“You will still die today.” Due’s voice was icy, his blood a steady drumbeat as it dripped onto the ground while he continued to stare at the other man, merely waiting for the last flicker of the shield to die away. Alarick released me, shifted into his wolf, and stepped forward, his howl echoing across the field.
“I won’t die alone,” he cackled madly as the shield fell away, and Alarick pounced, the man dying with a squawk of horrid glee.
A shrill scream had me whirling, a cry lodged in my throat. Shannon was bleeding heavily. A chunk of her arm was torn away by the wolf who had attempted to grab Luna from her. “No!” I shouted, as the wolf lunged again. I was too far away to stop it, even as I pushed myself forward, and Rhiannon—still under the power of my command—jumped between the assassin and the pup. The red wolf’s jaws closed on her throat, blood soaking Luna’s golden hair and spraying her face in a macabre display. I slid across the grass, tumbling forward to press one hand against Shannon, and forced my power forward to stop the bleeding. I thrust the red wolf away with the other as howls and snarls began around us once more.
“No more!” Luna screamed, her face turning to the sky. Her eyes were blind, silver eviscerating them completely. Her hair spiraled in golden ringlets as it blew in a nonexistent wind. “No more!” The words were a shriek that had all the wolves howling in pain and cowering to the ground as the little girl lifted to hover in the air.
Bodies collided into me as Zev, Ian, Chann, and Alarick rushed me, their heads tilting with mine as we watched the small figure rise above us with power pulsing from her in waves.
“Anyone got any ideas?” I asked, continuing to heal Shannon as I looked up warily at the glowing little girl now a solid ten feet above my head.
Pray? Zev offered weakly, his wolf’s eyes as nervous as my own.
Light washed through the clearing, forcing the blood into the ground, and I swallowed hard. “Luna?” I called. Her head tilted, her fathomless eyes of solid silver landing on me. “Pup, I know this is hard, but I need you to stop now.”
“No more,” Luna repeated, the words echoing strangely as she continued to bathe in the light she had created. The wolves shrank underneath her, some staring, others whimpering, as she hovered weightlessly above us.
“I know, no more,” I repeated, “but that means we need to go home.”
You could try command? Chann suggested nervously, and Luna’s head whipped to him. Nope, I was wrong!
Yeah, somehow I don’t think that’s the right answer here. Alarick’s tone was dry.
“They’re bad. They have to be punished,” she declared, her eyes glowing brighter as she glared across the field.
“I know you’re scared, pup,” I began, trying again. “I’m scared too. I’m sure a lot of these wolves are scared.” She looked around the clearing, her head tilted to the side as if she was listening. “Don’t you think they just want to go home also? Back to their pack? To their pups?”
A baby growl worked its way up from her throat, though her lips didn’t move. “No more,” she repeated.
“Luna.” I firmed my voice, forcing her to look at me. “No more what, pup?”
“No more hate!” Tears built in her eyes, falling like drops of moonlight to soak the ground below her. My wolf howled her pain, needing to comfort the pup, frantic that she was out of our reach.
“Then you can’t hate them,” I told her gently.
“Well said, Penelope Miller.” I recognized the ringing voice, and my eyes narrowed as I focused. Luna’s lips hadn’t moved, had they? “Come now, little one. You’re worrying your pack.” First a shimmer, almost a mirage, and then a woman was suddenly holding Luna’s hand. She was tall and slender, her skin almost translucent, and her hair was done in a series of braids, the strands in varying shades of blonde. Her eyes were silver, her dress a swirl of silver and gold. She held Luna’s hand in hers, seemingly unbothered by the fact that they were still midair. A shadow appeared on Luna’s other side, a silhouette in the gloom, and then a man emerged, gently taking her other hand. Like Selene, he was tall. His skin was deeply tanned against the jet black of his hair, and his eyes were as dark as the night behind him. His clothing was as shadowy as the rest of him, a direct contrast to Selene’s brilliance.
Selene and Faron. The names echoed through our link, possibly said by all of us, or maybe just felt by us.
“You did what I asked of you, Pixie,” Selene said, her voice echoing down to us as she smiled. “You kept her safe while she came into her power. It has been many centuries since I have been able to bring my beloved to this earth, although this was not what I hoped to see when I did.” Her eyes were sad as she looked across the field at the blood and bodies that were littered about. She met her mate’s eyes and, as one, the pair lifted their free hands. The deceased wolves melted into the earth as though they hadn’t been there moments before. “And so they return to start the cycle again,” she murmured.
“What’s going to happen to Luna?” I questioned, my wolf howling, desperate for the pup. Selene’s smile was soft.
“We are not taking her from you, Beta, do not fear,” she assured me. “Luna’s place is here with you.” I sighed in relief, a sound I felt echoed down our bond. Luna was pack, and she was mine.
“There are bad ones left,” Luna told Selene, her eyes still glowing silver.
“There are,” Selene agreed with a regal nod. “You are not yet strong enough to deal with them all, little one, nor am I strong enough in this form to remove them all either.”
“We’ll keep her safe,” I promised, pushing to my feet, helping to balance Shannon. “She’s our pack.”
Luna tilted her head. “They need to learn not to hate, to know what pack is.” Her hair whipped behind as, and one by one, certain wolves began to glow. They gradually became brighter and brighter, enough to burn the eyes. They whimpered and howled before her power released them, and then they sagged to the ground. Selene and Faron caught Luna between them when her eyes slipped closed, and Selene lifted the pup into her arms.
“Rest, little goddess,” Selene murmured, stroking Luna’s head. “You have done well.”
I shifted when movement caught my eye and saw Alpha Due—the only other werewolf besides Shannon and me still in human form—kneel. “Goddess, may I ask what the pup just did? One of those wolves was mine.”
“She stripped them of the gift I granted so many centuries ago,” Selene told him. “They are simply wolves now, no more, no less. No complex thoughts, no memories, no ability to hate—just a chance to start again with each other, as a pack of their own.” She shook her head sadly, turning her eyes up to her mate.
“The pup is strong, but she is still a pup. She searched their hearts for hatred, for those who would come for her and those she loves, those who could not change,” Faron explained, his voice a deep rumble. “But she could only touch those who are here within the confines of this field. There are more who are a threat, more who will search her out in time. They will hide for now, wait and watch as they lick their wounds and assess the threat now that they have seen what it means to face a goddess, but in time they will not be able to hide their hatred.” His opaque eyes met mine, a warning clear in their swirling depths.