The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 120

BLADE

I ran faster than I ever had before in my life. I could feel the presence of a few vampires chasing after me, but werewolves quickly took care of them, allowing me to focus on getting Remy back to the pack house safely. Remy grabbed my shirt, and her grip was weak. "Blade."

If it weren't for my enhanced vampire ears, I wouldn't have been able to hear her over the wind rushing past us. She was so quiet, and it scared me.

"You're safe now. We'll get you help, and you'll be okay." I resisted the urge to squeeze her against my chest. I didn't want to accidentally worsen any of her injuries.

"I'm sorry," she said, shaking in my arms.

Her voice sounded broken and hurt, and it broke my heart. I wanted to protect her and make sure she always had a smile on her face, but I knew that wasn't possible, especially with the prophecy still hanging over our heads. On top of that, Draven wouldn't stop coming after Remy. I knew him too well, and he hated failing. He wasn't the type to give up just because he wasn't successful once.

Finally, we made it back to the pack house, and Doctor Zayla was there, ready to take Remy. There was a whole team set up outside for any other warriors that got injured during the battle, and the thought of this pack facing any other losses made my chest tighten. They didn't deserve any of this, but there was nothing I could do to stop it.

"Take her inside," Doctor Zayla ordered the second she saw me.

I went straight to the medical room, and Doctor Zayla was a step behind me. She directed me to set Remy on one of the many empty patient beds, and she immediately started doing a check-up.

"Harper said she lost a lot of blood and will probably need a blood transfusion," I said.

"Any other injuries?" Doctor Zayla asked. She removed the makeshift bandage from Remy's arm and started inspecting the wound before attaching an IV to her arm.

"I'm not sure. Harper didn't say," I said. I took a step back and let her continue working on Remy, even though every instinct in me was telling me to hold onto her and never let her go. I couldn't afford to get in the way of her treatment.

Doctor Zayla worked quickly, immediately cleaning and dressing Remy's wounds. Once that was done, she started giving Remy a blood transfusion. The entire time, Remy was going in and out of consciousness, and I had to comfort her every few minutes. Finally, Remy closed her eyes and fell asleep, which put me in panic mode.

"Is she okay?"

"I gave her a mild sedative, so she should be sleeping," Doctor Zayla explained. "Her body needs time to recover. It appears there is still some lingering wolfsbane in her system, so her healing will be slower than normal, but I don't see any major causes for concern. She didn't sustain any severe injuries."

"Are you sure?" I hated seeing Remy in the medical bed again. She had faced too many injuries recently.

"Are you questioning my medical judgment?" Doctor Zayla asked with raised eyebrows.

I quickly shook my head. "No, of course not." I knew Doctor Zayla was skilled and brilliant. She was fast, too, so if she said Remy would be okay, I trusted her.

"Good. Other werewolves are being brought to the pack now, so I need to go. I can assure you Remy will be okay, and I suggest you go and help everyone fight those vampires," Doctor Zayla said, already moving towards the door. "I know you love her, but they need as much help as possible to lower the amount of casualties. Remy will be safe here in the meantime."

She left the room, not bothering to see if I was coming after her. I knew she was right. Caulder and Harper stayed behind to help the pack. Now that Remy was safe, I should have felt okay leaving her here to recover, but I couldn't get my feet to move. I grabbed her hand and brought it to my lips. "Please heal and wake up quickly."

Remy squeezed my hand back, and I immediately looked at her face. She was still asleep, so it was just her body automatically reacting to my touch. I didn't know how it was happening, but it felt like Remy was telling me that she loved me and that she would be okay.

When she loosened her grip, I let go of her and took a step back. As much as I wanted to stay with her, I knew it would be selfish when there were others fighting for their lives. With one last look, I left the room to join the battle.

-

CAULDER

As we fought, Harper and I were in sync more than I had ever been with anyone else during training. I didn't need to give her directions as we took down vampire after vampire. She was able to predict my every moment, and I could feel what she was going to do before she made any indication of her next action. It made us the perfect team to take out the vampires.

Eventually, I saw vampires starting to flee the scene. They realized they were losing the fight and tried to leave before they were killed. Harper and I took out a few more of them before it looked like all of the vampires were gone.

"The forest looks clear from what I can see. Does anyone see any other vampires around here?" I linked all of the warriors. If there were any vampires left, I would make that my priority. I wanted every last vampire to regret attacking our pack. "No one here," Mason said, followed by several other squadron leaders chiming in. It appeared that the forest was cleared of all of the vampires.

"What about the bunker?" I asked. That was the only other place vampires could have been hiding nearby.

"We can't search it yet. The smoke is heavy from the wolfsbane, and anyone who gets near the entrance is automatically transforms back into their human form," Mason explained.

"Let's keep a couple of groups monitoring that entrance until we can search it." If Draven was still hiding in the bunker, I wanted to make sure we took him down. Now that Remy and Harper were safe, I was okay with making Draven a target. "The rest of the groups will be split into two groups: one to bring back the injured to get medical attention and two to start taking care of the deceased."

I knew we had several casualties on our end. I had seen the bodies of several werewolfs while fighting, and it made my heart ache. We won the fight and got Remy back, but it wasn't without a cost.

As if she could read my mind, Harper approached me and nuzzled me with her snout. Her touch made me calmer instantly. I nuzzled her back, taking a moment to just breathe now that all of the immediate danger was gone. She was back, and her mate bond had emerged. I could make her mine once all of this was done with, and that thought was enough to get me moving to help everyone out again.

-

Once the aftermath of the battle was settled, Harper immediately went to take a shower to wash off the stress of the day. It was late into the evening, and it was much past dinner time. I hated that her birthday had been spent in such a terrible way, and I wanted to make it up to her at least a little before the clock struck midnight.

When she hopped into the shower, I ran to the kitchen and grabbed whatever food I could find, candles, and a little fold out table. I wanted to set up the nicest dinner date in my room that I could at the last minute. On my way back up to my room, I was surprised to find my father walking towards me.

He stopped in front of me, briefly glancing at what was holding. "Mason just finished giving me a debrief of his tale of the battle that took place today. He told me you did a great job as acting alpha, and you made a lot of smart decisions. You really are a natural leader."

"It felt natural today," I said, laughing nervously. This was a high praise, and it was one I would have never cared about hearing before, but I loved it now. "I didn't even think. I just acted."

My father smiled. "I guess that's what happens when you are a descendant of a strong alpha line."

I pulled my lips tight, not sure how to respond. Today felt good. I felt like I was in my rightful place, but until I talked to Remy about the whole taking over the pack thing, I didn't want to say much to anyone else.

"How is Mom handling everything that happened today?" I asked, making a point to change the subject.

My father rubbed the back of his neck. "She's not pleased, which I was expecting, especially when she found out Remy was kidnapped, and I didn't tell her. On the bright side, she seems to be back to her normal self, health wise."

"I'm glad she's feeling better." I hadn't had a chance to visit her all day because of the rescue mission, but now that I knew she was feeling better, I didn't feel guilty. I would be able to see her tomorrow when it wasn't Harper's birthday.

"Me too. Although, she's definitely going to make me pay for my lack of truth-telling," he said, laughing nervously. He knew she was going to be upset this entire time, and I was sure he was prepared for the repercussions of keeping my mother out of the loop, but I also understood he did it for her own good.

"Well, I want to set this up before Harper finishes her shower. Is there anything else you need me for tonight?" I was ready to run to my room, so I could spend time with Harper one on one, but I didn't want to completely shirk my responsibilities. If my father said he needed me, I would do what I could.

"No, I have it handled from here. You did well today, Son. Enjoy the night, because we have a lot to do tomorrow," he said. He opened his mouth, as if to add something, but then he thought better of it.

"Thanks, Dad. Have a good night, and good luck with Mom." I waved at him and then hurried to my room, knowing I was running out of time to set up.

I put the little folding table in the middle of the room and put a small sheet on top of it before arranging the food to look as nice as possible. I set up a few candles around the room and lit them with a little bit of magic. When it was all done, I took a step back and looked at everything. It looked mediocre at best, but I wasn't sure if I could do much better with the time I had. I wished it was more, but it was better than nothing.

A moment later, my door opened, and Harper walked in, already dressed in her pajamas. Her hair was still a little wet, and she looked exhausted from the day. "Happy birthday," I said, gesturing to the set-up. "I know it's not much, but I wanted you to still enjoy a birthday dinner."