A/N: Trigger warning for violence, gore and death
Aarrwhooo! Boom! Boom! Boom! Sssss!
Once again, the night came alive with the sounds of battle. The ground shook under Ethan's feet. His heart pounded louder than the thumping paws of a thousand wolves. Screams of pain pierced the air, mingling with ferocious barks. Green flashes of light and darkness played tricks on his eyes as they shifted to reveal pale, red-eyed monsters. The hot, ferric tang of blood wafted up from the soiled grass to merge with smoke and cinnamon that irritated his nose.
"Archers, fall back!" The High Priestess commanded, her powerful voice full and resonant in the midnight stillness. "Sisters, shields up!"
"Trackers, to the rear! Vanguards - Woof! Woof!"
"Blood Warriors! Darkness be your shield!"
Arrwhooo!
Ethan's loud barks joined the battle cry. Then, he charged the mage closest to him.
Her face contorted in a vicious snarl as she lifted her fiery shield to block him. Twisting sideways to evade the flaming circle of death, his nails ripped chunks of damp, loamy soil and grass. The heifer stepped forward, grinning as she swung down the blinding green sword toward his neck.
A black shadow whipped past her exposed back, and she jerked. Three deep scratches appeared, and blood seeped into the tattered dress, staining it red.
The white native wolf slipped under her shield and, with a ferocious snarl, chomped on her calf.
"Aaah!" The mage's smile changed into a cry of pain. She twisted, turning to stab the she-wolf.
Not on my watch! Ethan growled. He leaped up and sank his teeth in her nape. He twisted once. Crack! The green sword and shield winked out of existence.
"You fucking dog!" A bronzed skin mage with piercings yelled, turning her weapons toward the alpha.
Rr-woof! Before she could get in striking distance of the gray wolf, Simmons and four natives jumped her. Ethan turned away as the enraged canines tore her from limb to limb.
Jan was a blurred patch blitzing through the squabbling bodies. He darted here and there. Everywhere he went, women in white flinched, and blood spurted from unexplained gashes in their clothes.
A bloodied mage caught his trail. Panting, she drew her sword from the chest of a charred vampire. Then, she threw it at him like a javelin.
The inky shadow jerked to a stop, and Jan's face appeared, hissing angrily as he ducked to dodge it. Ethan growled in warning. Thankfully, the blade missed his mate. But blazing a sizzling path, it sank to the hilt in an unfortunate speckled wolf who yelped painfully before dropping to the floor.
The fire sword winked out and reappeared in the mage's hand, hungrily flaring bright as it sought its next victim.
Ethan jumped, chasing the vicious hag circling his mate. He landed on another witch fending off two natives. His weight toppled her over, but he did not spare her a backward glance. The white wolf and her colleagues pounced on her, tearing chunks out of her while she struggled to rise.
Ethan's red eyes remained on the other hag, slashing and jabbing at the blonde vampire.
She moved slower than Jan but wielded her lethal weapons with deadly experience. When he lunged from the front, she swung the smoldering shield at him. Then, her fiery sword twisted in the blink of an eye to protect her blind spot from the vampire's sharp talons. It was as if she had eyes at the back of her head as well as the front.
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Blooded Mate
Fantasy[[MATURE CONTENT]] Pack, family, mate. Loyalty, respect, honor. These are the words that form the foundation of the wolf society. At six years old, Ethan had to choose between his Alpha title and his survival on the night of his father's death. As a...
