* * *

"Maeve, stop!" Sage tried to order, but the stubborn female had managed to disobey the order—Continuing on to her attack until Noah had caught the female's neck and twisted.

A solidifying set of cracks had signified her fate as her body had been tossed to the side. In addition to the pointless attack that a Swift tail member had done to finish the job.

"N-no!" Sage roared, unable to move from her position much more than she had already. With Maeve's attempt to distract the Alpha, Sage hadn't used it properly to get away, and instead, stayed planted and gritted her teeth.

She would hold out, and she smiled in delight to see the deranged Alpha who had killed her former Delta female come to stalk towards her.

Or would have, had a black wolf completely tackled Alpha Noah. Doing exactly what Maeve had tried to do, and Sage watched in awe as the wolf took the initiative to completely mutilate the male

Crawling as best she could to get a better look, the first glance had warmed her heart at the familiar figure of a family member. "Papa?" She questioned, but it didn't pertain to the wolf's interest. Instead, it continued its task of making the male unrecognizable to the general public.

Once she managed to rise on unsteady feet, Sage made her way at a stumbling pace toward a female that she should have been able to save.

Instead, she fell down to her knees and pulled aside Maeve's hair. Tears streamed down the likes of her cheeks at taking in the female's figure.

It had been slain, there was no amount of blood that could bring a wolf from the dead. Not that she had ever tried before, that is, but with no pulse to be found, Sage leaned forward to swipe Maeve's eyes closed.
"You fight strong, you fight well...Thank you." Sage blessed, tipping herself down to place her forehead to her stomach and sniffling—The chaos was still swirling around her, and nobody knew what was happening. Or perhaps Swift Tail had more morals than she had assumed.

However, when she turned from Maeve's body with another sniffle, she had come face to face with the wolf who had saved her; And the sight was anything but pretty.

She recognized the handy work soon enough, as the sight before she looked more or less like the remains of Alex.
The male she had killed when she first escaped the Underground.

Having inched closer, she established enough noise for the wolf to look to her side, huffing in response to a greeting that Sage could only smile at. This was not her fight but her wolf's takedown.

"Thank you." She whispered out, bowing her head slightly to appease her beast. Which only caused the furry pup to wiggle forward with a rush of excitement, and what would've been an adorable moment had been separated as Andy kicked Sage's wolf far beyond a normal punt.

"What—What did you do?!" She shrieked, grimacing as her quick moment caused a spike in her arm to reappear. Andy had been far too close to a shift that he simply bent down on one knee and cast his own judgment on her appearance.

A few bruises, cuts, and scraps—But it was the arm that surely caught the most attention, and when he looked further, he caught a bite that more or less showed a chunk of her bone.

Yet when he looked to the body she had been beside, he sucked in a troubled breath—It hadn't mattered if he liked Maeve or not, any death of the pack was a devastation.

And his wolf would surely feel it once things subsided.

The growl of anger for all that's happened had been responded to with a matched octave, and he turned towards the sound without hesitation. "No, don't fight her..." Sage whispered, her free and undamaged arm coming closer to soothe his own burns.
The chains did more damage than she thought.

"Don't? Sage, it's the last—"
"That's my wolf...She popped out." Sometimes Sage hardly made any sense but taking into consideration that the things happening to her made absolutely no sense either, it was the same to believe it to be true. Andy tilted his head down to the stalking beast, and sure enough, it responded the same with a slightly less taunting gesture as she pranced forward.

"Alright...Status? How is everyone?" Andy shouted just as he wrapped an arm around Sage, there were a few shouts that held signs of injuries, but once the witches came from their hiding spots of attack, they were all set to be nurtured and cared for.

From the links, it was clear that the party that was heading over towards the bear cave had been intercepted—Though very easily fought through them all, whatever Noah's plan had been truly didn't hold out.

Instead, Andy made the executive decision alongside Severin and Grey that it was time to evacuate.

He didn't venture far from Sage's position on a rock while a witch was binding her arm to her chest, nor did Sage's wolf travel move far from her side.
If anything, the beast was sitting there gazing at the crowd much like her human counterpart, and the smile instigated just the same as he was caught in their line of sight.

"Why is my wolf outside my body? I don't understand," Sage asked Leah after downing another potion for the pain. And the potion mistress simply shrugged.
"She knew you were in trouble and needed to come out. Nyx will do the same sometimes when she wants a clearer view...I think it's because Alpha Andy needed both your witch and your wolf." It was a revelation to hear, but the act of either mirroring one another was slightly creepy—Though the male that both she and her wolf were starting to trust, was starting to accept his presence.

"You okay?" He whispered, as she was looking down at the makeshift cast—It earned him a huff.
"Yeah, I'm okay. We're going to bear cave now?"
"Hm, I'm going to put my bag in yours...You hop on my back, alright?"
"I'm okay to run." She said, but it was clear that she was in no way, shape, or form able to do so.

"Sage. I'm not arguing with you today. I have a lot of us to make sure we make it safely. The last thing I need is for you to fall behind and make this worse, so you're going to hop on my back—We're walking anyway." He said, giving a small grace around the area to see that everyone left over was in rough shape.

He couldn't imagine how the other half of his pack looked, but in the undercover of the moonlight, it dawned on him then and there...All the work and his new lifetime commitment had brought him was destroyed, and the male who had done so was a mess ready for the morning's birds to feast on him.

It was daunting and eating at his mind, so when Sage's soft touch to his hand graced his, he melted. He bent down further and curved his head down to meet her shoulder, it was a submissive pose, but nobody would say a word in looking to their mate for support.

"Are you okay?" A small huff had shown his amusement, his eyes managing to come up from a moment as he smiled against her skin. "I'm alright."

"Nothing hurts?" He hummed in recognition of her caring voice, but when she sunk in his hold in return caused him to squeeze. Granted, it hurt, but nothing was calming his anger more than her presence.

"Liar." She whispered, starting to find a proper way to sit on his back, but it was difficult with the way he was buckling—There were only ever a few things that escaped her notice, and one of the biggest ones was a sense of humor and most of Jackson's jokes.

But she knew well enough that Andy's laughter was not because he thought of something funny. It was because he was laughing at her. So she settled it with a growl.

"Keep laughing and I'll walk to Bear Cave." She threatened. Andy did not want to deal with stubborn Sage and thus continued onward—Collecting all they could from the wreckage before they began to shift. Those who couldn't, found a back to ride on.

Andy had shifted just a few feet away from where Sage was sitting on the stump, laying on his stomach to make it easier, considering her height didn't match his.

She wrapped her thighs tightly against his back and attempted to lean forward, hoping to get a better grip that way. But her hiss instantly caused his head to shoot back either way to get a better look.

What happened? Did I—

"Nothing wrong. I just can't lie down. My fault. You're okay, we have to go to Bear Cave...Everyone ready?" She called out, and sure enough, the light trek through the woods in the undercover of darkness had left the group on high alert.

They still had a few miles between them and those that had escaped prior, but they had been ordered to go ahead towards the rondevur point—Decided last minute, considering Andy hadn't realized how late it was already getting.

It was pointless for them to wait around.

The late October air greeted them harshly, which caused Sage to wrap herself further into her bear's skin. That good-for-nothing Alpha Noah had managed to rip her bear fur, and while Andy teased her—Claiming she loved it more than she loved him.

It earned him a huff and a forceful cuddly up into his fur, stroking her free hand and always ready to tug at the off chance she was going to fall.

This section had been eager to make it to the bear cave, but they had to stop constantly due to injuries and a quick nap to settle their healing beasts. The link connection was easy to keep in touch with, but it still didn't change the fact that there was still disorder.

Andy feared that at any moment, a pack member would turn, but those who were originally in Black Crescent hadn't looked at all malicious—If anything, they doted on their Luna, or mistress, as Elena reminded him of Sage's status.

How're you holding up, hun?

"I'm...Tired." Was all she whispered out, her breath hot on his fur. However, when he caught the slight tickle of liquid, he made an abrupt stop and lowered himself down.

Grey, take her off...I think she's bleeding through the bandages.

Nobody had wasted any time, and it had been a miracle that Andy had checked in when he had—Sage's body was not healing like a proper wolf, and it caused the witches to bustle around with the supplies that they had to make a stronger bind.

The Alpha had no issue in just holding her, but seeing the damage just air out was giving him the desperate urge to lick it. His wolf rumbled in approval of the idea, but he remained still, the witches knew what they were doing.

Both Grey and Chase had looked at the situation with uneasy stares. They cared deeply about their Luna, of course, but seeing their Alpha and friend so distorted over her being injured was worse than they could ever imagine.

With plenty of water to clean it thoroughly, Leah sighed once she realized what was happening. "Sir, it's irritated...If it stays like this, it'll likely get infected. Witches are prone to illnesses, and I—We need to hurry to the camp. I don't have the right herbs to make a potion here." But the potion mistress thought for a moment. Surely she could fly there and return within the hour?

Andy looked down to see his mate, only then catching the smell of her injury rose up to his nose. How could he not have known that before?

Cleaning it wasn't the issue, and with Leah on the way to gather up the supplies—The rest of the witches made sure that Sage was comfortable and drank other tonics. One to stop the bleeding, and another to give her no pain.

However, that didn't stop her from sweating up a storm. Or crying at the prospect at all they lost.

Lycia had watched from a given ways away. She hardly had any knowledge about the world of medicine—No, she was a defender of her coven. But an idea sparked in her as she lowered down her dagger and came forward to the couple.

"She needs blood. We can't wait for Leah and her tonics." The witch bustled, offering up the knife to the male in question. But he flinched at the idea. "You want me to give her my blood?"

"I've seen wolves do it before, especially Alphas. The prosperities will help her heal, and I think it couldn't hurt her any more than she's feeling right now." She said, her eyes trained on the mended wound. But Andy had looked at her as though she suggested a satanic ritual. This was not what he wanted for her.

His blood was toxic.

"I can't...I don't know what they did to me back in—I can't." He repeated, clutching her further to his chest. His skin instantly caught the drops of sweat she was producing.

"And she has the same if not more. I can't confirm that she'll even make it to the cave with the rest of our pack. Alpha, please, think about it." The desperation of the eyes around him settled his decision. He opened his palm to allow Lycia to do the honors.

Close to instantly it caused Sage's nose to twitch in reaction. The small sniffles tickled his bare skin. He offered his palm, and Sage had accounted on the account to heal him, but in the distraction of that, he offered his other palm in order to place a few droplets onto her open wound itself.

Andy closed his eyes, trying to calm his nerves and worries, trying to remember that he wasn't only doing this for her, for himself—But for the pups of hers back in Crescent Moon.

He needed to be careful, more careful than he's been already.

He took a blood oath, her made a promise, one that was as deadly as the attack that Alpha Noah had managed.

He sighed, kissing her forehead in his own sense of desperation, and prayed that the blood would take. However, for the time being, it wasn't safe to travel, not yet at least.
Not when Sage's shallow breaths were catching everyone's attention.

______

Date: 06/14/24

Time: 11:02 (oh my gosh, don't mind me posting so late)

Words: 2591

Author's Note:

About 15 chapters left of the rewrite!

I'm not sure how long my hiatus will be once this book is marked as complete, but it won't be as long as the three months it usually takes between one book to the next (at least I hope it wont).

In the meantime, I think I'm on the last few chapters of The Luna of Crescent Moon, and I think this next content will be a fun read, once I get the chance and edit through.

It needs a lot, since I wrote the beginning around the same time as Blue Moon, and picked it back up while writing the few chapters of Grey Hallow.

I'd say my writing improved a little bit during that two/three year time jump.

Also, I'm debating if I should post the first chapter to Grey Hallow, just to not keep everyone in the dark for as long as I have.

Anywhoooo, that's my thought process, now, I'll see you next week for chapter 31!