Forbidden Queen

Katy

It must be six o’clock in the morning when I hear the alarm sound. Instantly Alex is on his feet, rushing me to put on my shoes and clothes so that we can leave the tent quickly. He is going to escort me to the tent they have selected as my hiding place, and then he is going to join the fight.

When we arrive, there are four warriors waiting for us. They look fierce and battle hardened, four of the best that we have. They should be joining in with the fighting, but I know that neither Alex or Joseph would have been prepared to let me be guarded by so few warriors unless they were the very best.

Alex kisses me and says “I will be back soon” before rushing off to direct the warriors of the Lunar Eclipse pack.

I want to watch him leave, knowing that this might be the last time I see him alive, however the warriors who have been assigned to guard me have other ideas as they gently push me into the tent and out of sight. One of them stays at the tent flap, watching for enemy wolves, while the others take a seat beside me.

We sit there for what feels like hours. The sounds from the battle are brutal, I can hear screams and shouts as warriors fight to kill. I have no idea whether we are winning or losing. I am not allowed to look outside of the tent, and the warrior guarding the tent entrance is careful not to expose himself to those fighting. The last thing they want is for the attackers to guess that I am hiding here, and for me to become the focus of their attack.

I am so glad that I decided to leave Emma behind. It was exactly this kind of situation that I wanted to save her from. I know that if she had accompanied us, I would have been forced to agree when Joseph and Alex wanted to send me away to safety.

Suddenly the guard at the entrance stumbles back, his throat bleeding, as five enemy wolves push into the tent. They look savage, their chests and arms covered in blood, they have partially shifted so that their fangs and claws are extended. They look around the tent, searching for someone, and I know that it is me that they want. Somehow, they know that I am hiding here.

The largest wolf snarls when his eyes find me, and he lunges forward. My guards rush to head him off and fighting quickly starts between my warriors and the enemy wolves. It is soon clear that the enemy warriors are as strong and well trained as ours. They would be evenly matched if we were not outnumbered.

I watch the guard closest to me start to weaken, two enemy wolves have targeted him, and he struggles to hold them off.

I act on instinct and launch myself at the enemy wolf closest to me. They have misjudged me. Not expecting me to be a threat they have ignored me completely. Instead, all their focus is on killing the warriors who guard me.

I partially shift and manage to pierce my fangs into his exposed neck. My intention was to tear out his throat, but before I can bite down and land the killer blow, he realises the danger he is in and uses his greater strength to throw me off. He staggers back holding onto his injured neck.

My attack has given my guard the opportunity he needed to defeat the other wolf he was fighting. He manages to knock him to the ground, slashing at his shoulder and stamping on and breaking his leg.

With his enemy incapacitated for the moment he turns his attention to the wolf I have been battling and manages to slash his claws into his chest. The wound is deep and weakens him further, but before he can finish him off, the other enemy wolf has managed to recover enough to jump on my guard and tear his claws down his back.

As my guard concentrates on this knew threat, I realise that the wounds of the wolf I had been fighting aren’t severe enough to prevent him from re-joining the fight. I move in on him, his weakened state gives me a chance to end him.

I try to dig my claws into his throat, but he manages to force me back, thrashing out wildly he inflicts a deep scratch down my left arm. I feel the wound sting, and blood start to flow, but it is not bad enough to weaken me. I launch myself at him again, this time I manage to punch him in the neck. He is too weak to fight back and falls to the ground. My punch has not only knocked the air from his throat, but it has also widened the wound that I had already made there with my fangs. This time I go in for the kill, tearing at his jugular vein and finally managing to rip out his throat.

I pause for a moment, watching his life slip away. It feels horrible to have killed someone, but I know that I had no other choice. I force myself not to think about what I have done, and to turn back to the fight. This is not the time to lose concentration what matters at the moment is that we defeat the Black Moon Pack warriors.

With the enemy wolf dead the fight has become more evenly matched. Each of my three bodyguards are fighting ferociously against their opponents, and they gradually seem to be winning. The fighting is fierce and dirty, and every wolf has sustained nasty injuries.

From what I can see the enemy seems to be in a worse state than my guards. They have managed to inflict deep claw marks on their opponents’ bodies, and these have caused enough damage for the Blood Moon pack warriors to begin to slow. My guards are gaining the upper hand and it won’t be long before the fight is over.

Suddenly, I feel claws grabbing at my throat, squeezing my neck. The fifth enemy wolf who had up until now not joined the fight has hold of me, and my bodyguards are too busy fighting to notice. I feel his claws dig into skin, piercing my throat, as I struggle to breathe.

“This will be the first time I have killed a queen” he whispers in my ear. “I am going to enjoy this.”

I struggle to prise his claws away from my throat, but it is no use, as I tear at him, he tightens his grip. I lean back suddenly hitting my head against his nose, he staggers, his grip loosens slightly, which gives me the chance to move.

I manage to kick back, hitting his leg and at the same time punch him in the groin. He groans and lets go of my neck, he tries to recover, but he is too late, and I manage to twist out of his grasp and launch myself at his chest, ripping and clawing at him. There is no skill to my attack, I just hope that I can land a serious blow before he recovers.

Suddenly one of my bodyguards is there, and gently pushes me out the way so that he can finish him off. He grabs him by the neck lifts him off the ground and throws him across the tent. He lands on the floor. Disorientated he tries to get back up, but my guard reaches him before he makes it to his feet and rips out his stomach with his claws.

I look around and realise that the wolves who have attacked us are dead. Our only casualty has been the wolf who was guarding the entrance, but the others are badly injured, with deep gashes and claw marks across their chests and neck.

As the adrenaline leaves me, I suddenly begin to feel the pain from my wounds. My neck feels tight and sore, and I have deep scratches down my arm, and neck. I am relieved though it could have bene so much worse.

Alex

The fighting has been ferocious. We are being attacked by a hundred wolves. Our warriors are well trained, and battle hardened, but these wolves are just as skilled. They have no instincts for self-preservation, prepared to attack any wolf no matter if they are bigger or stronger than they are. It is like they are possessed, by a mad killing rage. It would be terrifying to less experienced fighters, but we are holding them off, we are too disciplined to weaken from this kind of attack. This frenzied style of fighting cannot defeat well-trained warriors, but that doesn’t mean that we are not suffering heavy casualties.

I can see their leader in the centre of the fighting screaming directions. I start to move towards him. It is clear that he is the only real commander among them. If I can get to him and kill him, then the fighting will end.

I start slashing and lunging at the enemy wolves in my path. I try not to rush. I don’t want to make it obvious that he is my target. It is slow going, and although the wolves that I defeat along the way manage to land blows, and draw blood, they are superficial wounds.

My prey hasn’t noticed me yet. He is still shouting orders to his soldiers while he viciously takes down any of my warriors that get close to him. He is brutal and seems to have no rules or boundaries about what he is prepared to do. I watch as he battles against my soldiers – biting, clawing and breaking them and once they are destroyed throwing them aside with relish.

I long to do the same to him, but I don’t let my emotions take control. I am not going to let my anger ruin my ability to take him down. He is a fierce warrior, and I will need all my wits about me to defeat him.

And then I am there, only a few feet away from him. I watch as he turns and notices me. A light appears in his eyes, and he snarls. I know that he recognises me as his equal, someone who will match his own skill and brutality in this fight.

Quick as lightening he moves towards me, his movements fluid as he launches his attack, but I am ready for him. I swing my left leg and land a vicious blow to his knee, he stumbles but manages to right himself. In the split second it takes for him to recover I have the opportunity I need. I push forward, and before he can defend himself, I drag me claws diagonally across his stomach. He snarls I know that I have caused damage, but it doesn’t stop him. He manages to pull away from me, and then he launches himself at my neck, I manage to twist my body away protecting my throat, but he still manages to bite down hard on my shoulder. I wince in pain, but I manage to swing my arm round to punch him in the face.

I punch him again and again. He stumbles back, he tries to recover, but before he can I take the opportunity to slash my claws into his chest. It is a deep wound, and I can see he is struggling to keep standing. He snarls at me, and staggers forward, his claws out and his fangs bared. He is desperately trying to land a blow, any blow, but I am too quick for him. At the last moment I sidestep him and grab his neck. J twist it sharply and hear a crack. I drop him to the ground. His neck broken his sightless eyes stare up at me.