The Clear Choice

{ Chapter 43 }

Zak's POV

I shoved the dead white wolf draped across my body off my chest with my front paws, letting out a shaky breath. My body felt cold from the frozen rain but my insides were blazing hot with the adrenaline of fighting. I stood up, blood dripping off the tips of my fur with the rain water. It had gotten significantly darker in the past hour or so, a huge grey-black cloud hanging itself above the mountains and forest. I looked forward into the chaos with disgust.

The ground had turned to mud and wolves were sliding and slipping trying to take each other down. The constant noises of snarling, barking and howling had became one omniscient roar of sound. My breathing was heavy as my eyes scanned the muddy and bloodstained coats of the wolves near me, looking for a specific light-tan one.

When my sharp eyes found her my heart raced faster than ever before; my feet carried me to her quicker than I thought possible. Fear and anxiety consumed me at the sight of her mud-soaked wolf curled up near a tree on the edge of the fighting. Her lovely, bright eyes had become black and scary and my wolf didn't know what to do.

I stood above her, my heart pounding and ears sharp to make sure no one attacked us. Something was wrong, very wrong and being in the middle of a war made it catastrophically worse.

"Nina, what is it." I nuzzled my face into her neck softly, urging her to speak to me. I hardly knew her but she was my Mate; I felt as if her soul and mine had known each other for a very long time. She scampered away from my touch and sunk deeper into the muddy ground, almost as if she wanted it to swallow her up.

Her wolf was shaking uncontrollably and I was terrified. Her eyes, blazing with something I didn't understand, locked onto mine. "My brother." Her small, unsteady voice entered my mind.

"You have a brother?" I lowered myself to the ground, hoping our muddy fur would camouflage us from the war currently going on only yards away. I never let my eyes leave hers but her gaze was flickering and distant; she was desperately mind linking with someone important.

"Is he hurt?" I asked another question, my voice low and steady even though my heart was almost racing out of my chest.

"He's my twin and he's dead." Nina's wolf sunk into itself, curling into a muddy ball of fur and slamming her eyes shut. Soft whimpers came from her body and my body froze. I didn't know how to handle this situation, but my wolf screamed at me to comfort her somehow.

I wrapped myself around her, my wolf about twice her size, and tucked her head under mine. I closed my eyes and tried to heal her brokenness. Her small form shook and shivered, sadness and despair consuming her. I didn't know all that happened but I knew if I lost Clary, my own sibling, I'd be heartbroken. Not to mention her brother and her were twins, which meant they were pretty much connected like Mates and could feel each others pain and emotions.

"Nina, I'm here." I whispered into her mind. "I'm here and it's going to be alright." I opened my eyes for a brief moment and looked out onto the battlefield once more. I instantly lifted my head off her's out of shock, my mouth hanging opening in denial.

In the small amount of time I had been distracted by Nina, something had changed; something big.

White, muddy wolves were backing out of their fights and racing away. They were tearing themselves away from their enemy and bounding back towards the mountains. Clary's pack and the two other pack's members were left dazed and confused as their attackers backed off and turn to run away. I stood up, unable to believe what I was seeing.

The Purum pack was retreating.

Clary's POV

"She's not replying to me anymore." I sighed loudly as I mind linked with Issac. Nina had shut me out after I told her Lucas's fate. I felt as though my heart just had the life squeezed out of it, my chest heavy with dread and sorrow. The air was freezing and rain pleated Issac and I as we stayed in the towns square alone. The explosion hadn't killed everyone, and after a few mintues the surviving purebloods struggled to their feet and raced away. All of Issac's men had died but one wolf.