Wolf Queen - Book 1 of The Nightfall Series

Twenty

Thump after thump filled her mind as her feet pounded against the dirt. The ground around her thundered with the footfalls of the pack around her.

One hundred sets of paws racing against time.

Racing to save those who were in danger.

The urgency within her was near hysteria as she ran, her legs pushed to their limit. The pack struggled to keep up with her as her mind gave way to instinct and the beast took over.

Adam ran beside her but kept some distance. Her beast took over the very air that was breathable with dominance and power. The very trees of the forest bent against her will as she breezed past them in a clear path.

One goal in mind.

A vicious roar erupted from her throat as she cleared the tree line of the pack house in a leap. The acrid smell of vampire filled her nose and a purple haze filled her vision. Her heightened senses showed her the purple blurs within the clearing; vampires had no heat signature.

Savage growls filled the air as her pack of wolves went to work and for the first time together faced an enemy. Their time in the wild had taught them the savagery that they needed for battle. Their teeth ripped and teared at dead skin while their claws bathed in the blue blood that bled from their veins.

Adelaide looked around as she opened her mind and searched for any trace of Grace. She felt nothing, no sense of a feeling from her. She whipped around the house in search of her to no avail. She walked outside as the clearing fell silent and the damage could be fully seen for the first time.

Bodies littered the ground and the snow had turned to blue and red from the vast amounts of blood. A groan sounded to her left and her head snapped to its source.

"Tala." She spoke as she reached for her.

She lay on her stomach against the ground in a heap. The slashes across the back of her neck exposed to the air as she bled out against the cold ground. Adelaide knelt on the ground beside her as her eyes ran over her marred back and legs. The agony that Adelaide had felt had been hers. The same as it had been with her own family.

The bonds between a pack were a joy and a curse. The feeling of togetherness made them strong, but the pain felt from death and wounds was what could break them all. Many were trained to barricade their minds from the full connection, to protect themselves and others but Tala had wanted Adelaide to feel it all.

To know the danger, they were up against.

"I have failed you, my lady." Tala cried softly.

Adelaide softened at her words and sympathy filled her. She took her within her arms and turned her onto her back. The cool snow soothing her for a time, to ease her suffering. Blood trickled from her mouth and smeared across her lips and stained her teeth as her chest constricted with her tears.

The beast within Adelaide receded as a serenity came over her in that moment. Her eyes glowed and her body became ethereal in the evening light as the Goddess came to her for the first time in a year, in a wolf's time of need. She brought up her hand and brushed her auburn hair away from her face in comfort before cupping her cheek.

"Hush now, nothing could be done to stop what has happened here." Adelaide told her, her voice taking on a soft resonance.

Tala looked to the sky as the Moon had begun to rise and sniffled as she took a deep, shuddering breath before looking back to her.

"Are you to read my rights?" She asked.

"If you wish me to." Adelaide answered, never breaking the contact of her eyes.

"I am afraid." She confided, feeling her end was near.

Her pulse had slowed, Adelaide felt it slipping away as she moved to grasp her hand. She brought it to her chest and clasped both hands around Tala's stone cold one. Adelaide felt her own sadness creep up within her at seeing the death of yet another pack member at the hands of such savages.

"She will embrace you."

She felt a strength light within her as she reached out with her soul and the gates to the Moon's realm opened within her minds eye. Tala stood beside her, her hand clasped tight. The Goddess stood in the distance, lithe and graceful with open arms.

Tala relaxed in her presence and pulled away from her as she walked forward. Adelaide let her arms move forward as she did so, Tala's fingers slipping from her grip, as she began to read her rights and her soul left its mortal shell.

"As your duty has been completed you are returned to the earth as your soul is returned to the Moon,

You're soul eternal,

For we shall all live again,

Rest, My Sister."

The power around them fell as Tala was embraced within the arms of the Goddess, a lasting image to Adelaide's eyes as she closed them. She felt the absence of the Goddess within her but her power. She sat and waited as the final pulse of Tala's heart left her body.

Adelaide let out a breath before placing her cold hand gently off the ground before rising too her feet. She looked around her as the pack looked to her for guidance in awe and loyalty.

Adam stood not too far from her, watching her. The look on his face showed pure admiration but his eyes showed sadness for the members they had lost. A member lost to her was one lost to him as any leader within a pack felt. He would have felt the loss as Tala departed for the Moon's realm, a broken connection.

"Gather the wounded, we make for the Moon Valley." She told them strongly.

There was much to do, and she needed to find Grace, the connection she had formed between them meant that she knew when any harm would come to her. But to be able to find her she needed more power, to deepen the connection further.

It did not take long to gather what was left of the wounded and the dead. Moon Fang's numbers had always been few and Adelaide had only left behind fifteen members before taking the others with her to train the new wolves.

Fifteen was now reduced to seven if the wounded lived.

The bodies of the vampires left behind were piled in a fire that rose high into the night sky. The shadows of flames licked across her face as the wolves gathered around her and she turned to look out at the darkened forest before them.

She reached out into the dark expanse of her mind and sparked the long-dampened fire of a power long forced down. The change in power sent the hairs on her arms to attention and her hair to flutter in a false wind as her hand sliced through the air towards the ground.

A silver line appeared at her strike and cracked the very fabric of the world in two as the air broke apart in front of her. The clearing before the Moon Valley appeared before her and she walked through without hesitation as the pack followed after her.

She stopped on the other side and rushed the others through, directing them towards the Moon Valley with urgency. They ran through without a moment's thought as she swiped through the air again to close the break she had formed.

She broke into a run with Adam at her side and felt the barrier snap around her as she re-entered the valley and re-connect fully with the Goddess. A whisper past through her mind but she could not catch the words as she stood before the alter and found Leonidas chained to its surface.

"Release him." She commanded Adam as she looked around her.

The space around them was deserted apart from the medical tents that held the now wounded members of Moon Fang. The air was calm and quiet, too quiet. Dread filled her as she noticed the flicker of fires in the distance from across the lake.

The sound of breaking chains filled the air as Leonidas leaped from the heavy iron chains that held him captive and rubbed at his wrists. His hair was dishevelled and for the first time since the Pack Wars he saw fear in his eyes.

"Where is my father?!" She demanded.