Hi loves!!! Big chapter coming up right here... I hope it's long enough to hold you over until next time!
Song of the chapter is "Hallelujah" by Pentatonix. Thought it was a pretty version
Here's a gif of Connor to get you in battle mode! (Sorry if you hate blood lol)
Enjoy!
Chapter 30
Kiara POV
"KIARA!"
I heard Connor's faint shouting from behind me as I ran, but I was too far ahead to be dragged back. With werewolf speed, it would take no time at all for him to catch up to me, but I was hoping I'd be too close to the fight by then before he could pull me back.
His eyes, a darkened forest green from pain, haunted my mind as I ran towards my pack. My pack. My people. I had to try to placate things, and if I couldn't I had to at least be there. And I knew Connor understood that, even if his eyes pleaded with mine to hide from the fight, even if his hands twitched by his sides as he stopped himself from protecting me.
It was these small gestures that made my love for him grow stronger. He knew I needed to be there, even if he didn't want me to be.
After the first gunshot was fired, the wolves started attacking. Even from a distance I could feel the fierce anger ripping through the air as my pack members howled in anguish. My calves burned as I ran forward, but I still refrained from shifting into wolf form. I had to speak my mind in order to stop the fight, and I couldn't relate to the hunters if I was a huge, caramel colored wolf.
So I ran, with Connor hot on my heels, no doubt. I finally reached the pack house, and my steps almost faltered in shock. Almost.
I couldn't even make out the blurs of colored fur as they leaped into the air, catching onto hunters' necks without a second thought. Yes, the hunters had chemically engineered guns. But Connor didn't understand that werewolves are fast, especially trained werewolves. Connor wasn't the only one trained all his life for a fight; my pack was strong, and the thought made me swell with pride for a moment.
But then I witnessed one of our newly trained fighters, a boy no more than fifteen. I could tell by the way his hind legs shook slightly before he leaped onto an unsuspecting hunter. Those were wary legs, as if he knew he was either about to make his first kill, or die trying. He tore the hunter's neck out without any more hesitation, before the hunter even had a chance to turn around. The young wolf lifted his head from the bloody corpse, his muzzle stained with dark, red blood. When I noticed the body, it took all I had not to vomit. It was a girl, a young girl probably around my age. Her glassy eyes stared up at the sky, and her mouth was still open in shock.
These were people, my people. And they were hurting other people. Some may say it's naive, but I wanted to believe that it's as simple as that. We're all people. This needed to stop once and for all.
I saw my chance just when I noticed the same boy's hind legs shake as he was getting ready for another attack. I ran up to him just as he started to leap in the air once more onto another hunter. The hunter had her gun raised, but I could sense the hesitation in her hands, the slight shake of the metal she was holding. Without thinking much more, I stood in the middle of them with my hands spread out on each side, blocking the wolf's attack.
"STOP!"
I think it looked ridiculous, to an outsider, I mean. I didn't even think it would work. But the wolf immediately backed down, as if there was an invisible force that made him physically unable to hurt his future Luna. And knowing my dad, there probably was an order like that of some sort.
But the weirder part was that the hunter lowered her gun as well, staring at me with her head cocked to one side. I was breathing heavily, scared she could shoot me and all of this would be over.
The moment didn't last long, because I felt Connor's presence beside me. I almost let out a sigh of relief when he stood between me and the hunter, his back towards me.
"Don't touch her," he said lowly to the girl. She only stared at him, wide-eyed. He stared back, his strong jaw tensing with controlled anger. I wondered if they knew each other growing up. If they knew they'd be in this position one day, against each other.
"Everyone, stop!" I continued to scream, until everyone had paused their fighting to look at the scene, like we were an attraction or something. "Stop, please, this is - this is madness."
"KIARA!" I heard my dad scream, and in a flash he was beside me as well. He's furious about me running away, that much I could tell. But there's not much he could say to me now. A group of hunters followed his steps to where we were standing, and I recognized them as the leaders of them all, the ones who Connor called family. "Kiara, get inside the house. Now." He tried to use his scary Alpha voice on me, but I knew better. I had a different cause to fight for.
"Can't you see what this is?" I projected, gesturing to the hundreds of wolves and hunters on our pack lawn, some injured and some dead. "This is massacre. No one will win this way!"
It looked like a chess board, in a way. Both sides were facing each other with Connor and I in the middle, back to back and facing our home teams. I knew my pack wouldn't dare hurt me to continue the fight, and Connor knew the hunters had some sort of bizarre respect for him as well. He grew up with them, at least. Called them friends.
"Neither side is completely good, and neither side is completely bad," I continued. "Werewolves and hunters both have their faults, but we've both been raised to think the other is evil. We raise our children to think that it's better to murder people than to understand them." I place a pointed look at Connor, whose green eyes shine with admiration. "But we're both just people. We're people, and-"
"Oh, just shut up, you disgusting, she-wolf whore!" a hunter interjected, making me swallow my words in shock. No one had ever shouted such horrible words to me, but I lifted my chin up in defiance so I wouldn't look weak.
Connor's head snapped to his left before he let out a menacing growl. "Nick, I swear to god I will fucking kill you if you ever say something like that to her again!" he roared.
The one named Nick smirked and shifted his gun closer to his side. "I'd like to see you try, Lover Boy," he said lowly.
Connor's body tensed up, like he was about to attack, and I quickly wrapped my hands around his bicep so he would drag me with him. He immediately stopped, sensing he would put me in danger. But his eyes searched mine wildly, trying to calm himself down.
"No more killing," I called. "We could form a truce, right here, and have this hatred between us finally end. No more hunting, no more killing." My brown hair was whipping around in the wind, and I remembered the snow that was lightly falling, sticking to the grass and turning the battlefield white. I could even make out some droplets of blood on the snow. Snowfall was my favorite time of year; it had to be a sign that things could change for the better.
It seemed like some of my pack members were nodding, and it even looked like the hunters were starting to lower their guns in preparation for retreat. My heart was hammering at my chest, just waiting for the moment my naive plan would fail and everything would turn to shit.
And turn to shit, it surely did.
Connor POV
She was so incredibly beautiful, standing up to her pack like that. She was perfect, so courageous and kindhearted. It was only obvious that everyone would listen to her. I mean, she was a fucking angel. Even the hunters looked at her in confusion; they knew that no werewolf this good could ever be a monster. They were quickly calculating in their minds what took me months to figure out; if this perfect goddess of a werewolf could be this good, there was no way all werewolves were dangerous.
Her full lips were pulled into a pout as he eyes darted back and forth between her pack and the hunters. I wanted so badly to shield her from sight, but I knew that she needed this. And I knew it was working. They needed to see her, because she was the cause. She was proof that werewolves were human beings after all.
So when Nick quickly readjusted his gun and pointed it at her, I hardly noticed. I was too busy admiring her fierce determination for change.
A shot rang out, and she screamed.
My body was on autopilot as I snapped towards the threat, tackling it to the ground and ripping its throat out with my elongated claws. It all took about 2 seconds using werewolf speed, but in my mind I could process it like minutes. The thought of my mate injured, or worse, allowed me to feel nothing but extreme hatred as I finished the job. A swift kill, just like I'd been trained.
But when I looked down at the body, my breath hitched. It was Nick, looking up at me with cold, lifeless eyes. Nick, my brother of some sort, dead. Murdered by my hands. I knew it would get ugly now, so I forced myself to swallow my sorrow and speed back to Kiara, who was slumped over and sobbing.
All thoughts of Nick were erased as crippling fear threatened to paralyze me to the spot. But I kept running until I held her, and she turned to face me in my arms.
"Are you okay?" I said fiercely, grasping her face in my hands so she'd look at me. Her eyes were red and defeated. I examined her body for any wounds, but she was fine. Unharmed, physically. Then who -
"He - he got in front of me, he-" she choked, scrambling on the ground to shake his shoulder. "Oh god. No, please, not him!"
I finally saw him. Chase. He was lying on his back, a gushing wound out of the side of his chest. He was groaning in anguish, and I knew it was the poison working its way through his body. My chest heaved in sorrow for him, for his family.
"Oh god," I mumbled, just as I heard Saxton scream.
"NO!" he yelled. "My son! That's my son!"
Kiara was still sobbing over Chase's body, and I forced myself to let go of the girl I love more than anything to stand over her. I had to protect her, because I knew Saxton would retaliate. He was sobbing over Nick's body, holding him with a gentleness Nick and I didn't know he ever had. When his eyes found mine, he stood up with shaking hands.
"You," he seethed. "You killed my son, you fucking monster!" His face held so much anger, but his body was slumped with the weight of his grief. I didn't let his jab sting, but I couldn't ignore how he vocalized to everyone that he didn't think of me as a son after eighteen years. I didn't care though, because he was the monster, not me. I knew that now.
"I didn't - " I stammered, looking down at my own bloody hands. I didn't know how to explain to him that I couldn't see anything but danger as I ripped Nick apart. That the fear of my mate's life drove me to kill the threat, no matter who it was.
"Attack!"
It was one word, but it made the battle come to life again. Saxton's shaking finger was still pointed in my direction as the hunters pressed onward, some with tears trailing down their faces for their lost friend. Most had hatred in their eyes. Hatred for me.
I glanced at Kiara to make sure she was safe. All I wanted to do was bring her back to her canopy bed, or even my shitty old room on the fourth floor, and tell her that everything was going to be okay, but protecting her was my priority for now. I locked eyes with the Alpha for a moment and nodded once. Our sign that Kiara would be protected, no matter the costs. He nodded back reluctantly, still trying to figure me out. He was furious at my betrayal, but I also noticed the grief in his eyes for his lost pack members. For Chase. He looked like a father in that moment, and I wanted to make him proud. I wanted to fight for him.
Hunter after hunter I killed, all people I once knew. I tried to numb everything as each one attacked. But with each one I killed, I couldn't help but take out my anger on them. They were the ones who made me feel worthless, like my wolf form was something to be feared. They were the ones who made me feel uncomfortable in my own skin. It was almost easy to fight them off. They were skilled, but they forgot that I had trained with them all my life. I knew their tricks, and I had developed new ones. I got through them before they could even touch me.
Every so often I would glance back at Kiara to make sure she was safe. My heart swelled at the way she defended herself. She was shifted into wolf form, guarding Chase's body. I remembered how I made her train, right on this very field. It was clearly coming to good use as she swatted the gun away from a hunter's hands with her paw, knocking him to the ground. I noticed the hunter swiftly reach for his knife in his back pocket, and I immediately ran to her as he sliced her leg open. She let out a whimper that made my chest constrict, and I used her pain to fuel my anger as I grabbed the knife from his hands and made a slit across his neck. He looked surprised as he brought his hands up around the cut, choking as he slumped on the ground.
"Okay?" I breathed, searching around for more threats. Kiara nodded her wolf head, her eyes narrowed, and her plan for peace long forgotten. It made me angry that she thirsted for revenge now instead of peace, but I would tell her how amazing I thought she was later when this was all over.
I ran to meet more approaching hunters, finishing each of them swiftly. It was a bit contradictory that Saxton was the one who trained me for this fight, yet here I was, using his training against him.
It wasn't long before we had the hunters seriously outnumbered. Even with the weapons, we had way more wolves involved in the fight. And they were quick, I hadn't known. I should've had more faith that they had trained for situations like this. I even saw Adrian fighting some off from the corner of my eye. Who knew that pretty boy Beta's son could actually fight?
Just as I was about to strike again, I heard the same words that tried to prevent this fight in the first place.
"STOP!"
But now it was the Alpha who was forcing everyone to stand down. Even what was left of the hunters reacted to the power in his roar, bowing their heads down in submission. When my head was bowed, I felt droplets of blood patter against my T-shirt, and I decided that my nose was probably broken. There was also a large cut right below my eye that probably needed stitches before it started to heal.
The Alpha walked towards the middle of the field wearing a dark red robe, probably from shifting back to his human form.
"My daughter is right. This war between us must end," he continued, his voice projecting loud across the field. The hunters were injured and worn out, some of them dropping their guns to the ground in exhaustion. "Are you ready to end this, hunter?"
I looked around for Saxton and finally found him on his knees, his hands bound behind his back by two pack members in human form. He wasn't strong enough to resist them. He nodded pitifully, letting out a choked sob for Nick. In that moment, he didn't look like the intimidating hunter I'd been afraid of since I was a child. He was just a man, a father grieving over his son.
"I will let your troops retreat to your property," the Alpha boomed, keeping his distance. "And you will not attack again. There will not be a truce; there are too many of our pack members fallen to let that happen. But you're leaving with your life, which should act as a symbol of gratitude from us monsters you call werewolves. Spend it far away from us, do I make myself clear?"
Again, Saxton nodded, his head down. The other hunters nodded, the rest dropping their weapons and letting the pack members seize them.
"You will be escorted out by our fighters. Should there be any trouble, they have been ordered to react as they see fit. And they are just waiting for an excuse to rip your throats out," he finished.
The hunters made no move as they were dragged away from the pack house, letting the werewolves handle them like dolls as they slid across the grass. I kept my eyes on Saxton, who's head still hung down in defeat as he was being dragged away.
I glanced over at Kiara, who I noticed was shifted back into her human form. She was also wearing a red robe, but she was shivering in the cold, letting silent tears trail down her cheeks as she watched the medics lift Chase up in a stretcher. The doctors would do their best to drain the poison, but if you asked me, it was no use. By now the poison must've gotten to his vitals, and he'd be dead within the hour. Though my chest constricted in pain for him, I just let myself be thankful fort now that Kiara wasn't gravely injured. I would allow myself to be sad once the adrenaline from the fight wore off.
So I snapped my head back to Saxton, who was watching the Alpha with a curious expression on his face. The Alpha had his back turned, and he was commanding trained wolves which paths to take in order to dump the hunters off pack land. He had just ordered them in the direction of the forest when I noticed Saxton rustle something in his dirty, ripped shirt. I saw the glint of metal, and my feet instantly took off in a sprint.
My werewolf speed allowed me to reach the Alpha in seconds, but in those seconds Saxton had already shot the two guards. I was almost there, just as the Alpha turned around in surprise. I could even make out Saxton's grimy, bastard face as he smirked while he pulled the trigger.
"Alpha," I called, trying to warn him, before I reached my arm out to shield him from Saxton's shot.
After the shot was heard there was complete silence, as everyone registered what was happening. The Alpha was immediately protected by numerous guards, keeping him away from any further danger. Saxton only had time to reveal one last sick smile before wolves were on him, tearing him apart. I could hear him screaming among the growls and snarls of the wolves, before nothing but the disgusting sound of tearing flesh was heard from him at all. But there was one scream I wouldn't forget for the rest of my life.
"NO!" Kiara shrieked, running towards us as fast as she could, pushing guards and other pack members out of her way. The sorrow in her voice physically pained me, but I'd never seen her so strong before today; I wanted to tell her how proud I was of her. I wanted to tell her that everything was over now, that we could move past this, but suddenly I felt that I couldn't stand any longer.
My tongue felt heavy in my mouth, and I looked down to see my hand pressing firmly on my stomach. When I pulled it away, it was covered in thick, red blood. There was a gaping wound right where my hand was, and I finally fell to my knees.
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Sorry for the cliffhanger :(
Ugh, I'm crying now. I love Connor so much!!!
What do you think will happen? Will he live? Will Kiara move on? Will Chase be okay? Where was Savannah in all of this? Is she okay? SO MANY QUESTIONS.
They will all be answered in good time, don't worry :).
But for now, don't forget to Vote, Comment, Fan, and enjoy!
xx