It had come in the dead of night, silent and unexpected.

The Sabor Tooth pack had been ill-prepared for such a dangerous attack.

The wolves had been so focused on the prophecy and the looming war ahead, they had lacked sight of the danger that loomed closer to home. A threat that had plagued them for centuries, having never given up on eradicating them from the land.

It had begun unexpectedly with fire erupting in homes and people being dragged through the air. Spears being thrown and blood trails following.

Screams resounded across Snake's Canyon.

A pregnant woman and a child sat cornered by three witches. The pup let out whimpers while the mother attempted to remain strong despite her various wounds.

A growl emerged from behind them as a brunette girl came out of the shadows.

"Leave them alone. Pick on someone your own size!" The girl said as she leaped through the air and shifted as she landed in front of them.

She was prepared to go down fighting for them.

Amongst the blood shed, reinforcements had shown up to aid the pack in their time of need.

The Lunar Eclipse pack lived just north-east of them and had heard their howls travel through the chilly night air. It had taken no longer than an hour to reach Snake's Canyon and their orders had been clear.

All four packs had a truce that in times of need, they would battle alongside one another like allies. The survival of their species outweighed any disagreements.

As much as Ryker hated it, he was the wolves' King and all would lay down their lives for him and his son, Ryder.

Many years ago, when their Luna had perished, the Alpha had given most of the political decisions over to the Luna, Lylian, of the Lunar Eclipse pack to handle affairs while he stayed in Snake's Canyon to raise Ryder.

It had been so long that he had hardly considered them the royal family anymore. They had seen more peace over the years than ever before for simply stepping away from war.

However, this did not stop the occasional battle in attempt to wipe them out completely.

The Witches always knew that in order to truly win, they must hit them where it hurts - destroying the heart of the Lunar Territories.

It had not escaped their knowledge that the true heart was their Prince heir.

Without Ryder, all would be lost.

Amongst the battle, the young prince was busy helping the women and children evacuate to the nearest pack for safety.

But what truly gnawed at him was that his mate was in the battle field, doing what she did best - fight like a barbarian.

It was hard to stay focused when he knew that if she was lost, he would be too. Their lives were now tied together by the bond and they were stronger together than apart.

"Hey Parker, take over. I'm gonna join the warriors and fight like hell for us."

"But we have to keep you safe," the other boy replied in a haste.

"Without them, there will be no pack to lead. I must save them."

"And who will save you?" The young medic replied, uncertainty plastered on his face.

Ryder only grinned in response before shifting and taking off at full speed.

He could find her by her scent alone.

It was no surprise when he caught her tussled with a witch in wolf form.

The brunette boy smiled softly, feeling proud that it looked like she was winning too.

Not far from Alisa, Cora close by engaged in her own battle.

Ryder knew he must save them both and the rest of the pack before more lives were lost. As Cora was closer, he charged at her attacker with his teeth out.

It took but a moment to catch the witch off guard, injuring the man fatally. The witch fell to the floor with a cry of anguish. A triumphant glint appeared in Ryder's eyes as he watched the witch crawl away as fast as he had come.

'Thank you,' Cora's words fluttered through his head with the mind link.

'Go help the rest. We mustn't lose or they'll find new holes to poke at.'

Within a flash, Cora's gorgeous white-brown wolf had sped off.

Ryder turned back to where Alisa had been but she was nowhere to be seen.

'Alisa?' He shouted over the mind link, desperate to hear she was okay.

As he looked around frantically, he couldn't see much more darkness and small flickers of fire surrounding him.

This has been the most calculated attack in months. It was almost like they had insider knowledge of how bare the perimeters had been lately and how they had lacked in keeping their security up.

As he ran deeper into the battlefield, he still couldn't make out the survivors to the enemies. Things were starting to look bleak.

'Alisa!'

'Get out of my head,' her annoyed reply came gritted, 'I'm trying to win here.'

As soon as her voice fluttered through his mind, he had breathed a sigh of relief and turned to see her dodging fire balls.

He really did hate when the witches used magic to gain the upper hand. But unlike most wolves, it was almost like Alisa could anticipate each move as it came.

While the witch was distracted, eyes focussed on his mate, Ryder used this as a chance to even the playing field a little more.

Using the full force of his midnight-black wolf, he'd barrelled right into the other girl, knocking her clean off her feet.

"Oh," the witch said as she hit the floor before looking up with a glare.

Ryder came to stand beside Alisa's pure white wolf and the two of them barred their teeth back with a low growl.

"It'll just be more fun to char the fur of both of you," she replied with taunt while smirking.

Ryder growled once more in warning.

Nobody touched his mate.

Before he could properly comprehend what was happening, a spell was thrown at Alisa, knocking her back off her legs. It seemed to pierce one of them, causing her to howl out in pain.

Ryder was distracting her, allowing their opponent to get a clean hit in.

His eyes turned red as anger simmered to the surface and before he knew it, he had knocked over the witch and began biting ferociously into her neck.

The only way to end this was death.

He did not care how he looked in the moment only that his mate would be safe once he was done.

It was several moments later before Alisa's real voice reached his ears, "That's enough! She's long dead now. Everyone has retreated."

Ryder looked up and around, noticing that the sun was now peaking through the mountains, illuminating the charred buildings and their dead laying forgotten on the grass.

His heart pulled at the sight, having lost so many in one night was devastating.

As he stood up, he quickly shifted back, not caring he was covered in the enemy's blood. He finally looked over at his mate, locking eyes with her.

Alisa had an unreadable expression on her face.

This was the reality of battle - it never brought out the good side of people.

"Ryder, come here. Are you hurt?"

Saved by his father's protective nature.

Ryder wasn't quite ready to face his mate and talk about what had just happened. The beast he had tried so hard to keep locked up, had emerged in his blind rage.

With a sigh, he shook his head as he murmured,"I am fine, dad."

"You're covered in blood," commented Alpha Ryker.

"It's not mine," he gruffly replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"You should not have been on the battlefield at all. You know the rules. Protect those who can't protect themselves," his father replied angrily.

"Parker had their evacuation handled. I needed to be here, fighting for our people."

As Ryder said those words, his heart sank once more. They had lost good people only hours ago. Their deaths would leave a hole in the pack's heart.

"Who were they?" Ryder asked, staring up at his father.

"Circle of the Silver Flame," Ryker replied sighing, a frown atop of his face.

"Their idea was to weaken us before the great war comes. They're afraid and all they know right now is that we are the enemy."

"There's a war coming, and they wish to thin their own armour just as ours. We cannot survive this war fighting amongst each other like barbarians," Ryder replied, shaking his head in anger.

"We should be coming together not fighting. The witch heir was right. This war will come for us all. We need to stop this if we all want to come out on the other side of it alive."

Alpha Ryker took a moment to breathe, listening to the wise words of his son.

"Every witch is out for themselves. Even the witch heir. We must protect ourselves if we hope to survive. Forget the mad man's words," he slowly commented, staring at his beloved son.

The young witch heir cannot help them anymore than he can help himself.

"We will take refuge in the Eclipse Dominion for now with our people. We will regroup and think of whats to come next." He continued and the order left no room for argument.

A beautiful dark skinned woman with silver hair approached them with a small smile. She was the Luna of the Lunar Eclipse pack, having joined them in battle to show her loyalty and allegiance to the crown.

Despite the time that had passed, and her comfortability helping rule the Lunar Territories, she was ready for their king to finally return just in time for the war beginning.

They were going to need to be united now more than ever.

"We will gladly welcome you to our territory, King Ryker for you to use as you see fit."