Back into the Fray

Quinn

I was worried that convincing Isabelle to let me go back for Jax would be a struggle, but she agreed without hesitation. Her eyes were filled with understanding, acknowledging the pain I was already feeling and the fact that it was only going to get worse.

“I’ll try to reach him through our mind-link and tell him to meet us,” I said, knowing it wouldn’t be easy. “But Jax is stubborn. He might see leaving the battlefield as an act of cowardice.”

“Try,” Isabelle urged.

Closing my eyes, I focused on our connection.

Quinn

Jax. Can you hear me? It’s urgent.

Quinn

Jax?

Quinn

Jaxon. I need you to come find me. Now.

When I opened my eyes, I was frantic. “He’s not responding,” I said.

“I figured as much,” Isabelle replied. “He’s probably too caught up in the fight.”

“No,” I insisted. “He wouldn’t ignore a link from me. Something’s wrong. I need to go back. Now.”

“Okay,” Theodore said. “But Quinn, you need to understand. If Jax dies in this timeline, we have to move on without him. As awful as that sounds.

“The risk of starting the cycle over is too high. Jodie will be waiting for Isabelle and me in the next round.

I hated Theodore in that moment.

I couldn’t bear to hear the words he was saying.

But deep down, I knew he was right.

Could I really risk the fate of the world for my mate?

I couldn’t think about it anymore. I needed to act. It was time to go back to the battlefield and find him.

“Go on without us,” Isabelle said. “You’ll be less noticeable that way. But remember this spot.

“The stone controls space and time, so you can use it to come back here. When you find Jax, grab his hand and teleport back to this spot.”

~Teleport?~

I had no experience with that kind of magic. It sounded complicated. “But how do I—”

“There’s no time for lessons, Quinn,” Isabelle cut me off. “Trust your instincts.”

~I will.~

~I don’t have a choice.~

So I memorized the spot. The texture of the tree bark. The shape of the dirt beneath my feet. I focused on one image in particular: a leaf on the ground, stained with blood.

I didn’t know whose blood it was, but I knew the bloodshed had to stop.

With that, I started back.

Jodie

~No.~

~No, no, no!~

~NOOOO!~

I stumbled toward the door, tripping over my own feet. My head was spinning from hitting the floor, but also from the anger at Quinn and the crushing disappointment in myself.

How could I have let that happen?

She got away with the moonstone. I’d spent years trying to summon it, and as soon as I had it, it slipped through my fingers.

~I have to find her before it’s too late. Before HE finds out what I’ve done. Before he realizes how badly I’ve failed him.~

Finally reaching the door, I grabbed the knob and pulled it open. A wolf—one of my own—fell to the floor in front of me.

He was clearly dead. His throat was slashed.

I shivered.

I’d been so focused on Quinn that I’d left my pack to fend for themselves in the fight.

They were helpless without me.

The fallen wolf’s blood pooled around my feet, and I slipped again as I tried to run out the door.

Once I was steady on my feet, I pushed my way into the crowd.

I looked around desperately for Quinn and her twin rescuers.

~Nothing.~

~They’re gone.~

Fear and anger surged through me.

I channeled that rage into a massive blast of energy, clearing a path through the crowd of wolves.

I didn’t care if I hurt some of my own—it was their fault for not being able to defend themselves.

I walked through the sea of blood, screaming at the top of my lungs:

“WHERE IS SHE? BRING HER TO ME!”

Without the stone, I couldn’t stop the fighting. I couldn’t get their attention.

The slaughter continued, and no one paid any mind to my cries.

I blasted another path for myself.

When a wolf tried to attack me, I knocked him to the ground and stomped on his head.

He deserved it for getting in my way.

“WHERE IS SHE?” I yelled again.

Again, no response.

“WHERE IS SHE?” I screamed into the chaos unfolding around me.

Quinn

I ran back toward Fort Vulpes.

Out of breath.

Out of patience.

I needed this nightmare to end.

If I woke up in Jodie’s chambers again, I knew I wouldn’t survive.

How did I go from being an eighteen-year-old girl trapped in my mother’s house to being the Luna of a werewolf pack, to holding the fate of the universe in my hands?

In the stories I read as a kid, they always talked about failure as a stepping-stone to success... about characters learning from their mistakes.

But right now, there was no room for mistakes.

No time for failure.

I had to find Jax and get out of here, both of us unharmed.

That was the only option.

As I reached the Vulpes camp again, I started weaving my way through the fighting and the debris flying around me.

But this time, I kept my eyes open, scanning the crowd for any sign of Jax.

~Yes.~

I didn’t see him, but through the chaos, I spotted Alex, locked in hand-to-hand combat with a soldier in wolf form.

I darted toward him, and with a flick of my wrist, I weakened the wolf Alex was battling. It was just enough for him to knock his adversary to the ground.

“Quinn!” Alex’s voice rang out, finally noticing my arrival.

“Where’s Jax?” I yelled back.

The urgency in my voice was clear, and he understood immediately.

“We need to find him,” he responded, snapping back into action as another wolf lunged at us. I retaliated with a forceful blast that sent the wolf flying backward.

“JAX!” I screamed his name, my heart pounding as I hoped for a response. But there was only silence.

Suddenly, a chilling scream echoed from the other side of the courtyard. I recognized Jodie’s voice instantly. She was searching for someone too:

~Me.~

I knew I had to be careful, or she would find me soon enough.

But then my eyes landed on something that made my blood run cold.

Alpha Anthony. The traitor. The clueless rebel. He was standing over Jax’s unconscious body.

I straightened my back and squared my shoulders.

“Anthony,” I called out, my voice steady and commanding. “DON’T MOVE!”

Anthony turned to look at me, a wicked smirk playing on his lips. “No wonder his army abandoned him. He needs his Luna to come save the day.”

He raised his fist, ready to deliver another brutal blow to Jax’s already battered face.

But instead, his hand shot to his own throat, as if against his will.

Anthony’s eyes widened in fear and confusion. He didn’t realize that I was clutching the moonstone in my pocket, forcing him to strangle himself.

He gasped for air, his free hand desperately trying to pry off the one causing him so much pain.

“Anthony,” I warned again. “Step away from Jax.”

With that, he stumbled away from my mate.

The fighting around us had quieted down. Everyone was watching their newly chosen Alpha being defeated by their former Luna.

~Good.~

They needed to see that they had made a mistake in choosing their Alpha.

I rushed to Jax’s side.

Then I heard it again. That heart-stopping, soul-shattering scream of a woman teetering on the edge of insanity:

“THERE YOU ARE!”

I looked up to see Jodie charging toward me.

“I’ll handle her,” Alex’s voice came from behind me as he swiftly shifted into his wolf form.

Jodie transformed into her wolf—slender but surprisingly large, with deadly sharp claws—and lunged at Alex.

She attacked Alex with a ferocity that was terrifying to watch.

In the brief moment of distraction, I reached for Jax’s body and took his hand. I touched the stone in my pocket, but nothing happened.

Then I saw it. A drop of Alex’s blood splattered on the ground as Jodie landed a vicious swipe on his face.

“Be careful,” I shouted to him, and with one more touch on the stone, Jax and I disappeared from the scene.