Phthartic
(adj.) Deadly; destructive.

Keiran POV

I had known something was wrong when hours had passed without a word from Artemis. She hadn't told me if she had arrived at the old territory yet, but I brushed it off at first.

While I was worried about her well-being, I could justify that she was busy and wouldn't be able to mind link me all the time.

But after some more hours, I knew she had to have arrived at the old territory or maybe even made her way out and to the nearby pack. There would have been no reason for her to not mind link me.

Everyone told me to stop worrying and to wait till night time, but as my father came in with a haunted face, my worst fears came to life.

He didn't need to say anything because the mate bond in my chest suddenly flared with pain, making me hunch over and clutch my chest.

My head also began hurting and the world around me blurred.

My wolf was howling in my head as I tried to call out to Artemis mentally, but the pain only worsened. I collapsed onto the nearby sofa.

After a moment, the pain subsided and I let my head go, looking up to see my father and Apollo stand worriedly before me.

"Something's wrong with Artemis," I panted. They both looked to each other before my Apollo spoke.

"The Blue Moon pack said the Luna and her uncle haven't arrived yet. They sent some trackers out to find her and managed to locate her scent at the old Silverclaw territory," Apollo paused, swallowing.

There was something he wasn't telling me which only made the uncomfortable churning in my gut even worse.

"The Luna was there, but there was no trace of her. There was no way of tracing her scent anywhere,"

"What aren't you telling me Apollo?" I asked. The large man only looked away, his face scrunching up with worry.

"All the warriors we sent with the Luna were found dead. Her uncle too had been shot and was found dead."

My body froze and my heart squeezed in my chest. Her guards were killed and her uncle murdered too?

What did that mean for her, for Artemis's safety?

I just prayed that I didn't hear the dreaded words, that they found the body of my mate somewhere. I couldn't imagine what awful things were happening to her, right now as we spoke, and it made me sick.

The mate bond was still intact and that was my only comfort for now.

"Find her. Send out guards and warriors to track her down immediately," I ordered.

My beta hesitated and my wolf growled.

"I gave you an order Apollo. Find my mate and your Luna," I growled, standing up. The pain suddenly morphed into anger.

"Son, listen to me," My father began, grabbing my shoulders. "The Blue Moon pack have their best soldiers out on the line-,"

"We should have our best soldiers!" I hissed back. Were they really arguing with me about this?

"Son, the hunters have started attacking again. This time, so much worse."

The grave face my father gave me had me pause. He had his eyes downcast, his frown and forehead lines only deepening. My stomach churned again, not liking the sudden shift in my father.

"They killed Laurent and his kids," He said, finally answering my silent question.

It took me a while to remember who Laurent was, but after a second, a kind bearded face hit me from my memories.

Laurent and my father were childhood friends before he moved south. He became the alpha of the pack after mating with the alpha's daughter.

I had sent him some gifts when his children had been born and my father had personally attended his mating ceremony.

"They tore them all apart. What they did to the children was sick," Dad spat.

This time, I comforted him as we hugged silently.

"We can't lose any of our warriors Kieran," He began, pulling away.

"We need everyone we can, here with us. I don't know what's changed, but war is coming. This is no longer a battle,"

"So what? I save the pack but lose my Luna? What's a pack without a Luna?" I asked.

"We either lose one person, or we lose everyone Kieran," My father sighed.

As much as his words hurt me, and hurt him too, I could understand his logic. As much as I wanted to go looking for my mate, I had to trust the other packs to help because I had too much to deal with right now.

"You're wrong Dad," I said, shaking my head. He opened his mouth, ready to continue arguing, but I spoke before he could. "We lose two people, not just one."

It was true.

My father gave me a sad look, and I couldn't help but feel awful.

My father had lost his mate, but for my sake and for my sister's sake, he had pushed through the pain. I could never be half the man that he was, because if Artemis died, I wouldn't hesitate to follow.

I suppose it's because my father had children.

I hoped I would have that one day with Artemis.

And that had been it. For the longest time, I felt like a sitting duck, waiting for her to be found. Two days later, there was still no trace of her and more packs were attacked. Everything was eerily still, as if everyone was holding their breaths, waiting for the inevitable.

And it happened.

"Alpha! Alpha!" Someone came running in, startling us all in the pack house.

"What is it?" Apollo asked the panting boy.

"The witches! They said the enemies are coming. Right now! They had a vision!" The young boy rushed, his eyes wide and frightening.

I ignored the dropping feeling in my gut and straightened up, quickly falling back into my authoritative role.

"Round up all the soldiers, get them weaponised right now," I ordered. "I want everyone else in the bunkers like we practiced."

I rushed out of the pack house, making sure everyone was following the procedure we had practiced. I would not allow those sick hunters to mutilate and murder my pack and made sure that anyone who was not fighting with us was hidden and secure from any threat.

Once I was confident with everyone, I ran my way to the training grounds where everyone had been gathered.

Seraphine was there, her mismatched eyes glazed over. After a second, she snapped out of it, looking towards me.

"They're coming from the southern border. They have less wolves this time, but more vampires and some witches,"

"We can take care of the wolves and vampires," I said, glancing at Viktor who also nodded.

"Good, we will handle the witches then. I will try and find the one that's behind this and stop her from possessing everyone," She confirmed.

"Beyond that, there's nothing else we can do except apply our training," She continued, her eyes glazing over once again as she tried searching for the future. She sighed, probably coming up blank and seeing what she had already seen.

While she focused on that, I made sure all my warriors were in place and that there was an even amount of guards left to protect the bunkers and secure the other borders.

I could feel the moment the barriers had been breached and they had stepped on our territory. Everything seemed to slow at that moment. I could hear the thundering footsteps of seemingly hundreds of enemies approaching fast. My heart and my breaths seemed to calm and my senses sharpened.

I inhaled deeply, holding it for a second, before letting out a loud roar.

"To war!"

I could hear shouting, yelling, howling and snarling as we headed to attack. Some had shifted, while some stayed in their human form.

As the first few monsters came out to attack us, I felt a hug in my chest.

Artemis.

She was getting close. The bond in my chest was slowly growing stronger, the pain lessening and giving way to hope.

I held my breath, shoving a spear into the head of a vampire running towards me. Pulling out my weapon from the dead creature, I narrowly avoided the claws of another, quickly killing it as well.

I hoped Artemis was okay and I prayed that we would be back together, unharmed and safe.

Of course, I had always been an unlucky bastard and things hadn't changed.