Page 60 of The Purrfect Rival (Enchanted Falls #1)

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K alyna assessed the battlefield with new eyes—seeing opportunities for fox illusions to create confusion among the guards, identifying which barriers the lions could breach with their strength.

“Fox illusions along the east wall,” she suggested, her mind already calculating angles of attack. “Make them think we’re attempting to breach there while the real push goes north.”

Rust nodded, catching her strategy immediately. “Lions take point on the northern push, foxes provide cover illusions and handle any lock mechanisms.”

They organized the combined forces with efficient precision—Rust directing the lions while Kalyna positioned the foxes for maximum effectiveness. The two groups, historically separate in their hunting and battle techniques, meshed with unprecedented coordination under their guidance.

“On my mark,” Rust called, his voice carrying the natural authority of both mayor and alpha lion. The shifters tensed, ready to execute the plan.

“Three, two, one—MOVE!”

The coordinated assault flowed like choreography—fox creating elaborate illusions that drew guard attention and fire toward empty spaces while lions burst through the barriers with concentrated force. Kalyna and Rust moved at the center of the formation, each anticipating the other’s movements without conscious thought.

When a guard appeared in Kalyna’s path, Rust was already there, putting himself between the threat and his mate. When a security door blocked their advance, Kalyna’s fingers worked the locking mechanism while Rust provided cover.

They reached a defensible position in a side room off the main corridor, discovering and freeing prisoners. Most were Enchanted Falls residents who had opposed Boz’s growing influence—fox, wolves, even some humans with faint paranormal bloodlines.

Hezron appeared, blood matting his hair from a gash across his forehead but his expression relieved at finding Rust and Kalyna together.

“Extraction teams are five minutes out,” he reported, wincing as he dabbed at his injury. “Most prisoners accounted for.”

Lucella materialized at his side, pressing a clean cloth to his wound with surprising gentleness. “You should see Elder Willow about this,” she scolded, though her typical fox playfulness was muted by genuine concern.

“Only if you promise to visit me during recovery,” Hezron retorted, managing a shadow of his usual charm despite the pain. Lucella rolled her eyes, but her hands remained gentle as she tended his injury.

Kalyna observed their interaction with interest—another potential bridge forming between fox and lion in the wake of her connection with Rust.

“You smell different,” Lucella noted suddenly, studying Kalyna with open curiosity. “Like there’s lion wrapped around your natural scent.”

“And you,” Hezron added to Rust, eyebrows rising, “have definitely picked up fox notes. It’s all over your aura.”

Heat rose to Kalyna’s cheeks while Rust’s expression remained impassive save for a slight tightening around his eyes. Their animals had claimed each other in ways that transcended conscious choice, creating biological markers even other shifters could detect.

Before either could respond, a young fox shifter burst into the room, panic etched across her features.

“The attacks!” she gasped. “Foxworthy homestead and Leonid estate—both under heavy assault! Elder Willow sent word that defensive barriers are failing at both locations!”

The room erupted with exclamations and questions, but Kalyna heard only a roaring in her ears. Her parents—Winston’s quiet strength and Marisol’s gentle wisdom—facing danger while she was absent. Family that had nurtured her, raised her, loved her despite occasional disagreements over clan traditions.

Simultaneously, she felt Rust’s hand tighten around hers. His mother Aurelia, who had maintained the Leonid legacy since his father’s death, now threatened in her own home.

“It’s a calculated move,” Echo said grimly, looking between them. “Boz knows he can’t face you together—you’re too strong as a unit. He’s targeting our families to force you apart.”

The cruel logic hit Kalyna like physical pain. Their fox and lion instincts compelled them to protect territory and family—primal impulses that could override even their newfound bond if pressed hard enough.

The room fell silent as everyone turned toward them, awaiting their decision. Both clan territories needed defending. Both families needed protection. The impossible choice lay between them like a chasm reopening.

The memory of their earlier separation lingered—the physical ache, the sense of wrongness that had grown with each step of distance. Everything they had discovered pointed to a single truth: together, they were stronger than apart. Yet how could either abandon their family in crisis?

Rust drew her slightly away from the others, his expression more vulnerable than she’d ever seen from the usually composed mayor. His golden eyes, still glowing faintly from his partial shift, held hers with unmistakable intensity.

“My lion recognized you as mate from the first moment,” he said quietly, his deep voice pitched for her ears alone. “But the man in me needs you to know—this isn’t just animal instinct. I would choose you in any form, in any life.”

The raw emotion in his voice made Kalyna’s breath catch. This wasn’t the formal mayor or even the protective alpha lion—this was simply Rust, offering his heart with complete transparency.

“My fox and I are in complete agreement where you’re concerned,” she replied, her fingers tightening around his. “Always have been.”

Their hands remained intertwined as they turned back to the anxious group. The impossible choice still loomed, but one thing had become absolutely clear: whatever path they chose, they would walk it together.