The Prophesied Luna (completed)

Lockdown

Leyton’s POV

            The vampires are heading to the eastern border! The attack on the northern border is a distraction!

            Reena’s voice over our mind-link sent a chill down my spine. My sister was holding the line on the eastern border! My wolf growled furiously as he pounced on another vampire trying to speed past us and with one swift move, he bit down on the creature’s neck before snapping it to separate the head from the body. 

            Finn, we need to head east! The vampires are not retreating, they’re going to our eastern border!

            I could feel the panic in Finn’s voice as he commanded a quarter of our warriors to stay behind to finish off the remaining vampires and hold the line while the rest of us headed east. Finn’s wolf was so fast that none of us were close to catching up and by the time I had reached our eastern border, it was too late. I watched helplessly as an extremely pale vampire staggered towards Kayla even as we screamed our warnings into the pack-link. In the nick of time, just before the vampire could bite down on Kayla’s lower leg, Finn’s black wolf ran head first into the vampire, preventing the deadly bite from landing on Kayla’s leg. The vampire used the impact to latch onto Finn’s wolf instead and instead of flying into the air from the collision, the vampire held onto the front leg of Finn’s wolf with his fangs. The big black Alpha wolf howled in surprise but managed to turn back to bite down on the vampire’s head and with one powerful tug, the vampire’s head was flung away far from its body as both wolf and what was left of the vampire landed with a loud thud on the ground.

            Kayla’s devastated yells echoed in the forest as she crouched down beside Finn. I could feel our pack bond waning as our Alpha laid dying in front of us but I knew my duty as Beta. There was no time to grieve or to process what just happened, and that split second of reprieve as Kayla rushed to Finn had already given the vampires time to recover. Even though we outnumbered them, the speed at which they were able to move was incredible and even our wolves could barely keep up. Moreover, their bites were deadly to us and right now, everything looked to be in their favor. 

            Focus on the fight! Tonight we fight for our Pack, for our families, for our loved ones! 

            I rallied our warriors with as much confidence as I could and pushed all of my worries and weariness to the back of my head. The battle dragged on as both sides were equally matched and I knew that we needed a breakthrough soon. Our warriors were not endlessly expendable and I had a nasty feeling that the vampires would outlast us at this rate. Suddenly, a white ball of light engulfed Kayla and Finn, and before I could react, it exploded with a loud boom, emitting a bright light. Different from what had happened on the battlefield at the former Council’s ground, this time the bright light was accompanied by a searing hot shockwave, knocking all of us off our paws. My ears were ringing and the fur of my wolf felt like it was on fire. Is this the end? Even though I was still disoriented, I couldn’t stop the wild thoughts running through my head. 

            Leyton, Sweetheart?? What happened? Answer me, please! 

            The desperate pleas of my mate over our mind-link re-ignited the desire in my heart to survive. I couldn’t allow this to be it! I couldn’t let the vampires get past us to my mate and my pup. I couldn’t let Kayla get hurt again under my watch. More importantly, I couldn’t allow myself to fail now and leave my mate a widow. As the shockwave from the blast passed and the light dimmed, I forced myself to open my eyes and get up from the ground, ignoring the pressure in my ears and the painful singe all over my wolf’s body. All around me lay werewolves on the ground, struggling to get back on their feet but the vampires were nowhere to be found. I blinked a few times, hoping that my vision would sharpen soon and when I was able to see clearly again, I realized that the vampires didn’t disappear. They had just turned to dust, leaving behind piles of silver powder where they were standing before as they fought with us. 

            Adrenaline was still pumping through my veins and it helped to dismiss the shock as my attention quickly turned to Kayla and Finn. To my relief, I found them right where they were before the explosion but both of them laid unconscious on the ground in their human forms. I quickly shifted back into my human form and ran over to check on them while commanding all remaining warriors to comb our borders thoroughly to ensure that all vampires were dead. I thanked the Moon Goddess when I confirmed that the bodies of Finn and Kayla were both warm and their heartbeats were strong. Even though Finn’s left shoulder was still covered with blood, it looked more like dried blood and when I pressed my hand on the wound, no blood oozed out. I let out a breath that I didn’t know that I was holding before lifting Kayla into my arms and motioning to two warriors to get Finn. 

            Guards, half of you are to stay behind to guard the packhouse. The rest of you, head to our borders and lock down our borders and all who can’t fight are to remain inside the shelter under the command of Reena. And Reena, please get the emergency medical stations in our shelters ready, we’d be sending Kayla and Finn, as well as our injured warriors down shortly. Not a word of the attack is to leave this Pack until we figure things out but Tressa, contact Osmond and inform him about this. Tell him to be careful out there and keep an eye out for anything strange at the former Council’s grounds. 

            I ran as quickly as I could to our shelter while giving out commands to the rest of the Pack. The biggest threat has been eliminated but both our Alpha and Luna are unconscious and we had no idea if the vampires would attack again. To be honest, I was at a loss about what I should do next but right now, my focus was on my sister. “Here, put her down here,” Reena said calmly as she wheeled a bed towards the entrance of the shelter. A nurse was closed behind her with another bed and I let them take both Kayla and Finn to the medical stations to be checked on. More warriors began to trickle in, carrying injured comrades to be treated and I helped the medical staff with directing the injured and ensuring that everyone was attended to. It was really a blessing that Kayla had decided to build our own hospital and medical team eight years ago and it definitely also helped that Reena made the entire team rehearse for this type of situation multiple times per year. No one would have thought that we would be attacked so savagely and by vampires no less, but it never hurt to be well prepared. 

            Beta, our borders are all clear and locked down. All injured warriors have been taken back to the packhouse. Are there any more instructions for us? 

            Send a few guards to check house to house to make sure no one is left behind and report to me every hour on the situation outside. I’ll let you know when there are new instructions. 

            I was glad that things were finally to some extent under control but my head hurt just trying to consider what would be a good next step. “Leyton, you need to sit down and let me take a look at your head.” Reena said as she walked towards me and the concern in her voice made me realize then that my head was still hurting. It was like someone was pressing really hard on the top of my head and I could still hear a slight ringing in my ears. Not wanting to worry Reena, I did as I was told while she did a quick check-up and asked me some questions. 

            “I’m afraid that you might have a concussion, Leyton. Kayla and our Alpha are both fine, unconscious but otherwise all vitals are perfectly normal. You on the other hand need to rest and if you start feeling nauseous or giddy, you need to tell me, ok?” Reena’s words put my heart back at ease and I pulled her into my arms, hugging her as tightly as possible. I knew she was worried about me and I probably shouldn’t have stood up suddenly and become so agitated but in that moment, I suddenly realized, to my great relief, that everything was alright. We had beaten the vampires, even if only temporarily, and my family was safe. “It’s ok, Sweetheart, it’s all fine now. Claron is with the other pups, Mirakel as well. Everything is fine now.” Reena patted my back gently to soothe me and slowly, I allowed myself to take comfort in her consolation. 

            “I’m sorry, Reena, I just.. I thought I'd lost all of you for a moment when the fight was bad.” My voice broke as I said the last few words and I dared not continue, for fear that I wouldn’t be able to stop the tears from coming forth. “It’s ok, Leyton, I know. I was scared too but we’re fine now. But we need to figure out what to do. Where did these vampires suddenly come from and what did they really want? I know you’re not going to like this but we might need some help..from the witches.” 

            Reena was right about what we needed to do and she was right that I didn’t like what she suggested. It would be a logical move to get the witches to help, after all, vampires were abominations created by witches, but this was also precisely the reason why I didn’t want to ask any witch for help. Who in their right mind would go to the creator of a weapon meant to kill them, to ask for advice against the weapon? Before I could protest, Reena suggested further, “I was thinking, perhaps, Kayla’s grandmother could help? She is after all her kin.” 

            I hated the idea, especially when I knew how unsure Kayla felt about her supposed witch family. She was going to visit them on the weekend, that much I knew, but I wasn’t sure if she was ready for something more and a part of me felt like I would be taking her choice away if I contacted her witch family for help. At the same time, we didn’t really have much of a choice and I guess in the grand scheme of things, making sure that we stayed alive was more important than anything else. In the end, I relented and Reena went ahead to contact the witches through Thiago.