Mine to Protect Chapter 75: HURT

*Hazel*

More and more warriors are falling to the ground victims of this aerial attack, I need to do something; they are werewolves like us, with families and friends, they are just following their Alpha’s orders, it is not fair that they pay the price.

I gather all the power I can, and spread it out around us, like a huge bubble, anything that tries to pass through the bubble gets incinerated, bullets and darts included. Wait, this means that if someone tries to get out of the bubble, will follow the same fate!

“Don’t get near the barrier! It will burn you to ashes, stay inside and don’t move!” I command through the mind-link to all the warriors imprisoned with us in the bubble.

This Alpha command power is really handy, it’s amazing to be Alpha, I don’t want to be a Luna anymore, I need to ask Derek if we can switch roles!

The rain of death finally stops, now that the enemy has noticed that it is not effective anymore, but I keep my bubble up anyway, we don’t know what is coming next.

Honestly, I don’t know how long I can keep this shield up for, I feel drained already, and my legs feel unstable and wobbly, but I can’t let them know that I must keep a strong front.

Lukas comes to stand close to me, his body supporting part of my weight, to others it just looks like we are standing side by side. I don’t know how he has noticed, but I am incredibly grateful for his support.

“Hold in there, little wolf,” he encourages through the link, and I nod determined to fight till my last breath.

Outside the bubble our chasers finally show their ugly faces, they are again soldiers wearing military gear, but this time they are not half shifted in creepy Edwards, they look like normal half shifted werewolves, only their eyes are blood red, and they look savage, unhinged, out of control.

“Kitten, at my three, drop the shield,” I hear Derek’s voice in my head.

He’s here! He can see me, so he must be close!

Euphoria starts running through my veins, giving me renewed strength. I want to see him, to feel him so badly; it’s taking my all not to drop everything and run in search of him.

Derek must have felt my turbulent feelings through the bond, and soothes me lovingly, “Me too kitten, soon; let’s take care of these creeps first. At my three. One, two, THREE!”

I drop the shield, and collapse to the floor, my body suddenly registering the fatigue and giving up on me.

A thunder of growls surges from our left and dozens of wolves run out of the thick forest, led by a huge black wolf with sparkling blue eyes. Derek!

They circle Lukas and me like a barrier, growling menacingly at the enemy in front of them. Derek is in front of me, facing those creatures, who don’t seem threatened in the least, they seem galvanized even, a malicious glint in their eyes.

“Derek, be careful! We don’t know what they are and what they are capable of. I think they are connected to what they were doing in that lab. Their claws are coated in silver, you must avoid being scratched at all costs,” I warn him through the link.

“Thank you for the intel, kitten. I will be careful, I promise. Find somewhere safe to hide, I will find you when we are done here,” he replies calmly.

I admire and envy his unwavering calmness, even when on the brink of engaging in battle with savages; it is something I think I will never attain. At the same time, I am boiling at his words; does he really think I’ll leave him here to fight while I go hide like a coward? Well, he has something else coming. I have just fought an army of were-monsters and werewolves all by myself, I am not a weak damsel who needs protection.

I stand up and walk in Derek’s opposite direction, facing the warriors of the Moon Shade pack that are still standing, and have now taken again an unfriendly stance against us.

“Warriors of the Moon Shade Pack, I am like you a daughter of this pack, my mother and father were born and raised here, as were their parents for generations. We are family, and I don’t want to harm you. I know you are following your Alpha’s orders, and that’s honorable, but this time your Alpha has sided with monsters that are killing, torturing and experimenting on innocent werewolves to create monsters like the ones you see right in front of you. Even if you are allies, they didn’t think twice before raining bullets and poisoned darts on you, killing your brothers that are still lying on this same ground.

I ask you to walk away, or to join us in this battle if you wish. We are not enemies, there is no need for animosity between us.”

I have not even finished delivering my plead through the link, that I hear the whizzing sound of a bullet directed my way, then I feel someone jump behind me, a whine of pain, and a thud.

I feel it first through the bond, pain shooting up my left shoulder, my heart catches in my throat, Derek’s hurt, NO! I turn around and see Derek’s wolf sprawled on the ground behind me, bleeding profusely from the bullet’s wound. No, no, no, please.

It feels like my heart stops beating, and I am unable to utter a word.

I shift to human form, and crouch down beside him, checking his wound. He’s losing a lot of blood, the bullet must be made of silver, and maybe something else, he is unconscious, and that’s strange, he is an Alpha, a mere bullet shouldn’t do so much damage.

Lukas runs beside me, and shifts too, checking Derek’s wound over my shoulder.

“Do you think it’s silver?” he asks me, but I can’t reply, because bullets start raining again on us. Damn it! Not again! Not now!

I am so angry and worried that I don’t even feel the fatigue anymore; I put the bubble back in place, and shift into my wolf, running to the front of the line, while mind-linking Lukas to take the bullet out of Derek’s wound, before it causes more damage. I know Derek is safe with him, and I focus all my wrath on the beings responsible for his pain. No one hurts my mate and gets away with it!

I get out of the bubble, making sure that it stays in place, and wrap my power around me like a shield, so that no bullet can touch me. I shift back to human form, because I want to deliver a message to these people, and I want them to hear it loud and clear.

“You have no respect for werewolves and humans’ lives, you are just psychos playing Gods, and you will pay for what you have done. Hide, and hide well, because if I find you, I will end you, like I am going to end your horrible pawns now.”

I keep walking towards those creatures, my power expanding around me like a ball of swirling yellow light. They try to attack me, but my power burns them when they get in contact with it, still they keep trying, they have no fear of pain or death, they only have one aim, kill me.

When I am surrounded by these monsters, there are at least fifty or sixty, it is difficult to say, I let my power surge within me, I close my eyes, concentrating on the anger and hurt for all the lives lost, for their families who will suffer, for Derek, for my parents, they fuel my power to new heights, and I let it explode from me like a bomb, blasting and incinerating everything it encounters, apart from what is in my bubble.

I open my eyes to a meadow of black burnt ground. Nothing but ashes stand for at least two kilometers radius around me. The creatures are gone with everything else.

I feel empty and weary, but I don’t have time to rest, I need to go to Derek.