To my surprise, the Blood Luna didn't even look at me. Her and Axel made eye contact and he nodded at her.

"Onyx, you need to get down on the ground. Keep your head low. We're under a chemical attack," Axel commanded, and I quickly dropped to the floor, despite the fact that I couldn't see anything, despite the air looking slightly more cloudy.

Suddenly, I felt burning in my nostrils, and tried to inhale as little as possible.

Out of nowhere, seven men wearing gas masks began to form a circle around Axel, Ares, and I.

The Blood Luna didn't hesitate to throw the knife in her hand at one of them, and then quickly summoned another one which went into another masked man.

To my disbelief, Axel's whole arm turned into metal. He punched the crap out of one of the men, and I heard the guy's neck snap sickeningly.

As for me, I felt completely handicapped by whatever chemical they sprayed into the air. I was now coughing, and could barely move except to whither in pain. It felt like I was being burnt alive.

Axel didn't look like he was doing too well either. After he took down the man, he began to cough and I could see his face scabbing. He began to fight another man, and sent one punch to his face so hard his skull completely shattered.

Ares however, looked to be resisting the chemical better, presumably because she is an Alpha. She stabbed yet another masked man, and made it look easy.

Unfortunately, five more men took the places of the ones that had fallen. Axel swayed slightly before falling to his knees. Blood poured out of his nose.

I felt a wetness under my eyes, and to my surprise, it was blood that was seeping out of my eye sockets. Well. I guess this is how it ends.

The chemical was making my thoughts extremely hazy, as I could only focus on the pain. I watched Ares kill man after man, and at one point I thought I watched her rip the heart out of a man in a hazmat suit with a backpack on. It was hard to tell what was real or not, especially since I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness.

Ares was covered in blood. When she began to walk towards me, I wanted to scream in fear but found myself unable to. Instead of killing me, she picked me up and ran a few yards.

Immediately, I found myself able to breathe in again without pain. Ares dropped me on the ground and ran back into the foggy air, where she helped Axel off of his feet and supported his weight as they walked.

When they got back to where I was standing, I could see Axel breathe in deeply with relief. His scabbing has already begun to heal.

The Luna bent down to where I was on the ground, and grabbed my face. She tilted it, inspecting me for injuries, I suppose.

She then grabbed my hands, where there were blisters from whatever chemical was used. She grunted, but didn't look too concerned so I figured I shouldn't be either.

To my horror, I saw blood dripping out of her nose. "Ares," I coughed, my chest still hurting. "Your nose."

She looked at me in confusion, but put her hand up to her nose and looked at the blood. She just shrugged, seeming uninterested and unbothered.

Axel appeared to be doing fine too. "We have to go back and tell Cain and Thane."

Ares whipped her head back to look at Axel, and glared at him. Their eyes went glossy, and it looked like they were arguing over mindlink.

"Let's go then," Axel said, motioning towards me. When I tried to stand up, my legs felt like Jell-o, and I just crumpled to the ground. "Here, I got you."

Axel picked me up and cradled me. Ares took the lead, taking us back to the pack house, and I subconsciously noted that it was interesting that she remembered her way back.

When we reached the pack house, Thane, the Blood Alpha, and the other Blood Lake wolves stood up off of their various seats in the living room.

"What the fuck happened?" Alpha Cain growled and stalked towards us. He grabbed Ares roughly by the shoulders and examined her. He then ripped off her fur cloak and made sure that there were no other injuries.

Thane was in front of me in no time, and Axel handed me over to him. He was not nearly as rough as Alpha Cain when he examined me for injuries. He frowned when he saw my blistered hands and wiped the dried blood from under my eyes.

"Are you okay, little one?" He murmured softly, inhaling my scent deeply, and I felt him visibly relax after.

I just nodded, not trusting my voice yet. That chemical really did a number on me.

"Axel, what happened?" Thane asked, repeating the Blood Alpha's earlier question.

"Wolfsbane gas. We were attacked by 15 men. None got away," Axel answered, cringing.

Alpha Cain roared loudly, the sound sending echoes throughout the house. "This pack isn't safe. Ares, you're coming back to Blood Lake with me."

Ares' face instantly darkened, and she snarled at him. My mouth nearly fell to the floor.

"Oh boy," Thane sighed.

Ares sank into a fighting stance. As she clenched her fists, I couldn't help but notice how muscular she is. Since Alpha Cain took off her cloak and left her in a cropped tank top, I could see her body much more visibly. Her abs were clearly defined, and if I counted correctly, she had an eight-pack. What the hell kind of training does she do?

Alpha Cain's eyes darkened, and I'll be damned if he didn't square up to fight his mate!

Ares summoned a knife, and threw it at her mate without hesitating for a second. The action was so quick, I would have missed it if I blinked.

Her action seemingly pissed him off more, but he flicked the knife away without a second thought. I assumed he would just be taking defensive measures against his mate, but I was proved wrong by what he did next.

I saw his wrist flick, and a ball of fire appeared in his hand. His Gift was fire. I couldn't explain it, but this somehow made perfect sense to him.

To my shock, he threw the ball of fire at his mate! I exhaled in relief when she lifted her leg up and swung it in a wide arc at the fire, extinguishing it.

Ares crossed the distance between them, and threw a punch at Cain, who dodged it and threw one back at her side. Ares blocked it and twisted his wrist, I nearly threw up at the sound. I had heard way too many bones break today.

He didn't seem bothered by the injury, and just threw a punch with his other hand at her jaw, which she ducked from and swept her leg at his feet, trying to take him off balance. He stumbled slightly, but instead used her position to stomp on her ankle, which also snapped.

"Thane, aren't you going to do something?!" I whispered in a panic, trying to understand why he was letting them kill each other.

He shrugged, looking bored. "Just enjoy the show, little one." I was shocked by his blasé attitude towards the violence, but I couldn't peel my eyes away.

Ares got up, slightly unbalanced from her ankle, but threw yet another punch at the Blood Alpha. She was slightly too slow, and he caught her by her fist. He twisted her around so that she had her arm pinned behind her back, and she was facing away from Cain. Her eyes were glowing silver, which I assumed meant her wolf was at the surface. Alpha Cain's were pitch black.

She did a front flip to get out of Alpha Cain's grip, and I gagged when I heard her shoulder pop loudly as it did a 360 degree rotation.

Now a few feet away from Cain, her canines lowered as she grabbed her shoulder and jerked it, rebreaking the bones so they would heal properly. I had never seen anything like her in my life.

She summoned a small, thin blade and sent it into her mate, who growled as he removed it from his abdomen. It healed almost as soon as he pulled it out.

"That is enough, Ares," He snarled at her, and I cowered closer to Thane, clutching his shirt tighter. He squeezed me in reassurance.

He stalked towards her and simply wrapped his arms around her. This must have caught her off guard, because she was a few moments too slow to react.

She kicked and thrashed in his grip, but he tightened his arms around her and maneuvered her so that she was being cradled by him. When Ares continued to struggle, the Blood Alpha's canines descended. They were monstrous.

He sank them into Ares' neck, who's body relaxed after. He didn't remove them from her neck, he simply kept them there as he walked them up the pack house stairs and out of sight.

"Anyways, what would you like for dinner, love?" Thane asked me apathetically.