Chapter 5: 5: Fractured Alliances

GRAYSON

Another hour of training passed by in a blur.

Casimir continued to lead my pack members, running them through different drills and scenarios to ensure they would be prepared for any sort of trick that a newborn vampire could pull on them.

Only, now, in addition, we had real vampires fighting with us. Zagan’s army was well-trained and lethal.

After the initial shock of seeing thousands of vampires just waltzing onto my territory, it became clear just how useful these vampires would be during the battle. I was grateful to have them here.

I watched from afar during most of the training, assessing the different skills of all my warriors.

Under normal circumstances, my pack army consisted of the largest, strongest pack members, both male and female.

However, due to the severity of the upcoming war, almost every single able-bodied wolf over the age of eighteen had volunteered to be here and was working their ass off for the sake of the pack.

People came and went for breaks or to get food, but for the most part, we had spent the entire day training. I had never been more proud of my pack in my entire life.

I eventually joined them in training, wanting to test out my own fighting skills, especially now that I had a new vampire species inside me. I was surprised by how easily the movements came back to me.

I hadn’t exactly had a lot of time to train over the last few months. Even though I had already been an exceptional fighter before, I found myself moving faster than ever.

It felt as though I was moving in slow motion, although I knew I was really moving so quickly that I was basically a blur in the wind. Each one of my actions was graceful and well thought out.

I had always enjoyed training and testing my skills. Even now, I put all of the anger and aggression I had been feeling over the last few months into the training exercises.

It helped that, although I tried to stop it, my mind was filled with thoughts of Belle.

I expected the constant images of her that were running through my head to be distracting, but they weren’t; they did the opposite. They helped me.

Seeing her beautiful face in my mind fueled my anger toward Azazel and made me fight harder.

None of my pack members stood a chance against me, even when I was fighting over ten of them at a time. Neither did the vampires.

The new strength that I held, thanks to the vampire within me, was unbelievable. I was basically unstoppable.

“All right, Alpha,” Kyle said to me right after I had simultaneously taken down three of the best warriors in our army. He approached me with a look of determination in his eyes. “Let’s do this.”

I raised a brow, feeling an amused smile take over my face. “You want to fight me?”

Kyle shrugged and then turned his head to crack his neck, getting into a proper fighting stance. “Yeah. I can see how big your head is getting. I think you need to be taken down a few notches.”

I laughed. “And you think you’ll be the person to do that?”

“I am the only other hybrid here, aren’t I?” Kyle replied.

I nodded. “Fair enough.” I got into my fighting stance. “Let me know if you need to tap out, Beta.”

Kyle laughed, rolling his shoulders back. “Fat chance.”

“Alpha!” someone’s frantic voice called out from behind us, interrupting Kyle’s and my battle right before we started. One of my pack members was sprinting toward us, eyes wide in panic.

I was off in a second, meeting him halfway across the field.

“The Clan of Azazel,” he panted. “I saw them. Just over the horizon. They’ll be here soon.”

The group around us turned silent, all looking at me to see what to do next.

I nodded once. “Then it’s time. You all know what to do.”

Everyone around us fled in a nervous flutter, all preparing for battle.

“You ready?” I addressed Kyle.

He wasn’t looking at me. His gaze was glued to something in the distance, his eyes narrowed in confusion. “Elijah?” he asked.

I followed his gaze. Sure enough, Elijah was walking toward us. My heart immediately dropped. No, no, no, no. He was supposed to be with Belle! What the hell was he doing here?

Both Kyle and I took off running. Kyle got to Elijah first, hugging him to his body and inspecting him to see if he was hurt.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Kyle yelled at his mate. “The battle is about to start!” He looked over his shoulder to see our pack members and Zagan’s army lining up in preparation.

We couldn’t see the Clan of Azazel yet, but I had no doubt that would change very soon.

Elijah glanced at me nervously. “Um…,” he started.

“Where’s Belle?” I demanded. “Why the fuck aren’t you with her?”

Kyle growled, tugging Elijah closer to him.

“I-I looked everywhere, Alpha. I promise,” Elijah tried to explain. “I couldn’t find her.”

I stepped forward threateningly, about ready to murder everyone in sight. “What do you mean?” I growled out.

“She’s not in Minneapolis,” Elijah continued. “She left hours ago, based on her scent.”

I could hear the sound of pounding footsteps in the distance and knew it was the Clan of Azazel approaching us. “Then where the hell is my mate?”