In the months since Tsuki had disappeared, everything had gone to hell.

It turned out a war between packs- a real war, not the kind of quick spat which had happened with my takeover of Cereus- was messy, violent, and it had a casualty rate which made me sick and left me with screaming nightmares. It wasn’t just wolves, either; Neo’s bloodthirsty wolves who had picked off humans too close to their forest were hunting blatantly in the human city, the internet full of clips of raging wolves attacking innocent humans. 

The terror of the Cereus pack under Ferr’s rule, which had nearly destroyed the Moon Guard, was nothing compared to the bloodshed which came with Viktor and Neo clashing over their missing lover.

I had managed to keep a tenuous hold on it, by the very tips of my fingers, enough to keep my pack members from spilling into the city and chasing after the Ipomoea wolves. It kept the Moon Guard off our backs, but I knew they were breathing down Neo’s neck… and that was a very dangerous game to play. The Moon Guard was not what it had been when they attacked Ferr, bolstered by our support- but they weren’t prepared for a full scale war with bloodthirsty wolves, and only Allen seemed to understand how far out of their depth the humans were.

He was at my side as I stood at the edge of Cereus territory, my pulse roaring in my ears and my throat tight. I could smell blood, thick and sharp and coppery as it flooded the air between the thick trees. I had known the full moon would bring violence- but I hadn’t expected the full extent of it.

My wolves retained their sanity, and it gave them an edge in the fight; Cean, practically vibrating at my side, never thought it was enough. His hands clenched the silver gun which made my skin crawl as another pained howl shivered through the chilled air. My hands clenched at my side as I resisted the urge to bolt off and help whoever had cried out; I had a place, and it wasn’t at their side.

“What’s the situation?” I asked, my voice tense as I looked to Allen.

His face was gaunt, brown eyes dark in the hollows of his face. The war was taking its toll on him, and my chest ached seeing a man I considered my friend in such a state. “Neo is here.”

The words sent a chill straight down my spine, my nails biting into my palm. “Damn it,” I spat the words. Neo hadn’t been seen in weeks, sparking rumors that something had happened, and I had wondered for a couple of days if Tsuki had finally come home. A new viral video of a furious red wolf had destroyed that dream, but I’d held on to the hope that he might be distancing himself from the strife.

An unearthly howl shattered the momentary silence, proving me wrong. There was a foreign child of the stars hunting on my territory, and my wolf snarled in my head. My jaw clenched as I fought back the old bloodthirsty urges which once had me hunting humans in these same woods. Cean grunted at my side as Allen took a wary step back. Taking a deep breath, I shook my head slowly, letting him know I was okay.

“I have no choice then,” I said, new blood tainting the air as another pained cry rang through the trees.

Cean grabbed my arm, grip tight and eyes dark with fear and anger. “You don’t have to do this. He’s feral, Alyx, and he wants your head.”

“And if I don’t go, then what? I let the rest of my pack throw themselves in his jaws until I stand on a pile of the corpses of my people?”

Allen hissed a breath in between clenched teeth. “There’s always Viktor-”

“Absolutely not,” I said firmly. “If Viktor faces Neo, he will kill him. And if Tsuki comes back he will never forgive him for that. I can’t let Viktor destroy his own chance at happiness.”

Cean snarled a curse, his gun shaking in his trembling hands. “I hate this situation, the whole damn thing. If I could just bring Tsuki back-”

“Don’t,” I said softly, putting a hand on his arm. I knew it tortured him at times, when he suffered because he knew exactly where Tsuki was, but could do nothing about how his loss had torn the packs apart. “I’m glad Tsuki isn’t here to see this. It would break his heart.”

A sharp scream of pain, almost human in sound, jerked my gaze to the trees. My wolf was scratching at my control, scrambling for release, to protect our pack and our territory. I could feel it in the pain in my jaw, the itching feeling along my skin of the shift hovering just out of reach. I knew my eyes glowed as I looked up at Cean, pleading, knowing how badly he wanted to stop me from forging into the fray.

His gaze was steady on mine for a long moment in which we shared an entire silent conversation, before he cursed again. “Go then, but come back to me, please.”

All I could do was nod, my voice trapped in my throat by fear and tension. Cean took a step back to be at Allen’s side, and I gave in to the animal clawing for freedom; the shift tore through me, tearing a ragged sound of pain from my throat as bones and organs twisted and reformed so quickly it was agonizing. I had a second of panting in my wolf’s form, trying to find my balance again, before I could stand tall and throw my head back with a howl of pure elation in finding the freedom of my furred form.

My howl was met with others, the fighting members of my pack screaming for my help. I spared one last moment for Cean, touching my nose to the back of his hand, before I turned for the trees. Bounding over obstacles, tearing through branches, desperately racing for the pack members desperate for aid.

I only hoped I wouldn’t be too late.