MATED TO THE BEAST ALPHA BROTHERS
Chapter 77: One battlefield

Chapter 77: One battlefield

"We’re going back."

Haelyn’s voice cut through the smoky air like a blade.

Archer froze mid-step. "Back? To the packs?"

Seraphis turned sharply. "You said you wanted to disappear."

"I did," Haelyn said. "But disappearing won’t end this. And it won’t protect him."

She adjusted Ezra in her arms. The baby stirred, his tiny brows twitching like he sensed the tension weighing on the air.

"We go back. We clean house. We rebuild."

Artemis leaned against the crumbled cave wall, arms crossed, jaw tense. "You know what’s waiting for us there, right?"

"I do."

"Half the packs think your son is a curse."

"Let them."

He stepped forward. "Some of them will try to kill him."

"I know."

Her voice didn’t tremble.

"I don’t care how many wolves are foaming at the mouth for our blood," Haelyn said. "They can bite. I’ll bite harder."

Archer stared at her. "Why now?"

Haelyn’s eyes didn’t leave Ezra’s face.

"Because I’m done running."

She looked up, jaw set.

"This war started because of me. Because of him. And I won’t let him grow up watching me flinch."

Seraphis nodded once. "Then we stand with you."

Artemis pushed off the wall. "Damn right we do."

Archer moved beside her, sliding a dagger back into his belt. "We don’t run. We rebuild. And we remind every kingdom exactly why your name makes them kneel."

The return wasn’t grand.

It was silent. Sharp. Unforgiving.

The gates of the mountain opened with a groan, rusted chains grinding as Haelyn and her group stepped through. Wolves on guard backed up immediately, scenting her before they even saw her. They parted like waves before fire.

By the time she reached the main hall, murmurs were already spreading.

"She’s back.."

"Thought she’d fled.."

"Where’s the child...?"

Archer unsheathed his blade with a clean, chilling slide.

"Say it louder," he told one of them. "I’d love a reason."

The soldier dropped his gaze.

Inside the hall, the Elders sat stiff and pale-faced.

Haelyn didn’t bow. She stood in the center of the council floor, Ezra against her chest, wrapped in silver-threaded cloth.

"You called my child a threat," she said coldly.

Elder Jareth narrowed his eyes. "He is."

"Then call me a threat," she spat, "because he came from me. And if one more breath of accusation slips toward this child again, I will personally paint this floor with your tongues."

Gasps.

No one moved.

"You left your posts. You abandoned the people," another elder hissed.

"I bled for the people," Haelyn growled. "While you sat in these chairs."

A heavy pause.

Then Artemis stepped forward.

"Any wolf who stands with her, stands with me."

Archer followed. "And me."

Seraphis added, "And the old gods."

The room was dead silent.

Then a voice rang out from the back.

"I stand with Haelyn!"

Another. "I do too!"

Then another.

It spread. Like fire through dry roots.

By the time it stopped, three-fourths of the hall had risen from their seats, heads bowed, hands across their chests.

Haelyn swallowed.

Then raised her chin.

"Good," she said. "Because it’s time we ended this war."

Far away...

A scream echoed through the ruins of the Hollowed Rise.

A body dropped...throat slit, heart removed.

Liora stepped over the corpse, her bare feet soaked in blood.

"You disobeyed."

The next soldier knelt instantly. "Forgive me, mistress..."

"Don’t beg," she said. "I’m not a god."

He looked up, trembling. "Then what are you?"

She leaned down.

Her eyes glowed red. "I’m what your gods were afraid of."

The walls trembled.

The shadows thickened.

She turned toward the altar, carved with runes no one had spoken aloud in centuries.

"I want the child."

A whisper rose from the pit of the earth.

"You will have him..."

"But first," Liora smiled, "I want his mother to watch."

The shadows pulsed like a heartbeat.

Back at the pack...

Haelyn sat on the stone ledge overlooking the valley. Ezra curled against her chest.

The air was cleaner here.

But her thoughts were not.

Archer approached behind her. "Still thinking about him?"

She nodded.

He sat beside her. "You did what you had to do."

"I know."

She hesitated. "But I think I understand him now. Why he wanted control so badly. Power. Order."

Archer looked at her. "You’re not like him."

"I have his blood," she whispered. "I’m bound to do something terrible too."

"No," Archer said. "You already did something worse."

She looked up, startled.

"You survived," he said.

She chuckled, bitter. "Funny way to put it."

He reached over, brushing Ezra’s hair.

"He’s going to grow into all of it, isn’t he?"

"He already is," she murmured.

They sat in silence.

Until Ezra opened his eyes.

They weren’t glowing.

They weren’t burning.

They were aware.

And watching.

Archer leaned forward slowly. "Did he just...?"

"He knows," Haelyn whispered.

Seraphis burst through the doors.

"They’ve moved," she gasped.

"Who?" Haelyn stood instantly.

"Liora’s army. Fifteen factions. Shadowbound. Spiritwalkers. Defectors. All of them. And she’s leading them personally."

Archer drew his blade.

Artemis appeared in the doorway behind her. "Then this time, we take the fight to her."

Haelyn held Ezra close.

Then handed him to Seraphis.

"Get him to safety."

Seraphis blinked. "You’re not coming?"

"I am," Haelyn said. "But I’m not fighting as a mother."

She unsheathed her blade.

"I’m fighting as the heir to the ashes."

"You came."

Liora’s voice echoed across the scorched plains, soft as silk and sharp as broken glass.

Haelyn stepped through the mist alone, sword drawn, armor scorched, eyes unwavering.

"You’ve been asking for me," she said. "Now I’m here."

The two women faced each other under a blackening sky, the battlefield still holding its breath. Not a soldier moved. Not a single whisper of wind dared break the standoff.

Liora smiled. "I wondered if you’d keep hiding behind your wolves."

"You’re confusing protection with fear," Haelyn replied coldly. "I don’t hide. I prepare."

"You look like her," Liora murmured, circling her. "Lunara."

"I look like me."

"You sound like Zareth."

"Funny," Haelyn said, "he told me I fought like him too. Right before I killed him."

Liora’s expression twisted.

"I heard his last scream. Felt it in my bones. Do you know what it did to me?"

"I don’t care," Haelyn said.

"You should," Liora snapped. "He was my father."

"He was mine, too."

Liora paused.

Then laughed. "Of course. Of course. The bastard always had secrets."

Haelyn raised her sword. "And now you’re one step away from becoming the same monster."

Liora’s grin vanished. "He used me. Threw me into the fire to save his own reputation."

"Then you should’ve destroyed him, not the world."

"Oh, I will," Liora hissed. "Through you. Through your child. Through every last thing he ever touched."

Haelyn’s blade sparked with light. "You think Ezra carries his legacy?"

"He carries his flame. And I will claim it."

"Try," Haelyn growled. "And I’ll put you in the dirt next to him."

Liora’s eyes burned red. "You’ve no idea what I am."

"Then show me."

They clashed like thunder.

Steel against shadow. Blood against blood.

Haelyn struck first...hard, fast, clean. Liora blocked with one hand, her palm erupting in flame. Sparks tore across the air as their magic collided, sending a shockwave through the stone.

Liora vanished, appeared behind her, claws of energy slicing at Haelyn’s throat.

Haelyn ducked, pivoted, and drove her elbow into Liora’s ribs, following with a spin-kick that cracked bone.

Liora stumbled, wiped blood from her mouth, and smiled.

"You fight angry."

Haelyn surged forward. "I fight to end you."

She slashed down...Liora caught the blade mid-air, her fingers bleeding but tight around the edge.

"You think this ends in steel?"

"It always ends in steel," Haelyn roared, tearing the sword free, slicing across Liora’s cheek.

Blood sprayed.

Liora staggered.

Then her scream shattered the sky.

The ground split open beneath them...black vines erupted, grabbing Haelyn’s legs.

She slashed at them, barely dodging a spear of corrupted bone that shot from the earth.

Liora floated above the chaos now, eyes glowing, hair lifting with dark wind.

"You killed my father. You cursed your son. You lit the fuse on the old war."

Haelyn forced herself through the writhing vines. "You call it a curse. I call it resistance."

"You’re still pretending you’re a hero."

"I never said I was. I’m a mother. That’s worse for you."

Liora’s laugh rang out, twisted and bitter.

"Do you think Ezra’s power belongs to you?"

"It belongs to him."

"No," Liora whispered. "It belongs to the flame. And I am the flame reborn."

She threw her hands forward...

A torrent of fire roared across the field.

Haelyn braced...

The heat slammed into her like a falling star.

She was thrown across the battlefield, crashing into rock, body smoking, blood pouring down her ribs.

She got up anyway.

Liora’s expression faltered.

"You should be dead."

"I’ve been trying," Haelyn spat, dragging herself to her feet. "You’re just not good enough."

Liora screamed again and vanished into shadow...then reappeared behind Haelyn and plunged her clawed fingers into her shoulder.

Haelyn howled.

But instead of pulling away, she twisted and headbutted Liora straight in the face.

Liora stumbled back, dazed.

Haelyn tore the claws from her flesh, roared, and drove her blade into Liora’s thigh.

The woman shrieked.

They locked eyes.

And for a moment...

They saw each other.

What they had been.

What they lost.

What they’d burned.

"I don’t want to be you," Haelyn said.

"You already are," Liora gasped, staggering back, blood dripping down her leg. "You just haven’t admitted it yet."

"Then I’ll make sure I never forget."

Haelyn raised her hand...and light exploded from her palm.

Liora was blasted backward, crashing into the rubble of an old altar.

She didn’t move.

For a beat, Haelyn panted, sword still raised, bleeding from six places, eyes swimming.

Then...

Liora laughed.

The rubble began to shift.

The shadows deepened.

And Liora rose again, slower, bloodier, smiling.

"You can’t kill me," she whispered.

"Not today," Haelyn admitted, wiping her mouth. "But soon."

Liora tilted her head.

"War’s not over," she said.

"No," Haelyn replied. "It’s just begun."

Behind them...

The valley rumbled.

From far away, Seraphis stood on the ridge, clutching Ezra to her chest, watching the power radiating off both women like the sky splitting in half.

Archer stepped beside her. "She’s holding her own."

"For now."

"Can she win?"

Seraphis didn’t answer.

Ezra opened his glowing eyes.

And a voice whispered a single word...

"Burn."

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