The Revelation (11 page)

             
She was brave, and she was strong; just as strong as Viola, in her own way. He saw the uncertainty that sometimes colored her expression when they spoke of their pup’s arrival, and longed to take it away. If only he could make Yuna realize that she was nothing like Laura- that there was no chance of her committing such atrocities- but nothing he said or did could persuade her. The human woman still woke in the middle of the night, soaked in sweat, crying out for him as her nightmares assaulted her.

             
“Calm yourself, Luther.” Dame Strauss must have sensed his apprehension, for she placed a small hand over his gently. “You are too troubled. As long as we are here, we will ensure that your pup is born safely.” Her opposite hand moved to touch Yuna's shoulder in the same gesture. “Only-”

             
Suddenly, the Elder's eyes widened.

             
Deep purple orbs became fixed and glassy as her mouth slackened in a way that Luther had never before witnessed. Beside him, Yuna inhaled sharply, her own hand going immediately to the Elder's wrist. “Dame Strauss. Dame Strauss?”

             
“Leave her.” Agatha rasped from where she rested in a chair by a large window. Beyond, the night sky was clear and bright, the light of a moon- just a sliver away from being full- illuminating the grounds beyond the manor. “She's having a vision.” The elderly female's eyes were fixed on her German companion, her hands curled firmly into the arms of the chair in which she reclined. Luther's stomach immediately twisted in dread. In his experience, Dame Strauss visions rarely imparted good news.

             
Nonetheless, they waited in silence, watching the stiff woman stare at nothing, her expression haunted.

             
It was at least ten minutes before she came back to herself.

             
Slowly, the color seeped back into her skin, and she finally blinked, releasing her tight grip on Yuna's shoulder. Dame Strauss inhaled deeply, her eyes sliding closed, as she took a moment to recover.

When she finally spoke, her voice was as calm as it had ever been: but her words were chilling.

              “There are more children to be born than we have previously been aware of.  And their futures are dark. One will be born to female utterly shattered, alone, and isolated. Another to a woman beneath the ripe moon.”

             
At his side, Luther felt Yuna stiffened.

             
Had Dame Strauss finally discovered that Viola was with child? Besides his mate and one other female in residence, could there be more pups being conceived in secret? Or was the German Elder implying that Viola was going to have her baby alone? The Alpha was going to make damn sure that Yuna went through no such experience. However, his heart seized when he realized that Dame Strauss cryptic message could also mean that his mate might give birth during the ripening; it was that, or that Viola would whelp while transformed.

             
Both prospects were equally horrifying.

             
“You're wrong.” Yuna's low, insistent whisper made the two Elders before them stiffen. “You must be.”

             
“I cannot select the visions that come to me,” Dame Strauss replied after a short, terse silence. “But know, girl, that I have never been wrong.”

             
At that exact moment, a pounding came at the door of the chamber.

             
Both Yuna and Luther jumped at the sudden explosion of sound; Elder Agatha, however, only crossed the room to open the door in a swift motion.

             
Beyond stood Ivita, her hair mussed and clothes tangled. It was obvious that she'd risen in a rush. It was her face, however, that indicated her plight. Her normally flushed skin was absolutely pale, her mouth drawn into a grim line. Behind her stood her Alpha, a tall and imposing figure from the Far East. His claws were extended, and his eyes glowed a bright and threatening hue. “Hunters,” the female whispered. “They've breached the outermost defenses.”

             
For a moment, Luther's senses went dead.

             
He could see nothing, hear nothing, and feel nothing; in this void of his own panic, he was assaulted by fears that threatened to devour him. The Elders had been wrong. They had been fool-hearty and confident, and now his mate, his clan, and his unborn child would pay the price.

             
They'd be slaughtered.

             
Them along with most of the population of the den.

             
The Alpha couldn't breathe. For what seemed like endless moments, possibilities strangled him, each addition to their number choking him more and more aggressively until it was all he could to do stay on his feet.

             
“Luther!”

             
Someone was calling him.

             
“Luther, snap out of it!” Yuna. Yuna needed him.

             
Luther forced himself out of the quagmire of fear that threatened to consume him to find his mate clinging to him as Elder Agatha argued fiercely with Ivita.

             
“You must be mistaken. We've had no news of Hunters in weeks.”

             
“News or none,” Ivita's Alpha rasped down at the Elder, “They've just taken out five of our number, and they're advancing rapidly.”

             
“Which direction did they come from?” Agatha demanded. “How many?”

             
“Over a hundred,” The massive male snarled. “We must rally all the defenses and lock down the manor.”

             
By this point, Dame Strauss had seen fit to take over for her companion. Nudging Agatha gently aside, the German Elder proceeded to issue orders. “Every available individual who can fight will fight. Have the remaining perimeters around the manor reinforced. Make sure every entrance to the manor is sealed and have the pups and expectant mothers locked away.” Her eyes traveled over both Yuna and Luther; and in them, the Alpha saw something as close to panic as he believed the woman had ever allowed herself. “Luther, get your clan prepared to defend us. Ivita,” She turned to the dark-skinned woman. “Get Yuna up to the fourth floor and into the tower. Guard her with your life.”

             
“As you say, Elder.”

             
Yuna gazed fearfully up at him as Ivita stepped forward to assist her. “Luther... please... don't leave me.”

             
Her pleas tore at his heart; but the Alpha knew that if there was to be any chance at all of keeping her alive, they must separate. “You have to go with Ivita. She'll keep you safe. I need to stop them before they get anywhere near you or Viola.” Taking her face in his hands firmly, he kissed her, indulging in the warm, welcoming sweetness of her briefly. Then, he let Ivita take her.

             
To her credit, Yuna quickly contained herself.

             
“Come back to me,” she whispered with conviction, before being led away by the Arabian female.

             
Once she was gone, the Alpha would admit it was much easier to concentrate. If he wanted to protect her, his clan, and their race, he was going to have to make it through tonight. Making his way from the room, he met the gaze of Samuth, Ivita's Alpha. Though the Far Eastern male had been one of many who'd never approved of Yuna, they had to put their differences aside now and protect the den.

             
Samuth spared him a brief, grave nod before his transformation rippled over the entirety of his muffled form and he bounded down the hallway on all fours. Luther immediately turned, heading toward his clan's corner of the manor.

             
There would be bloodshed, and soon; he could only pray that it would not be Douglas blood.

**

              By the time Luther turned the corner down the hallway to which the Douglases had been assigned, both Liam and Viola were waiting for him. The crimson-haired woman was immediately by her Alpha's side. “How many of them are there?”

             
“More than us,” Luther returned grimly, striding over the carpet with purpose. “Where are mother and father?”

             
“Father's gone out to the second perimeter to help hold them off. He's transformed, Luther, and he's furious,” Liam interjected, his own eyes gleaming with the thought of impending bloodshed. “I daresay no hunter will be able to stop him.”

             
“Let's hope,” the Alpha returned curtly. “What of Mother?”

             
“I can't find Marilyn anywhere,” Viola revealed, hesitating slightly. As soon as she'd gotten word that they were under attack, she'd headed to the room where the Douglas matriarch resided with her mate only to find it empty. Liam had been able to provide whereabouts for Magnus, but Marilyn was still missing. “I sent Nita to look for her. She and Ryan will remain inside to help protect the pups and expectant females.” As she spoke, her gaze hardened at the look her brother-in-law cast her. “I know what you wish of me Luther, and I refuse.”

             
“You're pregnant, Viola.” Luther returned sharply. “Would you honestly endanger the life of your child?”

             
“I will protect my child by fighting,” the flame-haired woman insisted fiercely. “There is no warrior fiercer than an expectant mother.”

             
“Viola,” Liam growled dangerously, “listen to Luther. He's your Alpha.”

             
“And my brother.” She added, her dark eyes gleaming in determination. “My brother would not deny me the opportunity to fight for my clan and its progeny.” As she eyed him, her gaze unyielding, Viola went on as if the matter was closed. “Where's Yuna?”

             
“Damn it Viola, this is not done-”

             
“Where is she?”

             
“I saw Ivita taking her up to the eastern tower,” Liam revealed after a moment rife with ire. “I'll be close by to ensure no one passes.”

             
“I'm headed to the main entrance, then,” he redhead asserted in a tone that booked no argument. “They will not enter on my watch.”

             
“Viola, please.” All three of them stopped in the middle of the hallway as Liam's tone became pleading. Luther merely looked on as his brother spoke. “Listen to reason. I care for you. I can't stand the thought of you in danger.”

             
As always, the sight of Liam begging made Viola's heart twist. But, in this matter, she would not bend. She was afraid for her child, afraid for her family, and most of all, she was afraid for herself. She hadn't felt so small since she was a child, barely rescued from a den that burned down around her. The Hunters would pay for making her relive that pain.

             
“My love, you have always had my heart... but I give the Hunters every last vestige of my wrath.” Taking her hand firmly, the scarred man opened his mouth as if about to refute her- and then thought better of it. After gracing her with an expression that contained all his affection and apprehension, his gaze hardened.

             
“Go.”

             
With his blessing, Viola turned to race from the wing and down the front steps. Even in her sixth month of pregnancy, her body was still sleek. Her kind carried low and deep within their bellies to protect their young in the event of an attack. The flame-haired could feel the heartbeat of her child within her as she was joined by others of her race as they flooded the front entryway in preparation of a breach.

             
She heard someone shout that the second perimeter had been overtaken as she emerged onto the front veranda; and she barely had a moment to wonder of the fate of her father-in-law before they appeared. With their sharp night vision, Viola and every other moon-ripened beneath the swelling moon could see the throng of black clad individuals that spilled over the lawn. Their numbers were massive, and they were faster, even, than Viola remembered.

             
As a child, she recalled dimly the flashes of steel gleaming as they severed heads and slashed at limbs; there had been figures that blended into the dark and relentlessly separated families, taking lives as if they meant absolutely nothing. Now, before her, at least eighty figures raced toward the manor, weapons gleaming in the moonlight. Their speed and agility pronounced them something far more dangerous than humans- and the moment they clashed with the moon ripened, they displayed why.

             
The howls and screams of her kind as they were killed instantly colored the night as apparatus, the like of which she'd never, seen flew through the air. They slashed at eyes and removed limbs from bodies, all as the hunters darted from wolf to wolf to engage them in a deadly dance. It was as it had always been, Viola realized as she let her fury consume her, her transformation contorting her body. They relied on tricks and obscene weaponry to do their work for them. The Hunters were fast, yes; but they couldn't take on a wolf nearly as efficiently when faced with one face to face as they could from a distance. She proved this almost immediately by deeply gouging through the feral grin of one before turning to rip out the throat of another.