Fake Mate of the Enemy Shifter (Red Oak Shifters #2)

27. Grey

Chapter twenty-seven

Grey

“ G et back!”

Cassia’s eyes widen at my demand as I point toward the forest, but she doesn’t have time to argue as our enemies charge at us. She whips around and slips through the multiple lines of wolves and witches behind me until she’s out of sight.

The flicker of relief I feel is brief, but it’s strong enough to steel me.

No matter the circumstances of how we got here, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. This is either the end or the new beginning of Everblade.

With gritted teeth, I collapse onto my hands and knees, my muscles and bones shifting as I change into my wolf form. Broad shoulders. Large paws. Sharp claws. Piercing teeth.

And my father’s white fur.

I hit the ground on all four paws and throw my head back, a chilling howl tearing from me that’s echoed by the other wolves on my side. I launch forward, slamming into a brown-haired Shadowfang wolf with a scar on his muzzle.

He snarls and snaps his teeth next to my ear, the sound ringing in my head.

I sink my teeth into his shoulder and force him down to the ground as battle explodes all around me. Spells flare and soar nearby, while wolves leap and barrel past with growls and snarls. The smell of blood fills my nose, my stomach threatening to twist.

The Shadowfang wolf whines as I bite down harder, the pain briefly paralyzing him as bodies fall around us.

A bolt of lunar power strikes me in the side, making me release him as a yelp of pain breaks from me. I bare my teeth in frustration as the Shadowfang wolf flees from me, a trail of blood following him from his wounded shoulder. My head whips back around to face a Moonveil witch as white sparks crackle off her fingertips.

“Just imagine how I’ll be rewarded when I kill the Everblade prince!” she gasps in excitement, her blue eyes looking crazed beneath the blunt bangs of her blonde hair. She gestures sharply at me, a bolt of magic surging toward me.

I leap to the side, feeling its burn sizzle the ends of the fur on my left shoulder. With a growl, I lunge forward, swiping one paw down to rake my claws across her torso.

She collapses with a cry, blood staining the front of her white dress in four, deep lines.

My muscles tense as I prepare a killing bite, but familiar cries and screams echo all around me, forming an overwhelming buzz of noise in my head. Where is Cassia? Where are my parents?

I whip around, my eyes scanning the battleground as our line is chipped away by our enemies. From what I can see among the clusters of fighting all around me, we’re still boxed in with our backs to the forest, being struck on all three sides. We need to start breaking through!

A decipherable sound finally breaks through the roar of noise.

My mother’s cry.

I turn and see Lucian gripping my mother by the throat, magic radiating from his fingertips. Anger thunders through me, overpowering any sort of panic or worry that I feel. I launch forward, tearing across the field as Lucian tosses my mother to the side.

My mother weakly reaches her hand toward the forest, trying to draw power from the trees as some of the other Everblade witches are having to do for a boost of extra strength. The trees are already weak enough, but they won’t even exist if we don’t win this fight.

Lucian starts to curl his fingers to hurt her, but he glances over his shoulder in my direction, hearing the thundering of my paws. He directs his hand toward me instead, sending a surge of pain through my body that makes me stop in place.

Desperation cuts through me as I drop to the ground, my legs refusing to work. I have to get to her! A whine sounds from me, my ears pinning back as black dots float in my vision.

Lucian steps closer to my mother, the side of his mouth curling up. “You should’ve seen this coming, little prince. Stand down and allow true leaders to rule this land.”

His words spark anger within me, powering me enough to rise to my paws once more, but I still can’t take a single step closer.

Lucian parts his lips to speak, but a cry of pain bursts from him instead.

My eyes dart to the side to see two Moonveil witches, one of them Jules, concentrating their magic on him, sending jolts of electric agony through him. Shock hits me when I realize that I don’t recognize one of the witches. She must’ve changed sides!

But even if a handful of Moonveil witches ditch their loyalty to their leaders mid-fight, we still have an uphill battle ahead of us.

“I’ve been waiting to do this for years!” Jules shouts at Lucian as he’s brought down to his knees, his body convulsing with pain. She stops casting with a glare on her face, watching Lucian sway as he teeters on the edge of consciousness. With a shout, she deals an unpracticed but hard punch to his face. “Jerk!”

Lucian hits the ground face first, not even budging a muscle as Jules glares down at him with red knuckles.

I nod to Jules before hurrying over to my mother, lowering my shoulder so that she can grab hold of me and get back up to her feet. My worried eyes lift to hers.

My mother gives me a small smile. “I’m okay. I can’t find your father, though.”

I haven’t been able to find Cassia either. Concern stirs in my stomach as I nudge her hip with my head, pushing her toward the forest where our healers are tending to the injured. Once she finally stumbles that way, I rush into battle once more, helping where I can while looking for my father and Cassia.

Having to jump over bodies while also glancing at their faces to make sure they’re not either of them makes my stomach churn. This shouldn’t have happened in the first place! How can I successfully lead my kingdom through a war like this?

A flash of black catches my eye, making me pause and look across the field toward the forest.

Cassia grits her teeth as she drags an injured Everblade witch toward the Red Oaks, helping however she can without her powers.

Relief thrums through my chest as I inspect her from afar. It doesn’t look like she’s hurt. If she can just stay near the forest, she should be somewhat safe.

She has to stay safe.

I only manage to tear my eyes away from her when I see my father in his wolf form not too far away from her. He towers tall and large with white fur just like me, but blood stains his pelt as his muscles tense beneath it. My heart stops at the sight of Voren in his wolf form, black-haired and scarred, facing off with my father.

The fight both of them have been waiting for.

Time slows, the seconds crawling toward the next as their paws kick off the ground. Voren snaps his jaw next to my father’s head. My father manages to scrape his teeth against Voren’s shoulder.

I manage to move in their direction, but every step takes an eternity as the battle continues to rage on around me.

Voren suddenly launches low, biting at my father’s underbelly in a move that is prohibited in training practices. Of course, one of the vilest wolves in the region would use it in battle.

My father rears back, blood dripping to the ground from the gash. He stumbles, only for Voren to knock him down on his side.

My anguished howl rings throughout the field, temporarily stunning those closest to me. Time picks up as I rush toward Voren, who stands over my father with his top lip curled. Cocky and amused.

With a snarl, I slam into Voren’s side, knocking him away from my father as he curls up in pain. Shards of concern stab into my heart at the sight, but my vision glows red. My focus is on Voren because as long as he’s alive, more people are going to die.

Voren gets back up on his feet, moving slower than me. If his age already doesn’t put him at a disadvantage against me, his cockiness will. He huffs at me and lowers his front half, snapping his jaws to taunt me.

He wants me to lunge at him so that he can hurt me just like he did my father.

A growl rumbles in my chest as I jerk to the right, making him lurch in that direction. I go left instead, sinking my teeth into the junction between his neck and shoulder.

Voren howls in agony and thrashes, the side of his head slamming against mine.

Pain rings through my head from the impact, stars bursting in my vision as I stumble to the side.

Voren jumps at me, knocking me onto my back with his teeth bared near my head.

I bite into the fur of his shoulder and yank us sideways, making us roll as blood stains our fur. The pain echoing through my body becomes numb, adrenaline taking over any sensation firing through my body as one thought pounds in my mind.

Survive. Survive. Survive.

Voren gets the upper hand and slams his paws down on either side of my head, his sense of victory radiating off him. He doesn’t know just how exposed he is.

I lunge upward, burying my sharp fangs into his throat and ripping backward. Blood sprays onto my muzzle, the smell filling my nose.

A gurgling sound breaks from Voren as he stumbles off me, the black fur around his torn throat becoming matted with blood. His legs buckle before he falls to the ground, his eyes already starting to haze over. His flank weakly rises a few times before going still, a pool of red surrounding him.

I push myself up onto all four paws, wavering a little as my head spins. He’s dead. I killed him, the deadly shadow of the region. The wolf who started The War for the Forest.

I blink in shock as I stare at his body, already hearing howls of anguish from the other Shadowfang wolves as their longtime leader bleeds out for good. The amount of blood in his body still doesn’t outdo the amount he has spilled from others.

“Emeric!”

I turn around to see Cassia rushing to my father’s side as he pants on the ground, his strength fading by the second. My heart sinks as the earth seems to tilt beneath my paws. I might’ve killed Voren, but I attacked him to save my father!

Not to avenge him.