* * *

The weight of the word was treated differently for the entirety of the mix-match group. Those who were under Master's sadistic torture had never truly met the male, only remained on the receiving end of his orders.

But it was the witches that looked downright pale at the thought of it all. 

No, this was a death sentence, and Willow did not hesitate to rush into the fray and take hold of the traitor's cloak.

Even soaked in blood and seeing her struggle to manage a simple breath.

"You're making a mistake mistress! We're bound to him." She croaked, and Willow managed to berated her, as if disciplining a small child. Knowing full well that the vampire wouldn't have known, but now it had unlocked a new enemy—One that started to emerge between the tree lining and funneling through the better half of the building.

"Fuck, what do we do?" Andrew called out, and Blake turned to look at the former Alpha Rogue with a sad smile. 

Had that witch all but confirmed their death?

"I don't know about you, but I'm sick of my mate waking up at night thinking that he will be looking for her again." It wasn't the promise that scared Sage as she inched closer to the plotting group, it was the demand to see Master in the flesh.

"Blake—"

"We have to end this sometime, and what better way when we have a good hold of different kinds? Hell, we have a goddamn Dragon. We can do something!" Alastair had picked up his head in attention, but the male seemed much too occupied with the canister in his arms than bringing anything useful to the group.

"No, we don't. We have our wolves, a bunch of kids, and a goddamn handful of hurt males and females. We can't ask them to fight!" Chase hurried, but as the howls had confirmed the Dragur's arrival, there had been a sequence of nods and growls.

"We will stand with you." The Bear twins claimed, their eyes turning to their beastly counterparts as they snarled in opposite directions of one another. And while that would be decent help, it did not sanction a win.

Not when Sage could feel the beating pulse of the incoming numbers.

"Lots of Dragur coming..." She whispered, eyeing the injured numbers and wondering if there was anything she could do to separate them from the attacking few.

"How many are we talking about, Sage?" Remus questioned, and the group bustled for ideas and opinions. It was Remus' attention to Blake that startled him, given that the male had dropped down to open his bag.

"What the hell is that?"
"Torin didn't leave us completely defenseless. Raven and I were working on it but didn't want to risk testing it out...Nows the perfect chance to—"

"To what?! We have too much at stake to run an experiment right now, Blake!" The General frowned, knowing that his Alpha was feeling drained, but this was something they couldn't prepare for. "You have a better fucking idea?"

It frustrated the Alpha to no end that Blake's title and blood were starting to amount to the position where he could theoretically test the limits.

The vials in his hands were one option, as were the dozens of wolves that were formally imprisoned that were now snapping at the temptation to get some much-needed payback.

"One of the scientists said that the Vampire will be here at night...How long does that mean?" Liam questioned, but Willow didn't know the answer to reply to him. So she simply offered a sad smile as she looked up to meet Hayes' stressful gaze.

We need to keep an open link with everyone here, witches will stay with Sage and Willow. They're the most defenseless right now.

Hayes declared, and in the matter of waiting for the first attack, Sage turned to the very tree that she had been stationed at for the past hour.

"I make hut. We will stay in hut and hide away." She responded, and it seemed to make the witches a little more at ease. Though it took a few pitiful glances from Willow's coven to understand that they were theoretically useless.

Remus, I'm staying with Willow. Whatever Sage builds we'll hunker down in, we don't know how many will be called.

With an idea in place, Sage hurried forward to the tree that would serve the purpose, and in placing her hands back onto its trunk, she hummed and allowed the pulse to take over and extend.

However, a hand had been placed firmly onto her shoulder—She didn't need to break contact with her connection to know that it was her mother attempting to help, as well as the little magic that the rest of the Nymphs could attempt to conjure up, weak as they are.

The branches of the tree had been called forward, extending and overlapping to the point of creating a circle around the excluded population—In addition to Hayes and Cameron, who had been pushed by his brothers to stay out of things.

"Is that the plan, we stay in a big bush? What if they start attacking?" Cameron asked. Yet his question had only caused the mother and daughter duo to look to one another in temptation, and either had placed a hand back to the trunk and allowed a few of the layers to whip its branches to those starting to snoop far too close for comfort.

Hayes, who had sighed in contentment to see how well the two were working together, had almost felt guilty in leaving the rest out to fend for themselves, again.

But there was no part of him or his wolf that would allow him to be separated from Willow.

On the outside, however, things were not what one would expect when the name had been called—No. This was worse.

Whatever beings had been left from the Underground were now funneling their way forward, both in skin and fur. But as everyone had suggested, they work as one being.

And for the newly acquired members of said defense, that was starting to become problematic. Especially considering that not everyone was at peak performance.

Though Remus had to admit, having Buck on their side had changed things indefinitely. The male didn't hesitate to punt a wolf to the side of the building, offering a crack.

The Dragon, on the other hand, would simply blow a stream of fire if any Dragur came too close for his and the remained injuries' comfort.

There was no method to their madness, not when the waves were starting to become overwhelming—Even with the Crimson, Moon Ridge, Half Crescent, and Crescent numbers—This was starting to take a turn for the worst.

Remus, who had returned to skin to be able to pry off a wolf off Liam, he managed to throw the Dragur to tumble into another that was starting to give Blake trouble.

Their plan was not working, not when there seemed to be an infinite number of these soldiers—And the rescue team was still unrested from the days of traveling.

"Goddess, what have we uncovered?" Remus choked, but there was no time to comprehend it all, not when a new wave of reinforcements started to weave through—Looking for a target to kill.

We're going to lose stamina before we make a dent in this, Rem. Do we have any other options?

Andrew called out, but Remus hadn't a clue where the male was in the sea of fighting bodies.

Blake! Whatever fucking concoction you have with you, do it.

Sir, it's untested and it's supposed to be—

Do it!

With the order in place, Blake had called for a retreat towards the crafted tree hut and allowed the group to have a bit of distance.

With Blake hovering over his bag with Liam and Caleb, as well as Grey and Chase—The four had managed to secure and shake the damnable vials.

"Blake! Hurry up!" Andrew roared, though it did allow for Alastor to keep the better half at bay, as neither wanted to fool around with fire.

Especially when it was conjured at a beast's will.

But that seemed to be the perfect addition to the device in their hands. "Think of them as Molotovs, let it light and throw it into the crowd." He called out, and Alastor had managed to light a rather quick flame, working with rather than against.

As the few had thrown the devices, spreading them out accordingly—It had started to enact, almost like a firework. The cackling flames had taunted and gained the Dragur's attention, only to become swarmed by the spreading white dust that was taking over their sight and lungs.

With the half a dozen had been spread out through the crowd and covered a fair percentage, it still did not look all too futile. Not when the Alpha of the group was panting so heavily already.

"Rem—" Andy whispered out, his eyes entirely locked onto the effect of said potion—poison—whatever.

"We hold. We need to hold." Remus repeated, even if he was holding the very fear that was lurking around the rest of the pack on defense.

It became utterly clear, that a reality that no one wanted to admit to was possibly on the horizon.

If they lost, if they surrendered, they would welcome a fate worse than death.

No, it wasn't an option. It couldn't be an option.

Liam felt it in his bones, the promise he gave his parents and Luke. If he didn't return home, if everyone here didn't manage to return—Then what would be the point?

Was any of this worth it?

Doubt had spread wildly—As did the amount of unsanctioned rage. Liam and the rest of Crescent Moon could still feel their Luna.
Not as potently, but it was difficult to ignore.

The same went for Half Crescent, though the idea of an heir was swirling through their minds.

Yet the tides began to turn as both Sage's enacted tree began to whip any newcomers who believed they could manage a sneak attack through the back of their defenses.

Sage was doing all she could—All she was allowed to do.

However, a sudden shift had begun to take the battlefield—as an uncontrollable cough had spread through the crowd of Dragur—"Don't breathe it in!" Blake shouted. Though it did little to help the situation at hand. Not when each time a being inhaled a breath, it would enhance and spread further through the air and be much more potent than the last.

Permeating the air, just as it was designed to do.

With the crowd slowing down and starting to collapse, things had made a move for the better. So much so that both Sage and Willow had come forward to take a proper peek.

Yet the moment they had become fully visible to the outsiders, a chanting hum began to cover over the cough. It filled the air with such a massive amount of weight that even Buck was starting to twitch at the chant.

And goddess, the look of utter despair on Willow's face spoke it all. Leaving Blake to roar out his own struggles, as he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that they were summoning that damned vampire.

However foolish the former Rogue had turned, he went into the fray with hardly a mouth covering to protect himself. And in a moment of fear for his cousin, Carter followed in pursuit—Two males of the same bloodline had fought back to back in an attempt to stop the chant from finishing.

It was an unspoken movement that the defense had turned offensive, but it didn't seem to matter—Not when the combined power of the Dragur had sparked a wave of dark smoke to appear at their feet, leaving Blake's final movements to end in defeat as a male in a dark tight fitted cloak turned to face his opponent and began to laugh. 

His languid movements had bounced off one another as he pulled aside his hood.

"Love—You shouldn't be out." The male cooed, and in a moment of weakness on the wolves part, he had risen his hands to summon the rest of his coven.

Remus had turned over towards Sage, wanting proper confirmation that this is the male that haunted every fiber of her being. 

The young female had begun to shake at the memories coming forward, the hatred coursing through her veins—It was easy to accept this type of violence, but with the changing of her eyes and her sweet scent starting to linger with its burning desire to fight, it was all Remus needed to redirect his hatred.

Yet it was Andrew who whirled around just in time to catch Sage before she had whisped closer the bastard.

"Armond..." Sage spat, and that certainly caught the unwanted attention of the bloodsuckers who growled their distaste for the utter disrespect.

But she did not care, no, the rage was still soaring wildly and nearly doubled when Armond locked his gaze onto her as well.

"I told you...We were going to see each other soon, didn't I?"

______

Date: 09/23/23

Time: 10:13

Words: 2311

Author's Note:

Welcome to the final phase of this book, Blood Moon.

One final chapter to wrap up everything, but this has been a battle that's long overdue.

I do apologize for not posting last night, I was exhausted and I'm in the process of changing careers so please bear with me during this time.

Anywho, any predictions for Monday's chapter?

I will also be adding the spot for the story's cover and blurb following the final update, however, with the rewrite in process, I don't think the summary I have will match. So I'll hold off on that.

The end is nearing sooner than we like, but so much can happen.

Now then, I hope you all have a fantastic rest of your weekend and I'll see you Monday!