Page 62 of Moonlit Fate

“Joren, with me!”Lyza shouted, her ice-blue eyes locking with mine for a brief second.

The underbrush rustled violently, and I turned just in time to see the boars she had summoned barrel into a cluster of Crimson Fang warriors. Their wild charge was a thing of raw beauty, nature’s fury unleashed at Lyza’s will. The birds above us swooped down, avenging spirits, their talons flashing in the sunshine that broke through the canopy.

“Keep them disoriented,”I told my friends through our link.“Use the terrain to our advantage.”

Lyza’s connection to the beasts was more than mere talent; it was proof of the symbiosis between shifter and nature. Thecreatures of the forest became extensions of us, as though the very wild heeded her call.

“Behind you.”The warning came from Hale.

I pivoted, my jaw clamping down on the leg of an enemy who’d hoped to take me unawares. I shook my head fiercely, bringing the Crimson Fang warrior to the ground.

“Drive them back!”Lyza’s gift was turning the tide, each animal one step closer to victory.

“Right flank, Hale!” Joren’s voice pierced through the chaos, a command swiftly heeded as Hale pivoted and tore into an assailant who had crept too close.

There was beauty in the raw savagery of it all, the clash of tooth and nail for something far greater than ourselves.

It was time to use my gift. The shadows of the forest heeded my call, tendrils rising like serpents from the loamy soil. They writhed and twisted with a life of their own, seeking out the Crimson Fang warriors with predatory intent.

I moved through the trees, the darkness my cloak and shield. The enemy recoiled as my shadows ensnared them, confusion in their eyes as they struggled against the dark bindings.

“Push forward,” I said with the authority of the alpha I had become. This land—every tree, rock, and stream—was under my protection, and I would suffer no trespasser.

The rogues rallied to my side, emboldened. Here, we weren’t outcasts. We were the guardians of these woods, defenders of a home forged from unity and resilience.

The fight ebbed and flowed, the balance tipping ever so slightly in our favor. With each shadow or beast that lashed out, with every cry of a fallen enemy, our victory drew nearer.

We stood fast in the forest that had borne witness to our struggles and triumphs.

“Atticus, they buckle under your command!”Hale howled as he dispatched another foe.

With renewed fervor, I led the charge, my shadows an extension of my will, each one a promise to Aria that I would return to her.

Shifting back into my human form, I raised my arms to the heavens like a conductor before his orchestra, then swept them downward in a grand, commanding arc. The darkness heeded my call, rising in dark waves from the forest floor, enveloping the advancing Crimson Fang members. They were not a mere absence of light but a force, alive and writhing, cloaking the enemy in disarray.

Growls of confusion rippled through the Crimson Fang as they stumbled blindly, their menacing forms now merely wraiths lost in the engulfing darkness. The ordered lines of their attack dissolved into chaos, warriors colliding with one another, their snouts lifted in frustration, their eyes darting wildly in search of a threat they could no longer discern.

I strode forward, every nerve alight with the electric thrill of battle. Shadows clung to me, swirling with my movements, a dark menace that followed my every command.

But for all our might and unity, the Crimson Fang were an implacable tide, their numbers vast. They surged forward, wave after wave of feral intensity with the singular purpose of conquest.

“Stand firm,” I said. I leaped forward, shifting mid-air, my form blurring as darkness cloaked my movements. Fangs met fur in a brutal dance, and bodies slammed against mine. Yet, I was undeterred. Each time they thought they had me cornered, the darkness responded to my call.

“Atticus!” Joren cried out.

I whipped around, my heart lurching. A cluster of Crimson Fang warriors had singled him out. Joren fought valiantly, but a well-aimed swipe sent him reeling.

“Lyza!” I called, desperate for her intervention, but fate was cruel in its timing. She was encircled, her connection to the wild creatures severed by the ring of gleaming eyes and snapping teeth that had closed in on her.

Panic was a foreign sensation, but it clawed at my sanity now.

No! Not now. Joren, Lyza, they were my responsibility. My family.

“Fight!” I bellowed to my pack. “For home and one another!”

I launched myself into the fray, shadows extending from me. Each step was precise, each movement an extension of will. The forest floor became a canvas on which we painted a violent tableau, a struggle penned in tooth and claw.

The Crimson Fang, so confident in their numbers, began to falter under the onslaught of our united front. Retreat snaked through their ranks, a whisper that grew into a shout. Their unity splintered, and the tide turned.

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