Moonlit Bonds

Chapter 459: Lucas: Mastermind

Chapter 459: Lucas: Mastermind

LUCAS

A flash of fire erupts across the battlefield, and we snap our attention toward the source. Lisa stands with her

magitech brace extended, her face fierce with concentration as a vampire falls back.

Kellan’s mate is more than just talk. Good to know.

Magister Orion extends his hand, and the svampire’s head explodes.

Huh. Ava can really choose her friends.

Another vampire lunges at us, teeth bared. Aurum drives his shoulder into the creature's abdomen. The

momentum carries us to the ground, but we're on top, pinning it with our weight.

Aurum drives our claws deep into his chest before ripping his heart out with a strong snap of his jaws. Bone and

organ cout together. Bloodsuckers might be strong, but their bone density isn’t any different than an

average human's.

But Aurum'’s bite has far more force than the average shifter, thanks to his alpha bloodline.

Something else is here, my wolf says, his hackles up as he bounds to the next victim, knocking down a vamp

with an arm through one of an unshifted wolf's chest.

Justin slides to the ground, eyes already glazed in death. But there's no tto mourn in battle.

Something's watching. Something powerful.

A chill crawls across my skin despite the heat of combat. | trust Aurum’s instincts without question, but | don’t

sense what he does.

Stay together,

| call out through the pack link, but orders can only do so much at this stage.

There. Aurum turns his head to the eastern edge of the clearing. | can smell it.

A figure stands, watching the carnage from a safe distance. Tall. Despite the cold, he’s dressed in a suit, his shirt

bloody and torn and one of his pants legs ripped clean off.

His face is unnaturally beautiful, and silver hair flows over his shoulders. Vampire, obviously.

He’s smiling.

"You keep taking my things," he says, his voice somehow carrying across the carnage. "How terribly rude of you."

Even at this distance, his presence hums in my bones. Aurum growls, teeth bared and hackles high.

There's a strangled sound of pain behind me; Lisa. As expected, then, this must be the Mad Prince.

The stranger’s smile widens. "There she is."

Lisa's in trouble, Kellan says, sounding as close to panicked as I've ever heard him. Even when he first learned of

his mate bond to Lisa.

Orion steps forward, standing by my shoulder. His hands glow with a faint red light. "I suggest you leave,

vampire. You are outnumbered."

"Am I?" The so-called prince gestures lazily. From the trees emerge more vampires—dozens of them.

"Fuck," Clayton mutters. He’s cup behind me.

We're surrounded, Aurum observes unnecessarily.

A choked cry slices through the noise. The vampire crooks a finger and pulls—and Lisa screams again.

Kellan howls, his anguish overpowering his pain as he speaks through our link. She's dying. He's killing her!

The Mad Prince's hair shifts colors, from silver to black, as his eyes glaze and lips curl with rapture. "Cto me,

kitten," he croons, and there’s no doubt who he’s speaking to. "You belong at my side."

"Never."

A bolt of fire flies toward him, only to dissipate midair. It missesby mere centimeters, leaving my skin with

the memory of its heat.

"Magister—that’s him," Lisa hisses, sounding as if she’s only half alive. | can’t spare the tto look back and

see if she’s okay; | leave her care to Kellan.

"I know, child." The Fae raises his hands. "He is not like the others."

Bodies litter the battlefield, both wolf and vampire, and blood has stained the snow crimson. We've reached a

strange stalemate. Wounded vampires have retreated to join their reinforcements, and | can sense my pack

behindin tight formation.

Too many are already gone, but none have lost their will to fight.

"Keep your wolves close," Magister Orion says, calm despite the odds we're facing. "The spell I'm preparing

won't discriminate between friend and foe if they stray."

Aurum flicks his ears to show we're listening.

The Mad Prince’s now-black hair shifts in a wind known only to him. No one else’s clothes flutter, and there's no

breeze; it's eerie. Sstrange vampire magic, | presume, though I can’t fathom the point of it. Intimidation,

perhaps.

Everyone stay tight, | command. Break formation and you die.

Acknowledgement rolls in from all sides.

Aurum'’s hackles are still high as he prowls. Two paces toward Orion. Then three paces toward Clayton. Back and

forth, fighting the urge to rush toward our prey.

This Mad Prince has haunted my mate for too long. | want to feel his blood on my tongue, rip his skin with my

teeth. Crack and crush his bones with the force of Aurum’s bite.

| release the tight control I've been maintaining, letting my alpha power flood outward. The air around me

thickens.

Behind me, Clayton's energy rises in response. Not challenging, but defensive. He's using his own alpha aura as

a shield, wrapping it around his Aspen wolves. Smart. | can sense the slight resistance where our energies meet,

but we're aligned in purpose.

Half of the vampires stagger under its weight, and the Mad Prince's eyebrows lift. "Oh? You're an impressive dog,

but it won't be enough to save your people."

Lisa makes another strangled sound. | can’t look back to check on her, but Kellan’s anguish overpowers even the

scent of blood and death.

The vampires surge forward as one, fighting back despite the dominance I've released.

Hold positions! Aurum and | roar. Do not break rank!

Magister Orion takes two steps

forward, his hands rising as if

conducting an orchestra. on

go ed turns to

olirple: hen blue. Then slowly into

green, until bursting into a

kaleidoscope of color. His lips move

with the musical syllables of an

otherworldly language. The content is

on novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

And then he shouts.

, . q

It's a sound transcending vocality,

q o )

and for a moment it feels as if he's

stolen every bit of air from this space.

My eR Viti th&abbence

of okygen, and every sound across

the battlefield silences at once, as if

the world itself has been muted. My

ears pop painfully as pressure builds,

crushing and expanding

simultaneously. The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

The spell erupts from the Magister in

a forward arc of golden fire, ripping

outward with the force of an mn

explosion. The gradidctacks

bEnEath ne magical onslaught.

Roots burst through the earth. Trees

splinter. Snow evaporates in an

instant—feet of it, gone without a

f )

trace. And the vampires don't even

have tto react. The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

They simply disintegrate, bodies turning to ash that’s swept away by the magical current.

In seconds, the battlefield is transformed. Where moments ago dozens of enemies stood, now only scorched

earth remains, a valley starting only steps away from my feet. Trees have been stripped bare, their trunks

blackened and smoking.

Only the Mad Prince remains standing at the edge of the destruction, atop several feet of packed snow.

Untouched. Protected.

His smile has vanished, replaced by cold calculation as he stares at the great Fae.

The broad-scale recoil is immense, knocking most of us to our feet. Aurum’s legs tremble beneath us, and

somewhere in our shared soul, our alpha dominance has temporarily shattered. Not gone; just thrown back with

such force, it might take stto recover.

Clayton pushes himself upright beside me, blood trickling from his nose and ears. He's the only Aspen affected,

likely due to the sblowback I'd endured of our dominance being shredded by whatever strange magic the

Magister wielded.

"Well," the Mad Prince says, dusting an invisible speck from his bloody shirt. "That was quite the display, old

man."

Magister Orion plants his feet, his voice still booming as he speaks. "Leave. You won't be able to block it twice."

The Mad Prince tilts his head, considering. His gaze slides past me, and Kellan snarls. We both know who he

sees.

"This isn’t over," he says softly. "She still carries my mark. She will always be mine."

His head tilts a little as Kellan’s rumbling warning grows louder. "Don’t you worry, little dog. I'll let you have her

tonight. Let her think your mate bond will protect her."

His laughter is unhinged, maniacal even, but his face remains impassive, discordant with the amusement he

feigns. "One week, kitten. Then you'll be the reason they fall."

His eyes finally meet mine, and Aurum snaps at the air. He bows with mocking elegance. "Give my regards to

your mate, Alpha Westwood. | hear she’s quite special. | won't let her go a second time."

We lunge across the scorched ground, but the vampire’s already disappeared, his strange laughter echoing in his

absence.