Page 23 of His Blue Moon Princess (The Silver City #1)

“Marina!”

I turn around. A young female is pinned down by a vampire. Somehow, she got isolated from the rest of the group, leaving her almost defenseless. Using a wolf next to me, I jump off, and, with a big leap over several heads, I fall on her enemy. My fangs find his neck, but he immediately swings with his dagger to try and shake me off. I feel a sharp pain on my arm, but don’t let go. The young she-wolf doesn’t miss her chance and furiously bites his shoulder, making him drop the dagger. As we are still struggling, another wolf that has the same fur as hers jumps in and rips the vampire’s head off with a single bite.

Ouch, silver really hurts... I feel blood on my paw, but I’m okay, I guess. I’m a slow healer, anyway, so I think this doesn’t change much. The young she-wolf comes to me and immediately starts licking my wound. It’s the first time someone did this for me... She stops once the bleeding slows down and puts her muzzle to touch mine. I know she’s saying thanks. The other wolf, probably a relative of hers, nibbles her ear quickly. We must go back to the fight.

The three of us jump back into the fight, and for a while, we are doing good. Other than me, two other wolves are hurt, but that’s it, while numerous vampires who are already on the ground.

“Nora, you were right! Vampires are coming from the East! But we can hold them off, for now. The Pearl Clan’s warriors are here, too, and the Gold Moon pack is fending them off in the South.”

I don’t have time to answer to Vincent, but he didn’t sound too worried. And the Gold Moon Clan is one of the strongest, also, so I know they can hold the Southern position for a while. What I’m more worried about is the North. If that many vampires are getting past our defenses, what is going on up there? Are Nathaniel and Damian okay? And Bobo and Tonia are still not here!

This is my very first fight, and I don’t have a second to rest. Though we kill many of them, the vampires keep coming. How come there are so many of them? Vincent and the other Clans are doing fine in the South and East, but I wish I knew what’s going on in the North!

“Elena! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, doing my best. I’m just a few blocks ahead of your position, but the situation’s worse here.”

My wolf tenses. “ She’s in danger.”

My wolf’s right. I would have said so even without hearing her obviously tired tone. Moreover, every time she mind-links me, I feel she is not in her wolf, but in her human form. Why wouldn’t she shape-shift now? Did she got hurt by silver or something?

“Damn it! What is he still doing here? Stubborn wolf!”

“Elena?”

“It’s Bobo! I keep telling him to go to you, but he won’t leave me! His sister is running to you, though!”

I’m a bit relieved to hear about Bobo and Tonia, but what is going on? Damian told Bobo to come to me, so why is he staying with Elena? Though, if she is not in her wolf form, I still feel better knowing my friend is with her. Maybe she’s even injured, and that would explain Bobo staying with her. I can do fine on my own here, and the Sea Moon Wolves are cooperating with me like I’m one of them.

After a few minutes, Tonia indeed appears to join the fight here. She isn’t injured, thanks to Moon Goddess. She is almost as big as her brother, though she’s thinner, and her arrival cheers up the tired Sea Moon Wolves. She jumps to me, and immediately takes a defensive position, growling at the closest vampires. I wish I could ask her about Bobo and Damian!

“Nora, something weird is going on here!”

“Vincent?”

“All the vampires are... I don’t know, something is attacking them!”

“What something? Is it attacking our own?”

“No, it’s... Whatever it is, it’s protecting my injured wolves! The... Shit, I can barely believe it, but roots are growing from the ground to hold the vampires!”

Roots? Like actual tree roots? Is he kidding? Did Vincent hurt his head or something? But he sounds fine to me. What is going on now?

“...It’s like the forest in attacking the vampires! They were about to get the upper hand on us, but all of a sudden, the trees have started pinning them down! The trees!”

Our forest is attacking the vampires? What is this now? I hear Vincent exulting in my head, and I close the mind-link. Well, at least now I can stop worrying about the East. Though I really wish I knew how the hell the forest is suddenly stepping into this fight!

We are now clearly getting the upper hand. A few Sea Moon Wolves are injured, but werewolves from another Clan stepped in, I’m unsure which. Anyway, these new wolves are fighters, seeing how they attack the vampires without mercy and take them down one by one. They are now enough to defend themselves here. I leave this part of the battlefield, avoiding enemies to head North. I need to join Elena, Bobo, and the Blood Moon Clan.

Behind me, I hear Tonia growling, but I ignore her. I know Damian told me to stay back, but I never agreed to it. The harbor isn’t any safer now, anyway. She follows me, and we soon reach another fighting ground, more into the city this time, somewhere in-between the Port and the Latino District. I spot Elena right away: As I suspected, she is the only one standing in her human form, other than the vampires.

Even so, I have to say, she’s obviously a great fighter. She is fighting with some sort of wooden pole, and her moves are like those fight choreographies you see in action movies. Not even one vampire can get close to her, she is fiercely standing her ground. Plus, she has two wolves siding with her: one is Bobo, and the other is a smaller tawny wolf unknown to me.

“Elena!”

“Nora! Are you okay? Moon Goddess, you’re bleeding!”

“It’s okay. Why aren’t you in wolf shape?”

“Don’t worry, I can defend myself fine this way.”

That’s not what I asked! She obviously ignored my question, so I don’t ask again. We have more urgent matters at hand. Elena didn’t lie when she said they were not doing great here. The number of vampires is starting to grow, and there are only about a dozen werewolves.

I try to defend another wolf who having difficulty, but Tonia is hindering me in attempting to protect me. Can’t she let me fight by myself!

Bobo, too, is fighting harder, trying to protect both me and Elena. Is it because of her heritage, because she is a mixed Royal like me? I feel like there is something else. He is also very protective of the other male wolf next to Elena, though this one is doing just fine. Elena and this tawny wolf seem used to fighting together, completing each other’s moves like a synchronized dance. At least I can stop worrying about her since she really is doing great on her own.

I, on the other hand, can’t say the same. I’ve been keeping this up for a while now, and the exhaustion is growing on me. I’m glad I stuffed myself up with cake earlier, giving me extra energy for all I’m burning right now. But somehow, more and more vampires come at me one after another. My wolf and I aren’t ready to back down, however. I ignore the pain in my arm and jump with Tonia on a female vampire close to us.

“Nora, there is something weird.”

“What is it?”

“I feel like they’re targeting you!”

“What?”

I look around, and though it takes me a few minutes, I realize she might be right. No matter how hard Tonia and I fight, it’s like the vampires focus on our duo. As more keep coming, a lot of vampires do keep the other wolves busy, but I still notice a bunch of them aim directly toward us. That’s why we have been doing triple work all along! Elena’s right, there are a lot more vampires lying around Tonia and me than anywhere else. I jump to another position, and our opponents ignore Tonia to rush towards me. Why now?

I keep fighting them off, Tonia and Bobo helping me. For my first real fight, other than the duel, I never thought I would be fighting vampires alongside other packs! But there is a mix of Opal Moon, White Moon, Sea Moon, and Blood Moon wolves gathered all around, and everyone is doing their share.

“Nora, we are pretty much done here! The forest stopped attacking the vampires a while ago, but we are finishing the job! We sent a lot of our valid warriors straight to the North to help now!”

Finally! I relay Vincent’s news to Elena, who immediately shares it with her own Alpha and the Alpha of the White Moon Clan. Realizing she was talking with them all along, I ask her about the situation in the North while shredding a neck off.

“Not good. Xavier said something odd is going on over there, too. The vampires are using some sort of poison, slowing our people. I know it sounds weird, but our river is attacking the werewolves. Tell the Sea Moon Wolves to stay far from the water, it’s attacking the packs!”

Seriously, the water now? I wouldn’t have believed her a few minutes ago! I was glad some sort of force from the forest was helping the Jade Moon Clan, but then how come the water is attacking us? The Northern territory is right on a river, too! If this is what the vampires were relying on, it explains why they choose to attack from the North. I use the mind-link to pass the information to the Sea Moon Alpha.

“We’re good here, kiddo. No attack from the sea, but I’ll tell the guys to be careful!”

Whatever it is, it’s only in the North now. But it’s powerful enough to let the vampires dominate four packs allied together! Gosh, I hope Damian is alright! I ask Elena, but she says she doesn’t know. It’s probably too chaotic in the North, so no one can stop and look for a black wolf. I pray to Moon Goddess for him to be okay and focus on my own fight.

Suddenly, Tonia takes a violent hit from a duo who ganged up on her. I want to step in, but I’m already fighting off another one of those bloodsuckers a few meters away. Bobo is also too far away, helping the other tawny wolf. They managed to scatter our group somehow, this is not good. I hear Tonia whimper— she’s really hurt. The second I turn my head to look at her is a mistake. I feel a vivid pain, and a kick throws me a few steps back. The pain blinds me for a second, and my wolf whines in response, the distress echoing in our mind.

“HELP!”

“Nora, don’t...!”

For a second, all the wolves around me freeze and turn their heads to me. It’s like they all heard me, and in a few seconds, they all fight harder than ever. I realize some of them are trying to fight off their opponent to come and help me, but it’s useless. I’m too far from any of them. I’m on my back, and that damn vampire as a hand on my throat, pinning me down. He lost his dagger earlier in the fight, so he focuses on trying to hit me. I bite furiously anything that comes close. Gosh, those creatures are damn strong! I need to break free before he breaks my neck!

Suddenly, we hear a loud howl, and everyone turns their heads. A new pack has joined the fight! I hear Elena’s cheer of joy in my head.

“It’s Lysandra Jones! The Purple Moon Clan!”

It’s my first time seeing her, and the dark wolf launches the attack as soon as she’s here, starting by the vampire that was on Tonia. Their pack is small, but they are notorious fighters. The fight resumes, and this time no side has the upper hand. Lysandra’s wolves are helping others, taking over for the hurt wolves. But they are not on my position yet, and I must keep fighting the vampire on me. Just when I thought he was about to kill me, his hand tightening around my throat, I suddenly hear the vampire next to him, a woman, yelling: “Idiot, don’t kill her! She needs us to take this one alive!”

What the...? Before I can realize what she just said, a dark form jumps over us, and a loud growl follows. I see a black fur above me, covering most of my sight. The furious wolf bites off the vampire’s shoulder, pushing him off me, and attacks again. I struggle to get back on my feet. For a split second, I thought it was Damian, but I notice this wolf is a bit smaller than my mate and has reddish hair around his collarbone.

“Liam!”

He turns to me and helps me get up; his fur tainted with vampire blood all over. I probably don’t look any better, either...

“Hey, Nora, what’s up?”

“Don’t “what’s up”

me! What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with Nathaniel and Damian?”

“Don’t yell, I sent them reinforcements already! But my brother was worried about you, so I went to you first. We heard your distress call! How the hell did you do that?”

They heard me what? Oh, Moon Goddess, did they actually hear me all the way to the Northern territory? I just mind-linked without thinking!

I don’t really have time to focus on anything else, as, despite our arguing, Liam jumps into the fight right away. I can catch some rest while he fights off my opponents, but I’m too worried about my friend. I look for her on my left side.

For some reason, the Purple Moon Alpha is protecting Tonia fiercely, not letting anyone approach her. However, my friend is trying to push her off. Bobo, too, is busy defending Elena and her friend. I notice the tawny wolf also got hurt, he is limping a bit.

Around us, the fight is slowly dying down. The arrival of the Purple Moon warriors totally shifted the power balance to our side. Liam, too, is exceptionally efficient. It’s my first time seeing the youngest Black brother fighting. Still, he’s doing great, taking vampires down one after another without stopping. He even scares off a few of them.

“Elena, how is the...?”

“The North is okay; they are almost done! The water stopped attacking them, and the wolves that were hurt are getting back on their feet, too. I don’t know what it is, but whatever it was is gone.”

We both start mind-linking our sides to check, but it’s the same everywhere. Vincent is busy taking care of his injured pack members, and the Sea Moon Wolves are dispersing to chase the remaining vampires on the harbor and hunt them down.

Elena starts to check her friend’s leg, frowning. “You’re hurt... I told you to not shield me! Idiot!”

Though she sounds angry, she seems genuinely worried for her friend. Moreover, I’m observing Bobo, who is walking in circles around them, not coming too close or leaving them, visibly anxious. What is this, Bobo? I wish he would go back to his human form to talk to me, but he just walks up to me once he sees me. He whines a bit, bowing his head, putting his ears down.

Gosh, don’t apologize, Bobo. I’m okay, aren’t I? I wish I could communicate with him, too, but instead, I just push him off gently with my muzzle. Once she’s done tending her friend, Elena starts setting the vampire’s corpses on fire, the usual thing to do. To my surprise, the Purple Moon Alpha then shifts back to her human form.

She’s a tall, dark-skinned woman with long purple hair and lots of tribal tattoos. She obviously doesn’t mind walking around naked, as she helps Elena with the fires. Once she goes back to Tonia, my friend growls furiously, obviously trying to fend her off. Didn’t she spend the whole fight protecting her? What’s with Tonia not wanting her close? I remember Bobo saying they have a connection, though he didn’t get into the details. Well, it’s probably not of my business anyway.

Liam walks back to my side. “My brother is nagging me about you. They are coming here.”

“Are they okay?”

“Nora, it’s my brothers. Of course, they are fine.”

Though his arrogant tone is a bit annoying, I’m finally relieved. I look around, and sadly, there are a few dead werewolves from each clan. I bet it’s worse in the North... The Sea Moon Alpha joins us, and he shifted back to his human form, though he is clothed. He is an old man, rather short, with a sailor look.

“Jones, you little rascal,”

he says to the Purple Moon Alpha.