The Nameless Luna – Book Three: For Her, He Falls: Chapter 4

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.
One of the Bane warriors snarls, and I turn just in time to see a wolf with dark fur and grey eyes leap out from behind me just in time to deflect the attack directed at me.
Mark!
He looks like something straight out of a nightmare, filthy and matted, with blood dripping from his snout and claws. I’ve never been so happy to see him.
‘I saw your father outside,’ the Beta tells me, his eyes locking with mine. ‘He shifted and flew over the gate. It looked like he was going out onto the bridge on his own.’
There’s only one reason I can think of that would make my father forget the plan and storm out like that. There’s only one person that would cause the wise Night King to act so stupidly. There’s only one thing that could make a person do something so mad.
Love.
But it’s not possible. It can’t be.
I have to know. So, in between claws, fangs, fear, and fury, I reach out for my father through our mindlink.
‘Dad! Where are you? What’s going on?’
I can feel my thoughts bounce against his mind, and my heart thunders in my chest as he replies with a single word that changes everything.
‘Vanessa.’
I feel every muscle in my body go taut, and instinctively I turn toward my mate. Tristan’s gaze meets mine, golden eyes widening with concern when he sees the shock in my own.
He can’t hear my father. He doesn’t know.
‘Flower, what—’
Before he can even formulate the question, the Alpha takes advantage of that moment of distraction. He lunges forward, snapping his jaws at Tristan’s neck. My mate is barely able to dodge the attack, and the white-chest Alpha sinks his teeth into Tristan’s shoulder.
He lets out an agonized howl that tears through the fabric of my very soul, and I throw myself at his attacker until we’re tumbling over each other. We grapple in a mess of snapping and snarling until he shoves me off of him. By the time I’m scrambling back to my feet, Tristan is there with Mark by his side.
‘Go.’
The word rings in the back of my head, my mate’s voice calm and determined as Mark and the Alpha circle each other.
No.
I don’t know how much of the situation Tristan has gaged or what Mark managed to tell him in between the fighting. But I won’t leave him. We stand together, come what may. That was the damn deal.
Amidst the violence and darkness that threatens to consume us, time seems to slow as Tristan’s eyes lock with mine. Somehow, he doesn’t know, but he understands.
‘Mark and I have got this. I’ll find you. Just go.’
I don’t even know if I can. My father is on the opposite end of the battlefield, surrounded by the enemy. There’s no way for me to get to him in time, no way to help him. I’d have to fly to reach him. I’d have to leave the man I love in the middle of a fight, tap into a power I’m not even sure I possess, turn into a bunch of bats, fly across a warzone, and… and then what?
‘I can’t,’ I answer, feeling myself on the verge of shattering in the chaos.
The Alpha lets out a low growl, his eyes fixed on Mark. Whatever we’re going to do, we have to do it now.
‘Try.’ The word burns with such intensity I can almost feel Tristan’s will strengthening my own. ‘Nothing could ever take you away from me. No guilt, no goodbyes. Go.’
And with that, he tears his eyes away from mine. He lunges alongside his Beta at their opponent, and I can’t afford to hesitate.
Don’t think. Don’t hold back. Just go.
I give myself over to the power within me, letting it shred me into pieces in a burst of freedom and change.
All that time alone, trapped, powerless … no more.
I feel every cell in my body come alive and splinter, my fur rippling as the transformation sweeps over me. Then, I am neither girl nor wolf but rather a cloud of bats the color of moonlight.
For once, there is no fear, but it is not quite courage either. It’s bigger than that, something born of everything that’s happened from the moment the Rogue Alpha set foot in my life. It’s trust. I have faith in Tristan, in my pack, and in myself.
So I take flight, feeling my consciousness spread out into silver-white fur and fluttering leathery wings that are pearly and almost iridescent compared to the other nightwalkers.
I’m distantly aware of Mark and Tristan tearing the enemy Alpha into bloody ribbons somewhere behind and below me as I soar out of the keep. They will be alright. They have to be. And me? I know what I have to do.
Vanessa Massen is alive. She’s out there right now in Viktor’s clutches, and the Night King is risking everything to go after her and save her.
How could he not? And how could I not do the same for him? He’s my father, after all.
And she’s my mom.