The silver-plated spear cut the flesh with ease... Blood appeared on the alreadystained clothes, soaking them rapidly. Ruby-red drops were falling onto theflooded floor, dissolving in the water within seconds as if they were nothing.As if his blood was nothing...Brayden looked at Riannon with a sad smile on his lips.“I told you I would always protect you,” he said and fell onto his knees, Ria triedto process what happened when she saw the one who threw that spear and aninternal snarl left her chest.Roxanne was glaring at her from the other side of the dungeon. Breathingheavily, the little hybrid gritted her teeth. She did not mind killing her fake mate.She did not care enough about him even though they did spend so much timetogether.She had a bigger fish to fry. That spear was for Riannon. Because she caredabout her death. She wanted her dead more than anything at that moment intime. That woman was the source of all her troubles. That woman could takewhat she wanted from her, and she wasn’t having any of it anymore.“Haven’t you done enough?!” Ria screamed at the fox while catching Braydenbefore he fell face flat into the water. She slowly lowered him to the ground,noticing his ragged breathing.“This one is on you!” Roxanne hissed, narrowing her eyes. “All of this is on you!He blew up the house not even caring that I was inside! Was it some kind ofpunishment for you? After all, he loves to train his girls! But with you he is sodifferent! This madness will be over the moment you are dead! And everythingwill get back to normal!”Ria scanned her face, realising that her enemy was talking about Castiel.Everything was even worse than she imagined. Roxy didn’t just love him. She

was obsessed with him. It was an unhealthy sick addiction that was driving hercrazy, making her break all the imaginable and unimaginable boundaries.“Do you even realise that he has been experimenting on you?” she decided toask, feeling how life was slowly leaving Brayden who now tucked his head in thecolumn or his neck for support. “He used you! He used your siren abilities, usedyou as his Guinea pig! He was intoxicating you and all these other women withfake mate scents! And now that I think of it, I bet you were a frequent visitor to hislaboratory. There’s no way someone like him wouldn’t try to copy the sirenpheromones!”“That was because I am special to him!” Roxy snarled, growing her claws. “Hetreated me better than anyone else!”“Then it’s just sad,” Riannon admitted, “Because he was putting you under othermen with ease. He never cared whether you stayed dead or alive in the processof his schemes. And he never even asked about you while he...”“Shut up!” the fake omega screamed hysterically, “Who are you to judge me? Youdidn’t even fight for your man when he brought me to your home!”“I did fight you the first time,” Ria heard herself saying and felt Brayden twitchingin her arms. But she did not regret her words.Her secret wasn’t important now. The reality changed so much that there was nopoint to hide it because she didn’t possess any essential knowledge about futureevents anymore. This life was going very differently from what she knew. Sodifferent that no events were the same with the exception of the over. “I lived aute wnere i was rigning for the man wno was clearly wrong for me! I lovea nimanai thought that I could fix things between us if I just try hard, be perfect, dosomething... I was wrong. And I paid the price. Because you killed me. And theman I practically sacrificed my love for probably didn’t even notice...”“What kind of bull sh*t is this?!” Roxy stared at her in shock, her chest heaving.

“How do you think I knew everything you did before you even tried to act? Howdo you think I knew all the things I wasn’t supposed to know?”Ria gave her a sadsmile, “The Moon Goddess brought me back in time. At first, I believed that it wasonly to change my course of life. But now I see that a lot of people needed thingsto be changed. Including you, Roxanne. Look at what you are doing! You aregoing to have a baby, for Goddess’ sake!”“Shut up about my baby!” Roxy looked around in search of a weapon. Anger wasfilling her heart and soul; fury was burning in her veins.This was why everything happened! She wanted to kill that woman once and forall! She could have won. Could have fulfilled Castiel’s task and expectations. ButRiannon changed everything! It wasn’t fair! It seemed like some cruel joke of thegods!Roxanne found a metal stick with a sharp end and decided that this was goodenough. She wanted to wipe that Alpha-female from the face of the earth!But as soon as she made a step, she felt a kick on the back of her knees.“Not so fast!” Maya growled and knocked the stick out of her hands. Ashappeared nearby and helped her to subdue the girl. Regardless of the hatredthey both felt towards her, they didn’t want to hurt apregnant woman. It wasn’t who they were.Brayden sighed and Riannon was finally able to concentrate on him. Shecarefully turned him on his back and placed his head in her lap. Their eyes met atlast and there was so much understanding in his.“Ri,” Brayden breathed, “I am so sorry.”“It’s okay,” she was assessing where the spear went through, and came to theconclusion that it probably got his heart as well. Which was a bad thing for ashifter. Hearts almost never regenerated... The blood was still gushing and shetried to apply pressure, knowing that now everything depended on whether

his wolf would be able to heal him or not. It did not help that the spear wassilver.. It was a bad sign.She remembered how Brayden purchased it at some auction for a ridiculousamount of money even though she protested against it. And how proud he was todisplay it in their house.“The joke is on me,” he tried to chuckle, but coughed up some blood instead. Heprobably knew what she was thinking and her lips curled into a little smile.He was becoming more and more the Brayden that she used to know and love. Itdid not change her feeling towards Gideon, but she was glad to know that atleast she had not made that man up. They weren’t meant to be, but she hated tosee him lose everything he worked for all his life, including his own personality.A part of her was still angry at him. She used to think that this part of her wouldalways be angry.But everything changed when he took that spear for her, risking his own lifewithout hesitation. Before Roxanne, she always felt safe with him...At the distance, Roxy was still struggling against Maya and Ash, who tried tosustain her but not hurt her too much. Their eyes met and something crazygleamed in Roxy’s as she started cackling. this! Soon you are au going to...“Your Castiel is dead!” Maya interrupted her speech and the fox’s head snappedin her direction. They all became silent and only the sounds of water dripping andsplashing from broken pipes could be heard.“You are... lying!” Roxanne stuttered in disbelief, but Maya met her gaze withease.“Hurts, doesn’t it?” the Beta said bitterly, watching her worst enemy suffer finally.But when Roxy fell to the ground helplessly and tears started rolling down hercheeks one by one, her chest shaking uncontrollably as if she wanted to sob but

couldn’t... Maya realised that the sight was not making her happy. It was notmaking the loss of her brother any easier. It changed nothing. What adisappointment.“I’ll take her,” she said to Ash and gestured at their Alpha who was holding herex-husband and whispering something to him. “You stay and help them and I willcall more people to come here and finish things up.”This time Roxanne did not struggle. She let her hands be cuffed in silver-platedcuffs and seemed lifeless when the Beta was leading her away. She just followedher. As if there was no point in her fighting anymore. As if there was no point indoing anything...By now Riannon knew that Brayden was not healing properly. He knew that aswell.“If we keep the spear inside, we might win some time and get you to thehospital,” she said, thinking of what was the best way to transport him there,when his hand caught hers.“No use,” he said, but she shook her head.“Don’t be ridiculous,” she insisted. “A good doctor might still help you. You are anAlpha, you can hold on for a long time. You will make it through...”“Not this time, Ri,” he tried to smile again, but she knew that it was hard for him.“It’s okay. It’s fine. Don’t cry...”She didn’t even realise that there were tears in her eyes. Riannon tried to wipethem away quickly, but the new ones were appearing in their stead.He was an important part of her life, her friend. Yes, he made many stupidmistakes but losing him was still painful.Her tears were now falling onto his face and he brushed one palm over hercheek, smearing it with blood.

“I’ve been such an j***t, Riannon,” Brayden smiled, his voice getting weaker andweaker. “I can say am sorry a thousand times but it would never be enough.”“It’s all right,” she sniffed seeing how pale he was getting. His body was nothealing and he barely had a few minutes left. Sadly, werewolves were notimmortals...“It’s all right, Bray,” she repeated, her tears now uncontrollably falling onto hisface,“I forgive you. I really do.”“Good,” a smile formed on his face, “At least I will know that he will take goodcare of you. Better than I ever did. Goodbye, Riannon...”She didn’t understand what he was doing at first, but Brayden grabbed the spearand pulled it out ofhis body in one swift and immensely painful move. Now they were sitting in ared puddle of his blood that couldn’t stop gushing out of him.Ria held his hand, the two of them looking into each other’s eyes. But at the verylast moment, she bent and whispered into his ear what Onyx had just told her. wiae, you ana your wou will be reborn in a new ure. Ana in that new ure, youwill be given a mate. ine one that will be right for you and you alone. It willhappen...and you will find your happiness.”She distanced herself, to see that he was looking at the ceiling with glassy eyes.But even now there was a vague smile reaching the corner of his lips.She closed his eyelids with trembling fingers and took a deep breath of air, tryingto hold back the sobs. He was her husband once. He was her friend first... Hewas her partner for a long time. And now that man was gone forever.But even in his last moment, he was dreaming of his true mate that he had nevergot to meet. His one true desire...magic

“I hope you two will be happy in your next life,” she kissed his forehead one lasttime and only now noticed Ash that stood next to her.“I’ll take him,” the Gamma lifted his best friend’s body in his hands without askinganything.” Everyone else in the house is either dead or out. Let’s go.”Riannon followed him, trying to gather her thoughts. This wasn’t the time to be asoapy mess.Her heart was broken from the loss of Brayden, but she would be truly dead ifsomething happened to Gideon.She already had a mate, the one who meant everything to her, the one whonever failed her and the one for whom she was ready to do anything.And her mate was fighting an army now. She couldn’t leave him.“Maya,” she called her Beta, “Call everyone who can fight. We are going to thelycans. Now. Leave just a few people for protection here and to help thewounded. We will deal with everything else later.”They were in cars in just a few minutes and took the shortest way imaginable tothe Western Kingdom overspeeding on their way. The closer they were getting,the faster Riannon’s heart was beating. She couldn’t sense her mate throughtheir bond even when they were supposed to be in the range for mind-linking.She couldn’t feel him even when she saw the battle before her eyes. And thatbrought fear to her soul because she could go through anything. But only as longas she knew that Gideon was fine.She got out of the car and took the spear with her. Ever since Ash took Brayden’sbody, she couldn’t let go of it...She knew that field. She already saw this place in the vision that Onyx showedher after her return. And she swallowed uncomfortably, knowing that this was thebattle that would decide the fates of many.

All the scents were mixed here and it was hard to find the one that she waslooking for.Riannon froze when she saw a man holding another man in his arms right on thehill where she witnessed Gideon holding Reid in her dream. Everything wasrepeated and it suddenly became harder for her to breathe.She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she saw that the manwas actually blonde and not as well built as Gideon. Now that she looked at him,he looked more like a fox. And it brought a little bit of relief to her.All she wanted now was to help her people, the Union that they formed forpeace... and also to find her mate.She motioned for her warriors to join the fight and didn’t stay behind herself. Shedidn’t shift, using the spear as her weapon successfully to kill the enemies on herway. It helped her to manoeuvre betterHer bond wasn’t working for some reason, but she knew that there was no waythat Gideon was dead.However, if something did happen to him, she wanted to find him sooner ratherthan later.Riannon pierced some fox’s head with the spear when she finally found the oneshe was looking for. But she didn’t know whether it was a good thing or a badone...tttThey knew about the upcoming sneaky battle, so Kyle met the enemy forcesearlier than they anticipated and attacked first. But the element of surprise wasworking only for so long... The bears and the foxes brought a whole army withthem. And lycans didn’t have enough time to call everyone who was on their sidein time for the battle. Most were still on their way

Though even when they all would be here, there was still a risk that Savvy didn’tget all the names right and traitors could be between them. The possibility ofbeing stabbed in the back was huge and they all knew that.However, lycans were strong and soon Savvanah arrived with werecats, whojumped right into the epicentre of the battle, fearless, elegant, powerful. One ofthe best allies they had.Gideon and Reid were working efficiently, targeting the biggest bears and killingthem first, so that the werewolves and cats did not have to. The lycan king triedto find who the leader was but no matter how hard he searched for, he couldn’tfind one.Shrill screams, growls and screeching were turning into a background noise forhim. Too many warriors were dying at both ends. But each time more foxes andbears were arriving. The whole battlefield was a mess of blood, dirt and deadbodies... Sometimes not even whole bodies.“You know what we have to do,” Mars said but Gideon snarled at his constantcompanion. “No!” he refused that idea.“G, you know what Riannon saw!” his wolf insisted. “As of now, there is a 60%chance of us winning this battle. But that’s a big maybe and only if a lot of ourpeople give their lives... But if we let him out...”Gideon hated to admit when his wolf was right at a moment like this.He hoped for quite some time that he wouldn’t have to do it. But now it was clearthat he had to. For the men and women who fought on his side, for his little sisterwho turned out to be way stronger than he ever imagined... For his belovedmate, who deserved to be a queen and would do a good job even if he was nolonger around.“Reid, Sawy, Kyle,” he connected to his family who was close, “If anything goeswrong, I want the three of you to try and put me down.”.

“No, Gideon!” Savvanah was the first to react. She had the same blood in herveins and probably had the same thoughts in her head right now.“What do you mean?” Kyle, however, didn’t get it at once.“Gideon,” Reid also understood what he was about to do, “If you are decided onthat, you have to do it as fast as possible. You know that your beast is controlling.He will never let you get the control back if he can... So, don’t let him come to hisfull strength!”“I will try,” he agreed, “But if it goes wrong, you know what I want you to do. Ineed your words on that.”“I don’t like it!” his sister said. She was the only one who knew how hard it was tocontrol the true royal lycan form. message to nis enemies..“Promise me!” he growled, feeling how the lycan inside him was getting to thesurface. He was both him and Mars, but he was also something else. Somethingstronger, something bigger, something that he couldn’t control well.“I promise,” Reid said and Kyle repeated his words. Savvanah hesitated.“Gideon,” she said, “You have to come back after this! For all of us. Or at least forRiannon. She will kill us all if we don’t bring you back and your sacrifice will be invain.”“I will do everything to return,” he said, and he intended to keep his word.“Then I promise too,” his sister agreed, and he let out a long loud growl thatshook the mountains.His bones started to crack again. Because his true battle form was different fromhis usual wolf form. It was bigger and way more powerful. His muscles weregetting heavier, firmer as if they were made out of steel now, and the shape of hisbody was changing. The wolf was turning into a lycan and for a few seconds, it

seemed that the battle stopped because of him. Everyone was staring at himnow. In shock, in fear, in disbelief... There were all kinds of emotions.And when the beast that he now was stood on his two feet and let out anothermighty and soul-piercing growl, it was as if he took everyone out of their daze. –Dozens of bears threw themselves at him. They knew that they would only havea chance if they .! attacked now, while he wasn’t at his strongest yet. And only ifthey fought wisely. Foxes tried to launch a series of smaller assaults but that waslike tickles to him now.He didn’t even bother to look at the little red things when he crushed them withhis feet or backslapped them, sending them to the flight of their lives. Even bearsweren’t that much of a threat to him now. He was catching them and snappingtheir necks with ease. Or catching two and crushing their skulls against eachother. He wanted their blood, he wanted to see their death, to feel that powerover their pathetic lives. The beast wanted more. More, more, more...Catch, snap, crash. Repeat. Catch, snap, crash. Again.Riannon couldn’t believe what she saw. She called her mate, she knew that itwas him. But Gideon wasn’t responding to her.She knew that royal lycans did not like to shift into this humanoid wolf form of amonster. She remembered how her mate was telling her about his struggles withcontrol. The stronger the beast was, the harder it was to get back after shiftinginto him. And Gideon’s lycan was one of the stronger ones that ever existed...She wanted to go after him but some fox jumped on her. The spear proved to beuseful again. And Riannon had to use it a few times as she ran after her beloved.He was slaughtering their enemies one by one and cleaning the field off the rivalspecies.From the corner of her eye, she already saw that the presence of the true lycanwas changing how the battle continued. Wolves and werecats were getting theupper hand.

Gideon was now in the middle of a large enemy group. They were jumping onhim, trying to bite him, cut him, do anything possible to turn the tables.....Ria tried to get to him but it was so hard in all that mess. Someone was attackingher every second and her progress towards him was slow.Before her eyes, a huge wave of bears and foxes covered her mate from her,climbing on top of him, jumping on his back and forming some kind of a movingmountain. mountain telt.She tried reaching her bond, she tried calling for him... But he wasn’t responding.As if he was not there at all.Riannon did not know what was going on there but she tried to get to that part ofthe battlefield whatever it cost her. Another fox, a grey one this time, sliced herback and she screamed again, falling to her knees. She twisted and managed topierce the one who attacked her. However, a huge brown bear was there beforeshe managed to get up. He snarled loudly and was about to tear her into pieceswhen a resounding roar shook the ground beneath them.In one breath the bear was gone, his bloody head falling to her feet and a hugeblack beast stood before her, his eyes grazing over her slender frame.“Gideon,” she called her mate’s name but he did not respond. “Gideon!” shesounded desperate now, but she did not care. He looked at her as if... as if hedid not know who she was...