I had Archer withdraw our small force and set up camp just outside the capital. The rogues didn’t seem to have an interest in us anyway.
“Archer, give a plan or an idea. We need sothing.”
Archer had a map of the city laid out on a table. He was scouring it for any weak points in the palace, any way we could get in without having to take out the entire army.
The king was holed up inside. He had all his royal guards in there. If we could get to the king and let him know that he had support, we could make a plan to take back the capital with his army.
“I’m not seeing any way inside.” Archer groaned and pressed his forehead to the table.
“I don’t want to hear that, Archer. Check again and give sothing to work with!”
I paced back and forth. My wolf was restless. We’d been away from Eliza for far too long, longer than I’d told her we’d be gone.
And at this rate, it would be even longer before we got ho. Cleaning up the capital would take ti.
“What makes you think the king even has the right force to repel the rogue army? Aren’t Aries and Hestia involved? I’m sure they have tricks up their sleeves.”
I narrowed my eyes at Archer. “Oh, I’ll take care of Aries. You don’t need to worry about him.”
“And Hestia?”
I scoffed. “She’s weak. Besides, we can give the Alpha King an advantage over the rogue army.”
“How’s that?’ Archer knit his brows together.
“If we can create a distraction to draw the rogue army away, then the royal army can flank them and quickly gain the advantage.”
Archer nodded. “We just need to get a ssage to the king so he knows what to watch out for.”
“Exactly. But if we can’t get into the palace and deliver that ssage, then it won’t work!”
“I’ll keep checking.”
I sighed and ran my hand down my face. “Maybe we should retreat for now and co up with another way to get a ssage to the king.”
“What, giving up already?” A familiar voice chid behind .
A smile tugged at my lips and I turned around.
“Abe! What are you doing here?”
He ran up to and clasped my hand. “Well, we heard you hit a bit of a snag.”
“We?”
I glanced behind him and saw a bunch of Abe’s pack warriors. There were several other allied Alphas and so of their warriors.
“This is... impossible....”
“Eliza told our envoys everything when they went to help with the refugees. A lot of refugees ca back to our packs with the envoys and they told us how bad things were. On our way here, we ran into so of your scouts and they gave us your location.”
I nodded absently, still a little dazed to see so many of my allies all gathered together.
“Thank you for coming, Abe.”
“We should probably talk. There are several Alphas here who want to discuss tactics.”
“Archer, pull up so chairs. We’ve got company.”
I sat at the table with Abe and the other Alphas. I told them about what I’d seen in the capital and the rogue army around the palace.
“My plan was to get a ssage to the king, draw the rogue army away, and let the king flank them from behind. But we couldn’t get a ssage through.”
“We don’t need a ssage at this point. With our combined forces, it should be enough to pose a real threat to the rogue army. We can attack them and lead them away from the palace,” one of the Alphas said.
“How will the king know to act?” I arched an eyebrow at him.
Abe smirked. “I’m pretty sure the king is looking for his opening. He’s not an idiot, and he knows that his best chance is to act the mont circumstances change. He’ll have an eye on the army.”
“It will end the siege on the capital and should hopefully draw out Aries and Hestia. They are the ones we’re really after,” one of the other Alphas said.
I nodded and looked around my encampnt. There had been four of us there this morning, and now it was flooded with warriors from other packs.
More and more, the odds were growing in our favor. Between these warriors and the king’s Royal Guard, we could definitely take out the rogue army.
But in the back of my mind, I knew that if we didn’t take out Aries and Hestia, they’d just raise another army and try again.
We just had to keep the rogues occupied until our real enemies showed themselves and we could destroy them.
“I like that plan. When should we–“
“Awoooo!”
“Awooo.”
“Rogues!”
The camp burst to life as the rogue army flooded in.
Apparently, they did care about us. We’d been so focused on discussing our strategy, we hadn’t noticed them sneaking up on us.
My warriors and allies sprang to action, jumping right into the battle.
I stripped my clothes off and shifted, launching myself into the battle. I barreled into the nearest rogue, knocking him off his feet. He whimpered and rolled on the ground, struggling to get back up.
I threw my head back and howled.
We were too close to the capital. I wanted to lead the fight further away until the entire rogue army was outside the capital walls.
My warriors waited for my next move.
I ran from the encampnt, my allies following along, leading the rogues further away from the capital, all the way to the tree line.
The more breathing room we could give the palace, the sooner the Royal Army would be able to join the fight.
The rogues chased us, and we let them think they had us on the run. At the tree line, I turned around and faced the rogue army again. My warriors and allies did the sa.
We charged at them, snarling and biting.
I grabbed one rogue’s back leg and bit down until the leg bone snapped and the wolf cried out in pain.
After so many weeks of feeling frustrated and helpless, my wolf was happy to be let loose. He clawed and bit his way through rogue after rogue, tossing them aside easily.
Another round of howls made look to the capital. The Royal Guard troops burst through the capital gates and ran across the field, joining the battle.
The rogues still fought furiously, even as my army and King Xander’s closed in around them.
I saw Xander leading the Royal Army.
For a split second, our eyes t. He nodded to and charged into the battle.
The rogue army was vicious and fierce. No matter how many I killed, they kept coming and coming.
Even with the help of the Royal Army, the rogues were a tough enemy.
The battle raged all night. When the sun began to rise, I urged my allies deeper into the battle.
I pounced on a large wolf, biting the back of his neck until I tasted warm blood. He bucked like a wild horse but I held on, biting over and over again until I punctured his artery.
He yelped, tripped, and collapsed on the ground, bleeding out.
I charged through the rogues.
They might have had greater numbers, but they were mindless and unorganized. Aries might have made them into an army, but they didn’t have the years of training, discipline, and cooperation that we had.
It gave us a massive advantage. My allies pushed through the rogues like an unbreakable wall, and the rogues weren’t organized enough.
We pushed them back, thinning them out more and more as I made my way to the center of the battle.
I threw my shoulder into the chest of a wolf, knocking him to the ground. When I turned around, I froze, staring into familiar eyes.
Aries....
In wolf form, Aries stared at , lips curled back in a fierce snarl.
Before I could react, my wolf took charge. He pounced on Aries, hissing and growling, trying to bite through his thick fur.
Aries growled and threw himself on the ground, rolling on top of .
The rest of the battle seed to vanish around . All I could think of was Aries and killing him.
I sprang to my feet and tackled Aries, throwing us both to the ground. I pounced on top of him, clawing at his stomach and sides.
Aries struggled against but this ti, I knew Eliza was safe and well, and there was no reason to hold back.
My wolf felt it too, and I had no desire to reign him in.
Aries jumped to his feet and tried to run. I chased after him and snatched his tail between my teeth. Aries yelped. He twisted around, snapping at . I yanked his tail again and threw my body into his, knocking him down. I grabbed his throat with my powerful jaws and shook.
Aries groaned and whimpered. I clamped my teeth harder on his neck and twisted hard.
Snap!
Aries’s neck broke.
A massive feeling of relief lifted a huge weight from . Aries was dead.
Suddenly, all the rogues began to run off. With their leader dead, they had no directive and no reason to fight. They headed north.
That ant they were going back to where Aries had recruited them. If we needed to track them down later, I’d know exactly where they were.
My allies and warriors started shifting back.
King Xander’s army supplied clothes and we all got dressed. Everyone started cheering and congratulating each other on their victory.
I couldn’t deny that I was pleased with the outco. We’d severely crippled the rogue army. They were hardly a threat anymore, and Aries was dead.
But Hestia was still out there.
King Xander stood at the front of the crowd. He held his hands up, quieting the crowd.
“I extend my thanks to all of you for coming to my aid. Without your help, we would not have been able to gain control of the capital again.”
The crowd clapped and cheered again.
I clapped along with them but I studied Xander curiously.
He did know how to talk to a crowd. And his warriors loved him; many of my allies did too.
He hadn’t glanced in my direction since the battle was over. I was certain that he had recognized during the battle.
“To show my gratitude and the gratitude of the kingdom, I’m opening my palace to you. Please, join in my ho. You can rest, get fresh clothes, clean up, and I will prepare a massive feast in your honor.”
More cheers went through the crowd.
Xander had won them all over.
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