The Nameless Luna – Book Three: For Her, He Falls: Chapter 5

Tristan
I watch the life drain out of the Alpha’s eyes. Besides me, Mark is panting from the fight, but there’s a vicious glint in his eyes. Through flashes of the mindlink I know Lucy got to Amara and dragged her off the battlefield, but there’s no telling if she’ll survive.
She killed Oscar.
Viktor’s miserable son attacked Amara with two other wolves in a fight that could not have been further from fair. I felt her hatred when she snapped Oscar’s neck, and for a moment, I envied her. I’d seen the marks of the boy’s brutality on my little flower, the evidence of how she’d been violated marked forever onto her skin. I’d wanted to make Oscar bleed for every scar on her body, and Amara did just that.
She avenged my mate with everything she had. But if the injuries Amara sustained during that fight cost her her life, I will carry the guilt with me for the rest of mine.
‘Go find your mate,’ I snap at Mark once the first Alpha falls dead at my feet.
‘There is still work to be done,’ he answers without flinching.
Two more Alphas are still inside the keep, along with two more outside. One of those was Viktor, and with every passing second, the love of my life flew further away from me and closer to him.
I’m about to insist, but before I can give the command, my Beta gives me a low growl.
‘We don’t have time to argue. Lucy is with her, and there’s nothing I can do for her.’
He’s right. Even if we had the time, I wouldn’t be able to argue with him. It’s more than loyalty driving my Beta to stand his ground. He cannot save Amara, but he can tear the Banes’ army apart for what they did to her. There is something desperate behind his bloodlust, not just a hunger for revenge but a need to keep going, to keep fighting.
It’s what Amara would do. It’s what she would want.
If his mate dies, Mark will never forgive himself for not being by her side. But if she lives, she will never forgive him for abandoning the fight. Either way, it’s not my choice to make. Mark knows his mate best, and this is the only way he knows of to honor her.
‘I can’t help my mate, but you can help yours,’ Mark says, and there is no trace of resentment or regret in his voice, only savage determination. ‘The nightwalker healer went after the scarred Alpha. I’ll find the other one.’
‘Thank you, brother.’
Mark huffs, tail flicking impatiently as his eyes scan his surroundings for his next target.
‘Just shut up and get out there. You’ve got a bridge to cross,’ he says, and with that, he vanishes into the sea of shadows and bodies.
I don’t know what’s going on out there, but I know I cannot let the girl face it alone. That thought alone sharpens and brightens in my mind, guiding me like a lighthouse across the darkness and death that surrounds me as I battle my way through the steady torrent of soldiers spilling into the keep.
I’m fighting my way against the current, biting and clawing my way through the Banes’ army in a relentless fury until I’ve fought my way back to the entrance of the keep.
Outside, the sun is rising higher in the sky and the mist has thinned, with clouds and towers casting shadows over the citadel. Still, there isn’t enough cover for the nightwalkers to fight without having to worry about the sunlight. Besides, by this point, all the nightwalkers have retreated into the keep, strategically killing their way through Bane soldiers as they spill into the dark castle, like moths flying towards a bloodthirsty flame.
No one else can fly out to help the Night King. There’s only her.
I cast my mind out through the link, trying to reach my mate. The bond is there, but our connection is limited since I cannot mark her. I’ve wanted to mate with her so many times, the longing for her threatening to consume me and destroy all logic and reason. But for once, the desire is practical. I cannot see what she sees, know what she knows. With the chaos unfolding in every direction, the best I can manage are flashes of thoughts as my mind reaches for hers, but a single word stands out.
Mother.
Nico said Viktor had a hostage, and it’s brilliant in a sick, twisted way. I never would have thought someone capable of keeping their own family captive, but I should have known better. If Viktor was vile enough to use and abuse his niece, it should come as no surprise that he kept his own sister prisoner in secret. No wonder the Night King risked flying across the bridge in spite of the scattered daylight. We laid out a trap for the Banes to divide their forces in the castle, but in the end, Viktor is the one with the perfect bait.
Calculating bastard.
‘Nico, talk to me. Please tell me you made it up the tower. I need eyes. I’m in the courtyard, but it’s a bloody mess down here. Did she make it over the gate?’
I can’t call out to her right now- not when she’s testing the limits of her powers for the first time and heading straight for the enemy. I won’t risk the slightest distraction. With any luck, Nico made it to a decent enough vantage point to see the action on the bridge.
‘Wait, is that the flower girl flying? You’ve got to be kidding me. Since when can your girlfriend turn into a flock of shimmery albino bats? That’s awesome.’
I grunt as one of the Bane wolves grapples me, and I sink my teeth into his hide hard enough to grind his bones.
‘Nico!’ I howl.
‘Right, sorry! Flower girl made it over. She’s flying over the bridge. But it’s not good, boss; Viktor is surrounded by his soldiers, and he’s got another Alpha with him. Looks like the Night King kicking ass, but he’ll never last. There are too many of them.’
Shit.
They’re going to need backup, and the only way to reach them is by fighting my way across. I never should have let her out of my sight. I’m supposed to keep her safe. I promised I’d protect her.
‘Goddess… that’s not good…’ Nico’s voice rings faintly as I kick at one of the wolves snapping at my feet. My claws tear through flesh and fur as I continue to shove my way forward.
‘What?’ I demand.
‘I think the Night King killed the other Alpha, but it looks like he’s hurt. Our flower is almost there. She’s seconds away from reaching them, but both her parents are down.’
Her parents.
After the life she’s lived, I cannot imagine what it must be like to discover that her mother is alive. She only just got her father back, and now both her parents are about to be ripped away from her.
Amara made her decision. So did Mark. So did my mate. Each of us fight and fall for the things we choose. The girl with violet eyes is mine to protect but never to control. She would give anything to save her family, and I would do the same.
‘I need you to watch my back from above and talk me through the battleground,’ I tell Nico. ‘I’m going to help her.’
‘But you’ll never make it!’
‘That wasn’t a request,’ I snarl.
I told her nothing could ever take her away from me, and I meant it. I told her I’d find her, and that is precisely what I’m going to do.
Whether it’s in this life or the next, my love, I’m coming for you.