Chapter 12: Ambush at the Riverbank
1075 Words
The heavy iron gates of the Bloodmoon Castle groaned as they shut behind the royal patrol.
For two days, the pack territory had been under complete lockdown. Elite trackers swept through every dark alleyway, border village, and abandoned outpost, but Elder Richard and Lady Freya seemed to have vanished into thin air like ghosts.
Inside the royal carriage, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.
Max sat opposite Elena and Jaxon, his broad frame clad in dark combat leather, two silver swords strapped across his back. His icy blue eyes were hyper-alert, scanning the dense pine forest passing by through the rain-streaked windows.
Because of the lingering threat inside the inner castle walls, Max had decided to transfer Elena and Jaxon to the heavily fortified Sunspire Keep—a private royal fortress hidden deep within the mountain pass.
"We shouldn't have left the castle, Max," Elena whispered, her fingers nervously twisting the fabric of her dark cloak. She kept Jaxon pulled tight against her side. "Out here in the open woods... we are vulnerable."
"The inner manor has traitors, Elena," Max replied softly, his voice low and raspy. "At Sunspire Keep, every guard is bound to me by a blood oath. You and Jaxon will be completely safe there."
Jaxon looked up, holding his wooden sword tightly against his knee. "I can protect Mommy, big guy! I've been practicing my stance with Uncle Caleb!"
A faint, fleeting smile softened Max’s sharp jawline as he looked down at his brave little boy. "I know you can, little prince. But today, let your father handle the heavy lifting."
Father.
The word hung heavy in the chilly air inside the carriage. Elena’s heart skipped a sharp beat as her eyes met Max’s. For five years, Jaxon had never known a father's protection. Seeing Max naturally step into that role tore at her heart, awakening a dangerous, lingering warmth she desperately tried to suppress.
Suddenly, a loud, terrifying crack shattered the quiet forest air.
BOOM!
A massive, burning pine tree collapsed right across the narrow dirt road ahead, snapping the carriage’s front axle with a violent thud.
The horses reared up, whinnying in panic as the carriage violently tilted to the side.
"Hold on!" Max roared, instinctively throwing his massive body across the seats to shield both Elena and Jaxon beneath his chest as the carriage skidded against the muddy embankment and crashed to a halt.
"Mommy!" Jaxon gasped, clutching Elena’s neck.
"I'm here, baby, I'm here!" Elena sobbed, holding her son tight while using her own body to shield his head from falling splinters.
Outside, terrifying howls tore through the misty air—not the honorable howls of Bloodmoon warriors, but the wild, chaotic snarls of mercenary rogues.
"Ambush!" Commander Caleb’s voice echoed from outside, followed by the clashing of heavy steel and the sound of silver blades tearing through flesh. "Protect the Alpha King! Secure the carriage!"
Max pushed the crushed carriage door open with a single, powerful burst of Alpha strength, tossing the broken wood aside like paper. Rain and the sharp, metallic scent of blood instantly rushed into the cabin.
Max stepped out first, drawing his twin silver swords with a lethal shriek of steel.
Surrounding their crashed carriage were nearly twenty rogue wolves in human-beast form, their eyes glowing red with dark magic. Standing safely behind the wall of mercenaries on a rocky ridge was Elder Richard, draped in a heavy dark coat, his face contorted in sinister victory.
"You are too late, Max!" Elder Richard shouted down, his voice echoing over the heavy rain. "The pack council is broken! The neighboring packs have signed my alliance! Hand over the boy and the wolfless female, and I might spare your throne!"
Max’s icy blue eyes flared with a murderous, supernatural fire. His royal Alpha aura exploded outward with such immense, suffocating force that several rogue mercenaries staggered back in sheer terror.
"You sold your soul to rogues, Richard," Max said, his voice dropping into a dark, terrifying growl that resonated through the earth beneath their feet. "You brought violence near my mate and my son. You will not leave these woods alive."
"Kill him!" Richard shrieked to his mercenaries. "Kill the Alpha King!"
The rogues lunged forward all at once.
Max moved like a terrifying whirlwind of death. His silver blades flashed under the dim sky, severing rogue weapons and felling beasts before they could even draw breath. Beside him, Caleb and the royal guards fought ferociously, creating an impenetrable circle of steel around the carriage.
Inside the crushed carriage, Elena peeked out through the shattered window, her heart slamming violently against her ribs.
She saw a giant, rogue wolf with jagged scars across its snout sneak past the guard line, creeping toward the open rear door of the carriage where Jaxon was crouched.
"Jaxon, look out!" Elena screamed.
Without a second thought, Elena grabbed a sharp, heavy piece of broken iron frame from the floorboards and hurled herself between the giant beast and her son.
CLANG!
The giant wolf lunged, its sharp claws tearing through the shoulder of Elena’s cloak, grazing her pale skin. Elena cried out in pain, falling backward onto the mud, but she managed to jam the jagged iron piece straight into the wolf’s forearm.
"Mommy!" Jaxon yelled in pure horror.
The rogue wolf snarled in rage, turning its fierce red eyes toward Elena, raising its massive paw to crush her.
"GET AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!"
A blinding, supernatural wave of electric blue light flared around five-year-old Jaxon.
The little boy stepped out of the carriage, his eyes glowing with an terrifying, ancient Alpha power. The sheer pressure radiating from Jaxon’s tiny body slammed into the giant rogue wolf like an invisible battering ram, throwing the heavy beast ten feet backward into a tree trunk with a sickening CRACK.
Every warrior and rogue in the glade froze, turning their heads in absolute shock to stare at the glowing, fearless five-year-old child standing protectively over his mother.
"Goddess help us..." Elder Richard whispered from the ridge, his face draining of all blood as he witnessed the child’s terrifying, raw potential.
Max whipped his head around, seeing Elena bleeding on the ground and Jaxon standing like a tiny god of war before her.
A dark, visceral roar erupted from Max’s throat—a roar of pure, possessive Alpha fury that shook the towering pine trees to their roots.
"NO ONE TOUCHES MY FAMILY!"
- Writer
