Ash

It's time for Frost and myself to spar. Braden and Ash fought brutally but in the end Ash won. Ash has more experience from his past and he is the King of Werewolves so he needs to be the best.

Noctis won against Amara and it wasn't too long of fight. Noctis has a lot of experience, more than anyone I know, and she is a True Alpha. Amara doesn't seem like the fighting type and she has probably taken the training needed for her position. 

I can feel many eyes on Frost and I as we step into the middle of the field. He has been practicing his powers and now let's put them to the test.

"Begin!" Noctis announces and Frost strikes first.

Frost immediately grabs a boulder from nearby and hurled it towards me. I send a wave of energy with my telekinesis to push the boulder back towards Frost who destroys it to pieces. I send a fireball at Frost and he uses the dirt in the ground to cover it and extinguish the flames. It did knock him back a few paces. I throw another fireball at Frost and charge at him to prepare for my next attack; however, he sees this coming. He dodged the fireball instead of extinguishing it like I was planning and he starts his staircase that is climbing up into the sky. I run up behind him, a few steps away. I didn't realize how high we got until Frost turns around and crumbles the steps around me, causing me to fall. I catch a glimpse of Frost's concerned face as I start falling. My instincts take over and I feel my wings sprout from my back and rip through my top. They spread wide and a strong, propelling flap comes from them, shooting me upwards. A wide grin covers my face, I am finally flying and it just feels amazing!

I turn back towards my opponent who is looking at me with wonder in his eyes. I throw a string of flames at him. He stumbles with his vampire speed to avoid the blast that he wasn't ready for. I swoop down low and grab Frost's collar, bringing him up high into the sky.

"Heya Frost," I smile sweetly.

His eyes are firmly shut, "Let me down, Ash," he wines.

"Oka..." I don't even get out the full work before he screams at me to not literally let him down right that moment. "Geez, you really are afraid of heights."

"Pfft, no I'm not," he digs his fingernails into my hand that is holding him.

"Really? Cause your fingernails digging into my hand are saying otherwise. I would be careful because I may drop you out of pain."

When I say he moved his hand so fast, I mean it was just a blur of white that threw us off balance and caused me to lurch forward. Frost's high pitch scream fills the air and I laugh, hard, regaining my balance.

"Do you surrender?" I lower my voice and add a menacing tone to it.

"Yes, yes. Now bring be back down! Slowly!" He screeches.

I chuckle and lower us to the ground, retracting my wings. Once his feet kiss the ground, he stumbles backward and falls on his ass. He then turns over to his stomach and kisses the floor. Full on lips on the ground, maybe more.

"Frost, get a room. I know you are connected to the earth by your powers but do you see me going around trying to make-out with lit candles?"

Frost laughs slightly and rolls to his back, "I have always had this fear of heights."

"I can see that. Are you okay?"

He nods, "Yes of course. I mean, I am immortal. It such a stupid, irrational fear but it formed when I was a boy," he looks away sadness in his eyes.

I'm not sure what to do, but I feel like he needs to be consoled and have someone to talk to. I am about to go ask if he wants to go on a walk and talk it out when a man I recognize as Zane walks out and over to Frost.

"Come with me, we are going to have a chat," Zane tells him and Frost nods, following Zane into the forest. Hopefully Zane will help sort out Frost's issues from his past with his father. I can only imagine what that man put him through.

I face the small group but my eyes drift to the people in the windows of the castle. They are just staring at the field. I roll my eyes slightly and turn my attention back to my group.

"How are we feeling?"

***

Braden

Watching her fight was just incredible. She moves so delicately, but her powers are deadly. All I could do was watch in awe before panic set in when she fell off the magical dirt stairs or whatever you want to call them. When her beautiful white and orange wings emerge from her back and she shoots into the sky, I can't help but gasp at the sight along with many others from the castle.

I hear a girly scream and I look up thinking it is Ash but Ian wrong. It is Frost's scream as the two move through the sky quite quickly before stopping again. I can hear Ash's laughter from all the way down here. They both soon touch the ground and Frost...kisses it? He honestly seems to be making out with the ground. Get a room, I think as I roll my eyes.

I must have zoned out because next thing I know, Zane is walking a sad Frost into the woods.

"How are we feeling?" Ash asks us.

"Honestly? I think we have a good chance you weakened their numbers back at White Stone and we have more fighters here to battle against them," I respond and the others nod their heads in agreement. I notice Ash's shoulders relax a little bit and I give her a hug to which she returns.

"We are going to be alright," I whisper in her ear.

"You think so?"

"I know so," I reassure, but in truth, I don't know. I don't know how tomorrow is going to go and I don't know if we will all make it out of this alive. Scratch that. I know we won't all make it out of this alive. All I can hope for is that Ash and I make it so we can get married, so we can go on our honeymoon, so we can travel and explore, so we can take over my pack, so we can have pups of our own. Can she even carry children who aren't Mura? I don't really know anything about her kind.

"Why don't we go on a walk to the pond?" I suggest and she nods into my chest.

I keep an arm around her shoulders and we walk back into the mansion so get our bathing suits and towels. The walk is silent. We just keep our eyes starting straight ahead of us and our mouths stay closed. At the lake we get changed and hop in.

"Can I ask you a question?" I wonder.

"Of course," she smiles with only her lips.

"Can you have children with someone who isn't a Mura?"

Her smile immediately drops. "I can, but..." she trails off.

"You can tell me, Ash. Do you not want children?"

"No, no. It's not that. It's just, I would die if I did have a child with someone who isn't a Mura."

I am stunned into silence. I think I may be going into shock. If I didn't have my feet planted in a shallow portion of the lake, I would surely drown right now. She can't have children with me? Was having children always her plan? Am I taking away that dream of hers just by being a different species? Would she be better off with someone like her? Someone like Frost?

A hand on my chest brings me out of my thoughts. "It's okay, Braden. I understand if you don't want to be with me now that you know I can't have children. You could never have an heir." She looks at the water.

"What?" I almost shout, "No, I don't care. I just want you to be happy. If kids are a dream of yours, I would understand if you didn't want to be with me and be with someone else like you? Maybe someone like Frost?"

She snorts, "Someone like Frost?" She starts laughing, "Oh, no. I do not like Frost like that and I never will. I love you, Braden and I am okay that I can't have children with you as long as your are."

I smile wide, "Thank goddess because I don't know what I would do without you. We could always adopt an orphaned pup when the time is right for us."

She beams at me, "That's a great idea!" Then she kisses me and I kiss her back back. We kiss because we are about to go to war. We kiss like we haven't seen each other in years. We kiss like it's the last time we will ever see each other.

***

We stayed at the lake for about an hour before deciding to head back to the castle to have dinner and get some rest. We don't know what time tomorrow this war is coming, but I think it will be sooner than later and we all need a good rest before then.

The cooks made a delicious roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, beans, corn, and peas. It was absolutely delicious! I could tell at the beginning of supper, by the look on Ash's face, that she was curious on how we could all eat so much.

I leaned in close to her, "We have high metabolisms and we are also eating for two."

"What?" She asked.

"We are feeding both ourselves and our wolves so we eat a lot," I explained. She made an 'o' with her mouth, telling me she understood. We both began eating our food, we savoured the taste and the time together.

Now I am lying awake in bed with my mate snuggled up against me, her head on my arm and her arm and leg wrapped around me. Who knew she was the cuddly type?

I can't seems to will my brain to shut off so I can sleep. My head is just spinning with worry for tomorrow. Worry for my mate, my friends, and my family. The feeling of dread is filling my stomach to the brim, it's dark, heavy burning is itching to destroy me before the war even begins. I can't focus on this feeling, if I acknowledge it, it becomes real and I ponder the outcomes of tomorrows fight.

***

I startle awake to the warning bell. It's time. The sky is still dark, colour has not reached the clouds yet but the sun should start rising in a couple hours. Today's the day. I just out of bed and stumble around, fiddling for the light switch. I turn back to the bed and notice Ash is gone. She must already be on the battle field. I slip on my athletic joggers and a black t-shirt before jumping out of the second story window, running straight into the fight.

I don't stay in human form for long because I am at a disadvantage that way. I let Mark take over for the fight, he hasn't been out to fight for a while. He can be pretty savage when he wants to be and this is one of those times. He runs full speed through the battle field, tearing off limbs, chunks of flesh, and a few heads here and there. We are almost tied for numbers with the wilds. There are so many working together, it isn't normal. They usually kill off each other before getting this many together and definitely before actually taking this amount of numbers into war. I guess those three wolves I saw two days ago at White Stone are behind this. They are somehow keeping the group together.

My eyes roam for Ash subconsciously as I fight rogues. I can't see her from where I am so she may be on the other side of the field. I can see Frost is using his earth powers along with his speed and strength to take down the rogues.

I am thrown to the ground by a mucky brown wolf who snarls in my face. I growl loudly, but I can push him off. He has me pinned pretty good. Is this it? Is this how I go out? I haven't even been fighting for 30 minutes and I am already going to die. My eyes drift sideways where I see that little red bunny, Jinx. What is he doing out here? Jinx bites down on the rogue's paw and he whines before flames erupt from the bite mark. Since when can Jinx do that? I get up when the wolf falls off of me in pain, flames burning through his fur.

I turn my head to Jinx, Thanks buddy.

He nods and hops along to help other wolves in need. One smart rabbit that is. Now that I am up, I start jogging towards the other end of the field again, taking out any rogue that stands in my way. My eyes scan my surroundings as I run and fight, trying to find my mate. I then see her throwing the wilds into trees and into each other. Then she throws flames and fireballs at them to finish them off. She is doing good. Amazing even. I sigh in relief, knowing she is okay. This gives me the piece of mind to continue this fight.

***

It was a long battle, lasting until the sun started rising in the sky. The colour shines beautifully signally the light's victory against the dark. The prophecy is over, we have won! Cheers erupts across the field in triumph. I see those wolves who orchestrated this attack on the ground. Their stomachs torn apart. It's over.

I walk over to where I last saw Ash, near the tree line. My eyebrows draw in confusion when I don't see her. I turn around and look for her face in the large crowd of survivors. I notice a few people shrug, unsure of where she is. Even Frost looks lost. My head cocks to the side as I grow more confused. Where could she have gone? Jinx hops by me and I turn back around, I watch him get closer to the woods and I think that maybe she went to go wash off in the lake or something but he stops short of the tree line.

I walk closer, that painful, burning feeling of dread from last night coming back as I recognize the familiar black hair laying next to Jinx.

I run faster than I have ever run before and am beside her in a second. I expected her go look at me with those beautiful green eyes and say that she will be alright or that she is healing, but that doesn't happen. She is barely breathing and she has huge gashes everywhere. She is loosing too much blood. I find the worst gash, the one on her stomach, and put pressure on it with my hands. She groans slightly and just barely opens her eyes to look at me.

"Hey," she whispers and coughs up some blood. It stains her lips red.

"Hey," I reply with a sad smile and a tear falling down my cheek.

"Don't...do that," she pushes out and I can tell it is getting hard for her to talk.

"Don't talk, just focus on healing yourself. Okay?"

She shakes her head slightly with her eyes closed once more before they open just a crack, "I can't Braden, I'm sorry. It's just too much. I ca...n't do it."

Jinx puts his head in the crook of Ash's neck, snuggling close like this is the last time he will ever see her. It can't be the last time I ever see her.

"I l-love you, Braden," her eyes close again, her breathing and heart rate are both dangerously low.

"I love you too, Ash. You hear me? I love you and you can do this to me! You can't leave me!" Tears flow freely down my cheeks, my eyes sting with the thought of never seeing my mate again.

"Goodbye," she whispers and it fades along with her heart beat.

"Ash! Asherah!" I shake her shoulder, "Asherah!" She can't do this to me, "Asherah!" And then her heart stops.