Chapter 23 - Taken
1639 Words
#musicvibe - Fairytale, Elysion
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Caniluna Castle.
August 8th, 2146.
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Valeria POV
Tyson, Kayden, Garrett and I stepped out of the car and I looked around at the large encampment that was set up right at the border. Tyson had moved the royal army and called on the werewolf packs in the area to fortify the borders in case the vampires decided to attack now that they thought that we massacred the village we found yesterday.
When we came back to the castle, we received a declaration of war from the vampires, claiming that we massacred a village on their turf and that they were going to do anything in their power to defend themselves.
The whole night, the army had struggled to get ready for the massive threat that we were facing, and we came here to help out in every way we could.
Tyson had tried to make me stay behind at the castle, but I protested. I was made for war, it was built in my DNA and I thought that I was of better use on the battlefield than sitting around in the castle. Instead I had left Evelyn in charge of the safety preparations now that she was the Gamma female. She was nervous, but since everyone knew that she was my assistant I hoped that things would go smoothly for her even though she hadn’t been working for me that long.
But I guess we were all in uncharted territory when facing a supernatural war.
“Report, General.” Tyson said when Warren walked up to us and bowed.
“We have fortified the borders and reinforcements from the werewolf packs have arrived.” Warren replied.
“And the vampires?” Kayden asked.
“We can smell them nearby, and have seen smaller movements, but it doesn’t seem like they have set up camp for a full scale attack.”
“That’s good.” Garrett replied.
We reached the command tent and Warren held the tarp open for us as we walked inside.
I frowned.
“Maybe not.” I mumbled. “It feels like they have been trying to trick us from the start. What if they are planning something else and we’re just missing it?”
“We still left enough warriors behind at the castle, in case they try to attack.” Kayden replied.
“I guess.” I sighed. “But it just feels weird.”
“I know. I don’t like it either.” Tyson said and wrapped his arms around my waist. “But we’ll figure it out.”
We studied the map laid out on the table in front of us, trying to find the weak spots in our defenses. Tyson sent off two teams to scout some of the roads coming from the south. Most of those roads were used by humans, but he wanted to make sure that no vampires tried to sneak in that way.
We all looked up when we heard a commotion outside, and we rushed outside to see people scrambling to their posts.
“They’re attacking!” Warren exclaimed.
“But how?” I asked. “How did they get ready so fast?”
“No idea, but we have to retaliate.” Tyson said and put his hands on my shoulders.
I pointed my finger at his face and glared at him sternly.
“Don’t even think about it.” I growled. “I’m coming with you.”
I didn’t wait for him to answer. Instead I ran towards the border. Tyson swore under his breath, but shifted and followed me.
It was overwhelming seeing so many vampires attacking at once, their speed making it hard for us to retaliate.
I shifted too and started pushing out forcefields against the vampires. Dax was right next to me, biting and clawing at anyone he could reach.
I squinted my eyes at the back of the field, and I could see a second wave of vampires behind the first, and I had no idea where the hell they all came from. We hadn’t felt them at all.
“We need to get back there.” Willow said. “Maybe we can catch them off guard.”
“Good idea.” I replied.
I pushed off from the ground, trying to jump over the first wave and attack the vampires in the back that didn’t really seem to be ready.
Suddenly, a loud bang was heard and I felt myself being thrown off to the left. Willow was pushed back in my mind and I let out a scream as I forcefully shifted back to human form.
I crashed on the hard ground, my whole body screaming from the pain and it felt like I broke bones in at least seven places at once. I cried out from the pain, but was instantly surrounded by vampires.
They grabbed hold of my wrists, and I cried out in pain as one of them sunk their teeth into my arm. Using my powers, I pushed him off and hissed as it felt like he was going to rip my arm open.
Before I could get to my feet, new vampires came at me and slipped black metal cuffs on my wrists.
I felt a mental block forming in my mind, effectively blocking Willow from getting out, and my powers instantly disappeared. I couldn’t feel them at all.
I stared in disbelief at the smug looking vampires in front of me, and my head whipped to the side when one of them slapped me across the face. Blood filled my mouth and the only thing I heard was Tyson’s pained howl before darkness engulfed me.
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Evelyn POV
I was nervous.
Valeria had left me in charge of the Luna duties while she went to the front with Tyson, Kayden and Garrett. I was afraid for all of them, but I was also a bit uneasy about the huge responsibility that I was given. Fortunately, Fiona came to help me and to my relief she knew what needed to be done in a crisis like this one.
This impending war had the whole pack on high alert, and we worked the whole morning with evacuation zones, stocking supplies in the tunnels underneath the castle and talking to the pack members about their greatest challenges to stay safe in case of an attack.
I had gone off to Valeria’s office to print out a map of the evacuation zones when I heard a voice.
“So you’re really just gonna take over?”
I turned around and saw Lizette standing there. For a moment, I wanted to turn and run away from her, but after seeing Valeria handle her, I knew that I didn’t need to have any uncertainties when it came to my job. I knew my worth now, and I wasn’t going to let her walk all over me.
“How’s the neck?” I smiled sweetly. “Well, since this is a war and it’s affecting all of us, how about you stop being a b*tch and start helping instead of making snide remarks?”
Lizette’s face turned red and she glared at me.
“Look who grew some balls.” She sneered. “Let’s see how long it lasts. Just because you are Valeria’s assistant, it doesn’t mean that you are anything other than a loser.”
I raised an eyebrow at her.
“If you must know, I’m not just Valeria’s assistant.” I replied. “I’m also the Gamma female.”
Lizette chuckled.
“Oh yes, I heard all about that.” She muttered. “Look who’s sleeping her way to the top.”
My blood boiled at her words, but before I could reply, there was a commotion outside.
“You’ll never be good enough.” Lizette called out after me while I ignored her and started running back the way I came from.
I rushed outside to see a group of lycans arrive. I instantly recognized Garrett’s dark brown wolf, but I couldn’t see Valeria.
Tyson shifted back, and I could tell that something happened.
He was deadly pale, and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like he was dying, and I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“What happened?” Fiona asked and ran up to us.
Tyson shook his head and went inside without a word. There was a dangerous aura emanating from him and we silently watched him disappear into the castle without stopping him.
“Where’s Valeria?” I asked and turned to my mate.
Garrett shifted back too, and I could clearly see the pain on his face.
“They took her.” He whispered. “The vampires took her.”
Kayden shifted back too and sighed.
“We tried to stop them, but there were so many.” He told me. “They fired some weird looking weapon at Valeria. We couldn’t see what it was, but she crashed to the ground in human form and then they carried her away. When we tried to get to her, they strengthened their defenses and we couldn’t break through. They retreated and we had to stop Tyson from going in there after her.”
I felt cold inside.
“Oh my Goddess.” I whimpered.
Garrett wrapped his arms around me, and even if I still felt extremely worried about Valeria, his presence made me feel a lot better.
“Valeria is tough.” He whispered. “She can take care of herself, and I’m willing to bet that it will take six hours, and then she will have made those blood sucking bats regret ever laying their hands on her.”
His voice was full of conviction, but I wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince me or himself.
- Writer
