Chapter 5 5

The Pride Pack's war room fell into a tense silence after the Nightfang Alpha's message faded from the tablet's screen. Angela felt every eye on her. The low crackle of the fireplace did nothing to ease the icy fear wrapping around her ribs.

Raymond stood with his hands braced on the table, head bowed, muscles tight as drawn steel. The golden glint in his eyes was barely restrained fury.

"They know you're my weakness," he said at last, voice low and dangerous. "They think threatening you will break me."

Angela stepped closer, her voice steady even as her heart pounded. "Then we use that. You said it yourself: we need to end this before the eclipse. Let's turn their plan against them."

Raymond looked up sharply. "You'd walk into their hands?"

"I won't be alone," she insisted. "You'll be with me. We control the meeting place. We set the trap."

Selena nodded slowly, studying Angela with new respect. "She's right. It's a risk... but one we need to take."

Raymond's fists clenched. "I won't allow it."

Angela reached for his hand, forcing him to meet her gaze. "I'm already in this. There's no safe place left for me, Raymond. But if we end this now, we save your pack-and you."

He exhaled sharply, his jaw working. At last, he nodded. "Then we do it on our terms."

The Pride Pack's council gathered deep in the lodge's great hall. Maps and photos littered the long wooden table. Torches along the walls flickered, casting shifting shadows. Warriors crowded the perimeter, tense but resolute.

Raymond took charge. His voice rang out, calm and commanding: "We choose where this ends. We'll lure the Nightfang Alpha to the ruins of Stonegate-a place with tunnels we know better than anyone."

Selena traced the map with a knife tip. "We can funnel them into kill zones, control the exits, isolate their Alpha."

Angela listened, absorbing every detail. The plan unfolded like a game of lethal chess: warriors hiding in the tunnels, Selena leading an elite strike team, Angela and Raymond baiting the enemy.

But every plan carried the same unspoken risk: that one mistake would mean their deaths-and the end of the Pride Pack.

As dawn broke, the lodge settled into a tense quiet. Warriors rested in shifts, weapons close at hand. Angela sat on the bed in Raymond's suite, watching the first pale light wash over the misty forest outside. The woods were deceptively peaceful.

She heard the door open behind her. Raymond stepped in, freshly showered but weary, wearing dark tactical clothes that hugged his powerful frame. His eyes found hers instantly, raw emotion shining in their golden depths.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Every time I close my eyes, I see them. The Nightfangs. The blood."

He crossed the room, kneeling before her. His hands caught hers, warm and steady. "I've lived with those nightmares my whole life," he admitted quietly. "But you... you make them easier to face."

Her heart clenched. She brushed his hair from his forehead, fingers lingering on his temple. "And you make me feel... stronger than I ever thought I could be."

His lips captured hers in a kiss that was both tender and hungry. She melted into him, the world beyond the room fading to nothing. When they broke apart, they rested forehead to forehead, breathing each other in.

"I won't let them take you," he vowed, voice like thunder. "I'd tear the world apart first."

Later, they joined the warriors outside the lodge. The Pride Pack gathered in rows, armored and armed, faces grim but resolute. Raymond stepped forward, his voice carrying over the misty clearing.

"Tonight, we end this. We face the Nightfangs on ground of our choosing. We protect our pack-our family-and we show them the Pride Pack does not break."

A cheer rose from the warriors, echoing through the forest. Angela's gaze swept the crowd, marveling at the fierce loyalty in every face. These were people willing to die for each other. For Raymond. For her.

The Pride Pack moved with disciplined silence through the woods as night fell, moonlight painting the forest silver. Angela kept close to Raymond, every nerve strung tight. The ruins of Stonegate appeared ahead: crumbling stone arches and toppled columns half-hidden among towering oaks.

Selena and a team of warriors fanned out, taking positions in the tunnels snaking beneath the ruins. Angela and Raymond climbed the steps of a broken watchtower, its roof open to the sky. The Blood Moon, swollen and red, hung low on the horizon.

Angela stared at it, heart hammering. "It's starting," she whispered.

Raymond's hand settled on her back. "Then let them come."

Hours crawled by as they waited. Every sound-a snapping branch, a gust of wind-set Angela's heart racing. Then, from the shadows beyond the ruins, figures emerged: Nightfang warriors, eyes glowing red like coals.

At their center strode the Nightfang Alpha-a tall man in an immaculate black coat, his pale face twisted in a cruel smile. His voice carried across the clearing, smooth as venom.

"Raymond Anderson. How touching. The proud Alpha and his human pet."

Raymond's eyes blazed gold. "Tonight, you die."

The Nightfang Alpha laughed softly. "Oh, I don't think so."

All at once, the forest erupted in chaos. Nightfangs charged from every side, clashing with hidden Pride Pack warriors bursting from tunnels and behind stone walls. The night filled with snarls, screams, and the clash of steel on steel.

Raymond shifted mid-leap, black fur exploding from his body as he launched into the fray. Angela ducked a Nightfang's blade, rolling to her feet just as a wolf warrior tackled the attacker away.

Selena appeared at Angela's side, eyes like obsidian fire. "Stay close!" she barked, slashing a Nightfang's throat with practiced precision.

Angela's training kicked in as injured wolves stumbled back to her. She knelt beside the first, pressing gauze to a deep gash in his thigh. Blood soaked her hands, but she moved quickly, tying off arteries, injecting adrenaline, barking orders for warriors to cover her.

Raymond was a black whirlwind among the enemy, claws flashing, eyes wild. But the Nightfang Alpha stayed back, watching with cold amusement, as if savoring the Pride Pack's struggle. Angela's eyes darted to him, realizing he was waiting for something-someone.

Her.

A sudden roar of rage made her spin around. A Nightfang lunged at her from the shadows. Before she could react, Raymond crashed into the attacker, tearing him apart with savage fury.

Angela's breath caught as Raymond shifted back, blood dripping from his mouth. His eyes locked on hers, desperate.

"Stay behind me!" he shouted.

But the Nightfang Alpha's mocking voice rang out across the battlefield. "No more games."

He raised a hand, and a wave of dark power swept from him like a hurricane, knocking warriors off their feet. Angela slammed into the base of a crumbling archway, stars bursting in her vision.

When she staggered up, the Nightfang Alpha was walking toward her. Raymond was pinned under a massive Nightfang warrior, claws digging into his shoulders as he snarled helplessly.

The Nightfang Alpha reached out, fingers like icy iron closing around Angela's throat. "So fragile," he murmured, lifting her off her feet. "So breakable."

Angela's vision dimmed, air strangled from her lungs. She clawed at his hand, but his grip was unyielding. Spots danced in her eyes.

Raymond's roar split the night, primal and heart-wrenching. His eyes blazed brighter than the moon as he exploded with power, flinging the Nightfang pinning him aside.

The Blood Moon reached its zenith overhead. Its crimson light bathed the ruins, illuminating Raymond as he rose, something ancient and terrifying awakening in his eyes. The very air seemed to tremble with a low, resonant hum.

Angela felt a crackling energy in her veins, as if something in the Blood Moon's power recognized her-called to her. The Nightfang Alpha recoiled, eyes wide.

Raymond's voice boomed across the battlefield, inhuman and resonant. "You will not touch what is mine!"

He lunged, moving faster than sight. His claws tore into the Nightfang Alpha, raking deep furrows across his chest. Dark blood sprayed the stone.

But the Nightfang Alpha recovered, slamming a fist into Raymond's ribs with bone-shattering force. They collided again and again, claws and fangs clashing, the air itself shaking with their fury.

Angela crawled away from the battle, gasping for air, heart pounding. She looked up at the Blood Moon, its light pulsing like a heartbeat. A voice whispered in her mind-old, feminine, powerful:

Break the chain. End the curse.

Angela's gaze snapped back to the fight. She saw it then: the Nightfang Alpha wore a pendant, an obsidian stone on a silver chain that glowed faintly with every blow exchanged.

The source of the curse.

"Raymond!" she screamed. "The pendant!"

He glanced at her, eyes widening. Understanding flashed between them. He feinted left, then lunged right, jaws closing on the Nightfang Alpha's chest. His claws slashed up, snapping the chain free.

The Nightfang Alpha shrieked, an inhuman sound that split the night. His body convulsed as black energy poured from the broken pendant, the curse unraveling like smoke.

Angela forced herself to her feet, stumbling to the pendant. She scooped it up, feeling its malevolent heat burn her palm. Summoning every ounce of her will, she smashed it against the stone floor.

The obsidian shattered with a sound like shattering glass and thunder. A shockwave of pure silver light burst outward, washing over the ruins. The Nightfang Alpha's scream turned into a final, hollow wail before he collapsed in on himself, dissolving into ash.

All around, Nightfang warriors froze, eyes wide in horror. Without their Alpha-and the curse-they broke ranks, fleeing into the night, howling in fear.

The Pride Pack erupted in triumphant roars, chasing the Nightfangs deep into the forest. The ruins fell silent except for the ragged breathing of the victors.

Raymond stood in the center of the battlefield, chest heaving. He shifted back, blood and ash streaking his bare skin. His eyes found Angela's instantly, filled with wonder-and terror.

"Angela," he whispered hoarsely, staggering toward her.

She met him halfway, throwing her arms around his neck. His arms wrapped around her waist, crushing her against him. They clung together, shaking.

"It's over," she sobbed against his chest. "The curse-it's broken."

He buried his face in her hair, voice thick with awe. "You broke it. You saved me."

All around them, Pride Pack warriors gathered, some laughing, others weeping. Selena appeared beside them, eyes shining. "You did it," she said, voice rough with emotion.

Angela looked up at Raymond, heart overflowing. "We did it."

He cupped her face, brushing tears from her cheeks. "I love you," he said, voice breaking. "I've loved you since the moment I saw you."

She laughed through her tears, pressing her forehead to his. "I love you too."

Above them, the Blood Moon began to fade, its red glow softening into pale silver. A new dawn crept across the sky, washing the ruins in light.

The Pride Pack had survived. The curse was shattered. And for the first time in centuries, Raymond-and Angela-could look to a future free of darkness.