Chapter 23: At the Gates
326 Words
The gates of Blackthorn trembled under the impact.
Maya stood on the battlements beside Kade and Caelen, watching as the Blood Fang army gathered below. A hundred wolves in human form, all wearing the black sigil of the Blood Fang on their chests. At their front stood Alpha Darius, tall and cruel, with a smile that promised pain.
“Send out the girl,” Darius shouted, his voice amplified by magic. “Give us the Blackwood heir, and we spare the rest of you.”
Murmurs ran through the Blackthorn warriors lining the walls.
Maya stepped forward, gripping the stone ledge until her knuckles went white. “I’m not hiding anymore.”
Kade grabbed her arm. “Don’t. They want you alone. That’s exactly what we can’t give them.”
“Then we give them a fight,” Maya said, turning to face him. “They’re not getting me without going through all of us.”
Caelen’s lips quirked. “I like her.”
Kade sighed, but there was pride in his eyes. “Fine. But you stay behind me.”
Darius laughed when he saw her on the wall. “So the little wolf grew teeth. It won’t matter. You can’t stop what’s coming.”
He raised his hand.
The gates splintered inward with a deafening crash.
“Blackthorn!” Kade roared. “To me!”
The courtyard erupted into chaos. Wolves shifted mid-run, claws and teeth flashing in the morning light. The clash of the two packs was brutal, fast, and bloody.
Maya shifted too, her darker wolf with silver streaks leaping over the battlements and landing in the middle of the fray. The Bloodfire stirred in her veins, hot and ready.
She caught sight of Darius pushing through his own men toward her.
“Finally,” he said, grinning. “The heir comes to me.”
Maya bared her teeth. “I’m not the heir you think I am.”
The locket flared.
- Writer
