* * *

Remus Moon, Alpha of Crescent Moon, could not settle his erratic heart. It had been minutes since the Underground Battle, but the idea of attempting to return everyone to Crimson Moon had been its own heartache.

Especially when Sage was teetering on diffusing completely, though it was a blessing to be in the company of both Blake and a coven of witches.

Yet not a single soul had moved, not since Sage had fallen limp into Remus' arms.

There was hardly a reason to, not when the enemy had retreated, and there were wounded to account for—so Liam did the next best thing.

"We're—We're gonna do a head count!" He shouted, cradling his arm as he stood up from his fallen position. And Ally had soon fallen in line beside him, trying to hold him steady as he had taken most of the brute force of her attacks.

"If you're well, we'll need you moving... It's not safe to linger, and I've heard Sage say she'll always make a hole in the ground, but I don't want to find out what happens when it sticks." There were a few chuckles, but none from the newcomers as they looked in awe at those who had done so much to save them.

It was the witches who had sprung forth from the trees and lingered at Blake's pack for supplies. With that all settled, and the wounded being taken care of, Liam had turned to look at the Alphas.

Hayes was still very well under some sort of spell, but after a closer look, Liam could see the blood staining the grass just under his ear. With a quick yell for aid, three witches had hurried over and done what they could to stop the bleeding and diagnose what they could.

But even he could smell there was an internal injury.

With Hayes stable, for now, Liam regrouped with his brothers—though it was more so Caleb and Cameron who had come towards him, given that his speed wasn't up to par with the rest of them.

"We need to get Chloe to call her father, we're not going to make it to Crimson in these conditions." 

At the sound of her name, the female had popped up beside the bear twins and made her way over, her right arm hugging her side tightly.
"Dad has a few helicopters," she said through gritted teeth, "we usually use them for pickups." 

Cameron's eyes sparked with excitement, a helicopter could take at least a few at a time. "That could work, we just need one of those attachments—then some could also be inside the helicopter." 

Chloe understood what the male was trying to say, but with Crimson's advancements, they should be alright to get the greater part of the injured population out of here.

With plans made, it had been Kat who had given the Alphas a spare blanket from one of the many packs. And Andrew instantly wrapped it over Sage's form. The female could spot the dry blood just under her nose, suggesting that it was an aftereffect of all the power she had released.
But that didn't stop Remus' tears from falling.

"We failed..." he whispered, and Kat had opened her mouth but closed it in an instant. But she grew the confidence right back up, knowing that Sage wouldn't want her males upset over this.

 "Today, the pack managed to release and destroy an entire Underground base. I would say there were a lot of positives to what was lost."

 "We lost Willow," Remus reminded, and Kat sighed. "Yes, but I am saying it could have been worse. It's—"

"If you're going to throw some do-good religious crap in our faces, you'd better stop while you're ahead. I don't need to hear how much worse it could have been. I've lived it already." Andrew growled, and Kat understood that she had been a bit insensitive to what truly was at stake.

This may have been a coming-of-age mission for her, but for the rest, it was a lifetime of revenge—and her eyes had landed straight onto Hayden.

Kat hadn't spoken many words to him, as he was more interested in conversing with her father and Chloe than herself, but he had been kind. Kind and undeserving of the horrors that she had barely touched the surface of understanding or hearing of.

"Is there anything I can do?" she croaked, truly not wishing upon anyone this type of treatment or pain. But seeing how defensive both of the Alpha males were in this regard did not leave much room for aid.

Instead, she rose to her feet after many moments of silence. Clearly, it was best left alone. However, while returning back to the Elwoods and Carter—familiar ground for her to manage—she had ended up toward the edge of the newly introduced wolves, those who were lingering on the sidelines and not understanding how they could possibly help.

 "We're going to need to get away from this terrain, the helicopters won't want to get too close to the fire. It'll be a good locator, but otherwise it'll be a waste of fuel. Let's prepare to keep moving forward when we're ready." The others seemed to follow her lead, happy to have something to do. But upon checking those that had fallen once more, there had been one person that she hadn't heard from in a while.

Blake.

In the grand scheme of it all, she understood that she was related to the Carters, but very distantly. Even then, she held the strong urge to kneel down beside him and offer a steady hand onto his back. One of which had caused him to gasp in surprise, yet when he had finally turned to look at her, his entire face had erupted in defeat and regret.

 "Let's get you some water and—"

 "And what?" he spat, but given that she had just come from Andrew's harsh words, she wasn't all too surprised. "Rest," she replied, only earning herself a cruel laugh, as if she was asking for the world.

 "Rest. Rest?! Does it look like I can fucking rest?! Huh?!" The commotion had caught attention, but not in the way anyone could have hoped. Blake was always a calm and well-versed wolf, hardly ever raising his voice unless it had to do with training the reformed or otherwise.

But this?

This was pure and convicted pain.

Blake had pressed his forehead back to the ground, wanting—pleading—for his body to accept defeat. But it wouldn't come. Not when he had been given the perfect opportunity to kill him.

To kill Armond.

A chain of events that followed—Willow's kidnapping, their closest lead being struck down and looted—not to mention that Hayes' state was up for debate.

"Hey, come on, let's get you up." Of course, Liam's words of consulting diplomacy went through one ear and out the other, especially when Ally was on the other side of him, helping him try to sit up.

Exhaustion had allowed them no trouble in moving him, but that is where he resisted the rest. The male was too short-sighted to truly feel the bottled water rushing down his throat, or the soothing arm trying to engage him further.

 "You don't understand..." he whispered, and that is when they all fell silent—yet Blake stared directly at Liam. "You don't fucking understand, none of you do! I promised Raven that I would kill him. H-how many times am I going to have to do this?! I was this close! Gods be damned! This fucking close, and I blew it!" he shouted, and Liam frowned, his own anger starting to spark forward.

"I don't understand?! You think I want to tell Sage that her mother is back with Armond?!"

 "Your mate is right there—healthy, alive, and well. She's never suffered through the Underground," he shot back, and Liam's chest inflated—Ally had no reason to be mixed into this conversation.

 "Leave her out of this."

 "Why? Does it upset you? Could you imagine your little mate in the same spot as Raven? As Sage? Hell, how about Willow? Where was that anger when we needed it, Liam!" Caleb had thrown in an arm of diplomacy, but remained silent as Blake was clearly working through his own thoughts.

 "You need to shut the hell up. I get you're upset and hurt, but you need to keep a level head." Blake spat up a bit of blood that had gathered in his mouth as he grinned ever so wide, his teeth stained red.

 "Who are you trying to be now, Liam? Fucking pathetic."

 "No one needs to be acting like a dick right now. You want to be useful—be useful. You want to grovel until the helicopter comes, be my fucking guest. Sage will be disappointed in you—" Blake growled lowly, issuing one of many warnings. But a calming hand had been placed on the former rogue's shoulder.

That being Carter.

"It's not worth it, cousin." His wolf recognized the family bond instantly, trying his best to take hold of it instead of the looming and dreaded thoughts surrounding him.

Plaguing him.

It was nearly worse when he could hear the phantom screams of Raven in the middle of the night.

The wolves here knew nothing of the tortures of a witch, that Blake had to make the decision of being there for Sage or returning to Ember Circle for Raven to heal.

No one understood.

And no one understood that the pain tripled with him not being there. That he wasn't there to soothe her worries and could only phone her once a day.

Today, he would have to explain that all did not end well, and he didn't want to face the reality of losing.

And he wouldn't.

On unsteady feet, the male had risen up, and the rest of the wolves eyed both him and Carter as the younger of the two did his best to talk him down. But otherwise, it was a losing battle.

It felt as though Liam had taken his eyes off Blake for a second before the damned male took off in fur toward the cavern. "BLAKE!" Liam roared, but it was left unheard as Blake was running on pure instinct to catch them.

The vampires, injured as they were, wouldn't be able to maneuver that many and that far. Perhaps he still had a chance, perhaps he would leave as a coward.

Perhaps—

Cousin! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!

Carter spoke quickly, but given that it was through the link, it caused Blake to turn his head over his shoulder to see the young Master of Arms hurrying to follow in pursuit.

In addition to two figures that he wasn't privy to answering to.

No. I'm going to finish this.

It's already finished! Let's just leave with our tails intact!

It was fair to assume that the younger of the two was scared, but Blake was scared for different reasons. One of them is Sage and Raven, but the other is himself.

How much longer could he bear the weight of so many living in the same shithole of a prison? He was thankful he didn't have to go inside, but even then, it meant that Liam had followed in pursuit of Alpha Remus.

He wouldn't admit that he was a coward, but after years of being on the run and being locked away—there was a finer version of the two, and he was living in it right now.

Blake Warren did not want to give that up for anything, and so he found the thinnest space between one side to the other and attempted the jump.

Only to be ripped directly back by the tail and thrown a decent way back. And upon finding out who had done this, a snarl formed.

Why would someone like Buck be the one to stop him?

Get out of my way.

"I can't do that. It's not worth it." Even with the big guy bleeding heavily across his chest, and with thorough bruising not only from today's battle but also from the recent treatment inside the now-burning facility, he stood firm.

None of the escapists had thought that freedom would come at this cost, but for some—it was worth it.

"Your mate will understand," he reminded, and Blake leaned forward—a hunter's pose—causing Buck to prepare himself. "Want to take out the anger? I understand, brother. I understand better than most. Do it."

The temptation was there, and Buck had been fully prepared to take it, but Blake knew better and shifted back into the position he had started his outburst in. Leaving Carter to come forward, much more cautious than the last time, and holding out the bottle of water.

Almost like a peace offering.

He took a swipe at it and didn't hesitate to drink a few gulps before dousing himself in the last few sips over his face, hoping it would help.

But it was a false search, and nothing about lukewarm water would sway his impending thoughts. His breathing took a while to settle, and he swiped away everyone who dared come forward.

The only person he trusted was on her way to a diffused coma—something he also did not want to say out loud.

However, when Buck's shadow cast over him, he groaned. "I could've kicked your ass," he growled, but Buck had fallen onto his own ass with a smirk. And given that the ground beneath them was already faulty at best, Blake flinched as though he felt another shift underneath him.

 "I believe you could. But going rogue right now is wasteful," Buck pushed, and Blake scoffed.

"Wasteful... wasteful. When's the last time you've seen the sun? Don't act like you know the kind of new hell you've woken up to." Buck leaned back and decided to take the moment to enjoy the very thing Blake had mentioned.

When was the last time he had been graced by the sun?

"It has been... a while," he whispered, and Blake shook off his snarl—his beast still fighting the urge to push forward, and he no doubt would be doing so up until the moment the extraction team came.

Instead, his eyes locked onto the figure of two males off in the distance. Even if he knew Sage was amongst them, he had never seen her feel so small.

Not after questioning the very boundaries that went along with being a Halliwell.

"The female Alpha... she will survive," Buck declared, but Blake rubbed his brow tiredly. "And the pup? Even witches aren't meant to practice magic at a minimum when carrying a child."

 "You know a lot about witches for being a wolf."

 "Raven is a witch." Blake answered easily, and Buck's eyes widened tenfold, but he nodded nonetheless. But what had that meant? Was he simply curious, or was he contemplating something more?

Blake wished he could put more thought into Buck, given that the male had helped him avoid the second biggest mistake of his life.

Minus killing his best friend's father.

"You are lucky the goddess has blessed you so kindly," he grumbled, and Blake allowed him the moment to close his eyes tightly and sigh. There was no use remaining angry—he needed to be strong for those who had fallen here.

He was thankful for being stopped, as he would have risked his son growing up without a father if things had gone south.

"And I'm acting like a fool." With the irritation starting to pick up at either side of his temple, he took his punishment with ease. Not wanting to come to the reality that he would have to apologize to numerous wolves on either side.

His cousin, for instance. 

"Thank you—both of you." Carter beamed brightly, kneeling back down and gesturing to another water. 

"It was either that or I have a feeling Alpha Sage would've killed us all for letting something happen to you after the fight," Carter reminded, but the commotion off on the opposite end caught the three's attention. And they were certainly in a much better territory than sitting beside fallen Draugr and vamps.

"Alistar! Come back down, it's finished!" Andrew shouted, and Blake whipped his head around to see where the male had shouted—but it wasn't all too difficult when the scaly beast let out a screech at the top of his lungs before swooping down.

The landing caused those standing to topple back to the ground. Clearly, the dragon was unmatched to those beneath him. However, when he returned to skin, his eyes scanned the field.

Liam had been the one, once again, to throw his hands up in a sense of surrender and no harm. A needed approach, given that the male's eyes were still his reptilian counterpart.

"Where is it?" Alistar growled, and Liam tilted his head and turned to his older brother. 

"Where is what?" Caleb followed with another question.

"The box—where is the box?!" It had been absolute panic as Alistar allowed his nose to guide him, though it led him to an empty space beside another tree.

Clearly, the box had been moved.

"T-they took it?!" he roared, and the flinch had been instant. However, the reptile had managed to make a sound so piercing it had a rather cruel effect on the wolves in the vicinity.

"We'll look for the box... Did you know what was inside it?" Liam offered. They were waiting for the helicopters and weren't prepared to leave anyhow—might as well put some hope into this male as well.

But it also laid into the part of hoping that they did find the box.

Alistar was silent as he walked through the dozens of combined bodies—all from different sides. Yet it had been a blessing to hear his victory cheer as he kneeled down beside a vampire. The small bits of ash that coated the male's fingers allowed a smile to grow on the dragon's face.

"Do... do they have the box?"
"They lost them. They're free." The quickened breaths were a sigh of relief, even if there was still reason to be wary—considering there was a fine line of smoke coming from each exhale.

Perhaps it was an oversight on Liam's part, but having everyone accounted for had been a blessing in itself. So he patted Alistar's shoulder and agreed. "They lost, and we're free."

He repeated it, as it was the truth in the end.

Armond hadn't won either.

______

Date: 05/01/26

Time: 7:00 PM

Words: 3100

Author's Note:

After every battle, there's the clean-up. And that is what I want to focus on in this story, when there is war, there is devastation, disasters.

Not everyone will be safe.

So now I ask you,
what do you think will happen in this story?

Drop your thoughts in the comments, I'm curious!

I'll give you a hint...

There will be a major death(s), sometime in the future, who will it/they be?