Chapter 384: The Heart That Would Not Break

Chapter 384: Chapter 118: The Heart That Would Not Break

The first cursed wolf cleared the shattered gates and crashed into the courtyard.

Dane barely had time to turn before another creature followed, its enormous body smashing into a guard who had raised his sword too late. The man struck the ground hard, his weapon clattering across the stones. The wolf wheeled toward him, black saliva dripping from its jaws.

“Hold the courtyard!” Dane roared.

BloodMoon warriors rushed to meet the advancing pack. Steel struck claws and teeth, and the courtyard filled with snarling, breaking stone, and shouted orders. A guard drove his sword into a wolf’s side, only for the creature to wrench itself free and snap at his throat. Two warriors seized it from either side before it could finish him.

Dane shifted as another wolf charged him. His clothes tore as his body changed, bones lengthening and muscles surging beneath his dark coat. He lowered his head and met the creature head-on. Their bodies collided with enough force to drive them several feet across the courtyard, his claws scraping against the stones as he fought to keep his footing.

Its jaws snapped at his throat. Dane twisted away and raked his claws down its face. The wolf staggered, shaking its head, but came at him again. He caught it by the neck and slammed it against the base of a pillar. Cracks spread through the stone beneath its impact.

Before Dane could finish it, another wolf struck him from the side.

He rolled with the impact, came up snarling, and drove his shoulder into its ribs. The creature stumbled, giving him enough room to tear into its throat. He released it when its legs buckled and turned toward the next attacker.

“Dane!”

Henrik’s voice carried through the fighting.

Dane spotted his Beta near the sanctuary steps, his brown coat darkened by dust and blood. Two cursed wolves had cornered him against the low stone wall, forcing him to fight with little room to maneuver. One snapped at his foreleg while the other lunged for his neck.

Dane raced toward him just as the first wolf caught Henrik’s hind leg between its teeth.

Dane seized the attacker by the scruff and dragged it backward. Henrik twisted free and tore into its exposed throat, shaking the creature until it stopped struggling.

The second wolf leaped at Henrik’s unprotected side.

Henrik ducked. Dane caught the creature in midair, and the impact sent both of them crashing onto the stones. The wolf thrashed beneath him, snapping wildly, but Henrik seized its forelegs and pinned them long enough for Dane to clamp his jaws around its neck.

The creature fought until Dane twisted hard enough to feel something give.

They released it almost together.

“More coming!” Henrik barked.

Dane lifted his head.

Dozens of cursed wolves poured through the broken entrance. Their blackened bodies crowded the courtyard, their hollow eyes fixed on the warriors standing between them and the sanctuary. Several already carried wounds from the guards’ weapons, but none showed any sign of slowing. One dragged a broken hind leg behind it as it charged, while another continued fighting with a blade lodged between its ribs.

Dane had seen wolves fight through pain before. These creatures seemed barely aware of it.

“Keep them away from the sanctuary!” he ordered.

Henrik charged toward a gap in the line, intercepting two wolves before they could reach the steps. Dane followed, tearing through a creature that tried to slip past his Beta. For several moments, they fought shoulder to shoulder, covering each other’s exposed sides whenever the press of bodies forced them apart.

Then a wolf broke through on their left.

It raced toward the narrow passage beside the sanctuary, where Hannah was helping a wounded guard away from the fighting. She shoved the man behind the stone wall and turned just as the creature lowered its head to charge.

Hannah struck from its blind side, her claws catching its hind leg. The wolf stumbled but swung around faster than Dane expected, snapping at her as she darted away.

Ivy appeared behind it with a spear.

She drove the point into its shoulder.

The creature howled and spun toward her, forcing Ivy to abandon the weapon before its teeth could reach her arm. Hannah shouted a warning, and Ivy dropped beneath the snapping jaws. She came up on the other side, grabbed the spear shaft, and wrenched it free.

The wolf lunged again.

This time, Hannah caught its attention from the front while Ivy drove the spear deep beneath its ribs. It collapsed, and Hannah finished it before it could rise.

Dane had barely registered their success when a heavy crash drew his attention toward the outer wall.

Cade had locked himself around a cursed wolf’s shoulders, struggling to keep its teeth away from his face. The older man was losing ground. His boots slipped across the broken stones as the creature drove him backward, its jaws snapping inches from his cheek.

Several feet away, Wolfe was fighting another wolf that had circled behind the guards. Cade’s wife had pulled a wounded man behind a stone bench and was reaching for a fallen blade when the creature attacking Cade finally dragged him down.

Its jaws closed around his upper arm.

Cade’s shout cut through the noise.

Dane charged.

He caught the wolf by its hindquarters and hauled it away from Cade. The creature twisted violently, its claws tearing at the ground as it tried to turn on him. Cade rolled clear, struggled upright, and seized the wolf’s forelegs before it could escape.

“Now!” Cade shouted.

Dane lunged at its neck.

The wolf thrashed hard enough to drag both men several inches across the courtyard, but Cade held on. Dane tightened his grip and twisted until the creature’s neck gave way beneath his jaws. Its head came free, and the body dropped heavily to the stones.

Cade staggered backward, blood running down his arm.

Dane turned toward him.

“You all right?”

“I’ve had worse.”

Dane glanced at the blood soaking his fur. “From what?”

“My wife.”

Cade bared his teeth in something that might have been a grin. Before Dane could answer, another wolf charged from behind the broken bench.

Cade moved to meet it, but Dane reached the creature first. He struck it across the muzzle, sending it sprawling, then seized the back of its neck and flung it away from the wounded guard.

“Get him clear!” Dane barked.

Cade’s wife was already pulling the injured man farther behind the wall. Cade joined Wolfe at the outer edge of the fighting, leaving Dane to intercept the next wolf rushing toward the sanctuary.

The battle was spreading faster than the guards could contain it.

Dane drove his claws into one attacker’s chest and shoved it aside, only to find another blocking his path. He caught the creature’s snapping jaws between his forelegs and forced its head away from his throat. Its claws raked his shoulder, but he held on until Henrik struck it from behind.

The wolf collapsed between them.

“Where’s the gap?” Dane demanded.

Henrik jerked his head toward the eastern side of the courtyard. “Near the wall. They’re trying to get around us.”

Dane looked that way and saw Sonia standing over a fallen guard, a sword gripped in both hands. A cursed wolf had broken through the defensive line and was rushing toward the wounded man. Sonia stepped into its path and slashed at its flank, forcing it to turn toward her.

The creature struck at her with its forelegs.

She stumbled but kept her sword between them. The wolf snapped at her face, and she twisted away just enough to avoid its teeth.

Ramon reached her a moment later.

He slammed into the creature from the opposite side, driving it away from Sonia and toward the wall. The wolf recovered quickly, turning on him with its jaws wide open.

“Get behind me!” Ramon shouted.

Sonia shot him an irritated look.

“I’m trying to keep you alive, not the other way around.”

She thrust her sword beneath the wolf’s jaw.

Ramon seized the opening and tore into its throat. The creature struggled between them before finally going limp.

Sonia pulled her sword free and turned toward Ramon. He opened his mouth, presumably to argue about her position, but another wolf charged before he could speak.

She met it with her blade.

Ramon caught it from the side, and together they drove it back toward the guards.

Dane turned away when he heard a scream near the entrance. He charged through the press of bodies, struck down the wolf responsible, and shoved its corpse aside to reach the fallen warrior. The man’s chest still moved, though blood covered one side of his face.

“Get him out of here!” Dane shouted.

Two guards seized their comrade and dragged him toward the sanctuary wall.

Dane followed the movement of the retreating men for only a moment before another wolf lunged at him. He dodged its jaws and raked his claws across its belly. The creature fell, but a second took its place before he could move away.

Every time the warriors gained ground, the cursed pack pushed forward again.

And through it all, Dane kept noticing the same thing.

The wolves were not spreading through the courtyard at random.

Whenever a warrior managed to break through their ranks and approach the main entrance, the creatures nearest the gates abandoned their current targets and rushed to block the path. Some threw themselves directly at the attackers. Others closed around a single figure standing beyond the shattered entrance.

Their Alpha.