gently pry her fingers loose.

Lina whimpers but stays put and her small form trembles against the wall. But I give her one last reassuring look before pulling the broken door back to seal the entrance.

Mrs. Thompson and the rogue are still struggling.

I leap down after them and I land hard at the bottom of the stairs, but the pain barely registers. By this time Mrs. Thompson has been thrown clear, now lying motionless against the far wall. The rogue then turns its attention to me.

I move to pull out the knife from behind me, unsheathing it as I continue to keep a defensive stance.

The rogue rushes at me with lightning speed and kicks my arm so hard I howl in pain. The knife goes flying high in the air and drops somewhere far behind me.

And while I’m still writhing, it flies against my chest, knocking the wind out of me. I feel its claws rake past my side as it flings me against another wall.

The impact leaves me dazed and struggling to breathe.

Through the fog of pain, I hear a sound that turns my blood to ice and it’s Lina's scream.

My vision clears in time to see the rogue bounding up the stairs, heading straight for the room where I left my daughter.

“Mama!” Lina's terrified cry echoes through the hallway.

A wave of fury unlike anything I've ever felt before ignites a firestorm in my veins and I push myself to my feet, despite the pain in my bones.

“Don't you dare touch my child,” I growl, and the words come out in a voice I barely recognize as my own.

As my anger continues to build up, a hot inferno starts in my core and spreads outward. It races along my nerves, setting every cell in my body alight. I can feel it in my bones, in my blood, and in the very marrow of my being.

And then I feel something else—a presence I've only ever sensed dimly before. It’s my wolf stirring deep inside me, responding to my rage and fear for my child.

She rises, no longer content to slumber and no longer willing to be denied.

As I push off from the wall, my body starts moving of its own accord. My fingers elongate and my nails sharpen into claws; bones crackle and shift as my muscles stretch and reform.

I grunt and cry out in pain, but don’t stop moving.

I hear the fabric of my clothes tearing as my body expands, fur sprouting across my skin. My face contorts, muzzle extending and teeth sharpening into fangs.

My newly formed paws hit the stairs and propel me upward with a speed and strength I've never known. I burst into the room as a snarling mass of fur and fury. The rogue spins to face me, seeming momentarily surprised by my sudden appearance.

In that split second of hesitation, I strike at it and my jaws clamp down on its throat until I taste blood. We tumble to the ground in a whirlwind of snapping teeth and slashing claws. The rogue is bigger and more experienced, but I'm driven by a primal need to protect my child and everything else I hold dear.

I tear into it with everything I have and my wolf revels in the long-awaited freedom to fight.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mrs. Thompson. She's back on her feet and she quickly comes to shield Lina’s eyes from the violence, carrying her with her, then hurries from the room with Lina clutched tightly to her chest.

I want to leave and follow them, but the rogue doesn’t seem ready to end this yet. Its fangs sink into my shoulder, and I let out a howl of pain and fury. But instead of weakening me, the pain sharpens my focus, and I twist in its grip as my own teeth find home in its neck. It thrashes wildly and tries to shake me off, but I hold on with every ounce of strength until its struggles grow weaker as life begins to, and completely drains from it.

I release my grip and step back, panting heavily.

I've shifted. After years of believing my wolf was lost to me forever, she's finally awakened. And in doing so, I've taken a life. This creature threatened my home and most importantly, my child, and I eliminated it, instead of enduring.

My wolf growls in approval, still riding the high of battle and first blood as I hop down the hallway where I can still see Mrs. Thompson up ahead, with Lina held tightly in her arms.

“Mama!” Lina screams when she sees me behind them, and I eagerly run to her, only to be nearly stopped by another rogue from somewhere in the shadows.

It’s running after them, and its jaws are snapping towards Lina especially.

I rush after it, swift enough to catch one of its hind legs in my claws. Then I drag it away from Lina, my claws scrabbling with the floor as I pull with all my might and fight it with everything I have.

My strength, however, soon begins to weaken, like one mysteriously drugged. The rogue picks up on my weakness and uses the opportunity to hold me to the ground in preparation to take aim at my heart.

A new impact rocks our battle as another weight crashes into the rogue to push it off me.

“Run, bijou!” I hear while tumbling down the staircase.

It’s a voice I recognize immediately.

When I look up at the chaos that has begun to ensue above me, I see mother shifting into her rogue form as she stands at the top of the stairs, ferociously holding off the other rogues. Beside her is father, who is also busy battling against another group, although the odds are not looking in his favor.

I fight to get on my feet; my legs are weak.

This allows one of the rogues to break free from mother and fly down in my direction. Again, she intercepts it, this time covering me with her massive body like a living shield, and the rogue's claws dive into her back instead of mine.

I see the instant pain in her eyes as she looks down at me with a desperate plea—

Run...

From right atop me, they continue tearing mercilessly into her fur while I helplessly stare with tears in my eyes, at the same time struggling to move my body. Her blood continues to drip all over me; her breaths are labored.

I hear her wolf cry out to me again and this is when I realize I’m holding on to her paw, like I used to all those years ago, but would get shoved off.

Now, her eyes look at nothing but me, and in this infinite moment, many years collapse like a house of cards.

I'm five years old again, reaching for a hand that's always just out of reach. I'm ten, sobbing into a pillow that can’t hug back; twelve with rage boiling in my veins as I scream at an empty house; eighteen again, numb and hollow to everything around me.

And now…?

Another spurt of her warm blood splashes on me and mother pushes me off with the last of her strength, this time, not in rejection or abandonment. I can’t believe the ones who abandoned me all these years came to protect me now.

Run, she pleads with a dire squint of her glazed eyes, and I notice her gaze moving to somewhere behind me—at Lina, I can tell.

Live . Be the mother I couldn't be, I can sense what she didn’t say.

Half-howl, half-sob, I drag myself away, rising to my feet and running as fast as I can towards Lina.

I don't look back even though I can hear my parents’ grunts behind me as they near their last breaths.

I don't slow down until I catch up with Mrs. Thompson, who still has Lina. Then I see to it that she successfully leaves the premises with Lina, watching her bound up the trees in the direction of town.

I then see Kane.

He's covered in blood and his silver fur is matted and torn in places. He's breathing heavily, clearly exhausted from the long fight. But as his eyes meet mine across the battlefield, I see a little surprise in his eyes to see me in my shifted form, but his eyes are filled with joy and relief that Lina and I are safe.

The tide seems to have turned in our favor. Bodies litter the ground— mostly rogues, but I see some familiar faces among the fallen and my heart aches.

Kane and I rush to each other, and he nuzzles me gently with a low whine of concern escaping him as he takes in my battered state.

Kane presses his forehead against mine as my body continues to tremble with exhaustion and pain. Everything in front of my eyes starts to spin and I lean heavily against Kane.

I'm vaguely aware of him saying something, but the words are muffled as if coming from underwater.

My consciousness is slipping away and darkness encroaching on the edges of my vision.

As my eyes struggle to stay open, I see a figure rising from among the bodies on the battlefield. It's different from the others, but it looks familiar.

I watch through increasingly hazy vision as the silhouette darts towards the treeline, scales a massive oak, and leaps from branch to branch.

Then it pauses for a moment at the edge of the forest, perched high in the canopy. Even from this distance, I can feel its eyes on me.

But soon, everything goes dark.