*****

Everyone is jittering around, running about aimlessly. The enemy is two weeks early, not that it couldn't be expected if they intended to surprise us. No one would give the exact time and place for an attack beforehand.

'Except you.'

It worked.

'Then what are you talking about ?'

Well, I'm awesome and perfect, no plan of mine can go wrong but these children aren't smart enough.

'Cheeky human.'

Right back at you wolf. You're just pissed because you bet I wouldn't succeed at the time.

'I'm sure you cheated.'

"So what are we doing ?" George, Boston's alpha asks smiling in anticipation.

"Obviously we attack." Isanov declares in a thick Russian accent.

"We should wait." Talia shakes her head in negation while Lincoln simply watches them in silence.

The small group of leaders gathered inside Nate's office as soon as they heard the news. I don't understand why they are all panicking, we'll be fine.

I'm here.

'HA HA HA HA HA ! You're so full of yourself !' My wolf bursts out laughing.

I can't wait for the fight to start, my blood is running sharply in my veins to my muscles and I can't wait to stretch. It's been such a long time since I last saw people fighting like that, centuries. There's a small part of me that still worries about the pups and my friends though. Still I wouldn't mind if Gabe or Cory were to die.

'Harsh.'

But true.

'You know you won't really be able to fight right ?'

What ?

'How am I the voice of reason here ?!'

Voice of stupidity I'd say. Of course I'll fight.

'Then nobody else needs to fight.'

We can't do that.

'Make your decision already woman ! Really, you're unbelievable. When I say 'no' you say 'yes' and when I say 'yes' you go with 'no'.'

Well I can't be the only one fighting because they need to know how to defend themselves. Who knows, I might not be around next time. But I'll help if I can, I won't stay on the sidelines.'

'You'll watch over them then ?'

Something like that.

'I feel like you're cheating, it's weird.' I can almost see the frown on its face.

It's weird because this time we're up against the Sun.

'No we're not.' My wolf denies. 'These people have nothing to do with him and his ambitions.'

"Willow, do you see anything ?" Talia inquires to her oracle.

"No." She frowns. "Everything is still uncertain. It's as if they still haven't made their decision yet."

'Useless 'til the end.' My wolf sighs.

We don't need her help.

"As we agreed, the pups and non-fighters will stay hidden inside and if anything goes wrong the Yetis will bring them to safety using the hidden passageways under the pack house, it will lead them a few miles north of here." Nate reminds us all.

"We'll leave a few fighters too." Daiki agrees.

"The unicorns are ready for the front lines with Noriko's team and Marie will stay just behind to strengthen the ranks, as will Ellie." Jared recaps.

"Rob and I are guarding the front of the house, we won't let anyone inside." Ben smirks brightly.

"Ridiculous, I won't let anyone past me anyway." Marie rolls her eyes.

"Perfect, little fish." The vampire ruffles her hair. "Less work for me."

"Do you want to die ?" She asks deadly glaring at him.

"I want you all to be careful and protect each other. We are not enemies anymore, your lives matter to this pack and I hope ours matter to you. We will fight with you, to protect everyone because we are fighting for the world as we know it, with every clan in it. With this coalition we started a change and I want you to be here to see what it'll bring in the future too." Nate declares solemnly.

I hear Ellie whistles besides me, impressed by his speech.

"I helped him with it." I smile smugly, shrugging in the process.

"Smartass." She smiles. "Are you ready ?" She inquires then.

"Are you ?" I shot the question back at her.

"Of course." She scoffs. "I was born for this."

"Good. Because I won't have the time to babysit." I tell her sternly and she hits me on the back of the head.

Did she just...

"Right back at you." She says before following George outside.

Little by little everyone leaves the room and it feels less and less crowded.

"A word." Nate demands of me when I am about to leave too.

Jared looks back at me in warning and I roll my eyes at him before he disappears as Nate shuts the door of his office.

"What is it ?" I demand quickly my body buzzing with energy.

I really can't wait for the fight to start. Nate observes me calmly.

"I want you to stay with the pups." He declares.

'Oh boy.'

"What ?" I ask astonished he even suggested it.

"I know you'll keep them safe." He tells me.

"Have you lost your mind ?" I question feeling really concerned now.

He stays silent for a few minutes taking in my glares.

"I need you to be safe." He admits and I roll my eyes.

"Are you for real ?"

"I can't protect my pack if the only thing I think about is if you're alright or not."

"Sweet." I nod. "But unnecessary."

"You. Are. Staying. With. The. Pups." He insists on each word.

"No." I refuse.

"Hope !" He sighs exasperated.

"Trust me I won't get hurt. And there's no way I'm staying behind. End of discussion."

"Why are you always so stubborn ?" He grumbles frustrated.

Why are you ?" I ask back.

"I need you to stay inside." He tries again.

"And I need you to stop trying to control me."

"I can't lose you." He declares his eyes a deep green and for a second I lose myself in them.

"You won't." I shake myself off. "I'm stronger than anyone."

"Weren't you the one who said there is always someone stronger out there ? He rolls his eyes.

"That someone is me." I assure him confidently and he grumbles frowning.

'High five !' My wolf laughs in my head.

In a swift movement he gathers me in his arms, his hold around my frame tight as he leans into my neck and inhales deeply.

"At the first sign of danger you get to safety." He orders and I don't answer since I don't intend to listen anyway.

"I'll be fine." I tell him marveling in the comfort of his embrace.

Too soon we move away from each other and with a frown on his face -he still wants me to stay inside safely- he exits the room. I find Jared and his fighters, all half naked wearing only shorts and readying themselves for combat. They are looking around them, walking back and forth, the tension in their shoulders apparent.

"Sorry I'm late." I apologize but they don't acknowledge my presence too focused on the battle to come. "Oh. I didn't know there was a dress code." I feign to be surprised, starting to lift my shirt.

"What are you doing ?!" Jared sputters with wide eyes starting to cover his eyes and trying to push my shirt back down at the same time.

A few of the men chuckle, the tension seeming to decrease.

"Now that's better." I smirk at the beta and he rolls his eyes. "You're ready." I state to all of them. "You trained, learned from your mistakes, learned new skills. Your bodies know them by heart, they are embedded in your souls. And because today is about protecting your pack, about protecting your family you will succeed. You will give everything today. This fight is yours. They don't know what they are up against. You are strong beasts who would give their lives to saves the people inside this house and the ones fighting alongside you, you are the warriors of the Moon. They will be unorganized, fighting for themselves, they might be cunning but they are weak. Strength is in numbers and you are all here to help each other. That's why you will win." I end my long tirade.

They all look at me, their muscles showing under their skin, their eyes shining of gold with pride, their chest puffing, confidence filling their veins.

We turn to the end of the clearing where there is still nothing to see but we can hear the army marching towards us, hidden behind the thick line of trees, the small branches on the ground cracking under the feet of the enemy. Noriko and the other kitsune are on the first row, their hands covered by threads of electricity, at the ready, the unicorns a foot behind them. Marie is giving her last instructions, tightening the ranks of her troops. Ralph is holding his favorite heavy mace, and further away, Rob and Ben with at least a dozen other vampires are surrounding the pack house, preventing anyone unwanted from getting inside. Ogon comes stand on Jared's shoulder proudly and the man quickly pats its head.

I look around and find Leila with a team of medics in the back of the gathering, ready to intervene at any moment. I know she can fight but we all agreed that her medical knowledge would be more useful to this fight. Her eyes shine of their own electric blue as her gaze meets mine, a worried frown marring her features. I wink at her, earning a scoff.

The sounds of steps getting closer and as I look at the edge of the trees again I see the rogues army. There are werewolves and vampires but also a few goblins and even two or three grizzlies. Right in the middle stands an armored fighter dressed in a golden suit, his face hidden from view and a blade in his hand.

'Pompous'

I don't recognize him.

'And after today they will all forget he ever existed.'

We all wait in thick silence, each of us waiting for the other to make the first move. Suddenly the golden armor lifts his sword in front of him and his fighters break loose, running towards us, shouting. They start to shift into their imposing wolf forms. Our front line doesn't react, Noriko is motionless as they approach. They wait. Wait. Wait.

The enemy is almost on them when she finally shoots her first strands of electricity, hitting three wolves and two vampires at the same time. The others imitate her and soon the first rows of attacks are lying on the ground, stunned, volts coursing through their bodies as they convulse on their backs. The others eye the kitsune worried, trying to find a breach to get past them. They carefully avoid the next waves of power, staying out of reach. The grizzlies quickly lose patience and rush straight ahead without pose, their thick skin immune to the attacks. They break our first ranks, scattering our fighters and the real fight begins.

Marie runs ahead to face a particularly tall and massive grizzly, unfazed by its stature hovering over her, she jumps mid-air and lands a fast and powerful kick in its chest making him recoil a few meters. Its growl shakes the ground underneath our feet as it pounces on her, reaching with its sharp claws for her head, swinging its muscular arms around as she doges all its attacks swiftly. She kicks at its furry legs and the beast comes crashing down on the ground. She is about to hit it on the neck when a second grizzly lunges at her. From nowhere, Ralph's mace comes mashing down on its skull and the brown bear falls next to its peer. The little man retrieves his weapon and runs away to his next opponent.

A wolf barrels at me, its entire body hitting me like a wall. Still I don't move from where I stand, unaffected, my feet deep in the ground. The wolf is more affected by the impact than me and shakes its head to push the dizziness away as it faces me again. I lift one finger to tell it to come closer and it barks at me in response, its paws pushing at the soil of the ground to propel itself in my direction. I move aside as its teeth clack in the air, missing me, I send my elbow in its flank making it step away again and aggravated by the situation it tries to attack me again. I bring my knee to its stomach and hear it breathe with difficulty. It sweeps its paw at my hip and as I avoid it I twist to hit it in the flank with a flat hand, cutting through the flesh and puncturing one of its lungs, drawing blood. It turns its head to bite my arm off but I use my speed to encircle his abdomen with both my arms and tighten my grip around it until I hear its spine snap.

A cheetah throws itself at one of the wolves under the orders of the shaman while a lion fights against a vampire, claws and teeth out, aiming for her flesh, roaring at the woman who tries to defend herself as best as she can. She bites at his mane and scratches at his flank when a second beast sinks its teeth on her leg and she cries out in pain, the first one uses the opportunity to bite at her throat and she lays motionless.

On the left Ellie fights one werewolf after another, the beasts of light brown colors unmatched to her human form. She snakes her hands around one's shoulders as it tries to tear at her chest and in a quick pull breaks its neck, letting it drop in the grass. Her alpha is in his faded gray wolf form behind her, protecting her back. She rams into a vampire next and as fast as before, she plunges her hand trough his chest, reaching for his heart. The man bears his fangs at her before flinching and closing his eyes, dead.

With their fast pace, four masked vampires successfully cross our ranks. I'm about to go stop them when I see Ben and Rob cutting their path. Rob punches at the first one he comes across and the mask falls in the process, revealing a young man with blond hair, the two brothers seem to recognize him and watch the other fighters with frowns etched on their faces. They know them, which means they will hesitate to fight against them.

'Give them a chance.' My wolf whispers in my ear.

Ben angrily glares at the four traitors and lifts his foot to hit one on the waist while a second one aims for his face. He ducks under the man's arm and sidesteps the both of them before pulling at the shortest of the both and pushing him towards his peer. They lose balance and need a few seconds to get back on their feet. Ben doesn't give them the time before he tears out their beating hearts out of their chests.

He steps away without a second glance and goes join Rob still fighting the remaining two rogue warriors. They dance around in a well-known routine, protecting each other's back and countering the multiple attacks. They jump and bend out of harm's way, blocking the hits directed at them, sending their owns. Rob grabs the blond man and snakes his arm over his neck, cutting his air way, suffocating him, the vampire trashing in his hold to get away. His eyes close as he loses consciousness his limp body against Rob. He doesn't hesitate to decapitate him and focuses on the last vampire currently fighting against Ben.

This one is stronger than the others and Ben seems to have some difficulties against him, his breath now uneven as he clenches at his side where the masked person hit him. They struggle, each of them gripping at the other and Ben pulls the mask away from their opponent, exposing a tall red-headed woman with icy blue eyes. I recognize her immediately, I met her before when I traveled with Leila. She's Ben's mate. The shock is evident on his features. Rob steps in front of him, facing the women with hatred plastered in his cold eyes.

I'm distracted by a black frame jumping in my peripheral vision as a wolf comes crashing down onto another dark brown one. Its moves are animalistic and deadly, aiming for the kill. I could recognize Isanov's fighting style anywhere. Cunning and powerful, ruthless. He fights dirty so that he can win, using his human mind and wolf strength in parfait harmony. The black wolf is helped by an imposing dark gray wolf, his second in command Nikolai. They both bite at the beast on the ground until it's dead.

A grizzly comes at me, plunging its massive paw into my chest and as its claws grip at my lungs I smile at him, slowly bringing my hand over its arm, putting pressure and breaking its bones. Lazily I pull it out as the wound closes instantly. The beast roars and pulls at its arm to break away but my hold makes it impossible. I don't have the time to reciprocate the gesture before Nate shoves the beast away from me and kills it instantly. I frown. Why does he need to intervene on my fights. Didn't he see me handling it just now ?

"You're welcome." He glares and I purposefully roll my eyes.

"I don't need your help." I tell him.

"I can see that. That's probably why your shirt is bloodied and torn apart." He bites through clenched teeth.

I lift the bottom of the tissue to show him my stomach, as good as new and intact.

"See," I insist. "nothing. So will you please stop worrying so much ?"

His warm fingers brush against my skin in wonder tracing the place where the grizzly's claw was before.

"Alright." He nods frowning and walking away.

A flash on my left and Leila rushes to aid the wounded on our side. She gives some of her blood to a vampire with a bleeding leg before running to a mereman who was thrown onto a tree. After assessing that he's going to be alright she moves on to Ralph who is sporting a gash on his forehead. He grimaces when she applies pressure to it and starts to roll his eyes when she scolds him. The man is already covered in scars, I doubt he would mind another one being added to the list. Nonetheless, the were-coyote prohibits him from moving until she has the bleeding under control. Then she reaches a unicorn, laying on its side, one leg missing and its horn bloodied. The beast lost to much blood for her to help but she stays with it until it exhales its last breath.

Noriko and Daiki are now embarked on one-on-one combats against a goblin and a vampire. Their entire bodies buzzing with electricity as they counteract both of them. The power surges serving as shields around them. The goblin is viciously scratching at Daiki's legs, his long green fangs biting at the air in hope to find a limb to pierce through and poison, his deep purple eyes maliciously observing the fox. The vampire is jerking away from Noriko every time she sends electricity to his veins. Hitting him with accuracy all over his body. Daiki slows down on purpose and as soon the goblin sinks his disgusting teeth into his thigh the fighter brings his hands around his head, blue threads crossing the distance between his fingers, frying the fiend's brain. Noriko uses the same kind of technique, her white threads rushing on her skin forming a ball of current that she throws on the vampire's chest, burning down his heart to ashes.

A ball of fire hits the ground further on my right as Ogon cuts through the air while Jared fights the coming enemies with bare hands. His sharp moves are lethal against the rogues, going straight for their vital points, crushing their hearts, snapping their necks, clawing their legs. His shining eyes show the beast inside of him taking control of the fight.