To Have And To Hold

Fool Me Once, Shame On You...

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Fool Me Once, Shame On You...

ARTURO

Something or someone spooked Horacio, his head quickly jerking around to peer into the forest, obviously scanning it looking for us...

“Horacio knows we’re in here! Do something! Now!” I harshly murmured under my breath.

Just then, everyone in the clearing shifted into their wolf forms, a grin crossing Sahar’s face as they played right into our hands, her voice maniacal as she slowly stated, “Let the fun begin.”

***********

SPIROS

No sooner had I made my call, we all shifted into our wolves, but the minute Badru’s warriors shifted, I noticed their eyes were glowing in a blue hue. The realization came to me just as chaos broke out—the entranced gazes of Badru’s men turning deadly—growling and snarling as they immediately made their charge—right at Horacio, Badru, and Guntur, whose eyes all widened, confused and stunned at what was happening around them as they instinctively dodged the attacks...

My mind a flurry of thoughts, I linked out, The witch placed a spell on your men, Badru! They’re turning against us!

That would explain why I just had to duck underneath Cassius’ front paw and the deadly look in his eyes! Guntur anxiously returned, What are we going to do?

Badru’s voice screamed out in my head, I don’t know! I can’t link them—or anyone now—only all of you!

I saw Beast out of my periphery, his massive black wolf stealthily, but swiftly going through the trees in the blackened forest as he linked, I’m going after Arturo.

Link to Tati isn’t working, trying everything I can to reach her through our connection now, Horacio frantically echoed out, I just sent Aybrek sailing towards the forest, but he’s rallying and has Apollo joining him! We’re going to have to try to defend ourselves without hurting of your men, Badru, or worse, killing them!

Try your best, but above all else, protect yourselves! As much as I hate to say it, especially as it is Cassius and all five of his sons, we have no choice! Badru anxiously exclaimed.

Guntur was completely distraught in his reply, We can’t hurt, much less kill Celimine’s father or any of her brothers! It would destroy her!

An unsuspecting Loa appeared in the center of the clearing then—something Igor’s witch clearly expected and was ready for as two Moon Stone wolves—Callan and Corazon—were already mid-air after making ferocious leaps towards her before Loa had any chance to react. Again, my instincts kicked in, immediately thrusting myself forward, jumping into the air making my own charge out of the forest, linking, The witch is going after Loa! I’ve got her!

NO! NOT LOA! Badru desperately bellowed out in my head, I won’t make it! Battling Tarkik and can’t find an opening to help! HURRY, SPIROS!

I watched in horror as Loa was taken to the ground hard by one of her own, the mighty blow knocking her out, leaving her completely vulnerable as her other bewitched attacker prepared to pounce and end Loa’s life. Fortunately, I managed to get to him before his landing, the force of my head-first hit to his ribs sending him flailing away from her several yards away. I landed just to her side, protectively guarding her unconscious body with my own, readying for the next strike and hoping I could avoid the worst outcome of defending her life—forced to hurt or kill a Moon Stone..

***********

ARTURO

I wanted nothing more than jump into that clearing to tear Horacio to shreds—to place the same marks on him that he had left on me—making it harder to stick to our plan. A plan that would allow me to watch as Horacio was killed by one of Mahan’s Moon Stones—a wolf that was supposed to be an ally. And what made it even more satisfying was Alpha Mahan’s Beta—his beloved daughter’s mate and husband—would also be killed—by his own men.

My teeth anxiously clicking as I remained crouched down in our hiding spot a good distance away from the battle, I couldn’t help but wish, however, that they had brought more men as it appeared Horacio, Badru, and Guntur were handling the situation a little too well for my liking...

My gaze intense and locked on Horacio, my patience was growing thin as I waited for his breath to still forever while the Moon Stone warriors’ deadly gazes were all locked on The Council’s precious inner circle. Anger filling their muzzles as they snarled and snapped their teeth in their relentless attacks, completely adhering to Sahar’s will...

I laughed as I watched Horacio dodging the strikes made by the two large, burly brown wolves, forced to be on the defense instead of offense, obviously trying not to hurt the wolves that he considered allies.

“Come on!” I muttered under my breath, cheering them on from the sidelines, “Come on, damn you!”

“Who the hell is that?” Sahar lowly spat, deterring me from Horacio’s battle, “and where did he come from? He’s protected by Tatiana’s powers. Do you know him?”

My narrowed gaze swiftly moving towards Loa, who was lying still on the ground, I saw a large dark grey wolf standing on her left side, his paws firmly set in the dirt, growling at the two wolves Sahar had sent to take care of her—a wolf I didn’t recognize and had no idea was even there—growling out, “I have no idea, but he’s outnumbered—move those wolves forward! Get ready to shield me, I’m going in!”

*************

BADRU

I couldn’t believe what was happening! We were under attack—by Cassius and his sons—my men! I didn’t want to hurt any of them, but all six oversized brown wolves wanted Horacio, Guntur, Spiros, and me DEAD! I frantically hoped that Horacio was able to get through to Auntie—or at the very least, Beast was able to stop Arturo before this turned into a bloody, deadly mess.

Tarkik was proving to be quite the handful, the youngest of Cassius’ sons even stronger and more formidable than I ever imagined. His attacks ferocious with swipes coming one right after the other, the young warrior was making it difficult to keep him at bay and unhurt.

Peering over to my side, Spiros was having an increasing amount of difficulty trying to protect Loa, who lay motionless on the ground, while also trying to protect himself and not inflict any real harm to Callan and Corazon. While his maneuvers were brilliant and precise, I knew the twins and how dangerous they could be, forcing me to make a decision I hated—I had to get Tarkik out of the way so I could help Spiros protect Loa. If anything happened to her—it would completely destroy Mahan and I couldn’t let that happen!

As my young warrior made his next charge towards me, I did the same, barreling towards Tarkik and leaping into the air, wrapping my colossal front paws around him and using the combination of both the forces of our forward progression to heftily throw him hard to the side. My heart broke as I saw Tarkik tumble over and over and over again before laying still on the ground but remained unrelenting in my sprint to help Spiros, while hoping I had not inflicted too much harm...

***********

GUNTUR

WHY? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE CELIMINE’S FATHER?

I had dealt with Cassius’ scare tactics and pouncing attacks on several occasions, but they were done in good fun, which was the complete opposite of what I was dealing with now. The look of death in his eyes—he truly wanted to kill me! And I truly didn’t want to hurt or kill him!

At first, I had managed to dodge and leap over him, but he quickly changed his tactics, managing to get in a hard hit to my ribs before catching me on my left hind leg, which was going to leave a mark. I kept my head together, though, taking off in a hard run towards the trees.

Using the force of my run and the oak in front of me, I was able to launch my black wolf up the tree, taking several strides up the trunk before flipping backwards to land a hind-end kick to Cassius’ brown muzzle—a surprise move he didn’t expect—knocking him off his feet as I raced as far away from him as I could.

Unfortunately, Celimine’s father rebounded quicker than I hoped, enabling him to quickly catch up to me and lunge forward to take out my hind legs, sending me flailing to the ground. As I attempted to scramble to my feet, I found myself in the most dangerous of places—shoved back to the ground helpless with Cassius on top of me, readying to make a lethal strike...

*********

HORACIO

Apollo and Ayberk’s large brown wolves were impressive to say the least, which was making it almost impossible for me not to hurt them. No sooner would I send one clear across the clearing, but the other one would be there attempting to make his own deadly hit...

To top it off, I was multi-tasking while in the midst of battle as well—still attempting everything I could to get a hold of Tati—and failing miserably.

It was then that I saw Guntur’s massive black wolf fall into a perilous position with Cassius—my protective mode immediately kicking in for my nephew, who found himself helpless underneath Cassius’ overpowering brown wolf. As I saw the Moon Stone’s enormous paw rising in the air, nothing else around me existed—I had to get to Guntur!

Springing myself forward, I broke out into a mad run, my gaze locked on Cassius’ wolf while I was making plans, scanning the forest behind him, deciding where to throw him, not seeing another brown wolf making his own furious dash towards me, coming out of nowhere with his own mighty paw raised—unaware of him until I felt the intense weight of his powerful strike thrown against the back of my head, searing pain like I have never felt before reverberating throughout my brain just before I felt my whole body giving out as everything around me went dark and my last fearful thought—was of her...I feared—for her...

TATI...

MY FAIRY QUEEN...

*************

BADRU

As I purposefully made my way to Spiros’ side, I saw Horacio’s enormous black wolf out of my periphery, barreling towards something. Glancing around quickly, I soon found that it wasn’t something, but someone—Guntur, who had found himself in trouble—with Cassius now on top of him.

The other set of Cassius’ twins, Apollo and Ayberk were chasing after Horacio. Their two enormous wolves working together in synchronous perfection as they always did—something that I normally appreciated from my two A’s, but now despised as I watched them spread out to come at Horacio on each side. Turning on my heel, I changed course to help, but what I saw happened next shocked me to my core...

Tarkik had not only come to but had unexpectedly emerged from my hard hit to pounce on top of Horacio from the side, ferociously hitting him in the back of the head, sending his overpowering black wolf instantly to the ground—and then furiously set his sights on me...

At that very moment, I heard Guntur’s wolf let out an agonizing howl, turning to see Cassius’ massive paw lifted high in the air to make a deadly strike, leaving me feeling more helpless than I’ve ever felt in my life! I couldn’t stop my men from hurting my family!

***************

MADELINE

After several hours, the final finishing touches were done on my wedding dress. Standing on a pedestal in front of a long mirror, my eyes were closed as Aruna and Auntie pinned the long veil into my hair, as Anabelle adjusted and primped the braid and curls that she had put in place this morning.

My nervous anticipation grew as Luminara’s overwhelming pregnancy hormones revealed themselves, uncontrollably sobbing out, “Oh, Madeline! You are truly the most beautiful bride I have ever seen!”

“I would have to agree,” Aruna chimed in, sounding tearful herself, “I’ve never seen a more exquisite bride!”

“You’ve really outdone yourself, Auntie,” Anabelle affectionately gushed, “Madeline’s wedding dress and veil—she’s breathtaking!”

“Well, thank you for that, but I believe the bride wearing it is what makes the dress and veil so beautiful,” Auntie enthused, “It was her description of this dream dress that brought it to life, after all.”

Fidgeting nervously, I quietly asked, “Can I look yet?”

I felt Auntie lift my veil before a swoosh of air hit my back before she tenderly replied, “Yes, I believe it is time for you to open your eyes, my darling.”

Fluttering my eyes open, I gasped as tears welled in my eyes, staring at the mirror, finding it impossible to believe that I was looking at myself...

“It’s—oh, Auntie! It’s everything I ever dreamed of!” I breathed out in awe, unable to form anymore words as I took in my dream dress—the antique lace and form fitting lines of the satin running from my hips all the way down to the floor exquisitely, ever so slightly laying upon the floor giving it a stunning and elegant look. And the long, sheer veil that also contained Aruna’s floral wedding lace of scrolls and tiny flowers along the scalloped ends—it was perfect and so very special to me...

“You look absolutely—” Auntie admiringly began, only to suddenly halt her words. Watching her reflection in the mirror, instant panic flowed through me as she doubled over in what appeared from her expression to be intense, agonizing pain—an immediate loud, sharp intake of breath seemingly stilling in her chest.

“Auntie, are you alright?” Anabelle frighteningly shouted out.

Aruna worried called out directly after, “Tati?”

Instantly alerted, Luminara jumped up, panicking, “Auntie, what’s happened?”

Snapping my head around, I looked down at Auntie in wide-eyed alarming concern, overwhelming panic setting in as my mind instantly replayed the dream from last night, “Auntie? Talk to us! What is it?”

Tink and Remi burst into the room then, as Tink hysterically screamed out, “Auntie—I can’t link Beast! I think something’s—”

“They’re in trouble! BEAST, BADRU, AND SPIROS ARE FINE, BUT HORACIO—HE’S BADLY HURT!” Auntie loudly yelled out in sheer terror, before throwing her hand out and disappearing from the room.

Looking down at my dress, I inaudibly muttered out my despairing thought, “My dream!”

“Dream? What dream, Madeline?” Aruna shockingly asked just before Tink infuriatingly bellowed out, “RAVEN NEEDS TO GET US TO THAT CLEARING! WE HAVE TO HELP THEM!”

****************

ARTURO

The sight of Horacio’s wolf hitting the ground hard and laying lifeless was the most satisfying feeling I have ever felt in my life! Absolutely nothing was going dampen the elation I felt—and nothing was going to stop me from inflicting my own punishment while making sure Horacio had taken his last breath...

“Don’t you dare move a muscle, Arturo,” Sahar angrily murmured under her breath, her eyes glued on Guntur, “Things are going as planned."

“Sorry, Sahar,” I wickedly grinned, “I’m afraid I need to leave a message for Tatiana and Jillian.”

Just as I shifted into my wolf, I heard a low deep growl echo out behind us. My head swiftly turning towards the sound—shocked at the mammoth wolf who snuck up on us—BEAST! WHERE IN THE HELL DID HE COME FROM?

The colossal and intimidating Crescent Moon was not only strong, but smart—immediately charging towards Sahar, a fierce backhand thrown, rendering her unconscious and sending her body helplessly flailing all the way into the clearing before she could defend his aggressive strike.

Beast then turned his attention to me, his oversized black muzzle snarling with delight before he lunged towards me, my initial reaction of throwing up both my front paws, fiercely swinging them towards his enormous neck a wasted effort as I found myself on the wrong end of a powerful right front paw that hit me square in the chest. While still painful, his claws fortunately only grazed across the top of my chest, but even still, I was sent flying towards the clearing from his mighty blow.

I braced myself for the inevitable hard landing and retaliatory strike, but my body never hit the ground. Instead, I heard a deafening explosion above me before finding myself encased in green, shifting back to my human form while being lifted high in the air—Tatiana was here, and I was trapped inside her magic!

Before I could attempt a reactive move, I felt and saw the green dust changing my surroundings to black. NO! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING! THEY CAN’T CLAIM ANOTHER VICTORY OVER ME!

************

TATIANA

I appeared in the sky above them, my vast wings fluttering non-stop to keep my shaking body in the air—my panicked rush to get here causing me to use such a quick overwhelming burst of power, I exploded onto the scene—a scene that I didn’t fully take in at first as I instantaneously stopped the battle taking place in the forest with my right hand, freezing everyone in place.

At the same time, I extended my left arm out, sending two streams of green to shackle the witch and wolf who had started all of this—Sahar and Arturo—before encasing them in emerald prisons in the sky. My own deeply seeded rage thick in my tone as I murmured in a rare deadly tone, “I’ll deal with you two momentarily.”

I removed Sahar’s spell while shifting everyone back to dressed human form and allowing them to move once more, Cassius and his sons all looking around, completely dumbfounded, trying to regain their senses—just as I lost mine completely, finally spotting my King of Fury lying unconscious on the ground, desperately exhaling out, “Horacio!”

A half-breath later, I was by his side, ruinously falling to my knees as Beast arrived, anxiously crouching down on the other side of Horacio, “He was trying to save Guntur, Auntie.”

My wings lethargically falling to lay against my sides in my despair, I urgently yelled out, “Badru, Spiros—is Loa alright?”

“She hit the ground really hard,” Badru worriedly shouted back, “But Loa doesn’t appear to have any open wounds or severe injuries and her breathing is normal. Is Horacio alright?”

“No, but I’m here now,” I reluctantly, but lovingly returned, tears flooding my eyes as I peered down at my beloved Beta, my hand gently coming up to set upon his stubbly cheek—the glimpse of the Queen of Fury from only moments ago now resurfacing in full glory, wanting to send a stream of green into sky to annihilate the prisons I placed there—and the two people held in them as I brought forth our aura to assess his injuries.

“What happened?” Tarkik mumbled out in a startled daze, “I—did I—NO! I’m the one who hit Horacio! I did that to him!” Frantically turning to look at Badru, he shamefully exhaled out, “And I was going after you next!”

“This isn’t your fault, Tarkik,” I inaudibly whispered, “It’s mine.”

“No, it’s not!” Beast emphatically defended in a fierce growl, pointing up towards the sky, “It’s theirs!”

Apollo rushed to his brother’s side, throwing his arm around Tarkik’s shoulders as the other wrapped around his head, attempting his best to comfort him, “We were under the witch’s spell, Tarkik. What happened—none of it is your fault.”

“Apollo is right, Tarkik,” Badru steadfastly assured him, “Like Beast said—it’s Sahar and Arturo’s fault. You had no control over your wolf.”

I saw blood creeping out from behind Horacio’s head, my hand swiftly moving from his cheek to the back of his skull. My fingers were met with dampness at the base before I slowly pulled them out to find they were covered in his blood.

While I was relieved to hear his voice and know he was alright, my heart continued to break as Guntur ran up behind me, terrified when he saw my red stained fingers, “No! NO! Unc was coming to help me! That’s why he didn’t see Tarkik! You can heal him, right, Auntie? Tell me Unc’s going to be okay!”

His voice cracking in devastation, Tarkik heartbreakingly exclaimed, “Guntur—I’m—I’m so sorry!”

Guntur didn’t acknowledge him, instead he repeated his plea to me, brokenly sobbing out, “Auntie? Unc is going to be okay, right?”

I couldn’t answer as my hands began to shake, hoarsely replying, “I need everyone to back up, please. The aura is about to expand far and quickly, so be aware.”

“Let us know if we can do something, Tatiana,” Cassius’ voice earnestly called out, coming up behind Guntur, “Anything.”

Everyone backed up as my green expanded wide across the ground. Lifting my wings back up, I fully expanded them again, maneuvering myself to hover horizontally over my mate, placing my fingers on Horacio’s shoulder to light up his fairy tattoo, a burst of bright green emitting from it, lifting his body slightly as I brought my wings down form a thick cocoon of healing powers around us that blocked everyone’s view, giving us a little privacy as life fought to bring back my passion...