Something in my heart eased. “Something tells me you've been controlled by the Sun Witches before, haven't you?”
Jordan nodded silently, getting that same, pained look in his eyes as I'd seen not long ago when I'd questioned him about the Sun Witches. “Many times,” he finally said. “But now your moonstone necklace has broken their hold over me. I'm finally free.”
But I wasn't. Evanora's seductive voice suddenly attacked my mind, telling me to fight, kill, main, destroy. I immediately threw up a mental shield woven of moonlight, blocking her out, though it took almost all my strength to do so. Damn, she was strong. And without my necklace, I was vulnerable to her magic now too.
Somehow I fought her off and stood up straight again, while Jordan remained by my side this time, making sure none of the other wolves got near me. The battle raged on around us, and I quickly stepped to the side as an Aries shifter got past Jordan and nearly rammed into me. All around us, packs who had sworn their alliance were ripping each other apart like it was nothing. This was nothing short of a bloodbath, worse than even the last Convergence. I let out a horrified sound as I watched a Cancer shifter tear into his brother from the same pack. They can even turn shifters of the same pack against each other.
“We have to do something,” I said, turning back to Jordan.
“I have an idea,” he said and shifted back into wolf form before I could ask him what it was. He let loose a massive Leo roar that caused every shifter in the vicinity to cower or flee. It was enough to stop the bloodshed for a few moments, the clearing going almost eerily quiet. How could anyone doubt that he was the Leo alpha after a display like that? I hadn't heard a Leo roar that potent in quite some time. Since Dixon was alive.
Then Jordan let out another roar, different in pitch and tone, and clearly for a different purpose. As if compelled, all of the Leos quickly shifted back to human form and began picking up fellow pack members. One by one, they fled the clearing, taking as many downed shifters as they could.
“What did you do?” I asked.
Jordan shifted back and smiled at me, a ghost of his usual cocky grin. “I used the alpha command to make them all stand down. I wasn't sure if it would work against the Sun Witches' power, but it did. If we can get the other alphas to do the same thing, we'll be able to stop this bloodbath.”
"Smart." But there was one problem. I only had one moonstone necklace, and there were a lot of alphas. "We need to find Larkin."
I hadn't seen her since the battle had started, and I feared she might have fallen in the chaos. But Jordan became a wolf again and raised his nose before barreling through the shifters who continued fighting, including Kaden and Ethan. I hurried after him as quickly as I could and caught sight of Larkin's slim frame in the crowd. She looked over at me wildly before lobbing another beam of magic at a Virgo shifter.
"The Sun Witches are controlling them," I told her, as Jordan took down a Taurus who tried to get in our way.
"No shit," Larkin said, before shooting off more moonlight.
“Celeste gave me a moonstone necklace and it freed Jordan,” I told her. “Is there something we can do for the other alphas so we can free them from the Sun Witches' magic too?”
Larkin grunted and wiped at her brow as she considered. “I might be able to shield a few of the alphas from the Sun Witch magic for a bit and break their control.”
"Do it. Once they're free, they can control the rest of their packs and make this madness stop."
Ethan was the closest to us, still going after Kaden, who looked pained, as if he was trying to hold himself back from hurting his friend. Larkin raised her hands and chanted a few words, while Jordan kept all the other shifters at bay around us. A brilliant burst of moon energy encased Ethan in his wolf form, and his ears twitched. It didn't seem to be enough. I poured my own magic into the spell, copying her words after a few more iterations. The magic seemed to shimmer in the air, unstable against the onslaught of the Sun Witches' immense power, but we kept pushing.
Then Ethan staggered back and shook his head. He shifted back immediately and looked around, horrified.
“What is happening?” He looked at Kaden, the horror deepening on his face. “Why was I attacking you?”
“Use your alpha command to make your pack stop fighting,” Jordan ordered. "Tell them to get out of here, and take as many of the injured with them as they can."
We didn't have time to explain everything, and luckily Ethan seemed to understand that. He didn't question it, just shifted and let out an earsplitting howl. It worked and the Libras all stopped fighting, most of them shifting back to their human forms and looking around confused. Then they left the clearing, many of them carrying other shifters, just as the Leo pack had done.
A low growl sounded behind me, and I turned back to Wesley, who was just now stirring. His eyes snapped open and he snarled. I quickly cast moon magic over him, pouring all of my frustration and urgency into the spell to make it stronger. Larkin joined me a second later, and then Stella and Harper and a few others joined in too, copying the words of the spell as best as they could.
When Wesley's eyes cleared, I rushed forward immediately, wrapping my arms around his neck. He shifted with me still holding onto him, and I almost cried when his arms came up to reciprocate the hug.
“Ayla?” he asked as if he'd been woken from a deep sleep. “What's going on? Why was I trying to kill you?”
“I'll explain later,” I said. “Just use your alpha command to make the Cancer pack stop fighting and flee the area.”
Wesley pulled back and looked around, as if shocked to see his pack fighting, but he did what I asked, and soon the Cancer pack had also fled the battlefield.
But even with three packs gone, it barely made any difference. There were still too many packs fighting and not enough time to reach all of them. The killing continued, brutal and relentless, and I knew it wasn't going to stop unless we did something. But how was Evanora controlling everyone?
The staff, I realized. It must be similar to my moonstone necklace but on a much bigger scale, allowing her to amplify her own magic.
“We don't have enough time to help everyone,” I said. “We need to get that staff.”
Kaden jerked his chin toward where Evanora was standing, watching everything unfold with unbridled glee. "Let's go."
“We'll maintain the shields over Wesley and Ethan, and try to expand it to any more alphas we can reach,” Larkin said, motioning to Stella and Harper. I was suddenly incredibly thankful for all the time we'd spent practicing magic together with Larkin.
"Be careful," I told her, praying we would all see each other again soon. They were all competent fighters, but it didn't matter in the face of this level of brutality. I couldn't focus on them though. I had to trust that they would make it out alive. Right now, my focus needed to be on Evanora, and on getting that staff.
"I'm coming with you," Jordan said. "I will never let them control me again."
I nodded at Jordan and took his hand, then grabbed Kaden's too. The three of us were always linked together somehow, it seemed.
I teleported us right into the middle of the Sun Witches. There was no use fighting our way through the masses, and this would give us the element of surprise. The moment I let go of Kaden and Jordan's hands, I shot a beam of moonlight right at Evanora's chest. I didn't expect it to hit, but it did. It didn't do much more than make her stumble, but it was enough. Kaden leaped forward, hands shifted into claws, and slashed at her arm. Blood welled up, and she dropped her staff with a scream.