The thundering footsteps grew closer and the pack bristled with anticipation. Sean's group moved up to our flank as we waited if Phoenix's order. My hackles were raised in expectation of what was to come.

The enemy suddenly began to slow their pace until they were walking a mere hundred yards away. The greasy spitball of a leader was in the front, the man who tried to touch me to his right. Cel growled in anticipation wanting nothing more than to tear his throat out.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Spitball spat.

Growls sounded from both sides as Phoenix took a step closer. Spit ball's fingers clenched around a gun in his holster and my nose twitched in distaste.

"We are here with the understanding you are taking and harming wolves," Phoenix spoke, his tone firm.

Spitball shuffled and scoffed. "And you being a tiny army to what? Prove that your thoughts are true?"

Phoenix tensed. "No, I have proof. I know you are."

He rolled his eyes. "What, did your old witch friend tell you that? You can't trust a witch, the only thing they're good for is spells and that's when you beat them into submission."

I found myself growling in anger. This man was so disrespectful, I could practically taste the lies that left his lips. His eyes turned to me and studied me harshly. His body turned to look at someone on his right, their facial expressions told me they were speaking through a mind link.

"Witch. Come here."

Raven jumped but made her way to his side. I could see her sweating a little, her body curling in on itself as he raised his hand to grab her arm.

"Is that what I think it is?" He spat, jostling her to point at me.

"W-what?" She gasped.

He growled. "I thought you said the Hala family were all wiped out!"

She shrieked at his grip on her arm, shaking her head. "I did not know there were survivors!"

He threw her to the floor in anger and she cried in pain when her arms hit the floor. Gaia staggered forwards, her motherly instincts overpowering her sense of danger. I took a step forwards and let out a sharp growl, finding Pollux doing the same.

"Two! How could you misplace two? We wanted that bloodline wiped out! You know the prophecies !" He snarled, kicking her shin.

She wailed but his anger was overpowering him and his eyes darkened to those of a predator.

"Who is we?" Phoenix growled.

Spitball laughed mockingly. "No way I'm telling you. You better get out here before we kill you."

Many of us growled, our claws digging into the solid ground. The enemy shuffled on their feet, glancing between us and their leader. The moon cast a bright glow that crept through the trees, lighting our path to them almost ironically.

"We are not leaving. You stand down or we will take you down." Phoenix grumbled.

Spitball laughed, his friends joining in. "How about this? You hand the Lycans over so we can let them die for the cause and you can walk away with your dignity while you can."

Pollux growled ferociously before shifting into his human form. "You dare speak to us like that mutt?"

I grumbled on the sidelines, my tail swishing slowly in agreement.

Spitball grimaced, glancing over Pollux's slim build. "You can barely hold your weight. You are nothing compared to my group."

I found myself itching to step forwards or to pace. I had too much energy and, too much adrenaline that it was making my brain feel...itchy.

"You have no idea what you are dealing with. We can easily overpower you and destroy the very ground you walk on." Pollux snapped.

Spitball smirked and glanced at me. "You... and the female?"

Phoenix growled, his hands clenching into fists. "You do not look at her."

The tension was rising, our pack growling in our defence. I felt Sean come up beside me in his human form, Leo coming to his right side. His large wolf growled, eyes set on the enemy before us.

"Oh please, are we all defending her now? You realise what one bit of her blood can do?" He laughed.

Phoenix took a step in front of me, the hairs on his arms beginning to change to fur. "You will not touch her."

"Phoenix..." Sean mumbled, and he turned to have a silent mind-link conversation.

Spit ball's smirk rose into a grin. "Ah, so you're the famous Alpha Phoenix Titan. I do say, I have heard about your pack members going missing."

"Heard? You took them, you bastard. Like every woman you have hiding in there." Phoenix retorted.

Spitball shrugged, not denying his accusations. "So what if I did... what if I took three of them, and one of them happens to be buried six feet down."

At the realisation, I began to snarl. If he had so much hurt the twins I will break his neck.

'I'll help.' Cel growled.

I began to slowly creep forwards but Phoenix held me back. With unkept anger I shifted to my human form, the magical shiver rolling over my body. I was thankful Phoenix darted to cover me, his larger form shielding my nudity. But I didn't care, I was going to give them a piece of my mind.

"If you so much have hurt them I am going to rip your damn throat out." I snarled, stepping sideways.

Spit ball's eyes widened and he turned to his right-hand man. "I thought you said she was dead!"

Mr Rapist swallowed, his eyes darting around. "Uh, she... survived?"

"So you didn't have your way and kill her as we planned?" He snapped.

He shook his head and spitball snared before throwing a punch at his head. He fell to the ground with a shout, his head smashing against the rough terrain. Deserved it.

Spitball laughed manically, his hand twitching over his gun. "You said you were an omega."

I shrugged, my eyes shifting as Cel came forwards. "I lied. I ran away from here and back to my pack, and we're here to destroy you. You are barbaric and do not deserve to breathe whilst you torture innocent women, cage them like animals."

He smirked, his eyes tracing my features. I stood strong, my hand wrapping around Phoenix's bicep as he snarled at the man. I knew he didn't like me naked in front of them but I was too consumed with anger to even think about it.

"You will have your peace." He smirked.

Before I could even think I was suddenly thrown backwards. The sound of a gunshot tore through the air and snarls of wolves filled the silence that followed. I hit the floor with a thud, my side taking the impact.

My head swam as I tried to regain my bearings and I sat up to find chaos. Wolves charged from both sides, blurs of colours colliding. Spitball had turned and ran, his right-hand men following behind to let the others fight it out. Cowards. They were cowardly running away and resorting to weapons as a defence.

I ignored the throbbing of my head to look around, only to find my heart stop dead as I saw what was in front of me. My heart thrummed erratically, my ears ringing with the shock of the bullet soaring through the air.

I shakily stood to my feet and ran my way over to where he stays sitting on his knees. Imani was already there in her human form, her hands fretting over the gushing blood. She was shouting things but I couldn't make her out. All I heard was the buzzing of white noise.

I collapsed to his side, my hands raking over his chest. Blood was seeping out of his right shoulder, and the smell of wolfsbane and silver seeped through my nose. The bullet was poisoned and set deep into his muscle. The easy way to kill a werewolf; poison them to kill their wolf half and the human will follow.

"Nova..." His voice travelled through the ringing in my ears.

"Phoenix." I cried. "Wha-we-hold on okay, just-just hold on."

His hazel eyes darkened and he fell onto his butt, his right arm unable to hold itself. Imani was rooting through her bag, searching through papers and bags.

"We need to get that bullet out. It's poisoned and it's right in his lung. We won't have long before it shuts down his system. He won't heal with it in his veins." She shouted through the chaos.

I felt tears form in my eyes at the terrifying thought. My hands covered his chest, coated in his blood. She handed me a bottle of some kind of liquid and told me to pour it over the wound.

"I have no choice but to go in blind." She stated.

I meekly nodded and helped prepare the gun wound. His eyes were hazing over and his breaths were coming out in ragged gasps.

My heart pounded, the thought of losing him was too great. My hands shook as I helped, no help in trying to calm myself down. I glanced up to see Sean fighting off the wolves that came our way, his grey fur tinged with blood. The rest of our pack had charged to defeat the group that remained.

I turned back to Phoenix, keeping my attention on his face. He was going pale as he fell onto his back. The longer that bullet poisoned his system the worse he would get.

"Phoenix." I breathed, and he lazily blinked at me. "R-Remember when we would go to the hill... and watch the sun go down. How-how it changed colours slowly before disappearing beyond the hills. I-I always liked those moments, sitting there with you. I-I don't want there to be any more, Phoenix... stay with me Phoenix. Please."

He let out a faint chuckle, his hand coming to cover my bloodied one. "I will forever search for you beyond the horizon Nova."

He suddenly winced, his eyes squeezing shut as a harsh gasp left his lips.

"I got it! I got it." Imani shrieked.

I turned to her as she pulled the bullet from his skin and threw it into a clear bag. She began to dowse his wound, linking up an IV bag of my blood to his arm. I fretted over him, his face going blank with pain.

"I-I don't know if this will work quickly enough." She muttered, moving to peer into his wound. "He should be healing but he's not."

I sniffed back the tears and glanced down at his face. I brushed the hair from his eyes and studied him. He was still pale and vacant, his mouth a firm line of pain.

I felt a sob in my chest as we sat there for a moment, nothing changing or improving. Why wasn't he healing? He couldn't die, I wouldn't let him.

A sudden warmth grew on the side of my face and I turned in surprise to see the remaining enemy had thrown a match to a large canister of fuel. With the border still open, the fire consumed the trees, seeking out any life it could as it grew.

I looked around for Raven or Gaia but came up short; they had vanished in all the chaos. I saw my brothers fighting, even Pollux taking down wolves as the area filled with blood and flames.

We needed to move him. He couldn't lay here. He needed to heal, he needed to live.

Imani's voice shook as she spoke, "I'll have to try to stitch him up and we need to move him. But the poison-"

"No." I breathed which caused her to glance at me. "I know what to do."

'It's not worth the risk Nova.' Cel muttered.

It is. He is worth the risk. I breathed. I was meant to be shot not him. He's our mate and he saved my life. He's .

"Phoenix, can you hear me?" I cupped his jaw.

He lazily blinked at me, his grimace turning to a small smile as his hazel eyes met mine.

"Ares, I need you," I demanded.

His eyes struggled for a moment, Ares was weak as he tried to come to the surface. It took a moment but eventually, his eyes darkened to that of his wolf. Ares blinked up at me, the ever-dark iris' a haunting warmth.

I brought Cel to the front, meeting him halfway as we gazed at him. My claws extended, my canines protruding from my gums as they shifted. I leaned over him my breath heavy in his ear.

"Mark me."

Ares grumbled, a short wince filling his features. "Mate-"

"You need my blood, you need my strength. Do it now Ares. I can't lose you."

His eyes saddened and briefly flickered to Phoenix. He didn't move any further so I took the initiative myself and grazed my teeth along his collar bone.

His good arm darted up to grab my bicep and a short gasp left his mouth when my lips found his skin.

"Nova..."

No, he needed to heal. He needed this.

Without another thought, I sank my teeth into his flesh. He let out a sharp gasp as my canines embedded themselves into his skin. My mouth filled with his blood as I held them there, pushing them further into him.

Warmth and pleasure raked through my body and I shuddered as the mate bond grew. I felt his mind encase mine; the one-sided bond working in my favour.

He growled at the intrusion, my mind intruding on his. He shuddered beneath me, his heart pounding in his chest. I felt that the electrics of the mate bond were faint with his slipping life force, and I felt my tears drip down my face onto his neck.

His hand loosened on my arm and before I knew it, his teeth sank into my neck. I gasped at the sensation, his larger jaw tearing into my skin. Heat surrounded it, the agony of being ripped open on such a sensitive part was sending my body into haywire.

My jaw left his with a gasp and I felt myself collapse slightly as the nerve-wracking pleasure overcame me. My mind was full, my whole body shooting with electrics as his teeth on my skin turned into a pleasurable hum. My hand tightened in the grass, tearing at it with my claws. My other clutched at his good arm, both of us not letting go of each other.

I felt my blood fill his mouth, the warmth of his lips pressing against me. He pulled away reluctantly, his tongue licking at the wound he left behind. My head swam and I found myself collapsing onto my elbows and my breaths came out in short gasps.

My vision blurred and I willed myself to stay conscious. I was overwhelmed and unsure of my body's axis. I hoped it had worked. I hoped he lived, I hoped he survived. My strength was his, his strength and weakness were mine.

My chest ached, my heart thrumming loudly. I turned my blurry vision to the side, seeing Imani sitting with wide eyes as she glanced between the two of us.

"Is-he-" I gasped.

She clenched her jaw and looked down at him. I waited for what felt like forever as she scanned him. Her mouth formed into a line, and her eyes brimmed with tears.

"Is-he?" I cried.

She shook her head, wiping the tears from her cheeks and I awaited her answer. My ears rang with pressure, my brain trying to force me to shut down. I couldn't breathe, couldn't feel my own limbs as I stared at her. I held on. I held on to the hope he was okay.

•••

Weeeeew lovey cliffhanger for you guys today haha

I forgot to do this last time!!

What have you been up to this summer? ☀️

England has only been off for just over a week now, so I'm curious what people have been up to! Other than Wattpad of course hehe

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