"I'm coming along."

"No, you're not."

Ezra scowled at his father. His father scowled at him.

Standing almost toe-to-toe in a dimly lit room of the pack house, they looked identically grouchy.

The message Sam had received announced the Coalition meeting would be held two evenings after the council, which meant that was when we'd carry our two missions: Save the blood child and catch the Coalition members.

Everyone except for Sam and Haley, who were still back in the hotel with Jun, congregated in an office of the pack house. Ezra and I joined them and kept Sam in the loop through mind-link. Night shrouded the world outside. Not a soul out and about in the pack except for us.

Zyron had announced I would be going with their party, on the mission of apprehending the Coalition members. Ezra would be going with the group heading to the Coalition headquarters to save the moon child. Expectedly, Ezra didn't like that idea very much. He would probably love for me to be glued to him until this mess was over, but Zyron had other ideas.

"Sam and Haley's mission is simple enough now that we know Jun's abilities," Zyron said. "Orton will be going with them in order to teleport them out if anything goes wrong. But they need a werewolf's senses. That's you. I don't trust anyone else with something as important as the moon child. He's a weapon in the wrong hands. You must secure him."

"Fine. Let Orla come with us then," Ezra rumbled.

Wren bit a smile across the conference table from us. Her white blond hair shimmered as she shifted her head to hide her amusement.

I just leaned my chin on my fist and let him work it out of his system. Ezra was a wolf with a bone. He scowled harder, but Zyron was made of sterner stuff and he didn't wither under the force of his heir's glower.

Zyron shook his head. "We need her. Only Olin is capable of teleporting in our group, which is not enough. Besides, her ability to lock other people's magic will be useful in the face of countless supernaturals. Orla will come with us."

Ezra's eyes flashed and he growled. Zyron growled louder, obviously done with the conversation. "Enough. Give your mate some credit. She hadn't been training for nothing."

"And we'll be with her," Mom said, giving Ezra a soft smile. "Nothing will harm her."

Ezra opened his mouth. I put my hand on his knee and squeezed. Closing his eyes, he pursed his lips and sat back in his chair.

Zyron went on, laying out our plan for the night. All the while, Ezra stewed next to me. I left him to his thoughts. Sooner or later, he would have to come to terms with being apart from me in times like this. He'd told me before that he would try his best, but being faced with it must be different.

I wasn't any better, either. I wanted to go on missions like these. But when it came down to it, I was still scared. I had been training for months, but I was still inexperienced.

My consolation was that both my parents and Ezra's parents, along with Hale and Vlad would be there. If anything, I was more worried about Ezra.

Once the meeting was over, Ezra and I walked to our house hand in hand. It was the last evening before we'd head to our respective missions tomorrow.

I looked up. Tree branches hid the sky, dark entertaining tendrils hiding the infinite expanse of night and stars. Rain had drizzled earlier, and the air smelled of turned soil and freshwater.

The air was crisper tonight, the world more clear, as if brought into sharp focus. Even magic seemed to have grown thicker with the rain seeping through every fiber of the forest.

This should be peaceful. Just a walk in the woods in the middle of the night with the man I loved. I could almost believe it if not for the monster of anxiety rearing its head in the back of my mind.

"Sorry about earlier," he said, his breath fogging in the air. "I know you can take care of yourself. I just..."

"Can't help it?" I asked. "I know. You'll get used to it. I worry about you too, you know."

He threaded his fingers through mine and squeezed. "I know."

And that was that. There comes a point in a relationship where no words are needed.

Ezra and I went home, made dinner and cuddled. Tomorrow we would either succeed or fail. We would either survive or die. Thinking about it that way brought a twisted sense of serenity with it.

***

The following evening, we separated. Orton teleported with Ezra back to Sam, Haley and Jun, and I stayed with Dad and the others.

Vlad had pulled in about two dozen vampires from different parts of the world, Hale around half as many witches. Alpha Blackrock and his mate, along with several more werewolves also waited for us on the way.

From what I knew, only a select few were entrusted with the details of the mission. Everyone was told we would be storming a location and taking custody of a bunch of people. They followed orders, because Hale, Vlad and Zyron were basically the ultimate authority in the supernatural world.

The drive to the Coalition meeting location took almost five hours. We took different vehicles, with different routes to throw any tails off. Everyone was dressed in black and armed to the teeth, since Jun gave us a heads up about the magic being nonexistent in our destination.

To not feel left out, I demanded to be given a weapon. So I was handed a silver blade. It could be considered a short sword or a long dagger. With my extraordinarily poor knowledge in weapons, I had no idea what it was or how to use it. But Dad saw no harm in giving it to me since silver would not harm me anyway.

The Coalition meeting was held in a mansion in the middle of a forested area. The closest human city was only a short thirty minute drive away.

Like stormy waves of a green ocean, every inch of the rolling hills were covered in giant firs. Massive houses popped up here and there, urban beacons of light and glittering glass in the dark wilderness.

The hills and the heavy vegetation offered a modicum of privacy, but we would still need to be careful. The closest neighbor to the Coalition mansion was only a twenty minute walk away if that.

We left the cars well away from the location and continued on foot, coming toward the house in a circle from different directions.

The scouting group that had gone ahead first included Wren and Hale.

"I didn't expect the queen to go herself," Dalia said through our link. She was a vampire we'd met before during our very first encounter with the vampires when we first came out of hiding. Her lithe body was encased in black, her midnight skin glimmering under the brush of moonlight streaming in through the trees.

We were all separated into small groups for now. I was with Zyron, Dalia, Hayden and Alpha Blackrock. We waited well away from the house, waiting for the scouts to get more information.

"Wren lived years as a rogue," Zyron replied, his eyes gleaming shards of amber under the thick canopy. "She has more real experience than many of the pack-trained scouts. And she wanted to go. I'm not suicidal enough to stop her."

"Trying to stop Wren is like standing in the path of a speeding train," Hayden said with a lopsided grin.

I grinned. True. Wren was more stubborn than I was. Dalia chuckled, Alpha Blackrock continued to look stoic.

"Alright," Zyron said after a few minutes. "We have an idea on the security perimeter and we have a visual of the house. The first group should go in to neutralize the security perimeter."

My heart raced. I wiped my hands down my thighs. Alright. I wasn't part of the fighting group so why was I nervous? Calm. Calm down Orla.

My magic buzzed with my nerves. If I focused hard enough, I could detect the magic of other people among the energy of the forest. Except I couldn't tell friend from foe.

The wind stirred the leaves overhead and whistled through a cavernous trunk nearby. The sound was creepy.

A wolf howled in the distance. Hairs raised on the back of my neck.

Zyron nodded to himself. "Let's go."

And we were off. Zyron and Hayden took the lead. Dalia next to me, and Alpha Blackrock took the rear.

I tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear and kept jogging. Obviously, they would have been faster without me. I jogged, my breath fogging in the air. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but Dalia still kept a close eye on me to help me in case I took a nosedive. With the stupid weapon strapped to a sheath across my hip, it was more than likely.

I opened my magic to the world, keeping my senses open. It helped me find my bearings around, as if the earth and the wind whispered the way to my magic and guided my movements.

In front of me, Zyron jumped over the twisted roots of a tree like a nimble cat, clearing several feet in an effortless hop. If I tried that, I would end up nose first on the ground, so I went around it and caught up to them.

"How far away from the house is the security perimeter?" Dalia asked.

"About thirty yards," Zyron said.

Dalia nodded. A few minutes. A knot of anxiety twisted my stomach, making my heart race even faster than I thought it could. It made me run faster, as if I wanted to run away from the anxiety.

Step after step.

"You're surprisingly quiet, Orla. I expected your steps to be louder." Zyron glanced my way.

"He's right. Is this your first time?" Dalia asked.

"Yeah."

"Doesn't feel like it. I can barely hear you."

Ha! Take that Ezra and Sam! They'd been making fun of how loud I was back when we snuck into Frederick's house.

"I think it's my magic," I replied. "Or rather, the forest's magic. I was worried I'd be loud, too. My magic must've picked up on it."

Dalia looked at Zyron. "I didn't think anyone could be a better queen than Wren. But your little red might prove me wrong."

"Little Red?" I asked.

She grinned and hopped up with the agility of a cat. "What? Sam's nicknames are not original, but they fit."

"Hold," Zyron said, holding his hand up. We broke to a stop. I focused around the woods. Nothing jumped at me. But then again, I didn't have a werewolf's senses. And my magic was too frazzled to focus.

Zyron pointed forward. "Two vampires ahead. They're not ours."

Dalia grinned, a quick flash of teeth in the darkness. "Finally. Some action. I'll take care of them."

She disappeared. One moment she was there next to me, the next she was a blur of shadows zipping forward. My heart beat in my throat. Seconds ticked by like thick molasses.

Was she okay? Did she get them? Was she hurt-

A flash of movements. Zyron didn't startle. Dalia appeared as quietly as she'd left, her long braid swinging from the motion.

"Done. Two vampires. Didn't recognize them."

We continued on. There were more guards, apparently. The more we dragged this out the likelier it would be for the Coalition to hear about this. Right now, the magic being down in their location helped us since they couldn't mind-link. But we had to hurry.

Minutes later, lights broke through the thick foliage. Sweat licked my back and flattened strands of hair on my forehead and cheeks. A house peeked through the tall firs, sitting atop a slight hill. The woods stopped a good stance from the house.

We stopped behind the trees.

The house sat atop a slight knoll, higher on the ground than us. A winding path cut through the low bushes around the house, leading up to the door.

The place teemed with guards. I squinted. They were all wearing face masks. From animals to characters, everyone's face was hidden. Blades glinted in their hands and across their hips.

With the elegant, sophisticated mansion behind them, they looked quite eerie.

Zyron wrinkled his nose. "Damn it. I can smell nothing at all past the trees."

"Those are the spell boundaries," Hayden said, frowning. Blue swirled with amber in his eyes. "The magic draining spell. It feels like a damn black hole."

I pushed my senses forward, trying to get a feel of what Hayden was sensing. I might be more powerful, magic-wise, but he had more experience.

If I closed my eyes, I could almost see a thick line of sheer red. It pulsed with power. When I focused on it, a pressure built in my ears. Hayden was right. It felt like a black hole sucking anything within reach.

A dark shadow jumped from the tree right on top of us. An ally.

A scream lodged in my throat. I caught it just in time, and only a strangled breath came out. Oh my God. Because that was exactly what we needed, my high-pitched squeals to alert our enemies.

The lanky vampire was dressed in all black, his features hinting at middle-eastern heritage.

"All security guards outside the spell are neutralized," he said in a heavy British accent. "There haven't been any unusual movements in the area inside the spell."

"It's only a matter of time, though," Zyron said, "Because they must be in communication with the guards outside the spell. We have to move in now."

"I talked to Dad. The spell is magic consuming," Hayden said. "Taking it down will take time and a shitload of power. We can do it. We have enough witches. But it'll leave most of us weak."

Hayden glanced my way. "You have more raw power compared to us. Can you do it?"

I bit my lip and focused my magic on the spell. Its magic was there. A knot. And it felt like I could unravel it with a thought if I only tugged on it. I nodded. This I could do. "I think I can."

"The moment we disable the spell, they'll know something is up and they might try to escape. We have to work without magic until we catch them or at least have a visual of the inside," Hayden said.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do," Zyron said. "Orla will stay here with Alpha Blackrock, Hayden and Dalia. The wolves and the vampires will go first. The moment we have access and a visual of our target, Orla will disable the spell. The witches will join us then. We'll have the element of surprise on our side. So that should help us."

"Wait, how will I know when to disable it?" I asked. "Mind-link won't work inside the spell, would it?"

"No," Hayden replied. "And if you change shape now, Zyron, you'll probably turn human the moment you cross the boundary of the spell."

"Got it. No shifting." Zyron smiled at me. "And Orla? You'll know. Listen for the growl."

Right.

Zyron's eyes flashed. His entire being shifted. He almost seemed to grow larger. After a moment, he broke through the cover of trees, followed by the new vampire. All around the house, dark shapes burst from the cover of the forest and scrambled up the slight hill at a dizzying speed.

The guards around the house cried out. Blades flashed and metal glinted. Here we go.

--- ---- ---

Hey guys! 

Long time no see! So sorry for the long absence. Been a bit rough lately. 

But here's another chapter! It's not edited so if you notice any mistakes, do let me know! I appreciate it. 

For those of you asking, the cat is doing a bit better right now. Hopefully she'll pull through. 

Thank you all for the sweet and mindful messages! You guys are the best <3 <3 <3

Don't forget to vote and comment! 

Much love <3 <3 <3

M.B.