#16 Bows and Arrows

Zale

Adira has lost her damn mind if she thought for one single second I would let this psycho witch lay a single finger on her.

“No!” I roared, grabbing Adira’s arm and yanking her violently behind me.

“Zale, stop!” Adira shouted, but I wouldn’t listen.

“You won’t touch her.” I leveled the witch with a fiery gaze.

“You think you can beat me, little dragon?” Marlow sneered.

“Yes.” I answered simply.

Marcy screamed again and echoing her fear was the miserable sounding howl of Aidian. There weren’t many options left, but I was a selfish man who didn’t want to feel the pain that Aidian was currently going through. I had to believe that there was a way to save both of our mates.

“Let. Her. Go.” I growled.

“Zale!” Adira was fighting behind me, clawing at my back, but Balin was keeping her at bay.

I heard a commotion and looked back towards Marcy just in time to see Cain’s black wolf lunge towards Marcy. He snapped a chunk of her shirt in his mouth and yanked her back towards the ground, wrapping his body around her as they came crashing down. In seconds, Aidian’s wolf ran over and jumped on top of them both, using his body as a shield against the witch’s magic.

I knew the second Balin released Adira. She screamed a murderous battle cry and threw herself past me and at the witch. Marlow was taken by surprise as Adira lunged at her with the sword, plunging it straight through her chest. Marlow cried out as they both tumbled to the ground, rolling as one across the grass. Adira jumped up when they stopped rolling and yanked her sword from Marlow’s chest, lining herself up to attack again. The sword dangled over Marlow’s chest, dripping the witch’s own blood onto her chest.

Marlow’s chest was rising with staggered breaths and she was making gurgling sounds, blood pouring from her mouth. The bangle came to life around Adira’s wrist, snaking itself down her arm and weaving between her and Marlow, eventually wrapping itself around Marlow’s throat. The bangle closed tighter and tighter around Marlow’s neck, causing her face to go red and then purple. Marlow scratched at her throat, choking on her own blood until the bangle grew so tight that no air could make it to her lungs.

Still, the bangle continued to squeeze. I looked at Adira’s face and saw that her eyes were pitch black and there was a look on her face that would scare even the Devil himself. I didn’t dare intervene. The wrist that once held the bangle flinched and she closed her hand into a fist like a single for the bracelet. It tightened for the last time and Marlow’s head popped off her shoulders like the cap of a marker.

“Come back from that, bitch.” Adira snapped as the bangle retreated back to her wrist.

I won’t lie, I spent the next several minutes trying to decide if I was more terrified or turned on by my mate in that moment.

She shook her head and made eye contact with me, her eyes back to normal.

“Are you okay?” I asked and she nodded slowly, licking her lips.

“I need to check on Marcy.” She said and then started jogging across the field.

There was still a battle raging between our allies and the rogues that were left. Quarter was nowhere to be found and the witches had vanished the second Marlow was killed. By the time we reached the center of the grassy circle, Cain and Aidian’s wolf’s had removed themselves from Marcy’s body. Aidian shifted while Cain went back to battle.

Aidian quickly picked Marcy up in his arms and cradled her to his chest.

“Is she okay?” Adira asked breathlessly.

“She’s alive, but injured. She’s unconscious.” Aidian said, his eyes never leaving his mate’s.

“Go, take her back to the packhouse. We’ll handle things here.” Adira said,

Aidian’s eyes to meet her’s,

“Are you sure?”

“Go.” Was her reply.

Aidian looked up at me and I nodded,

“We’ve got this.” I agreed.

And off Aidian went with his beloved mate clinging to life in his arms.

“Adira?” I asked my own beloved mate, watching her carefully as her eyes narrowed on the dark forest.

“I want Quarter.” She said and she slowly began to stalk towards the woods.

“Adira….” I began to speak timidly, but my arguments were cut off when another group entered the field.

“Oh, what now?” Adira grumbled.

“We’re here to help.” Said one of the newcomers as they walked towards us.

Immediately, I knew that the new members to join our battle were humans. Every last one of the nearly two dozen members smelt of human and that alone was suspicious.

“Who are you?” Adira asked the brunette who approached us.

“We are the Secret Keepers. A primarily human organization who stands with the supernatural unity of all the species,” The woman answered, “Have you heard of us?”

“The Archers’ have.” Adira confirmed.

“Why are you here?” I asked, stepping up beside Adira protectively.

“To give you this.” She held out a syringe with a yellow liquid inside.

“What the hell is that?” Adira sounded annoyed.

“A cure for the rogues. Inject them with this and they will lose their magic, they will lose their wolf.” The woman said and my eyes went wide.

I looked quickly at Adira and saw that her expression was just as shocked.

“A…excuse me?” She stammered.

“Go, try it.” The woman handed over a small black duffle bag that was filled with the yellow syringes.

“How do we know you’re telling the truth? For all we know, this could be some super serum for the rogues.” Adira said accusingly.

“You’ll just have to trust me.” The woman said,

“And why should I do that?” Adira said and I wasn’t about to be the one to tell this unsuspecting human that she was asking the least trusting person in the world to blindly trust a stranger.

“My name is Serenity Bellamy, descendant of Elijah and Molly Bellamy of the Blood Moon pack. The idea for this serum was developed by Lunas Everleigh of Blood Moon and Josephine of Crescent Moon after the witches used something similar on the Crescent Moon pack, temporarily counteracting the werewolf healing. Luna Josephine, a doctor, was able to take the properties she found in the blood of the wolves who were affected and created the idea for this serum. The medical advances weren’t there yet, so we kept the Lunas’ notes until we were able to create what they had dreamed up. This is it, an injection to remove magic from the blood.” The woman, Serenity, explained.

I looked at Adira who was blinking in shock at Serenity. After a long moment she slowly took the bag from Serenity’s hands and looked down at the injections,

“Well, alright then,” Adira finally said, “Either you’re telling the truth or this is all some elaborate lie that you’re going to die for anyway.”

Adira spoke so calmly that I just kind of gawked at her for a second.

“Get me a rogue.” Adira said and it took me a second longer to realize she was speaking to me.

Wordlessly, I sulked into the battle and came back dragging a rogue wolf by its hackles. I dumped the rogue at Adira’s feet and Balin bent down, securing the wolf while Adira plunged the yellow liquid into its body.

The wolf started to convulse, its spasms turning more and more violent; it was like something was trying to crawl its way out of the wolf’s body. It began to foam at the mouth and then the foam turned to blood. Blood poured from every orpheus; eyes, nose, mouth, pooling all around the wolf. The fur was literally being shaken off the wolf, revealing its pink, naked skin. All at once, the pink skin of the wolf turned to the pale, naked flesh of a human who was just as bloody as the wolf had been.

The human body stopped moving and became lifeless. Balin reached down to check a pulse and then looked back up at us, shaking his head.

“You didn’t say it would kill it.” I said accusingly.

“A rogue is only half a person. It’s long since lost its connection to the Moon Goddess. Some rogues can’t even shift anymore, whether it be they are stuck in their wolf form or their human form. They are too weak to survive the transition.” Serenity explained.

“This isn’t just for rogues, is it?” Adira said suddenly, her eyes still glued to the lifeless naked body of the rogue.

“No.” Serenity answered simply.

I looked between the two of them, confused. Balin spoke next,

“It can remove the magic from anyone’s blood, rogue or not. You could make a werewolf or a dragon human.”

My eyes grew wide and I started to feel sick.

“Yes,” Serenity nodded, “A stronger shifter would survive the process.”

“How dare you create something like this?” Balin stood up, outraged.

“We made it solely to use against the rogues or for anyone who wants to take it.” Serenity said,

“Who would want to take it?” Balin demanded.

“A man whose mate is terrified of them?” Serenity spoke as if she was speaking from experience and Balin was silenced, “We made this for the Table to use against the Legion of Darkness. A war is coming, a war just as big as last time, and we all need to be ready.”

“If you made it for the Table then why don’t they know about it?” Adira asked.

“I’m telling you now and I’m asking for a meeting with the full Table to present them with our serum. We tested it on three volunteers and five rogues who we were able to capture. This is the first real test run.” Serenity explained.

Adira handed the bag of injections to me,

“Get these into everyone’s hands. I want every last rogue injected.” She demanded.

The three of us each took a handful of syringes and spread out across the field. I was able to link the dragons and Adira could still link the wolves, letting them know what was going on. One by one, we injected each of the rogues still left alive with the anti-magic serum and, one by one, they all seized, shifted, and died just like the first.