Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(123)

"You're lying. Marc doesn't have a sister."

Daryn smiled. "Well, he did until you killed her."

I sucked in a breath. "Dana…"

"Yes… Dana. Of course, after I discovered you named your wolf, I had a small change of plans. Being a regular Alpha won't be so bad, not when I will have Phoenix and his clan helping me take over other packs."

"How do you plan to do that? Phoenix will never follow your orders."

"Magic, of course."

"Too bad you won't have a chance to fulfill your dreams," I said.

"You take his left side. I'm going right," Ace said through my mind, and then drew his dagger after I nodded.

Our hands released, but our connection did not. Ace leant me his strength as an experienced Alpha and fighter. I had never felt more powerful than I did in that moment as we began to circle Daryn. The wolves began to close in around the three of us, but I knew they wouldn't touch me, not if Daryn intended to be Alpha and they were under his command.

Daryn crouched, grabbing two daggers of his own from the scabbards hooked to his belt. He grinned menacingly. "He is of no consequence to me, Andromeda. You are the only one who can give me reign by your death."

I opened my mouth to order him to drop the weapons and surrender, but he pointed the blade at me and made a circle motion with his wrist. I was incapable of speaking; he'd hexed me.

Lunging forward, Daryn sliced the air between us. I jumped back. The blade slashed through the material of the shirt, but somehow missed my flesh. He hissed and jerked away, focusing his full attention on Ace when the silver dagger sank beneath his skin, into his shoulder.


Daryn thrust his arm forward and Ace fell to his knees, the weapon in his hand clattering to the ground as he became immobile. Daryn clenched his jaw as he touched the wound on his shoulder and his fingers came away stained crimson with his blood. "Silver can't kill me. My power will defuse it. But you are going to pay for the weak attempt to end my life."

I rushed toward him, my dagger poised for the strike, but he turned and threw a gust of power at my chest, knocking me twenty yards back and over the wolves surrounding us. They closed in around me.

"Hold her there!" Daryn shouted at them. "I'll deal with you in a few minutes, Mena, but since you're so hell-bent on saving this one, you can watch him die." He turned back to look down at Ace, who was still immobile and on his knees.

I opened my mouth to scream, but I still couldn't speak.

"Ace!" I shouted through my mind.

"Andra, run!" he shouted back.

"I'm not leaving you here!"

I decided that if I couldn't use my voice, I was better off in a form in which I could actually do some damage. These wolves weren't keeping me pinned. If I was going to die today, it wouldn't be because I let it happen. I wasn't about to let Daryn hurt Ace, not without a fight.

I called my wolf and felt her energy ripple under my skin. "Andromeda, let's do this!"

Less than a handful of seconds later, I was standing tall and pissed off on four giant paws. It was the first time I had been in wolf form since I'd taken full control, and the feeling was exhilarating. I shook off what remained of the leather clothing and took a step forward, ready and able to kick some shifter ass.

As they were surrounding me, I only had to get through possibly three of them to clear a path to Daryn before he killed Ace. I was Alpha; I was stronger than them ten-fold, but fighting them would take time and there were at least sixty feet separating us. Ace closed his eyes as Daryn raised the hand holding the silver dagger, the very dagger that had been missing.

"Ace! Give him a command!" I shouted through my thoughts, but I couldn't feel him in my mind anymore. Did the bond between us not work after we shifted? No!

I crouched, ready to pounce on the first of my attackers, but just before I leapt, I heard Daryn scream. Glancing up, I saw that two wolf shifters had him on the ground, mauling him. He slashed at one of them with the dagger but missed, and the wolf quickly bit his wrist, causing him to release the blade.

Was the pack turning on him?

Out of my peripheral, I saw four other wolves running toward me. I bared my teeth, growling out my warning, but instead of lunging for me, they attacked four of the wolves surrounding me.

I made eye contact with one and recognized Roel's irises staring back at me. Roel, Heath, Heather, Tracy, Brad and Alex had managed to shift, and they weren't writhing in pain because Daryn's spell had left the whole pack exempt as long as they were in wolf form.

A wolf to my right took that moment to attack me, but I turned on it and sank my teeth into its neck, not quite killing it, but leaving it incapable of putting up much of a fight.

I didn't waste any more time. I had an opening, and I took it. I ran as hard and fast as I could toward my enemy, but Daryn was in the middle of shifting. If he finished before I got to them, he would kill Ace if he got away from Brad and Heather.

Daryn sprung into a magnificent dark-gray wolf and turned his full attention on Ace, but as he leaped through the air, Heather collided with him. She howled in pain when Daryn's sharp claws dug into her back and they tumbled to the ground. I was concerned for her well-being, but she had given me the time I needed to get there.

I hit both wolves at full-force, knocking them apart, and then I turned on him, my teeth bared and ready for his challenge. We circled, glaring at each other. I had never been more eager to take another life. This was my pack, and he couldn't have it.