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That's two down, three to go.
'And the one inside?' I press, yelping as a wolf sinks her fangs into my leg while I'm momentarily distracted. Tristan is on her in seconds, and I don't linger to watch him tear her apart as Nico replies.
'Greyish coat speckled with beige. He's got pointy ears with white on the ends. I watched him kill six of ours before I lost track of him toward the entrance of the keep.'
I can't see him. Not Nico, Mark and Amara, Helena, Marco, nor any of the Alphas. Wolves and nightwalkers fall in the fight around me, friends and foes littering the ground in a twisted mess. Still, I pass on the information to my father, hoping to concentrate our efforts.
But the Banes are gaining too much ground, pushing us back toward the castle. Streaks of sunlight pierce some of the mist like scattered spears through the clouds, forcing the nightwalkers to retreat further as morning continues to advance against us.
That's when I sense him.
The fight is trickling into the keep, but I feel him the moment he sets foot on the bridge, and I have to bite back the intuitive flash of fear that's been beaten into my bones.
'The guest of honor has arrived,' my father's voice murmurs in the back of my head a moment later. 'Let's invite him in and finish this once and for all.'
I turn to my mate, and I know Tristan sees it in my eyes even before I speak the words into his mind.
'Viktor is here.'
Blood drips down Tristan's muzzle; my own white fur is streaked with unspeakable stains.
But still, we do not yield.
Chapter Four
The war wages on.
The Banes; forces creep across the bridge like a steady stream of destruction. But instead of flowing into the ocean, this stream leads into the castle keep, where death awaits.
The fortress that for so long kept the nightwalkers protected has become a deadly maze. The complex layout is perfect for confusing and disorienting intruders. The inside of the castle is divided into multiple floors, with each level connected by stairs, corridors, and secret passages, many of which are meant to be flown across.
Unlike the nightwalkers and their bats, wolves cannot grow wings, and while they can see in the dark, their sight is dim at best compared to that of the vampires that have thrived in the shadows for centuries. The Rovers have been instructed on the safe routes, and my father's soldiers guide their allies to victory while the enemy falls in the labyrinthine network of passages and corridors.
With the Banes disoriented and divided in the keep and most of the Alphas identified on the battlefield, it looks like our plan might actually work.
But Viktor and one of the Alphas are still far from the fight. My uncle stands in his wolf form on the opposite end of the bridge, surrounded by his warriors. There's a four-hundred-foot battleground spread across the courtyard and the bridge between him and us, and the Banes' forces are thickest and strongest further from the keep.
'We'll never reach him,' I tell Tristan.
'We don't have to. We've got eyes on three Alphas inside the wall already. Stick to the plan, and we can still change the course of this war in our favor.'
He's right. We have a chance to take out three of the five packs that stand against us. Viktor is not a priority.
'Uh, guys,' Nico calls out, and somewhere in the distance, I swear I see a streak of red fur, but it's gone in a flash. 'You might want to check on the Night King.'
I whirl around, scanning the carnage around me, but there's no trace of my father. It's impossible for me to keep track of anyone in this mayhem, and the battle is pushing us back further into the keep like a current, forcing us up the stairs to the main entrance of the castle. At the base of the steps, I spot an enormous wolf with narrow eyes and white fur along his chin and chest.
One of the Alphas is coming right at us. Where is Mark? Are the other two Alphas already inside the castle? And where is my father?
'Little busy at the moment, Nicco,' Tristan snarls through the mindlink as he sinks his fangs into enemy flesh.
'It looks like Viktor brought company. They're too far away for me to see clearly, but there's another big wolf by his side. I'm guessing that's our fourth Alpha. But they've got a tied-up woman among them too. Seems like a hostage. I can't make out anything specific, but the Night King went bonkers when he spotted her in the distance.'
It can't be.
I barely have time to process the possibility of his words before white-chest Alpha lunges at me, and Tristan dives between us. Then the tide of the battle continues to drag us away from the bridge until we're swept into the darkness of the keep. Around us, everything is a sea of shadows and screams that echo down different halls and corridors. Somewhere on my left, I can make out Tristan fighting the other Alpha.
There's no time and space to think, let alone hope.
