Counting Our Stars • Tyler Joseph •

Chapter 21

• Josh •

All around the complex were the deafening sounds of snarls, growls and snapping teeth that surrounded him from all angles. It was too much. He had to dodge flying teeth and claws as he made his way to Tyler's room.

There were no guards posted at his door like he had ordered. A bolt of fury coursed through his body. The room was empty.

Tyler was gone.

He swiftly turned on his heels, eyes searching for one of his coven.  In the middle of throwing off a light colored wolf, his sister Abagail caught his eye.

"Abby!" He shouted above the sounds of fur tearing and howls from every creature.

Abigail turned her head, searching for the source of her name.

"Over here Abby!" He called and was relieved when his sister scuffled her way through the bodies of vampires and werewolves.

"Someone took Tyler. Who told the wolves our location?" He asked, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. Abby's shocked expression showed that she had no idea about Tyler's disappearance, not that he was accusing her of betraying him. "I-I don't know."

"Find a few others who are fit enough and find his scent trail. He didn't walk out of here." he had made sure of that. He had wanted to drain every ounce of strength and energy Tyler possessed in order to prevent this from happening. Someone had betrayed him and they were going to pay. They had wrecked his whole plan but he had a back up.

Abigail gave him a quick nod before she darted back into the fray, Josh right behind her to help his coven.

He grabbed a sandy colored wolf by the scruff, nearly knocking them both to the floor as he had underestimated the weight of the wolf as it had tried closing its jaws around Jordan. The wolf yelped in a mixture of surprise and fury. Josh narrowly dodged a hefty paw That had been aimed at his head. He was caught off guard when the wolfs head whipped around and its snapping teeth was mere inches from his face.

A strong punch sent the wolf tumbling into a darker wolf. It seemed like the wolves were quite outnumbered and the vampires were successfully pushing the wolves out of their home.

A high-pitched howl split the sounds of battle. W few wolves fresh and war hungry leaped into the midst of thrashing bodies. Josh recognized one wolf in particular. The legendary wolf whose fur was the absence of light and whose eyes resembled the color of gold. Chris Joseph.

Josh narrowed his piercing blue eyes and bared his fangs in hot fury. The war between his kind and the werewolves had gone on for nearly a century. He would put an end to it and send the mutts cowering with their tails tucked between their legs.

If he planned things out precisely enough, the wolves would abandon their territory altogether and the coven would acquire more hunting grounds.

With his mind made up, Josh leapt for the unsuspecting Alpha. This would be over in a matter of moments.

Chris' head whipped one way then another as Josh straddled high on his back. He tangled his fingers deep into the seemingly endless layers of black fur to keep ahold of him. The large wolf bucked like a stubborn horse who refused to be broken.

"Once I kill you, I'ol' kill every member of your pack until your kind is nothing but a myth." Josh growled. He lunged forward, fangs ripping into the wolf's soft flesh. His predatory instincts were in overdrive and he felt the venom seep into the fresh wound.

As if the coven were a collective mind, one by one, his coven members abandoned their opponents and rushed in to aide Josh.

The pained yelps and desperate snarls were the loudest sounds of all. The remainder of the pack fought to reach their beloved leader but to no avail.

Dozens of razor-sharp fangs clung onto the black wolf.

He had to give Chris credit for remaining on his feet despite the overwhelming weight beginning to drag him down. That was, until his final ounces of strength gave out and his large body crumpled to the floor. Still Josh and the others clung on.

Silence overtook the once aura of battle. Chris' snarling and panting became less and less as the seconds dragged onwards. The other wolves continued to fight the outer ring of vampires, the ones holding back the diminishing line of fierce wolves.

With a final groan and an prominent shudder, Chris Joseph lie still in his pool of blood. The Alpha was dead.