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“Suficiente,” Huitzilopochtli said, and I watched in horror as a wave of lighting left his staff, directed at Mrs.Rodriguez. Thankfully, a wolf barreled into her side, and the lighting hit the rock behind her, leaving a scorched mark.
Everyone rushed toward the god of sun and war, growls and whines of pain coming from everywhere as we tried to make it under his turquoise staff. He wasn’t the war god for nothing. Wolves were sent flying by the force of his staff, occasionally smelling burnt flesh as they were hit by the rays emanating from it.
‘We have to get the staff away,’I growled at my pack.‘Find an openi—’I was interrupted as a blast came from the man, sending everyone in different directions as if a bomb had gone off in the center. We all hit the ground at once, some of us fairing better than others.
“Suficiente! La perra o la muerte,” he roared.
‘Enough! The woman or death,’Mateo groaned into my mind as he struggled to stand.
Atlas shook off the hit and was about to charge again when the doors to the pack house opened and out stepped Celeste, long black curls blowing in the wind and eyes glowing with fire while it also dripped from her hands.
If she wasn’t in danger, I’d take a moment to admire how fearsome and powerful my mate looked. But I did not have a moment, and Atlas began running as we watched Huitzilopochtli shoot his staff in her direction. We almost barrelled into her as she rolled away from it in time, throwing her own fireballs at him. She landed, standing next to us in wolf form. I had never seen anyone shift as fast as she had.
Kara lifted up on her hind legs and stomped back down to the ground with a roar, and I stared in awe as two giant blades of fire rose from the ground and rushed at Huitzilopochtli. He dodged one but roared in pain when the other one hit him across the right side of his body, sending him flying at the wall of the mountain, burning everything in its path and causing debris to fall on top of him from the top of the mountain as it shook from the force of the impact.
For a few moments, I thought the fight was over, but we weren’t that lucky. Though his side was scorched and rubble had fallen on top of him, he opened his eyes and began to dislodge his legs from the rubble. Kara charged toward him but stopped when we heard movement from the side. Huitzilopochtli smirked, thinking his warriors were coming to back him up, but then his face fell when he saw Tenoch running in front of the other warriors, a head in his jaw and another in the jaws of his beta. He turned to glare at Kara, and Atlas quickly moved in front of her protectively.
“He esperado mucho tiempo para encontrar a la perra de Chantico. Esto no ha terminado…” He spit blood onto the ground as he got out of the rubble. “Hermanita.”
‘I’ve waited a long time to find the dog of Chantico. This isn’t over, sister,’Mateo translated in my head.
With Diego closing in, Huitzilopochtli bent his knees and jumped, somehow making it to the top of the mountain and disappearing over the side. Atlas quickly turned and growled at Kara while he sniffed her abdomen. While not dangerous to shift during most of the pregnancy, the roll on the ground could have hurt the pups, and Huitzilopochtli could have hurt all of them. Kara growled back, but allowed us to verify that the pups were okay. Once we were satisfied, she huffed and trotted back into the packhouse, hitting Atlas in the face with her tail as she pivoted away. Atlas whined at the action and ran after her, receding as we ran into the house, allowing me to regain control.
“Do not walk away from me, Tuli,” I yelled after her. Kara turned around and growled at me, then shifted to Celeste, who looked even more pissed off than I was in all her naked glory.
“You do not get to tell me when I can and can’t help fight for those I love. It is my right. It is my birthright. You forced me to hurt my friends. Just because I am carrying your pups doesn’t give you the right to dictate my actions. You are my mate, not my keeper. You said you understood, but they were just words,” she accused. I understood why she was angry, but I needed her to understand that I wouldn’t back down from a fight like this.
“HE WANTED YOU. HE WOULD HAVE KILLED EVERY PERSON IN THIS WORLD TO GET TO YOU,” I roared at her, making her pause. “I will forever choose your wrath over your death,” I told her more calmly. I walked out of the pack house, leaving her standing in the middle of the hall. I pushed through the crowd gathered at the entrance and shifted, needing to run off my anger. How could she not understand she was my life? That her death meant mine. There was nothing in this world for me if something happened to her and the pups. I would burn the world to the ground if she wasn’t in it.
I didn’t get very far. As much as I felt we were running at a fast pace, Kara was faster. She caught up to us and stopped in front of us. We ran around her, not stopping, but she caught up to us again and again until we stopped just short of the border when she barreled into us.
Atlas growled at her for being reckless, but she stood her ground, her long black fur blowing in the wind, her red-furred tips and runes glowing against the sun.
Celeste shifted back, walked to a tree nearby, and sat on the ground. She patted her lap, and Atlas only hesitated for two seconds before he walked over and plopped on her lap. She petted us as our anger dissipated, only sighing occasionally. Atlas turned his head towards her stomach, placing his ear against it, letting their heartbeats calm us. Finally, he retreated back to the recesses of my mind, and I felt him reaching out to Kara through the bond. I didn’t move my head from her stomach. I wasn’t ready to go back to a world that consisted of more than us at this moment.
“I’m sorry,” was all she said.
“I’m sorry, too.” I kissed her stomach before I sat up and cradled her to me.
“We can’t keep fighting every time there’s danger. We need to be in sync. That’s how we win,” she whispered.
“All I can think about is you getting hurt. Everything else goes out the window,” I confessed.
“Then train with me. I can’t let you fight my battles alone. We’re supposed to be a team.”
“I know. I just… I don’t know how to turn off the need to protect you and them,” I said, placing my hand on her belly. It was getting bigger by the day. Soon, there would be no hiding it from the world.
“We will work on it together. We are safe for now. All of us,” she said. We sat quietly until I heard movement and tensed. “I asked Gillian to bring us some clothes,” she explained. I sighed and nodded. I met Gillian away from where Celeste sat, holding her knees up to her chest and turning her back on us.
“Everything okay?” he asked, and I nodded.
“We’ll be back shortly,” I said. We got dressed and walked back, holding hands. When we came into the open area in front of the pack house, we saw the fight’s aftermath.
“I’ll go help with the wounded. You help them clean up?” she asked.
“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” I kissed her forehead, but before she could leave, I asked, “What did you do to Evergreen, Gabriel and Pablo?”
She grimaced.
