TWENTY-SIX

The battle has escalated in the twenty minutes I've been busy crafting the flamethrower. The entire process shouldn't have lasted longer than ten minutes but given the limited resources I had to work with, I just had to endure the extra minutes to ensure the weapon actually worked.

Also, if not for Grandma Selene, it would've taken a lot longer. While I did most of the building, she used her werewolf strength to bend all the tougher components so they could fit around the fire extinguisher. And I could proudly say, after testing it on a rock in the garden, our weapon was functionable.

With the flamethrower in hand, I approached the backdoor to fight in the battle against Lucine...only for a hand to yank me back.

"Now hold your wolves," Grandma Selene said as she made me look her in the eyes. "I hope you're not planning on running headfirst in there and blast every werewolf with fire as you go. Even a pup can write a list of things that will go wrong."

"I..." Ultimately, I had nothing to say to counter her words. I'm going to admit, beyond building a flamethrower and making sure it worked, I didn't have a plan going forward.

"That's what I thought." She huffed knowingly. "You might burn one or two wolves to a crisp before a small pack of them come for you. And once they have you surrounded, you're as good as dead. Besides, how are you planning on telling apart the bad wolves from our own blood? What if you accidentally burn Rheon?"

She had a point there. I had to be smarter about this.

I had my weapon, check. But now I needed a way of using it without the Craven Pride pack – or any of their allies – getting in the way.

The most common way of separating the good from the bad would be to bait them into a trap where I'd be able to blast them with the flamethrower. I raked my thoughts for suitable places that could hold a werewolf while also providing me with an escape route once the fire started spreading.

"Does the garage outside have a backdoor?" I asked the older woman.

"Yes, and you can also control the roller doors with a remote. I believe Rheon has one dangling with his car keys."

"Good, I might have a plan." Before she could ask what it was, I threw my arms around her in a tight embrace. This was where our paths had to split. She made a promise to her mate to look after their legacy, and if something was to happen to her on that battlefield... Swallowing the lump in my throat, I whispered to her, "Thank you for everything, Gran. If all goes according to plan, I'll see you later."

"What are you –" Before she could finish that sentence, I let her go and rushed out of the backdoor, trying my best to tune out her desperate calls against the raging howls in the night.

Without looking back, I sprinted all the way to my photo studio on the cliff, wasting no time to grab everything I needed and stuffing it into my camera bag.

Before leaving, I briefly caught my reflection in the full-sized mirror against the wall – I looked horrendous with my torn and blood-stained dress, my bandaged arm, and my hair clinging to my face and shoulders in wild, tousled strands.

Grinding my teeth, I reached down and tore off the dress just above my knees, allowing me more freedom to move. Using the spare hair tie I kept in my camera bag; I tied up my hair into a high ponytail.

That's better.

Now to make my way to the garage without getting maimed and killed.

The cold air made my eyes well up as I ran along the rose gardens towards the front of the castle, passing the fountain where Lucine so rudely kidnapped Clemmy and me. And just as Grandma Selene said, it was nearly destroyed; a reminder of Rheon's unbridled rage when his sister and mate were taken.

My burnt arm and Lucine's claw marks on my shoulders stung with every move. Combined with the weight of the flamethrower underneath my good arm, and the strap of the backpack grazing the holes the witch left on my back, the agony nearly consumed me, but I forced it to the back of my head.

Ignore it, Ash, focus.

My bare feet padded against the sidewalk as I rounded the castle. In the distance, I could hear the blood-curdling snarls and barks coming from the werewolves who were fighting in the battle. Keeping myself from thinking about Rheon was nearly impossible. Even the mere thought of him getting hurt was enough to drive me insane. I hoped from the bottom of my heart Clemmy and Blake could get the other packs to keep Lucine away from Rheon.

I paused when I reached the front lawn.

The garage was about seven hundred yards from where I stood...all the way on the other side of the raging battle in front of me.

My legs were frozen as I beheld the gruesome scene. Werewolves were attacking each other left and right, grabbing onto each other's necks, tearing out tufts of fur, and burying their claws in each other's flesh.

It was impossible to distinguish the good wolves from the bad. The only werewolf I truly recognized was the smaller one sticking close to Blake. Clemmy. She snarled at the wolves who dared to come close to her while Blake used his magic to take his sister's army down. I watched him render four werewolves helpless with a single flick of his hand, leaving them whining and writhing on the grass until Clemmy finished them off.

I was relieved that he remained true to his word by keeping her safe, but there was still the mission of getting my ass to the garage.

Seven hundred yards...less than half a mile. It shouldn't look as difficult, but there's a reason why I didn't compete in sports in high school. I suck at sports.

And now, there was also the problem of getting past the snarling, jaw-snapping werewolves on the way.

Lucine surely knew we escaped by now; it's hard to miss Blake and Clemmy fighting alongside amid the battlefield. No doubt she would have given her pack the order to kill any human girls on sight.

"You can do this," I told myself, bouncing on my feet to get the blood flowing.

Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I pushed forward. Fear clenched my heart every time a wolf would appear in my line of sight, only to have another pounce on it, wrestling it to the ground. I kept my eyes trained forward at the garage. Focus. I had to focus.

Out of nowhere, a wolf dropped at my feet, scurrying to get up. I was too late to dodge it and tripped, plummeting face-first to the grass. Agonizing pain shot up my arm as the bandage pressed into the raw wounds. I stifled my cries as tears blurred my vision.

Rolling onto my back to clutch my throbbing arm against my chest, I was just in time to see an enormous shape falling towards me. Cursing, I threw myself to the side and dodged the wolf's body by an inch. In a flash, another was pinning it to the ground, its jaws snapping at its throat. They were so close; I could smell their fur and feel their warm breaths fan across my face.

I scurried to my feet to put some distance between me and the fighting werewolves until another nearly crushed me when it leapt over my head. My body threw itself backwards to dodge it but ended up bumping into a furry shape that appeared out of nowhere.

A gush of warmth hit my back and I froze.

Turning around slowly, fear seized my heart as I stared into the crazed eyes of a wolf. Its lip curled back, bearing its fangs as it prowled towards me. Not a good guy, then. I swallowed when I saw the bloodstains around its mouth and snout. One bite; that's all it would take for it to kill me, no doubt tearing me to pieces afterwards.

It crouched down ready to attack.

I held my breath, accepting my fate that I would die in the jaws of a werewolf.

Time slowed down as it launched itself at me...

But out of nowhere, another wolf tackled it to the ground. It happened so fast, I had to blink to make sure it really happened. My legs were like jelly as I watched my savior, a salt and pepper colored wolf, tear at the other's flesh. It pinned the wolf to the grass with its paws and finally, locked its jaws around my attacker's throat. The wolf uttered a shrill whine before its body went limp.

The grey wolf snarled at it one last time before jerking its head to me. Although its blue eyes were drowning with concern, I could still detect the warmth in them. I'd recognized those eyes anywhere - Craig. He looked at me as if asking 'Queen's bullocks, lass, what the bloody hell are ya doin' here?'

"I need to get to the garage," I said, "There's no time to explain. Can you help me?"

Craig's eyes shifted from me to the battle around us before lowering himself to the ground. I wasted no time climbing onto his back, holding on for dear life as he took off in a sprint. My skin burned due to the cold as he dashed towards the garage, weaving through wolves along the way. I held on for dear life despite my arm feeling like it would tear off at any second. I kept my eyes open, searching the grounds for Lucine or a wolf with dark red fur and cold, obsidian eyes.

Where was she?

Craig skidded to a halt near the garage's entrance, bending his legs so I could slide off. We managed to catch the attention of two werewolves who didn't waste any time coming after me. Before they could get too close, Craig placed himself between me and them, snarling every time they tried slipping past him to get to me.

While he was distracting them, I bolted for the garage and nearly threw the backdoor off its hinges.

Wasting no time, I placed the flamethrower on the ground and unpacked the backpack's contents onto the workbench – battery-powered strobe lights, foldable reflectors, portable LED spotlights, and finally, the new Canon camera Rheon gave me.

Three years of photography experience combined with adrenaline took hold of me as I arranged the lights and reflectors around the garage at strategic angles. Next, I created a gasoline trail from the center of the room toward the backdoor, where I placed the flamethrower for easy access when the time is right.

With my camera in hand and the remote to the garage doors in the other, I took my place in front of the large roller doors and inhaled slowly, trying to calm my trembling breaths. Outside, I could still hear Craig warding off the wolves, reminding me of what came next.

"You got this," I told myself again.

Tightening my grip on the camera, I pressed the button on the remote and watched the doors lift off the ground.