Freja smiled up at him lovingly. “I love you, my mate … my alpha.” This was the first time she’d ever referred to Hunter as her alpha. A sign showing she had fully accepted being his luna. She reached up on her tiptoes, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him.
He held her possessively and growled into her lips, his wolf accepting her acknowledgement. Their kiss was raw and passionate, a sense of urgency in it. He pulled apart and panted into her lips. “When this is over, my queen … when this is all over …”
He didn’t need to say it. She understood exactly what he meant. And when this was all over, she also had something important to tell him. Something that was going to change their lives forever. She was excited and nervous, and couldn’t wait to see his reaction. Damn wolf … he did make sure he spread his seed before the war. She’d warned him, though, that even if she was pregnant, she would stay by his side to fight. She would make sure she protected her mate. And even though it wasn’t ideal, she was glad to have the proof of their love growing inside her.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
Darkness approached in the distance very slowly, as if a shadow had been cast on the earth. They moved with slow aggression, an air of confidence about them. The demons seemed to almost mock the army in front of them as they approached. They had no fear, for they had a lord of darkness with them. Even in the distance, behind the demon swarm, his presence towered above them—a huge beast at the rear of the demon army, with large brown wings that were spread out to further intimidate the armies gathering against him. His ancient evil was one they could all feel in their bones. It was a presence that could not go unnoticed.
Lee looked at his opponent and shifted into his colossal blue dragon. He glared defiantly at Mephisto, ignoring the approaching army. It was like no one else existed but the original demon. That is, until a soft hand stroked his leg. He tilted his head to see Reiya looking off in the distance as well. He had expected her to tremble, or to see fear in her eyes. Who wouldn’t? But she looked up at him and smiled, playfully shoving him a bit.
“That isn’t who all the fuss is about, right?” Reiya teased during this serious moment, lightening his heart and thosearound him. “If you lose to something like that, you really don’t deserve to be my mate anyway.” She winked at him.
“You’re exactly right, my love. Which is why I won’t be losing … so I can come back and claim my prize,” the blue dragon replied, teasing her back.
“Good. You do just that.” Reiya wrapped her arms around Lee’s leg and kissed his side. “I love you.” She knew this was her very last moment with him. She made sure to leave him with a smile and remind him of her love, even if it was just for a moment.
“Be safe, my sweet fairy.”
Reiya backed away from her blue dragon and walked up to Xander, already in his dragon form. He lowered himself, and she climbed up on his back. She took this moment to look over the might of the demon horde.
“Wait a minute, what are those? Don’t tell me they’re—” Reiya breathed out as Xander let out a low growl, interrupting her.
“Dragons. Rogue dragons, and a lot of them.” Xander watched as dozens upon dozens of people were shifting to their dragon forms near the rear of the army. His eyes darted over to Lila. His mate would be fighting against rogue dragons. He wanted to be by her side too, but Reiya and his powers only worked when they were close together. Reiya and Xander would have to fight away from their mates, something that went against their very nature.
“I can’t believe there are so many of them,” Reiya breathed out.
“They’re dragons who don’t want to be beholden to a king.” Xander scoffed loudly with a throaty dragon noise. “I guess they would rather be beholden to demons.” He slammed his tail down angrily at the treacherous dragons.
Hunter turned around and faced the werewolves. “We know the enemy is strong. But so are we. Some of us are not going to be making the trip back home. We already understand this. But we are the last line of defense. We are the ones who are standing between the demons and our homes … our packs that are depending on us to be victorious. It is our responsibility to secure a future for the werewolves. And it is my honor as your king to lead you into battle today. They have the numbers, but we have the strength. Today we will not have to worry about not being able to fill our bloodlust. There are plenty of enemies to slaughter. One day … one day the time for werewolves may come to an end, but it will not be today. It will not be this battle. This battle ends with us as the victors. The demons have come for our future …” Hunter turned and faced the demons. “Well then, let them come and claim it!” He shifted into his massive silver wolf and let out a powerful howl. The wolves answered their king’s call, sending a chilling yell in the air.
Freja walked up to his side and ran her fingers through his warm, soft fur as they stared at the demons. In this briefest of moments, she felt a strange calmness wash over her. Even in this moment, there was nowhere else she would rather be. Loud, angry roars ripped through the demons in a rippling chorus. She raised her head and looked out at their destiny.
“Where in the hell did they get that many hellhounds?” Chasen asked, walking up to Freja’s side.
Freja chuckled. “Hell, would be the key word there. Looks like they’ve taken most of their guardians from the volcanic deep.”
“Guess I’ll really be putting my strength to the test today,” Chasen said, allowing his bear form to take over. He let out a loud roar, which was echoed by two other guardians in the distance—Grayson and Brody.
That was a pretty good speech. I couldn’t have done better than that. Our son even has me all pumped up,Asher linked to Lita. Bo and Mira stood side by side in front of the fairies. Grayson’s bear was at their side.
Ready to fight another hellhound?Bo wagged his tail as he looked up at Grayson.
Can’t have your cubs calling me an old man. Time to show them that we’re better, not just older.
There are a lot of witch doctors out there. The demons have come very magically prepared. Let’s hope Reed’s group can handle them.Mira raked her paws through the dirt as she prepared herself for the fight. It had been a while, and she was relishing the opportunity to show what she could do once again.
The demons suddenly halted. They started banging their weapons against their shields or stomping their feet to intimidate the army in front of them. It was as if the gates of hell had opened up and all of their minions had gathered here. There wasn’t an evil creature missing. There were servants of hell everywhere: large and powerful onis, witch doctors, goblins, imps, ogres, trolls, dragons, wolves, wraiths, hellhounds, and various other demons. An impressive army of monsters were facing off against the defenders of Elysia.
Mephisto looked at Leoric and nodded his head. “The red dragon is the other Gemini twin. Make sure he and the fairy survive. The rest … annihilate them.”
Leoric nodded his head and made his way to the front of the army. He looked out in the distance at their adversaries. It would be a tough battle, but once Leviathan was taken care of, victory would be theirs.
“Leave the big red dragon and his rider alive. Those are your only stipulations. Kill the rest freely.” He then turned toward the demons and sneered. “To death or victory, but no matter what, it ends here.”
The demons bellowed loudly and began grunting chants. They pounded their weapons and stomped their feet. The earth trembled around them and toward the opposing army. Leoric looked over the army in front of him until he fixed his gaze on a large silver wolf in front of the werewolves. He’d been looking for a worthy opponent. He thought perhaps a dragon, but seeing the commanding silver wolf, he knew … this was the challenge he was looking for. He grinned and shifted into a large brown demon with brown wings, looking almost like an oversized gargoyle. He screeched loudly and swung his arm forward. The two armies charged toward one another.
CRASH
