Rise of the Forbidden Luna

Chapter 33: Blood in the Trenches

The heavy engines of the military trucks roared like thunder, vibrating straight through the soles of my boots as the gray light of dawn broke over the mountains.

I stood flat on the command deck of the lead vehicle, the freezing morning wind whipping my hair across my face. I had refused to stay behind in the infirmary like a helpless victim while my life and future were being fought for on the borders. My temple still throbbed with a dull ache from the penthouse ambush, but my kickass instincts completely took over. I was a fighter, and I was going to take my revenge on Richard and his pack members.

Right beside me stood Alpha King Ethan, looking like a terrifying god of war. His dark armor gleamed in the dim light, and his gold-flecked eyes were completely locked onto the distant border of Alpha Richard’s pack.

"They are waiting for us in the trenches, My Lord," Beta Thomas shouted over the roaring engines, his hand resting on his weapon.

"Let them wait," Ethan hissed, his voice dropping into a low, terrifying growl that turned the very air freezing cold. "They crossed my borders. They tried to take my mate. I will not leave a single stone standing in their territory today."

The moment our front-line vehicles slammed into their border gates, the entire valley violently exploded into chaos.

The sky darkened with a massive rain of silver arrows as thousands of Richard's warriors lunged forward from the muddy trenches, their monstrous wolf roars deafening.

"Aria, stay back!" Thomas yelled, drawing his sword.

But I was already moving. Two massive enemy enforcers leaped straight onto our command deck, baring their fangs. The lead wolf recognized my face instantly and sneered, "There she is! The Alpha's traitor daughter! Grab her and drag her back to Alpha Richard!"

"In your dreams!" I screamed fiercely.

I didn't cower or step back. Utilizing my martial arts training, I ducked sharply beneath his heavy claw swipe, pivoting on my heels with absolute precision. I drove my elbow directly into his ribs with a sickening crack, breaking the bone instantly and using his own heavy momentum to throw him right off the iron railing of the vehicle. The second attacker lunged, trying to grab my wrists, but my inner wolf howled in pure vengeance inside my mind. I swiped a fallen silver blade off the deck floor, twisting my body mid-air to slice deeply through his shoulder before burying the hard hilt right into his chest. He collapsed to the floor, coughing up dark crimson blood.

But Alpha Richard's Army was massive, and a sudden, brutal ambush of four more giant warriors rushed toward my blind spot from the muddy side trenches. They had spears, and they were aiming directly for my torso.

Before their weapons could even graze my clothes, a deafening, blood-curdling roar tore through the sky. It was a sound so primeval and packed with absolute madness that the entire battlefield fell completely silent for a fraction of a second.

Ethan leaped completely mid-air from the command deck, his towering body fully transforming into his monstrous, giant Lycan form before his feet even touched the mud. His eyes flashed a pitch-black amber, filled with pure protective madness.

With supernatural, terrifying speed, Ethan snatched two of the warriors by their throats, his huge claws clamping down before he ruthlessly tore them completely apart mid-air in a horrific shower of blood. The remaining attackers tried to scramble backward into the trenches in paralyzed terror, but Ethan was an unchained demon. He lunged forward into the mud, snapping limbs, crushing skulls, and painting the entire battlefield trenches in a thick layer of enemy blood to shield my space. The war had officially begun, and the front lines were completely drowning in crimson.