Episode 90: Strength of the Pack

Genre: Supernatural/Drama
Characters: Kaya, Caleb, Connor, Charlie, Eli, Vaughn, Lobo, Luther, Amanda, Lexi, Faith, Dominick, Kaeleigh, Joseph, Joey, Sophie, Karri, Chandria, Eoghan, Emmett, Finn, Roman, Rollo, Odessa, Damian, Harley, Jacobi - Packs: Greymane, Gideon, Vanderbilt
Word Count: 3,308
Rating: R
Type: Series
Summary: WAR!
Warnings: Language, suggestive material, violence, strong sexual content, adult content, adult situations, nudity.

“Watch out!” Sophie shouted, rushing towards one of their recruits as another large blast erupted near the south quarter. She made it over in time to push the pup out of the way but landed with a crash against a tree. 

“Baby!” Instantly Charlie stopped what he was doing and ran to his mate. Lifting her in his arms, he checked her for any serious injury. “Are you ok?” 

“A little banged up but no worse for the wear,” she replied, pulling herself to her feet. 

“Let’s get back out there then.” Taking her by the hand, the couple rejoined the fight. 

All through the night and most of the next morning, packs from around the country had banded together to try and end the attack. Roman joined the charge with the Vanderbilt pack, followed in by the Diamond pack and its new Alpha. Greymane and Gideon were also on hand. Eoghan even brought in his pack from up north. Caleb and Kaya and their pack of Savages fought the intruders to the North and East while the other packs focused on the South and West.

But no matter their combined efforts, nothing seemed to be working. Their opponents were harder to fight back than they realized. The hunters were working with Lexi’s coven of witches who had imbued them with invulnerability. Dozens of wolves had already lost their lives in the midst of battle and there did not appear to be an end in sight. It would take everything they had to get out of this alive.

“Hold them back,” Joey yelled as he and a group of wolves clashed in an intense melee near the front of Shadowvale. Connor moved around him towards a handful of hunters who’d penetrated the wall with their Truesilver tools. Nearly everything in their possession, including the gear they wore, was covered in the toxic metal.

“Don’t worry,” Eli said, helping him defend from one of the hunters’ frontal attacks, “Reinforcements are on the way.”

Inside, a dedicated group of witches along with Vaughn were organizing their support. Trying to negate the effects of Lexi’s magic with the hunter’s weapons, they had proven minimally successful which was telling in the death rate since the event started.

“Is it time?” Kaya asked, hurrying into the living room.

“Not yet,” Vaughn announced solemnly.

“Then when, Vaughn? The hunters are getting through every one of our defenses! Short of shifting, we don’t have much else.”

“NO!” he shouted and turned to face his daughter-in-law. “That is exactly what they are waiting for. We can’t transition. Not until we know she’s ready.”

“How do you even know you’re getting through? You said it yourself, Lexi’s magic is proving to be much more advanced than our local coven. What if Chandria doesn’t get the message?”

“We have to hold out hope, Kaya. Don’t give up on me. Not yet.” The words and the tone of voice he used tugged at something deep inside the Luna and she nodded.

“We can do this,” she said with an encouraging nod, preparing to aid in the fight once more.

“KAYA!” Amanda shouted anxiously rushing into the room. “We’ve got a problem.”

“Mandy, what are you doing here? Where are the triplets?”

“That’s what I was coming to tell you…I don’t know.”

“WHAT?! What do you mean you don’t know?” Kaya asked, unable to control her anger.

“One minute I was preparing their lunch and they were just playing happily in the playroom. The next, they were…gone.”

“No, no, no.” Kaya bolted upstairs to try and track down her missing children. Feeling the panic and rage, Caleb appeared instantly at his mate’s side. “They’re gone, Caleb.” Words he didn’t need to hear to understand where her anxiety was coming from.

“No need to panic, just yet. Is this where they were last seen?” Caleb asked. Amanda nodded her head. “Alright, I need you to go to the field and grab a couple of available hands. We need to fan out and find them before it’s too late.”

Acting as quickly as possible, Amanda recruited Karri, Miles, and Lobo to aid in the search.

Fury and concern mounted every second Kaya couldn’t feel her children. “We will get them back,” Caleb reassured her. 

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Chandria gazed up at the sky as she felt the power within her rise. Beams of electricity sparked around her and she focused that energy on the runes at her feet. The floor exploded, releasing the magic Lexi had summoned to trap the White Witch. Instantly, she felt a sense of renewal. Stepping toward Rollo, she freed him from his chains just as the door to the dungeon opened.

Faith’s eyes connected with Chandria’s and she watched her call upon her sorcery, immersing the room in a bright white glow as she took Rollo by the hand and vanished before her eyes. Lexi stormed in behind her, staring at the broken runes and the empty chains. “You let them escape?”

“‘Let them’? I told you we needed to kill her while we had the chance. She continuously refused to drink your potions so her powers were not contained. If you’d have only listened to me we’d still have the upper hand. This is YOUR fault, Lexi, not mine.”

“We both know where her true source of magic lies. The hunters have already crossed the border to Shadowvale and only a handful have fallen in combat. The lycan are still too distracted to see what we’re really up to. We still have the advantage. We can get to the pups before it’s too late.”

“No, Lexi. This is over. The scales are about to tip in their favor. And now that Chandria’s free, I’ll give you one guess where she’s headed.”

“Not if I get there first,” Lexi growled. Spinning once in place, she disappeared behind a large cloud of smoke and was quickly followed by Faith. 

“Over here,” Kaya shouted, finally getting a lead on where their missing children had fled. “I can feel them.” Caleb was close on her heels as she rushed headlong through the woods as they narrowed in on the pups’ location.

The scent of the triplets grew stronger with every step they took and Kaya had a sense of calm. As they entered a thicker grove of the wood, the feeling turned to dread as another familiar smell bathed her senses. “Caleb, wait.”

As Kaya was just about to convey her suspicion, an explosion erupted, and flames cascaded down towards them, burning a large trench into the ground in front of them. Caleb and Kaya watched as Lexi dropped from the heavens, settling into the earth and bringing down several trees as the red aura around her grew larger and brighter.

Darkness descended upon them as Lexi summoned the forces of nature to do her bidding. The sky turned black, the wind howled and they were pelted with golf ball sized hail. The air became increasingly colder and Lexi’s magic expanded as she propelled swords made of jagged ice down around them. Caleb pushed Kaya back, narrowly escaping one of the large projectiles as they took cover beneath the canopy of trees.

In the distance they could see another light approaching. This one was light blue in color, brighter than the one surrounding Lexi and the couple had to cover their eyes the closer it drew. Behind them they heard Vaughn’s voice shouting for them to get out of the way. “She’s here!” he yelled. “Take cover!”

Grabbing Kaya by the hand, Caleb rushed towards his father. Chancing a look back, he saw a shape appear in the cloud and felt his breath stop. “Mom?” It was whispered but, Kaya turned to see what had caught her mate’s attention.

From out of the sharp beam of light, a woman emerged and immediately she knew who it was. Chandria Savage, the First Witch, the White Witch; the one who had started her on the path to Caleb was back. “GET OUT OF THERE!” Vaughn again shouted, grabbing Kaya’s other hand, he and Caleb ushered the Luna out of the clearing, jumping out of the line of fire just as Chandria conjured up a meteor and directed it towards her nemesis.

The flaming projectile detonated on target, and a giant mushroom cloud burst into the air. Thick black smoke curled over the top of the forest as trees and shrubbery were set ablaze. Caleb was the first to his feet followed by Kaya who crawled from beneath a bush, coughing as she pulled herself from the ground. Caleb looked at his father and back to where the explosion had erupted. “That was Mom,” he said, still processing what he’d just witnessed. “Did you see her?”

Vaughn nodded and smiled at his eldest child before regarding his daughter-in-law, “See. You just needed to keep hope alive.”

“Wait a second, you knew?” he asked, still gaping at his dad. “Why didn’t you say anything.”

“You had your hands full with pack business,” Kaya answered on Vaughn’s behalf.

Caleb was about to say something more when Kaya sniffed the air and darted forward. Catching whiff of the same familiar scent, he rushed after her. “There!” she shouted as her eyes closed on their missing children.

Tumbling down the hill, she hurried for her babies. But her elation was short-lived when Lexi reappeared in the rubble. Kaya noticed too late and ran right into another of her aunt’s spells.

“KAYA!” Caleb watched as his mate was lifted from the ground and thrown twenty feet through the air. He could hear her bones snap as she landed with a blood curdling crunch fifty yards in the distance. 

Seizing the opportunity, Lexi snatched Kaeleigh into her arms and, with a wicked laugh, began enchanting the pup.

“NO!” Vaughn yelled as he watched helplessly while his granddaughter was hexed. His fear was soon replaced by disbelief when the sound of snapping bones and tiny snarls grew into thunderous roars. Vaughn was joined by Lobo and they both watched as the other two pups began to transition. But this was much different than before. Instead of turning into the formerly, adorably cute wolf cubs they became something bigger; something scarier.

Two bright, red eyes were set deep into their massive skulls. Their razor sharp canines glistened from their elongated snouts and they lifted them into the air and howled. Caleb had retrieved Kaya just as Joseph completed his transformation and with their howl, the Alphas felt their bodies, too, begin to shift.

Before anyone had a chance to speak, Dominick and Joseph charged towards Lexi, tackling her to the ground. Kaeleigh fell from her grip and soon changed like her brothers. Kaya and Caleb rushed in with their cubs, clawing and chomping at the fallen witch as she screamed and struggled to stand. 

“FULGUR!” Lexi shouted, sending shards of lightning soaring to the ground around her. The Savage clan backed away as they were shocked and, in Caleb’s case, set on fire. “Ignis terram,” She continued and became surrounded by a ring of fire. (LIGHTNING!/Set fire to the ground!)

“What the hell just happened?” Lobo asked, taking in his grandchildren’s new appearance.

“They’ve become what they were destined to be,” Chandria’s voice erupted behind him. “The Defenders, born of mixed bred parents; magic and wolf combined to create the offspring that will usher in a new era of lycan-kind.”

“Chandria?” Lobo said, appearing stunned to see the First Witch standing beside him.

“Hello, Armand, Vaughn. If you’ll excuse me, it’s time to put an end to this.” Moving in front of Lexi, Chandria held her hands up in front of her “Rigescunt indutae!” she shouted and instantly the fire and weather events ended. Lexi fell to the ground and Faith rushed to her side. “Venenum magicae!” (Freeze!/Magic poison!)

“STOP!” Lexi shouted but the witch continued.

Kaya pulled away from Caleb and started over to her aunt. “Stay back,” Lexi cried. “I will make you all pay for this.”

“Enough!” Kaya snarled. “You don’t even know when you’re beaten. That’s always been your problem. That and your desire for power.”

“You don’t know me, Kaya,” Lexi laughed, pulling herself to a sitting position. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that. You were always a bitch in sheep’s clothing. Always scheming and conniving and getting all of your little pawns on the board to move here and there at your biding. But that’s all over now, Lexi. You have no one!”

“Look at you. The sad, little whelp thinks she’s tough now. I remember when you were just a scared little girl. Always running to her Aunt Lexi for advice. ‘Should I date Rafe?’ ‘Will I make a great Luna?’ Blah, blah, blah. Such a pathetic excuse for a daughter. Kaelani is lucky I spared her the embarrassment.”

“That was then. This is now. And now my wolf is strong and my pack even stronger. You are going to die tonight, Lexi, but don’t think goading me into losing control will work. I know what I have to do.”

The Order of the Silver Moon stepped around Kaya, forming a semicircle as Chandria moved towards the helm. Soon, they were chanting, and levitating off the ground as their hands began to glow. “No, wait. Kaya, don’t do this. You don’t know what you’re doing! You don’t want this!”

“Look into my eyes, Lexi, and you will see how badly I want it!”

“Donum mortis mortus. Donum mortis mortus. Donum mortis mortus.” The witches chanted over and again. (Gift of death)

Kaya knelt in front of her aunt with a smirk as she watched the magic poison her from the inside out. “Now be a good witch and die.” 

A large explosion shattered the forest as a brilliant white light filled the air. The levitating witches were thrown back and to the ground as the earth opened up beneath Lexi. “Please!” she begged as Faith held onto her, trying desperately to pull her up. Flames licked up from the opened crevice as if reaching out to drag the witches under. Everyone watched in wide eyed astonishment as both Lexi and Faith tumbled forward into the fissure and the earth closed around them.

Caleb moved towards his mate and placed a hand on her shoulder. Kaya leaned back, accepting his warm comfort as a chapter was finally closed and justice was had for her mother. “Let’s finish this thing,” she said, turning her attention to the ongoing battle.

The duo caught up with Connor, Charlie, Eli and Sophie. They had Harley Crane cornered near the east woods and Eli was chomping at the bit to get his hands on him. “We meet again,” Harley sneered in Eli’s direction. “I told Lucy she was too soft on you; using you as bait was fun while it lasted but, we should have put you down before you had the chance to escape.”

“In speaking of Lucy, are you missing something?” Eli asked, going for the gym bag at his feet. Opening it with a smile on his face, the young wolf reached in and pulled out the present he’d saved for the Hunter. It was a head covered in light blonde hair matted with blood. “Say hello to your sister,” he said, tossing the severed appendage forward. “It might smell a little; not because of the sweaty shirts and socks in there but, because she was a foul person.”

“YOU FUCKING MONSTER! I’LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS!” Harley shouted and rushed back into the woods. 

Eli was about to give chase when a loud whirring sound reverberated near the gates and everyone turned, prepared to face the new threat. “The hunter’s weapon!” Eli gasped, watching a few of Harley’s men shove his monstrosity into the field. “We have to stop them.”

“No, Eli, don’t,” Kaya said, pulling him back. “Remember what Luther said, it takes away our wolf form. If any of us go near that thing, we’re dead!”

The wolves watched in quiet desperation as Harley came into view and started up the machine. Suddenly, he was tackled from behind by a large black wolf. Harley shouted as the animal caught him by the throat and viciously shook him, clawing and scratching at his face until he no longer screamed.

“Who is that?” Caleb asked, hoping it wasn’t one of theirs. The wolf fell back as bright, blue rays emitted from the machine, seemingly drawing the animal into its line of fire. The beast howled as its coat began to peel and its fangs and claws cracked and crumbled like ash.

“Oh my god!” Sophie shrieked watching as the wolf perished before her eyes. “That’s not possible.”

More fur fell until the wolf’s pelt was completely absorbed by the device, forcing the animal into transitioning and revealing the man beneath. “Jacobi?” Eli said, seeing the third and final Crane hunter. A red puddle formed beneath the wolf as skin from the right side of his body began to melt.

“We have to turn it off!” Charlie yelled.

“Stay back!” Caleb ordered. “We can’t get near it without that same thing happening to all of us.”

Jacobi struggled to stand, to get to the controls of the large contraption but, it was no use. His muscles had weakened into jelly from the energy released by the machine. He was putrefying right in front of them.

“This has to end,” Rollo said, stepping up behind the group.

“Rollo, no!”

“I’ve lived for so long with my head in the sand. I betrayed my own pack and left my people wandering alone without a leader for years. If I can do one thing to make up for it; to protect my family and our kind let it be this,” Rollo gave his granddaughter one last kiss and walked toward the scorching bright light.

“GRANDPA!” Kaya shouted and started after him. Caleb rushed forward, gripping her tightly in his arms he kept her back and together they watched the man become instantly surrounded by the same light that had overtaken Jacobi. Moving as fast as he could, he grabbed the Crane wolf by the hand and walked him to the mechanism’s control panel.

And as he held him up, Jacobi worked quickly to disable the engine, destroying the device’s operation for the time being. When the power shut off, the two men collapsed to the ground, Jacobi died instantly. Kaya promptly rushed forward. Taking hold of her grandfather’s hand, she pulled him into her lap. “That was a very brave thing you did for us,” she cried, looking down into his half swollen face as he lay dying. “We will forever be grateful.”

“As I am for you and the continuation of my legacy. I’m sorry we never got the chance to know one another but, I do see my Kaelani in you. You’re a strong Luna and you have a good heart. Be braver than I was and trust in the strength of your pack.”

“I will. Thank you.” Kaya stayed with him until his final breath.

Afterwards, the pack got to work cleaning up the destruction from the battle. At the end of the day, several lives had been lost which included, among others, Sonja and Phoenix from Gideon and even more were injured. But time would heal the wounded wolves. As for the balance of magic, Chandria and the Order of the Silver Moon had their work cut out for them, starting with the two council members Odessa and Damian who found they had not run far enough.

A new world order would emerge from the chaos where every pack, for their part in the war, had equal say in matters concerning Lycan kind. New alliances had formed and harmony was welcomed by all.

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