Rise of the Forbidden Luna

Chapter 35: Into the Forbidden Mountains

The freezing mountain wind howled like a dying beast, whipping thick blankets of heavy white snow across the iron windshield of the command vehicle as our massive vanguard rolled deep into the Forbidden Mountains.

I sat firmly inside the armored passenger cabin, my eyes locked onto the pitch-black obsidian peaks looming ahead through the blinding blizzard. The dull ache in my temple had completely vanished, replaced by a cold, unyielding tide of pure adrenaline rushing through my veins. Behind our lead truck, the synchronized roar of 10,000 heavily armored Lycan soldiers marching through the deep snow drifted through the glass panels. Every single warrior carried a sharpened silver blade and heavy artillery spears, their aggressive alpha lines cutting through the frozen air like a wall of iron. We were a storm marching directly into a nightmare.

Right beside me on the leather console sat Alpha King Ethan, his towering frame completely radiating a freezing, terrifying cloud of pure Alpha fury.

His hands were anchored tightly over the iron steering wheel, his jaw set into a lethal mask of stone as his gold-flecked eyes drilled into the white-out mountains ahead. His territorial instincts had completely snapped. He didn't know about the secret quadruplets currently growing in my womb, and he didn't know that my mother's soul was trapped in Limbo, but he knew Alpha Richard had tried to murder his mate inside his own bedroom, and for that, he was ready to dismantle a mountain.

"The snow is growing too thick for the armor trucks, My Lord," Beta Thomas's deep voice broadcasted sharply through the tactical radio receiver on the dashboard. "The front-line tracking scouts are losing the scent. If we advance any further on wheels, we risk a catastrophic valley ambush from Richard’s men."

"Order the vanguard to dismount," Ethan growled back into the communicator, his baritone voice dropping into a low, demonic vibration that turned the blood in my veins to absolute ice. "We advance on foot. If Richard thinks the mountain storm will protect his neck today, he is a fool. Track the scent of that dark witchcraft magic, it burns hotter than any wolf's blood."

"Understood, My Lord. Dismounting now," Thomas replied fiercely, and the radio clicked off into static.

Ethan slammed the vehicle into park, turning his gaze toward my pale face. His large hands reached out smoothly, his fingers gently yet unyieldingly trapping my jaw to force me to look right into the dark madness of his eyes. The white-hot, electric shockwave of skin-to-skin touch exploded through my skin, his dominant cedar-and-ash scent instantly conquering the small cabin space.

"You stay directly behind me Aria," Ethan said softly, his thumb tracing the curve of my bottom lip with a fierce, possessive claim that turned my knees to water. "The scout said they are trying to shatter the veil to raise an un-killable army from the Land of the Dead. If those phantoms crawl out of the earth tonight, your silver blade will not be enough to shield your life. Do you understand me? Do not play the hero. Do not leave my side."

"I am marching with you into those mountains, Ethan," I shot back defiantly, my blue eyes drilling right back into his amber gold waves as I flatly pressed my palms against his hard chest armor, refusing to bow to his authority. This is my fight, I'll be damned if I let you fight this war alone.

A dark, slow-burning smirk touched the corners of his chiseled mouth at my unyielding stubbornness, before he released my jaw and threw the vehicle door open, stepping directly out into the roaring blizzard.

I followed him instantly, my boots sinking deep into the freezing, blood-slicked mud of the lower mountain pass as the 10,000 royal soldiers formed a massive perimeter ring around our positions. The mountain view was breathtaking. High above us on the frozen cliffs, ancient obsidian arches cut through the gray clouds, the gateway to the Forbidden Mountain altar.

Suddenly, a violent, unnatural jolt rattled the entire mountain foundations, a massive shockwave of black energy blasting down from the peaks that made my inner wolf howl in absolute, paralyzed agony inside my mind.

The gray sky violently fractured, turning an eerie, bruised shade of crimson and violet neon light as thick, dark smoke began to bleed directly out of the stone trenches ahead. The temperature plunged below zero in a fraction of a second, the heavy scent of ozone and ancient death flooding my lungs. My heart violently stumbled against my ribs as the realization hit me like a physical blow.

The Eye of Aethelgard had just been activated. The veil was tearing open right in front of our eyes, and the first skeletal, glowing shadows of the undying warriors were beginning to crawl out of the black trenches, their phantom swords gleaming in the dark. We weren't just marching into a rival pack's territory anymore–we had officially broken through the gates of hell itself, and the real war to save my mother's soul, to secure my babies' future was starting right now.