"There's someone else. Something else."

Avani narrowed her eyes, tensing.

"It wasn't about the challenge at all."

Alexius and Avani both turned to Greer.

"I get a bit of an energy jolt every time someone goes in or out of Oldcrest. I felt something pass through the wards a moment ago. It didn't bother me; it seemed like it belonged here. But…it doesn't. She doesn't."

In the distance, they could now distinguish the silhouettes: four wolves, and a woman with dark red curls and bright eyes. She was tall, and utterly stunning. Her mouth and her little turned-up nose were familiar. Exactly the same as Chloe's.

"She was invited here by the wolves under the pretense of this bullshit challenge." Greer was shaking. "As the inhabitants of the Hill okayed the challenge, it worked. They found a loophole to get her in. Unless I'm much mistaken, this is the queen."

Now that the group was nearer, Alexius saw the woman in detail. Some of her features did echo Chloe's, but unexpectedly, others were more like Greer's. Her eyes, so very big and green. Her strong jaw, even her hair, though hers was considerably more reddish.

Avani took a step forward. Immediately, Alexius held her back. He wasn't alone. Both Chloe and Ruby grabbed onto her hands, pulling her back.

"You're not fighting that." There was no way in hell he would let her walk to her doom.

Avani turned to him, shaking her head. "Of course I am. Only, not in a duel. Chloe, take her left? Ruby, you can go in front; I'll take her right. Greer, get out of here now. Alexius, the wolves. We need to buy Greer some time to get to safety."

Oh. That made sense.

Now that it sounded like she had an actual plan that didn't seem like it would be suicide, Alexius leaped into action. As soon as he started to move, the werewolves shifted into their animal forms and rushed toward him.

Avani was smart, of course. Greer had to be protected; the queen and her dogs would try to get rid of her in order to take down the borders.

Alexius smiled. It had been a while since he'd gotten to have some fun.

The first animal lunged at him, aiming for his throat; Alexius grabbed its throat and closed his hand around the jugular. Then he ripped it out, mercilessly, without an ounce of hesitation.

Immediately, a cry resounded from the forest, and he could feel the ground vibrating under the weight of dozens of wolves running toward him.

Let them come.

He spared a glance at Avani before kicking the closest animal.

She was in a bad way. She, and Chloe, and Ruby. They were strong, each of them, in their own ways.

They wouldn't be enough. The queen wanted to advance toward the hill, and she was managing to. If she made it, if she headed up there and claimed Skyhall, all was lost.

Though she smelled like a mortal, that queen certainly didn't move like one. She was faster than a vampire, faster than anyone he knew. Except one person.

Eirikr.

Her father. Alexius would have sworn they were dealing with the daughter; her every feature proclaimed it. How she'd survived her mother's draining her, he had no idea, but there was no other possible explanation for her physique as well as her incredible inner strength that seemed too much like Eirikr’s.

As well as being incredibly fast, the woman's every move was calculated; she had the style and discipline of a Greek warrior, and she paired it with the darkest of magics, potent and terrifying. She opened shields to parry each blow, broke them and gave punches that had the women flying yards away.

Disposing of the third wolf and punching the fourth away, Alexius looked around to see when help was going to turn up. Jack was airborne; he'd be the first to reach them. He felt Levi close by too.

The wolves would reach them soon, but the queen was their priority. He joined the three women, staying close to Avani.

"Get out of the way!" she yelled, when he took a hit meant for her. "I can take a few punches. You're going to get yourself and me hurt if you try to protect me."

He only had a second to groan, admitting she was right, when he felt it. An eerie tingle, indicating magic had reached him.

He only had an instant to wonder what spell he'd suffered when the air around him started to sizzle. Shit. He knew this spell. He'd bottled this spell before.

His eyes widened, and lit on Avani again.

"Run. To the hill, now."

Please, please, please, let her run fast enough.

She complied without questioning, no doubt hearing the distress in his broken voice.

She was quite fast, thank God.

He could see she was out of range before a wide sphere around him condensed in glass-like walls and exploded in a ball of fire and smoke.

Energy

Avani was close to the hill when she heard it. She froze and turned on her heels.

Then she fell to her knees.

Where she'd left Alexius a minute ago, there was nothing.

He'd said run, and she'd run, expecting something, she didn't know, something that would have hurt her, as a mortal, rather than him. He was bigger than life, stronger than anything.

Almost everything.

Not fire.

Fire killed vampires, as surely as drowning or a sword through the heart.

No. No, no, no. Alexius couldn't be dead. He just couldn't.

The pack was storming the valley, but she ignored them. A part of her she didn't know existed ached incomprehensibly, rendering her unable to see anything except him. In the distance, all she heard was his fading heartbeat. Still alive. She felt it. Though she couldn't see him, she felt him somewhere inside her.

She knew what that meant, yet she couldn't think clearly about anything, or comprehend anything, beyond the need to get to him right now.

So she did it, each of her steps barely tapping the ground, without a single sound. She moved so fast she couldn't see her destination well, but she felt him, in her heart. One instant later, she was crouching next to him, having crossed the entire valley in the fraction of a second.

She didn't question how she could move at vampire speed. She didn't question what she felt, to her bones, she had to do. All that mattered was saving Alexius, and her heart, her soul was telling her she knew how.

Ignoring the sting of the smoke in her sensitive eyes, she found him. He was a mess of burned flesh, just like the second time she'd met him. And like back then, he was in this state because he'd been saving her.

Avani lowered her mouth to his neck and bit down, hard, fast, leaving a gnarly open wound. She sucked at his blood, claiming every part of him inside her. Then she presented her neck.

"No. Hurt." His voice was so weak. "I—not in control."

"You won't hurt me," she managed to say through her tears. "You could never hurt me. Take me."

Claim me.

His fangs rested on her skin, smooth and cool to the touch.

He had to do it; he had to bite her, and stay with her. Now she'd realized he was her mate, shaped by fate for her, she wouldn't survive losing him.

His heart was slowing down; she'd tuned out all sounds of battle around them. The only thing that mattered in her world was the unsteady beat that already seemed so weak.

She wished she could slice her wrist, force her blood into his system, but he had to take it; she'd marked him as hers. If he didn't accept her, they couldn't form a bond.

"Please, Lex."

He remained still. Then a sharp pain seized her at the side of her neck as his fangs penetrated her skin. She closed her eyes and let go of any tension, giving in to the bite. He sucked her blood, ever so weakly, only taking in a few drops.

That was enough. She could feel it the moment her heart beat alongside his and linked them together, as if they were one—unified, a small pack comprised of just the two of them.

She pushed as much energy through him as she could spare. Alexius groaned against her skin, and pulled his head back, looking straight into her as if she was a thing of wonder, a miracle he couldn't quite believe.

Before her eyes, his neck healed, and a gold line curved alongside his shoulder, dipping under his collar, a beautiful shapeless graphic she'd only heard of in legends, echoed in her own marks. When wolves formed a bond with their fated mates, they were blessed with a physical manifestation of their link.

She would have liked to look at hers. She would have enjoyed kissing, hugging, crying with, and fucking her mate.

First, they had to protect their friends, their family, their territory.

Their pack.

He stumbled to his feet, steady by the time he was upright. His skin healed in an instant, faster than it had before.

Avani felt it inside. Not just her strength. Also his. His speed, his healing ability, his strength. Just like he had her claws and fangs.

Her fur, if he wanted it.

Realizing it, Alexius growled low, and allowed the beast to take over. He tore his clothes, feeling his skin mold into a different shape, his bones break to assume another body. And next to her, there was a pure white wolf with blood-red eyes fixed on their enemy.

She laughed before leaping in the air and joining him in her wolf form, watching his back.

Together, they ignored the pack that tried to pick them off, focusing on an offensive against the self-proclaimed queen.

Levi had joined Chloe, flanked by a redheaded man who must be Sylvan—the only person in their team she didn't recognize—and Mikar. The three were spectacular, but added to the three females, all they could do was hold their ground.

Avani leaped at the queen's shin and took a nasty bite. The bitch deserved it.

No sooner had she retreated to brace for her next offensive than a familiar dark wolf jumped at her. There was a furless scar on his neck, the remnant of a barely healed bite. Zayne. Avani had run from him, once. Not today. He was…slow. Awkward. She could play with him and still pay attention to the queen’s fight.

Alexius, true to his inclination, went for the throat. She punched him out of the way, but he managed to claw at her arm, and she gave Chloe an opening to get to her neck and bite out a chunk of flesh.

The queen was too fast; she headbutted her, hard enough for her skull to crack.