I vaguely hear Ash and Max fighting merely feet from me, but all I can feel is my body being ripped apart. Then, there are hands on me. I gasp, my eyes flying open as my pain seems to ebb slightly. Looking over, I see my family surrounding me and their minds connected to mine. Each of them filled with a small amount of my pain to help me cope.
"Jay, we need you to stay with us. Please." My mom begs, cradling my head in her lap. As much as I want to lean into her touch, I can't. I groan in pain as I slowly stand, Echo ready to murder Max for all he has done but I turn to the girl first. Melody.
She looks at me, tears streaming down her face as she chokes out the words that is causing this. Slowly, I step towards her as the Alpha's and Luna's all around us fight back against the unruly rogues.
"Melody, you don't have to do this. I can get you away from him, and I know he's your soulmate, but we can fix this. We... we can try to help him. Just please," I pause, tears filling my own eyes as my lip wobbles.
"I can't lose Ash." I whisper, Melody closes her red eyes and carries on. I fall to the floor with a sob, crawling towards her as pain wracked my body.
"Melody please!" I begged, clutching the hem of her dirty jumper. She looks down at me in surprise, her words pausing as she stares down at my hopeful eyes. I hear commotion behind me, but I pay no mind to it.
"Please." I whisper, closing my eyes in preparation for the rest of her spell. A hand clutches mine, another tilting my chin up. I look up into blue eyes with a red ring around her iris.
"Trust me." She whispers softly, pain and frustration and sadness in her eyes. It was like we stared into each others eyes for hours, everything fading into silence as I nodded my head once.
With that, she speaks quickly and angrily as I'm flung across the room from her power. I hit the marble wall, something in my side flaring with pain as I slump to the ground. My mark no longer burns, instead I can feel it healing.
My bond strengthening. My body healing. A pounding headache threatens to burst my temples, something wet dripping down my neck. Agony. That's all I felt as I slowly moved my hand, touching my neck and pulling my hand away to see.
Red.
It coated my fingers, dripping down my hand and falling onto my black dress. My sight gets blurry, hazy as my senses go in and out. This was not the way I wanted to die. With a whimper of pain, I held onto my side as I pushed up off the floor. My eyes cleared enough to see wolves of all sizes and colors fighting one another, fighting to survive.
My heart pounded in my ears as Echo took control with a roar, my bones snapping as I fall onto all fours and rise as my true self. A wolf. A Luna. A defender. Ready to kill and protect.
Then, we lunged straight into the thickest part of the fight. Ready to save everyone at any and all costs.
I dug into a rogue's neck, ripping out it's throat with a snarl. As quick as a snake, I killed my way through the fight. I wasn't playing games. Not anymore. As I stalked through the gruesome fights, rogues and Pack-wolves alike stop to stare. I walk into the circle where my Ash and Max fought the hardest. Both trying to kill the other.
Power surged through my body, thrummed in my blood, as Echo and I became one. For the first time, we walked together. Not just one of us in control, but we shared the responsibility. We were one. Truly what the Goddess created us to do, to be.
Our tail lashed, blood dripping from our red-stained teeth as we snarled and lashed them towards the fight.
Waves of power fell from me, flowing through the throngs of fighting and pausing every single fight. Everyone staring at me as I come to a stop in front of Max and Ash. Both pause, looking over at me as I snarl at Max.
It's over. Either bow down and get ready to be tossed into the cells for trial or be prepared to die. Call off your filthy mutts. Echo and I snarled loudly, a mindlink created with everyone allowed them all to know what I had said. Something we believed was impossible.
Max's wolf whined, trying to bow down to my power but Max was ready to fight. A war between wolf and man. And the man was a coward.
Then kill me. Leave poor defenseless Melody all alone. Max responded, albeit weakly. He was practically trembling on his feet in fear, but I will admit he was doing a wonderful job at keeping his head high. And not pissing himself.
I glanced over at Melody, her body rocking and trembling as blood dripped from her nose. Her eyes flashed with anger and grief, confusing me. Who had she lost just now? Then I knew what was happening when she hissed the same words she spoke to Ash and I, except this time it was for her and Max.
He fell to the ground howling in pain, shifting into his human form. I couldn't care less that he was naked, only relishing in his pain. Melody spoke quickly, angrily, her hair rising all around her and floating as her eyes glowed a deep red.
Tears fell from her eyes, but with one final unknown word, she slumped to the ground and Max curled in on himself in agony. Not physical anymore. But one that tore him apart emotionally. He just lost his soulmate. And I didn't feel bad for him one bit. Silence echoed around the ballroom as I slowly stepped towards Max's useless body.
Rot in hell, Maxwell. With that, I knocked him out with a blow to his head with my paw. It wasn't up to me what his fate was, not yet anyway.
I turned towards a passed-out Melody, her body crumpled and exhausted from the power she had used. I sigh softly, nudging her body with my nose as Ash trotted towards me and nuzzled me. We weren't going to be taken away from each other anytime soon. That was for sure.