Chloe Black

I stood rooted to the spot in shock as Jared frantically ripped our towels into strips. I had heard Sapphire's mindlink when she ordered everyone to move to their designated posts. I had been in the nursery, painting small pictures onto the wall, before Jared bursts into our room. His eyes were frantic and he raced into bathroom to take all the towels we had.

My feet unconsciously shuffled towards Jared till I stood right behind him, silently wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head against his back. He stilled for a moment before relaxing, dropping the towels from his hands to hold mine.

"Chloe, you need to follow the others to the dungeons. It is the safest place in the stronghold, and will be the most heavily guarded."

"Where will you be?"

I already knew the answer to that question, but some part of me still hoped for a different answer.

"I will be on the frontlines with Sapphire and Xander, it is my duty as the Second of Shadow Mount--"

"You have to honour your duty as a father as well."

Jared turned around to face me, throwing me a soft smile. His hand cupped my cheek, thumb slowly wiping away the tears that I did not realise had fallen. I hated myself for trying to persuade him to neglect his duties, but I could not bring myself to accept the reality that he might not come back... that our children might be forced to grow up without a father.

"I am going out there, into battle, as a Second and a father. I am going out there to make sure that our children will live free lives, not live under Damien's oppression."

I closed my eyes and bit my lip, trying my best to force down sobs. Jared placed his other hand on my other cheek, gently tilting my head downwards. Tears slid down my cheeks and onto the floor as he pressed his lips against my forehead. I brought my head up to meet his lips with my own, my lips trembled against his as I cried... this felt too much like saying goodbye, and I didn't want to.

He broke away from the kiss and pressed the strips of cloth into my hands. His eyes were red and bleary as he stared into mine, the possible consequences of the battle sinking deeper with every breath we took.

He knelt down and pressed a kiss to my swollen stomach before resting his head against it.

"I love all three of you so much, more than anything else in this world."

He got back up onto his feet, stretching his hand out towards me. My hand shook as I took his, and we walked out of the room, hand in hand, towards the dungeons where everyone, who were not able to fend for themselves, were being ushered. A group of warriors stood at each stair landing, acting as layers of a defense system to stop Damien's forces from reaching us. They had buckets of water at their feet, helping each member soak their cloth before fastening it around their noses to mirror theirs. We were not even sure if it would do us any good against whatever posion Damien had cooked up, but this was all we had... and we needed every silver of hope we could mine.

Jared stayed by my side till the last stair landing, the last door to the lowest level of cells. We stood there alone as everyone else had already descended into the depths of the stronghold. He pressed a kiss to my forehead one last time before turning to the warriors.

"Guard her with your lives, guard all of them."

The guards nodded solemnly at his words, my heart clenched as I saw the expressions on their faces. They were already prepared to lay down their lives so that the rest of the pack could live free.

Jared gave me a small smile before turning his back on me, racing off to join Sapphire's side. Trying my best to hold back tears, I passed my piece of cloth to the guards who soaked it in water before tying it around my face. The cloth stuck to my face, making it hard to breathe, but I'd rather suffer through this temprorary discomfort than to suffer like those who had been poisoned.

I walked down the last flight of descending steps towards the lowest level of the dungeons, where the most dangerous captives and criminals where usually kept, but for now... it was our safety bunker. I jolted slightly as the heavy door shut behind me, the sound of bolts interlocking soon followed.

Children huddled around any adult they could find, trying their best to find any sense of comfort. The adults wrapped their arms around them, whispering softly into their ears. The older ones sobbed quietly into their clothes as they understood that their parents and siblings who were above, preparing to engage in battle, might not return. The younger ones did not understand the gravity of the situation, but still huddled up against their siblings or an adult because the unfamiliar surroundings frightened them. The elderly and pregnant women were ushered by the rest to the mattresses and blankets that were placed carefully in the cells.

Many bowed their heads as they recognised me and sat up to offer me their mattresses which I politely declined. As I walked further down the seemingly endless walkway lined with cells, I realised that the cells further down were given a wide berth with pack members trying their best not to venture further. My curiousity got the better of me and I began to walk towards the cells when a pack member grabbed my hands.

"Chloe, please don't go there, it is too dangerous... the Werecats and their Alpha have taken those cells."

My heart ached to see that even at a time like this, where we should be united, we still let unavoidable differences keep us a part. Most of the wolves, who hated the Werewolcats, claimed that they felt so strongly because of Amelia's actions, when she was under the influence of the posion, but I knew better. They had disliked the Werecats long before Amelia was poisoned, they just needed an excuse to spread their fear-mongering. The hate Werewolves held for Werecats stemmed from the old mindset that a Werecat was an abomination... a failure. Werewolves saw themselves as superior and many ousted any Werecat that was borne to them, leaving them in forests to die the moment they shifted for the first time.

I gave her my best attempt at a smile before removing my hand from her grip to continue my walk towards the cells where the Werecats chose to hide. There were very few of them that had come down here, most of them were above, getting ready under Kalma's command. One cell in particular was heavily guarded, with Werecats sitting or standing around the entrance, preventing anyone from looking inside. I was about to walk past when a familiar voice caught my attention.

"Chloe?"

"Amelia?"

Her guards moved away from the entrance of the cell, and the sight of her made me tear up on the spot. When she arrived at Shadow Mountain, she was full of life, always out running with the patrol teams or sparring in the training hall. Her body was littered with scars, and firm with muscles from years of training, just like Sapphire's. Now, she was just a shell of her former self. Her skin hung loosely on her frame from the loss of muscle mass, her eyes no longer bright, and her expression was tight from the effort it took for her to sit upright on her own. She forced a small smile and shifted to make more room on her mattress, patting it softly.

I waddled to her side, her guards holding me as I slowly sat down, my eyes pinching at the strain. I closed my eyes and let out a few deep breaths as I stretched my legs out. A light weight on my shoulders caused me to open my eyes and see that one of her guards had draped a blanket over my shoulders. I quietly thanked them before turning my attention back onto Amelia who stared wistfully at the doorway of the cell.

"I feel so useless sitting in this cell. I came all this way to protect Sapphire, but here I am, sitting on a mattress while she fights to protect her pack as well as my pride."

I reached over to hold Amelia's hand, holding back a shiver as I realised how cold her hand had become. Her eyes, though dull from how frail she had become, were restless. They betrayed her active mind that was trapped inside her weak body, she earned to join the rest above, but was physically limited.

"Amelia, you cannot blame for yourself for things that were out of your control. No one could have predicted this new weapon Damien had developed, and how it would affect us."

She sighed and cast her gaze downwards. I stroked her hair and looked to her people who grew tearful at the sight of their Alpha's self-loathing. I turned my gaze to the corner of the room where a glint of gold had caught my eye. One of the guards must have seen where my gaze was directed as he brought the bag in front of me. I gasped as I peered inside.

"All of my warriors are stationed near the stronghold, and should any of them be poisoned, they will be brought in here immediately where we can keep the others safe. None of them should have the blood of the innocent on their hands, no one should have to experience what I did."

Her voice was filled with so much pain as she recalled what happened to her.

"Do...do you remember what it felt like?"

Her pride members fell silent at my question, they were curious as well but refused to force their Alpha to relive such a moment in her life. Amelia sighed, raising her head to look at me.

"We were stringing bells on the other side of the forest, just making small talk when I excused myself as I heard something coming from the bushes. I did not alert the rest of them as I did not want to create any unesscary panic, and thought I made the right call as there was nothing there. All I heard was glass shattering before everything went black. When I could finally opened them again, all I saw was red. I wanted nothing but blood, I hungered for it and something else, but I remember seeing nothing after that, it was all a blur. I'd only regained slight control of my mind when I was brought here, and all I wanted was more of whatever gave me that rush. My body worked relentlessly to get it out of my system but all I wanted was to fill myself with it. It was only recently that I had learnt of what I did, what I would have to live with for the rest of my life."

Her pride moved closer to their Alpha, trying their best to offer her whatever support they could. Tears slid down her cheeks as she looked at her hands.

"Everytime I look down at my hands, all I remember is how they were red with the blood of innocent people, people that I killed. I could not see what I did to them, but I could hear everything... their screams and pleas for me to stop, but I didn't listen. When I was unconscious, all I heard was their screams again and again, and they never stopped till Sapphire came to talk to me, she was the only reprive I had before the screams took over again."

I placed my arms around her as tears contined to fall. Her body might recover, but her mind might be scarred forever. What happened in that forest has changed her forever.

We sat in silence together till muffled shouts and the mass movement of feet sounded above us. Amelia's head snapped up, claws instinctively extending before she sighed and retracted them. All sounds above us seemed to stop for a moment, before we heard the howls and roars. The younger members instinctively held on to the older ones, who covered their member's ears despite knowing that it would no do much good. Some clasped their hands together, heads bowed, muttering under their breath. I removed one hand from Amelia's shoulder to place it around my belly, stroking it as tears fell from my eyes.

The battle had begun.