Chapter-31

-Run

Anna's POV

My heart thuds in my chest and I feel like I am not able to breathe. My eyes meet Bane's and for a little moment I felt safe. He will get me out of here, now that he is here. We will get over this together. But a tears rolls down my cheek unknowingly as my vision blurs. Somewhere, deep down, I know that escaping Derek and getting out of this is not easy.

I look back and find Derek smiling like a maniac. He knows that I won't take one step forward and he knows that the ball is in his court. I knew that I can't escape easily when Josh brought me out of the cell. I was just stupid to think that all would go smooth and that I can reach Bane easily. "Come here, Baby girl." He uses that sweet, irritating tone of his and I feel like my ears will bleed if he calls me that name again.

I close my eyes and let the tears fall. I look back at Bane and he starts walking towards me quickly, but James stops him. We don't know where the mines are and if Bane steps on them, that is it. Jake comes and holds him.

"Anna!" Bane shouts. No. No!

"We are trapped." Josh says and cusses. Robby clutches to him. Robby is looking afraid after knowing that Derek's here. What has he done to him? What has he done to this sweet little child?

"Anna!" Bane shouts again. Bane is only few steps away. I am closer to Bane. I don't want to go back to Derek. I would rather die trying to reach Bane, than live in the dungeons of Derek as he makes Bane and me suffer.

"I made my choice." My eyes meet Bane's and he knows that I am determined now. Josh understands it too.

"We will die."

"Do you want to go back to Derek? Do you want to take your brother back to him?"

Josh doesn't talk and looks down.

"Josh, there are nearly ten steps to reach Bane and even if Derek pushes the button to activate the bombs, it will take at least five seconds before the bomb explodes. I would like to take this chance to reach Bane that go back to Derek. If I take one step towards Derek, Bane will lose it and come to us. It will only result in him stepping on the mines and exploding the one he stepped on.

If he dies, the pack is not going to sit back and watch it. They will lose it too and come to fight, which makes them step on the remaining mines and dying which is what Derek and he will only be helping Derek if we turn back. He is in a win-win situation here. We can't let that happen. I will go to Bane, n matter what. It's your turn to make a decision."

Josh seems like he is thinking after what I said.

"Come back here, Baby girl. You know you have no choice" Derek shouts.

A loud growl erupts and wind blows fast. I look back and find Bane already in his wolf form. We have to move quick before Bane's wolf looses it all. My eyes meet Josh's. He nods his head.

"It's do or die. Let's go." He says and turns his head back in Bane's direction. Only a few steps. I might seem stupid, but this is a chance I am willing to take. Josh takes two steps quickly and I start following him. But before we took another step, a bomb explodes and I almost lost my balance. It exploded a bit away from us. But we still don't stop to look if Derek did it. I don't care. We don't have time.

I hear growls and bones snapping. But I keep following Josh. Another bomb explodes. My heart is thudding. I don't want to die. I want to be in his arms. I look up and find Bane trying to break through our pack members who are trying to keep him from crossing the border. Just two more steps.

Josh crosses the border with his brother on his back. He turns around and waits for me to take those two steps without stepping on the mines. Bane's wolf is roaring. Suddenly another bomb explodes and I am blown by it. I don't know if it is a good or bad thing, but I fall outside his territory and reach Bane's side. Bane's wolf immediately stands on top of me as I lay down. He roars and howls.

Oh my God! Oh my God! I did it! I really did it! I am on Bane's side! He is here!

I take a deep breath and let it out. I am still in shock.

His wolf's scent engulfs me and I feel safe. My fingers grab his fur and I hold it for a second before he gets away from me and looks at me. He waits for me to get up and I quickly do so and hold his fur again. We look back at Derek as he doesn't look angry and I feel surprised by it. I thought he would be furious. He just smirks. That feels even more dangerous. This angers Bane.

His wolf roars loudly and he looks like he is about to charge forgetting that Derek can explode us in seconds if we make one wrong move. That's what Derek wants. He wants us to make the wrong move to fall in his trap.

Now that I think about it, I don't know. Did we fall out of his trap or did we fall in his trap?

Bane's wolf is still letting out howls of anger beside me. I look at Derek and I know that he is trying to irk Bane.

"Bane." The whisper of his name leaves my mouth before I can even think. "Stop. He wants us to make the first move. Don't give in to his game." My hand runs through his fur to calm him down. This calms him down for a second.

"Luna is right, Alpha." Jake says from behind us.

"Bane." I call and he looks into my eyes. He transforms back to his human form and hugs me. His nudity does not bother anyone. We are werewolves. We respect out pack members in both forms. His smell surrounds me and I feel him pressed against me. I feel safe now.

"I can't close my eyes around you. You seem to disappear whenever I do." He says still hugging me. "You disappear one more time, I will have to chain you to myself." I laugh and he pulls away.

"I am sorry." I don't know what for.

We hear claps and see that Derek is walking towards us carefully watching his step around the mines. Bane come to stand in front of me in a protective manner, but I come and stand beside him holding his hand. I am not afraid of Derek. We have to fight him together.

"Together." I say looking at him. He gives a kurt nod. I hear footsteps behind me and see Jake and our pack's Gamma standing behind us as the other pack members are behind them waiting for their Alpha's orders. I hold Bane's hand.

It's war now.

Derek approaches us still clapping. The few men behind him follow him slowly making sure to not step on the land mines. He is standing a few feet away from us. His gaze catches mine and I almost flinch at the way he is smirking at me. I look at him with disgust.

"I really thought you are going to step on one of those land mines you know." Derek says. "But, here you are." He smiles that creepy smile. Bane's hold on my hand tightens He is hanging on to the last thread of his patience. I am surprised that he didn't just jump of Derek and rip his bones apart. Derek looks at Josh and his brother, Robby, who is clinging to him. "I am going to kill you both." He says in a cool tone like he is inviting for dinner. I don't look back to see their reactions.

"You are asking for war." Bane says in a hoarse tone.

"Oh, we are at war since all of this started." Derek says. "I know what your father and your pack did to my father." His expression turns to anger and he looks like he is controlling his wolf from coming out. His father? What does he mean?

"If you know what happened to him, then you must have also known that he deserved it for what he did." Bane spits. "You are just like him."

"So, you are going to kill me?" Derek asks, more like a challenge. He smirks as he says that. I cringe internally. Why does the concept of death and war put him in a happy place? What is wrong with him?

"You are dead the minute I got to know that you have Alika."

"Oh, that's just a small piece of mu revenge. I had a lot of work cut out for this one." He says nodding his head at me. Bane growls as I grit my teeth. "She was my new toy you know. I don't like it when my toys are stolen." He says the last part looking at Josh. If he could get his hands on Josh, he will kill him. Derek looks back at Bane. "I will get her back."

"Over my dead body." Bane sneers.

"Gladly." Derek grins creepily. "But, what's the point of killing you and getting her. The whole point of getting her is to torture you." Derek looks like he is thinking. What the fuck is he even saying? "Nah. I want you alive and I want you rotting in my dungeons as you see me torture her every day. Now that's fun."

"In your dreams!" I nearly scream.

Derek chuckles looking at me. "Oh, it will happen. I will make you scream in ways-"

That was Bane's last strike. He turned into his wolf in a split second and so does the pack members. I try to change into my wolf but I am still not able to connect with her. With the amount of Resistor he gave me, it will take time for me to connect with her again. Derek and his pack change into wolves too and I just stand there with my back straight in my human form, ready to fight.

Bane howls loudly and the pack members follow. I touch his fur and clutch it for a second before letting go. I look back at Derek. They are ready to attack. Cold breeze passes through us.

It's war now.

Bane looks at me. I don't know if we will make through his war, but I smile knowing that I have seen Bane. Before I know it, I feel being pushed back by a wolf and I squeal. I am top of a wolf and who is running back as all the wolves are running towards Derek. I look over my shoulder and see Bane growling loudly before charging and the pack follows.

"No! Let me down. I have to go to Bane." I shout at the wolf carrying me. It must be Bane. He must have told someone from the pack to take me away. I see five another wolves running behind us at a close distance. They are running as fast as they can.

Oh Bane.

I see a wolf with Robby on top. That must be Josh. He is just few feet behind us. The wolf that's carrying me is running as fast as he can. His paws thud the floor and I feel the cold breeze again. I feel tired, but I try to keep my eyes open.

I hear growls behind and see that two of our wolves are fighting some rouge wolves. They are catching up. I hear the sound of growls, bones snapping, sneering and howling. I think of Bane.

Is he alright? Did Derek hurt him? Please be okay.

I feel my vision getting dark. It's been a while since I had had water or any food. With all the blood loss and stress, by body is exhausted and it's about to give out. I might faint any minute now. I can't lose consciousness in this situation. I try to pull myself together.

Come on, Anna! You can do it for Bane!

I look at Josh's wolf. He is running just behind us. The two wolves that were fighting the rogues are now behind us as well.

The wolves keep running for a while. The cold wind is the only thing keeping me up.

"Water." The word leaves my mouth before I even think of saying it out loud. "I need water." It comes out as a whisper. Just like that, I was out like a light. The last thread of consciousness left me and I don't know what happened next.

I feel cold water on my face. "Luna." A voice whispers. I hear the sound of water splashing. I slowly open my eyes and see Jake. "Luna." He calls again. "She's awake. Bring some water." My head feels heavy. I sit up and see Josh and Robby carrying water in a large leaf.

"Here." Josh says as he comes near and I open my mouth quickly as I feel thirsty. The other wolves are still in their wolf form. "You must have been dehydrated."

"I am." I say as I hungrily drink the water. Robby comes to me still looking scared. I give him a faint smile. I take the leaf from him and he immediately goes to hide behind his brother and peaks to look at me. I drink it too.

"Need some more?" Josh asks. I nod my head. Just as Josh is about to get up, I see Jake with another leaf of water. I drink it too.

"How is Bane?" I can't contain myself. I have to know.

"He is still fighting. There are so many of them." Jake says.

"We should go back. Bane needs our help. Even if it's only one wolf."

"No, Luna. Alpha ordered me to take you safety. It's my job to do so. Alpha James is helping our Alpha."

"James?"

"Yes, Luna. We came with back up. We expected the war."

All of the information processes through my head.

"What is that?" He asks pointing to my hand where Derek's tattoo sits freshly. I look at Josh. He sighs.

"Derek." It's my response and he understood,

"Alpha is not going to like that."

I nearly chuckle. "Tell me about it." If Bane would have seen it, he would have gone berserk and ripped Derek to pieces immediately.

"We should get going." Jake says as he hands me another large leaf of water. I drink again and feel better.

"I want to know about Bane. Is he safe?" I have to know.

"Of course. He will be Luna. I know how strong our Alpha is. I know his strength."

"But you don't know about Derek. I know him." There is a moment of silence. "Just mind link someone and tell me how he is." He sighs before trying to connect with a pack member. He looks like he is mind linking someone. Once he is done, he turns to me. I eagerly wait for his answer.

"He is safe. He is fighting some wolves. Some of the wolves of both packs stepped on the land mines, others are fighting hard." I can't help but worry. "Luna, Alpha will come back." He said with so much certainty in his voice that I almost believe him. But he spoke like he believes it.

"We have to go back." Josh looks like I lost my mind.

"What?!" He gasps. "No! Alpha will kill us if he sees you there."

"I can't leave Bane alone like that."

"Anna, you are barely awake. We know how exhausted you are. You have been injected with so much Resistor that it might take you two weeks for you to even connect with your wolf. It is not a good idea to go back."

"You either take me there or I will go there myself."

"Anna-"

"No! I am not going to run away anymore."

"I understand that you want to go to Bane and help him, but you being at safety is the best way for you to help him."

"I can't-"

"Luna." Jake interrupts. "Alpha wants me to tell you something."

"What? Did you speak to Bane?"

"He told me to tell you to listen to him this time. That he can't risk you being there. He wants to concentrate and with you there he will only be thinking about saving you. We have to catch Derek and his only chance of escaping is you. We can't have him take you again and pressure our Alpha into doing something we don't want him to do." I think about what he said for a second. "We have to make a move now."

He helps me get up and turns into his wolf. Josh does the same and his brother gets on top of him and holds his fur. I take a deep breath and try to connect with my wolf, but there is no response. I let out a sigh and get on top of the brown wolf that is Jake.

We start going again, I don't were. All I can think about is Bane and the number of wolves that might lose their lives in the war. I don't even know why Derek is doing this. Why did Bane's father kill Derek's father? Something must have happened for them to kill him.

Suddenly all of them stop. All five of the wolves stopped and are looking at Jake, our pack's Beta. I feel confused. We are in the middle of a forest and I hear the leaves rustle. All the wolves get into fight positions. This is not good. Jake looks at me and I know what I have to do. I clutch his fur as tight as I can. The sound of paws thudding the ground gets closer and nearly thirty wolves surround us.

There is minute of silence and everything stops for a second. The wolves pound on each other. All five of them are trying to fight the thirty of them. Jake is trying to fight two wolves. I look over my shoulder and see four wolves taking one wolf down. Josh is trying to fight one wolf and I see Robby standing at the root of a large tree looking scared. I quickly slide down of Jake and rush to him. All of them are fighting that no one comes to stop me. He looks at me afraid as I go to him, but I kneel down near him.

"We have to go. Hop on, Sweetie." I say and wait for him.

"But Josh-"

"He will be okay. We have to go now." He looks like he doesn't trust me. I turn to him and hold him by his shoulders. "I know you don't trust me, but please believe me, I will take you to safety. You saw how your brother trusts me, didn't you?" He nods his head at me. I give him a smile. "Let's go." I say and he gets on my back.

Just as I was about to make a run, a dark brown wolf stops us. I dodge him and run. That's the only thing I can do now. I don't look back. I feel two more wolves running behind me and I try to move zig-zaggly . But it is still hard to get them off our backs. Suddenly I hear the sound of wolf whimpers and look back to see nearly five wolves. They are taking the down the rouge wolves. They must be from our pack.

Behind them, I see another ten wolves charging towards us. I run again, only to slip and fall hard face down. The little boy on my back gets off me and closes his eyes like he scared of something coming towards us. I look in that way and see a large grey wolf coming to us. My eyes widen. Just as he is about to get me the dark black wolf, that I know very much, jumps on him from the side and rips apart a part of his flesh.

Bane.

My heart stops for a second before beating again. I quickly get on my feet and got to him.

"Bane." I hug him and he howls loudly before ripping apart another piece of flesh from the wolf that just tried to attack me. "You came. You are here." I close my eyes for a second and open them to look directly into his eyes. Those pitch dark back eyes. His wolf is completely in control. He looks behind me and charges at another wolf that's coming towards us. I snap out of it and go to Robby who is still closing his eyes. I pick him up and make him climb a tree before he sits on a trunk. "Don't get down, unless you see Josh. Okay?" He nods. I give him a nod and look back to where Bane is. I look around and see nearly forty wolves reaching us. There are another two wolves from our pack. We are out-numbered. We have a thin chance of surviving. I was about to go to him, when two large wolves jump in front of me.

They growl at me, but I don't flinch. Bane sees this and charges in our direction, only to be stopped by more wolves. I hear rustling behind me and see more than ten wolves behind me. The Greyish-Brown wolf that stands in the middle turns into human form. It's Derek. He is standing just two steps away from me. My heart is beating fast. I hope he didn't notice Robby. He is just a few trees away from us.

I try to put a brave face in front of Derek. I have to calm down. He can't hear my heart running fast. He will know that I am scared of him, if he does.

"Ah! We meet again." He grins as he comes closer. Behind me, I hear bones snapping, growling and thudding. Bane is still fighting them. I look over my shoulder to check on him. Derek holds my chin and makes me look at him. "Don't worry about him. He will be busy fighting. Shall we go home?" I nearly puke at his words. Home? What the fuck is wrong with him?

"Stop this shit!" I nearly sneer.

"Oh, this is not shit." He chuckles. "The real shit is about to begin." He says and the man behind him, whom I didn't notice turning into his human form hands him a knife. Derek grabs my hair and flips me around, holding it to my neck. "Did you really think you can escape me? That pathetic attempt you pulled there. I am going to kill Josh and his little brother for this betrayal. But you... I have other plans for you. You are my bitch, right?"

I don't speak. Not because I am scared. I am busy looking at Bane. He is fighting nearly five wolves now and some have even hurt him. I try to connect with my wolf again, but I don't know where the fuck she is. Bane meets my eyes. He plunges his teeth into one of the wolf's neck and rips a piece of it. It was so gore to see. But this is war. That's how it happens. I notice that few of the wolves of Derek's side have turned into their human forms other than the ones fighting Bane.

What is Derek planning? Where are the other pack members?

I don't see any of our pack members that we help fighting the rouges few minutes ago. I see many life less wolves lying on the ground. They must be both our pack wolves and rogue wolves.

Bane kills all the five wolves and looks at Derek who is holding a knife to my throat.

"Oh come on. Don't make is obvious. I know you want to kill me. Even if I leave her, you would still attack me. But you do want you mate, don't you?" Derek says looking at Bane. To Derek, this is all a game and we are his pawns.

Bane shifts into his human form and is standing only a few feet away from us. His eyes meet mine. I see Jake's wolf behind Bane. He immediately turns into his human form as he sees what's happening.

"Just in time. Please join the show." Derek says to him. "Now." Derek says pulling my hair again. "That I have this bitch, I know that I have you right under my thumb." Bane growls and Derek pushes the knife a little deeper into my neck. Blood oozes out a little and I hiss. It burns. "Uh-Uh. No. Don't try that with me, Bane. Your little mate will be paying the price for that."

Bane hisses.

"Good." Derek taunts Bane and signals something to one of his men who comes and holds out my right hand and pulls out another knife. My eyes widen. I don't know what they are going to do, but it is not good. Bane was about to say something, only to be stopped by Jake. "That's right. Tell your Alpha to stay quiet. You don't want cuts on her now, do you?"

"I will fucking-"Bane starts speaking, only to be cut off by my scream. The man holding my hand makes a cut and blood starts flowing.

Oh my God!

"Stop it you-" Bane starts again as he takes a step towards us only to be cut off by my screams again. This time they make two cuts. Tears drops on my cheeks as I try to block the pain and stop myself from whimpering or screaming.

"That's for speaking and trying to come towards us. Stand where you are keep your mouth shut, only then will she not get hurt.

Bane turns around for a second and calms himself down as he runs his hand through his hair before turning back.

"Oh, is someone losing their patience." Derek taunts. Bane meets my eyes. I try to look away. I don't want him to see how hurt I am. "You want to save your mate?" He asks.

Bane just looks at him like he wants to kill him.

"Of course, you do. So..." He stops before looking at me and Bane then he whispers in my ear. "Do you think Bane loves you?" He says. I hate the way his breath feels on my ear. "Personally, I think he does." He chuckles. "Let's see how much he loves you, shall we?" I don't understand, what he means by that. But I am terrified of what he might do. He looks back at Bane.

His fingers are rolled up in his fists. His eyes are on the cuts that have freshly been made on my hand.

"Kneel." Derek orders in a deadly tone, both challenging and ordering.

No! Bane doesn't look shocked.

Don't do it.

Oh, Bane.

A/N:

Hey my cute dumplings!

I know, I know. It's a long chapter and I hope I didn't bore you guys. Too much happened they are at odds now. Tell me what you think. Don't miss the next chapter.

Please VOTE and COMMENT.