Fight for Me

The sky is grey, filled with the confetti of white ash. The air is filled with a thick silence, other than the loud coughs from those who managed to survive the scorching flames.

Every single person’s body is marred with either bruises, bleeding wounds, burned marks or black smudges from smeared soot. They help who they can, everyone they can. Just as they all tried to help kill the flames.

Those that aren’t walking around to assist, are either to exhausted or injured to push themselves up from sitting, or lying dead.

No friend or foe can be identified. They all carry the look of utter defeat and loss on their faces. They all fought the same monstrous fire for the last two days straight. Not even the sudden thunderous storm that broke out helped ease the flames.

The moment Erickson’s death was felt and made known, everyone knew the war was over. The alpha-brothers won, and their father, -the self-proclaimed alpha king, had lost.

But no victory could be celebrated too early, or at all. Sparking flames were eating away at the already decrepit building. Growing with every passing second as it reached the neighbouring houses.

It would have taken mere minutes for the fire to reach the tree line and aggravate its hunger on the woods.

Every creature stepped in, - wolf, vampire, witch, enemy. They were finally faced with the truth they should have seen before this war was at all fought and won. They all needed each other to survive, to keep safe the lands they can call home.

Anthony and Jason were quick on their feet to get everyone to work together. They delegated their orders as if speaking from one mind. They split everyone into groups and delegated who to bring around nearby trucks to help load water for the flames, who to attack and kill the remaining berserkers, and who to collect the injured out of harms way.

Everyone just reacted. There was no time to think, to mourn. The heavy raindrops stopped just as quickly as they began, leaving muddy patches everywhere.

Tristan and Anthony had felt Nicholas’ death only seconds after they felt their father’s. Although they may have hated Erickson, he was still their father and his wolf was connected to theirs. They felt the numbing ache of Erickson's death, but nearly collapsed when they were hit with another stabbing pain in their guts.

Their tears were already running down their cheeks as they had to force their limbs to move and get everyone to safety.

By then, almost everyone was out of the burning building, a last few still rushing out.

The building was already crumbling down to bits. It would soon collapse entirely. And whoever didn’t make it out by then, would never make it out at all.

Anthony though, saw a frenzied figure of a man, one of the last to be rushing out. With panic and confusion written all over his face, he collapses on the ground the second he's off the last step of the house.

A woman rushes to him in incredible speed, pulling him up with her own worried expression.

The man however, catches Anthony’s gaze and stares at him. With the brief red glow in their eyes, Anthony is certain they are vampires. And knowing that the vampires were the catalyst to turn this war around, he rushes to assist with no fear.

Sebastian grips Anthony by his arm when he is close enough to him.

“He,……he-“ He struggles with his words, finding an odd nob in his throat preventing him from speaking properly. “Nicholas is dead.”

Anthony nods, understanding what news the man wants to pass him.

“I know.” He says feeling a warm and firm grip on his shoulder.

Not having to look back, he already knows it’s his mate wanting to comfort him.

Sebastian stands up, finally able to catch his breath and look at Anthony and his approaching brother, Tristan. He tries to ignore the frenzied movement carried on in the background as people rush around.

“Your father-…..”

Both brothers clench their jaws, already knowing he had a hand to play in it, and feeling guilty for even mourning him.

“Come, brother.” Saiyah says as she’s more concerned in getting her brother away from the collapsing building.

Micah is quick to help pull Sebastian away.

“Wait. You don’t understand. She’s still in there.”

“Who?” Anthony questions.

“Layla.”

Just as he says her name, the stone arch of the front doorway collapses, making them all rush away from the burning debris. Slowly, they see wall after wall crumbling down. They watched as the building became a pile of burning rock.

Anthony’s breath hitches and he grabbed Sebastian by his shirt, releasing his anger and frustration in a loud growl.

Even Jason hesitated to jump in. He had never seen Anthony in such a state. He doesn't know him as the type to get angry, at all.

Sayiah tried to step in, but Micah had a firm grip around her as he pulled her back, trapped in his steel arms.

“WHY DID YOU LEAVE HER!” Anthony’s wolf was in charge, releasing his aura. Daring anyone to intervene.

But Sebastian just shoves him off, not bothered with his torn shirt being pulled off too.

“I didn’t leave her! I wouldn’t……..She,…she did something. I would have gladly dragged her out. But she wouldn’t stop clutching onto Nicholas’ body. I barely touched her when she told me to leave. And before I know it, I’m out here.” He throws his hands in the air as he huffs out in frustration.

A sudden silence passes and Sebastian grows even more suspicious seeing the look of understanding on Anthony’s face.

Sebastian was still sceptical about the rumour Erickson tried to spread about Layla being a celestial. All information he ever had on them was word-of-mouth. He couldn’t believe it ever being true. For as long as he lived, he knew the type of myths people created just from their imaginations, and thought celestials to be nothing but the same.

Before Sebastian can question anyone about anything to sate his ever-present curiosity, Anthony straightens and reports to everyone of their current situation and what the plan is to stop the growing fire.

The sudden change in his mood surprised everyone. Even Tristan feels a slight twinge of guilt. In a matter of days, he had lost two brothers. He is suddenly the oldest, and yet Anthony has been the one to carry not just the fight, but he’s taking charge of it all. In a matter of days, his own baby-brother had become the alpha their father always wanted him to be.

But the destruction and flames of the fire were too monstrous. They struggled between killing the stubborn fire and keeping themselves alive.

After two nights of fighting the flames, only then did they see a hopeful change.

Even now, when they have finally overcome all odds and won the war, and survived the fire, the feel of defeat still hung heavy in the air.

There was no joy or excitement. Only relief and a sad acknowledgement of their circumstances.

Before them, laid a field of ash and smoke. A graveyard for everyone that were unfortunate.

“Have you rounded up every one?” Anthony asks Jason and Tyler.

“And what of those that fought for Erickson?” Tyler asks in a stiff tone.

He still finds it hard to come to terms that his friend and alpha is gone, and it’s even more strange to be getting orders from another.

“They are still enemies of war. They will have to face the consequences of their actions.”

“Execution?”

“I would say no. They should spend the rest of their lives rebuilding what they have destroyed.”

Tyler just nods his head, not sure why Anthony makes his statement almost sound like a question. But Anthony stops him just he turns to leave.

“Where should we keep the prisoners?”

“What do you mean?”

“It was your pack that led this attack. It is only right that the Shadow Moon pack decides where the prisoners are to be kept.”

“Nicholas,….” Tyler chokes on his words.

“My brother is dead. As Beta, you are now acting-alpha of the Shadow Moon Pack.”

Tyler takes a deep breath and straightens his shoulders before nodding at Anthony.

“We will split them among our packs. Those from the same pack will be kept apart. Though, all present alphas and affected parties should meet soon to discuss their punishment in detail.”

Tyler looks around, and no one gives any sign of disagreement. Kesh Lan, Sayiah, Sebastian, Arem, Tristan, and even Ruhan step forward nodding their head at him.

Though, Tyler gives Ruhan a quizzical look and a raised brow.

“No need for concern.” Ruhan says in a gravelly voice. “There is no longer a wolf council to intervene.”

They all nod in agreement and turn to get their people ready to leave.

“Wait!” Mike steps in and moves towards Tyler. “We’re just leaving? What about-…?” He aimlessly points towards the ash field.

“What about what?”

“………What about Layla?”

There’s a brief silence in the air, but slowly filling with anger. Jason grips Anthony by the shoulder, calming his mate’s anger and faces his long-time friend.

“Mike. Look what is out there. Everything is burned to ash. There’s nothing. No one.”

“…..But-”

“It’s been two days! If there was even a way for her to survive a fire, we would have found her by now.”

Mike just looks down, keeping his thoughts to himself.

Jason sighs as he sees the dejected look in Mike’s eyes.

“There isn’t much we know about celestials. Whether they can curse people or can’t be killed, but perhaps they still can die a natural death, or if they choose to for their mate.” He walks closer to Mike. “You and I both know Layla is a fighter and very stubborn. She could have survived this if she wanted to. But she made her choice, to be with her mate. All we can do is to respect that.”

With another brief silence Mike walks off and they all, one by one move towards their people.

Tristan rushes through the crowd towards Melinda and the boy. He can see the anxiety on her face as she cradles the boy in her trembling arms.

“Melinda.” He pulls them both into his arms, inhaling her scent. “Everything is alright. Please calm down.”

“How is everything alright?” She looks up at him, her lip quivering and her eyes watering. “This is all my fault.”

“No, no, no. None of this is your fault.” He looks between her and the boy, and can’t help smile at the child’s attempt at cradling her face and wiping her tears away.

“But I started that fire……I’m so sorry.” She starts crying again. “I didn’t know how to stop it.”

“Ssshh, sshh. You didn’t do any of this on purpose. And you tried, you tried to stop it. But neither of us expected it to get this out of hand.”

“Exactly. It was just one spark. And look at all the damage it caused.” She tries calming her voice as the tired child nuzzles his head in her neck. “Things will only get worse.”

“You are not sick.” He grips her arms a little tighter. “Your power is just growing. You just need to learn how to control it. That’s all.”

“Bu-”

“That’s all Melinda. Now it’s time for us to leave and head back to our pack, our home.” He kisses the corner of her lips and pulls the sleeping child out of her arms as he pulls her along by her hand.

Meanwhile, just as Anthony gives his final thanks to Arem for his pack’s assistance, Melissa steps forward, wanting a quick word with him.

Arem grunts as he pulls her back into his arms, his arms locked tightly around her body and his face nuzzled in her hair.

Melissa blushes from embarrassment. “Arem. I just want to talk to him.” But he doesn’t let go as his eyes flash it’s auburn glow at Anthony. “Arem.”

But Anthony just chuckles as he slips his hand into Jason’s, making sure Arem sees he’s already claimed and mated. But he’s not so sure whether that also works for bears.

“Are you always going to be like this?” She asks, having given up on trying to get out of his hold, and actually relaxing in his grip and his scent.

“You will probably have to get used to it.” Anthony says. “So what is it you wanted to speak to me about?”

She blushes more, having to continue her conversation from Arem’s cage. “I actually wanted to talk about you and your mate, Jason.” She yelps as she feels Arem briefly licking her neck.

“What about us?”

“It’s just, I couldn’t help but notice your marks. It’s identical, beautiful.” She ends off in almost a high pitched voice, feeling another lick and something hardening against her back. “I’ve read about identical,…m-arks.” She squeals a bit in his tight hold and her blush brightens seeing the amused look on Anthony and Jason’s faces. “And after seeing you two fight, I think the theory might be true.” She rushes out in one breath, relieved to not have to speak anymore. Not that she can think of what she might have wanted to say.

“What theory?”

“Y-you are a rare mated pair. Soul mates, but more. Different. You have one body, one mind. I know it’s not anything mind-blowing. But it was quite interesting to see it other than just reading about it.”

“No. It is quite interesting.” Jason says with a huge smile. “It’s still mind-blowing to me that I was lucky enough to find Anthony.” He cups his face as he lovingly looks in his mate’s eyes. “And at least now he knows he can never get rid of me.”

Anthony growls. “Why would I-“

But Jason silences him with a peck on his lips.

“Anyways.” He looks back at a squirming and blushing Melissa. “You two take care now.” He smirks as he and Anthony walk away from the possessive bear claiming his territory.

When the two finally leave, Melissa whirls her head up trying to look angry at him. But she comes face to face with him as his lips brush her red cheeks.

He licks her cheek and she squirms again.

“Arem!”

Finally, his auburn eyes fade, returning to his natural brown. He looks at her with curiosity, especially her blushing face.

“What’s wrong, aşkim? Did they say something to you?” He accuses, looking for the culprits.

“No. It’s you.”

His grip loosens and she turns in his hold, looking straight at him. Only then does he realize what a hard-on he has right now, and tries to take a step back.

But she pulls him back against her. “Oh, now you want to give me space?”

He tries looking anywhere but at her cute angry face.

“You couldn’t even leave me for one second to talk to them. And now you want to act all shy and wanting to just get away from me?”

She scolds and he finally looks at her with a guilty face.

“I’m sorry.” He rubs the back of his head. “It was my bear.”

Oh, you’re going to blame me for this? Last I checked, you were enjoying it just as much.

Yeah, yeah. I know. But we can’t have her being mad at us.

Why not? Look at her. Such a cute mess.

Not now.

“Why is it,” she says, getting back his attention, “that you always have a say in where I go or who I speak to, but the moment I want to talk with you, you try to avoid my eyes.”

She gets on her tip-toes and pulling herself up on his tattered shirt, trying to force eye contact. But her lips are so close to his, he’s literally focused on holding his breath.

“I thought you liked me.”

“I do.” He confirms immediately.

“Then look me in the eyes.”

He slowly turns his head back down, and the moment his eyes catch hers, he feels his knees wanting to go numb. Her cheeks are bright red and her lips are puffy from being bitten on.

He growls deeply as he cups her face and frees her bottom lip from the grip of her teeth. “Aşkim. Every time I look into your eyes, I want to do things to you.

He tries avoiding her eyes again and focusing on the ash smudges on her neck. But now he can clearly smell his scent where he licked her.

Suddenly, his lips feel the warmth and softness of hers as she pulls him in for a kiss.

His hands instinctively wrap around her, but she pulls back from the quick kiss.

“You and I have a lot of talking to do when we get back. Now come on.”

She slips her hand in his, as she saw Jason do with Anthony, in the hope that he will just follow her with no further questions. And to her surprise, he does. She can’t help but smirk, knowing she is actually dragging around this big lump of a man with just a pull of her hand. -The very man that used to always scold her for almost everything, is now utterly silent.

The only sad thing for her right now is the fact that she never really got to talk to her sister, Melinda. They saw each other through the chaos of everyone running around, and it just didn’t seem like the right time to try and rekindle a relationship. She wasn’t even sure if Melinda wanted to.

And even now, in looking around, she can tell they must have already left. She can’t see her or Tristan.

Kesh Lan finally got a hold of Mike. He wanted to clear the air.

For so long their entire family had thought Mike to have been dead. They all moved on with their lives. But the moment they heard he was in fact alive and was held in some experimental prison, they knew they had a lot to make up for.

But to his surprise, Mike didn’t ignore him this time. He was open to hearing what Kesh Lan had to say, though, he never released his hold from Rebecca, - the she-wolf Kesh Lan now understood to be his cousin’s chosen mate. An odd pairing for a lion-shifter. But he wasn’t going to question it.

Without even a second thought, Mike forgave him and his family. He held no grudges, and just wants to be free with no worries as he always tried to be.

Kesh Lan welcomed him back to their pride, but Mike refused. He knew that the lions’ way of living would be difficult to accommodate Rebecca and him. And all he wants to do is travel with Rebecca, ensuring her safety and happiness. But he’s glad that they would always be welcome at the pride.

After Mike greeted him like they were brothers again and left, Kesh Lan finally released a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. He was so nervous ever since he found out about Mike’s whereabouts. He thought Mike would be furious. He thought he would have to be on his knees just to be forgiven. And yet, Mike was so relaxed about the whole thing. It actually made Kesh Lan laugh hysterically as he led his men back to their pride.

“Sooooo,…..you found yourself a pet?” Sebastian asks, looking suspiciously at the shirtless man following behind Saiyah towards the vehicles they had arranged for them.

This is the same man that tried to help me up, and definitely one of Nicholas'men.

She sighs deeply as she rolls her eyes. “Something like that.” She stops as Micah opens the passenger door of one of the vehicles for her. “Apparently, I’m his mate.”

Sebastian stands frozen as he hears the door shut and sees the smirking man walk around, taking the keys from one of the waiting men, gets in the driver’s seat and drives off.

All the waiting men stand still as they stare at the car rushing off and back at Sebastian, not knowing what to do.

“Uhm,…Your highness.” One of the vampires finally have the courage to ask what they are all concerned about. “The Queen. She left without her guards. Should we-..?”

But Sebastian just huffs out annoyed. “YES! Get in your cars and follow her. Do I have to tell you how to do your jobs.”

The men suddenly rush into cars as Sebastian gets in one and they drive after his sister.

She might be older than me, but there is no way I’m going to just accept this. This will just be a huge mess. How can a wolf be the vampire queen’s mate? Would that mean we will have a wolf for a king? -No fucking way.

He starts tapping his finger on his thigh as he tries to calm his breathing.

And I thought she was the one that despised wolves more than anything. She would have had him on his knees begging for his life already. So why!? Did she acknowledge him already?

He punches a hole in the glove compartment.

There is no way I’m letting a wolf fuck my sister.

“Faster!” He orders his driver.