Chapter 140: The Final Battle

ARIEL

I focus my energy and feel the familiar sense of warmth flow through me, but as soon as it reaches my fingertips, it dissipates.

I focus harder, tensing every muscle in my body and directing my powers toward Dave, but they just don’t flow through him.

~“Please, Selene, help me.”~

~“I’m sorry, my child,”~ I hear the Moon Goddess say to me. ~“He is too badly injured. There is nothing you can do.”~

“No!” I scream, startling Alex. I push harder, straining every fiber of my being to save Dave, but when I look into his eyes, I see no light within them.

Tears start to pour down my face as Alex closes Dave’s eyes and lays his hands across his chest.

“Ariel, you did what you could,” Alex says.

“I should have taken the hit instead of him,” I say, wiping away the tears on my cheeks.

“Dave would’ve wanted to go out like a warrior,” Alex says as he takes my hand and we stand. “We can honor his memory…by ending this, ~tonight~.”

I nod, trying to clear and focus my mind.

Esmeralda needs to pay.

MATEO

“Esmeralda, stop!” I shout.

I leap forward, blocking her path.

Esmeralda puts her dagger to Isabella’s throat

“Come any closer, ~puta~, and I will kill her,” Esmeralda growls.

“You are willing to kill your own sister?” I say. “You are pathetic!”

“Look around, Mateo, you are trying to take my kingdom away from me,” Esmeralda says. “So I am going to take away the only thing that you desire.”

She presses the point of the knife deeper, almost drawing blood.

“Esmeralda, you have already taken everything you can from me,” I say. “You destroyed my home, forced me into exile… If you want to hurt me, then kill me now! I’ll trade my life for hers!”

“No, Mateo!” Isabella sobs. “I cannot live without you!”

“Shut up, bitch,” Esmeralda hisses, before returning her attention to me. “Mateo, if you want to save her, then get on your knees.”

I do as she asks, slowly kneeling down, never taking my eyes off her.

Once I am on the ground, Esmeralda tosses Isabella to the side, then advances on me.

“At least I will have the pleasure of finally killing you,” she says. “You have been a thorn in my side for far too long.”

I close my eyes, ready for her to slash my throat, but the sting of the blade never arrives.

Slowly opening my eyes, I see what looks like fear on Esmeralda’s face.

Surrounding us on all sides is my pack.

Too many for a single wolf to fight off.

I see Manuel’s wolf leap forward, tackling Esmeralda. The rest of the pack piles on.

I race to Isabella and take her in my arms, shielding her from seeing her sister be mauled.

Esmeralda shrieks as the wolves start to tear her apart. Manuel clamps his jaws around her neck, silencing her.

The evil queen goes limp as Manuel tears her throat out, killing her instantly.

It is over. It is finally over.

Esmeralda is dead.

I breathe a final sigh and close my eyes.

I can stop running. Isabella and I…we can be together.

“Mateo…look,” I hear Isabella whisper. I open my eyes and follow her line of sight.

Out of the bushes, I see two golden eyes staring back at me.

Bubbles.

I slowly back away, shielding Isabella behind me as Bubbles stalks forward. Blood is coating his mouth and paws.

Bubbles looks at the warriors before him, growling menacingly.

Even with our superior numbers, I bet it would still be one hell of a fight to try and take him down.

I slowly shift my claws, ready to go on the attack, but Bubbles does not seem too occupied with us.

Instead, he turns his attention to his former owner. My warriors back away as he snuffs at her chest and face.

He starts to whine, trying to get her to respond, but she obviously does not move.

Bubbles growls, but not in a threatening or menacing way. It sounds like he’s mourning.

He gently takes hold of Esmeralda’s dress with his teeth…and begins to pull her toward the maze and his den.

As Bubbles retreats, Manuel orders the warriors back to the palace, back into the fray, leaving me and Isabella alone.

I look down at her. I see a few tears on her cheeks, leaving clear lines down to her chin, but she quickly wipes them away.

Despite Esmeralda locking her away in the tower and practically torturing her, Isabella always sees the best in people, and is mourning her sister just like Bubbles.

“She is finally gone,” I say to Isabella, kissing her on the forehead.

“Then it is really over…we can be together?” she whispers to me. I nod.

“And that makes you the queen. You can stop the fighting.”

Isabella’s eyes go wide as she turns back to the palace. The battle is still raging on, unaware that a new queen has just taken over the throne.

Isabella moves forward and calls out, “I am your queen, I order you to stop fighting!”

But no one can hear her over the roaring, screaming, and metal on metal.

Isabella furrows her brow, then she slowly shifts into her wolf, her fur a dazzling blonde, just like her hair.

She stalks forward, letting out the longest and loudest howl I have ever heard.

~A howl from a royal.~

The fighting seemingly stops immediately, as everyone turns their head to listen to the call.

I feel something ripple through me, as if Isabella has the power to command my every move.

Isabella howls again. I can feel the message behind it.

~The fighting stops now. Put down your weapons. The queen commands it.~

I notice a few confused glances from some of the Spanish soldiers, but slowly, everyone on the battlefield lowers their weapon and retracts their claws.

The Royal Pack warriors and my people sense a change in the air, too, lowering their weapons as well.

The battle is over. We have won.