A Werewolf Fantasy
Chapter 29

Even as the beasts dropped dead around him, Danshak could not shake the feeling that something was strangely wrong. The werewolves outnumbered Nikjin's night creatures and they were fueled by rage and revenge. But it seemed a little too odd that as the beasts were dropping dead, more of their kind weren't showing up to replace the dead.

He should feel relieved, and victorious but he didn't. He looked around to see if anyone else had noticed his observation, but they appeared to be engrossed in their individual battle.

When all of Nikjin's creatures were all dead, Vak shook his fur to rid himself of his enemies' blood. He was a bit disappointed that the fight had ended so quickly because he still had enough energy to destroy another one hundred beasts even if they attacked him all at once.

He was even more disappointed that his evil brother wasn't among these carcasses because that would have made this victory even sweeter and ultimately indicate the end of this useless war.

"Keep your eyes peeled for surprise attacks," said the Prime Alpha. "There could be more of them hiding in the shadows as we now know them to do. Be alert!"

"Something does not feel right here," said Weruona ominously. "I cannot tell what it is, but I feel it."

"I was just thinking the same thing," said Danshak.

"We all know what it is, Nikjin and the rest of his army are lurking in the shadows, watching us," said Vak dismissively.

"We shall now fan out according to our ranks and continue our charge to Vomani. As we decided earlier, we are taking the battle to Nikjin instead of waiting for him to replace us."

The werewolves began to get into formation as they split themselves into five groups, each one led by the Prime Alpha, Monah, Weruona, Danshak, and Zanisck, to begin their march to the enemy's lair.

Everyone seemed pumped and ready to get on with it when they heard a howl in the distance. The first general assumption was that it was Nikjin's howl, but Danshak was the first to notice the difference in the voice texture. "That does not exactly sound like Nikjin's howl," he commented.

"And it seems to be coming from behind us," Zanisck added.

All the werewolves turned around to look, and sure enough, Edvana was running toward them followed by -

"Zorraya?" asked Weruona in shock. "What are they doing?"

"The question should be where are they going?" said Monah. "Have these she-wolves lost their minds?"

"That is what I would like to know too," Vak said with a dangerous glower. He wasn't in the mood to babysit two rebellious she-wolves during a critical time like this.

"Cut off their heads!" Edvana screamed as she ran toward them. "They are not dead. All of them!"

"What?" Monah snapped. "What is this madness? This is not the time for - "

The rest of his words died in his throat when he saw the dead beasts springing back to their feet, ready to fight again.

"Why am I not surprised?" asked Vak, as he took a fighting stance, ready to send the resurrected creatures back to the underworld. "I have never known Nikjin to fight fair, so I expected this would eventually happen." "How is this even possible?" asked Zanisck. "The dead beasts are coming back to life? How?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," shouted Edvana who was now only a few feet away from them. "Go for their heads. Cut off their heads!"

There was no time to argue or deliberate on whether to trust Edvana's recommendation or not, the werewolves simply went for the beasts' necks and severed their heads off. It was a grotesque activity, but it kept them alive... for now. "Do you mind explaining what you are doing here?" Danshak asked his wife after he and the other werewolves had succeeded in killing off the zombie beasts.

"Isn't it obvious? I came here to help you," said Erin.

"To help me?" Danshak couldn't believe his ears. "Edvana, I am a seasoned warrior, I do not need you to help me fight in a war. I told you to stay back home and wait for my return, but here you are. You broke your promise."

Erin was crushed by his look of disappointment. She had known that he wouldn't be excited to see her and that was why she had intended to stay out of the way but that scary attack from the resurrecting beast had made her blow her own cover. "I am so sorry, Danshak. I was just looking out for you," she said remorsefully.

"I do not need you to look out for me, I can do that by myself and as you can see, I am not alone here," he said, doing his best to hang on to his temper. He didn't want to scold her in front of everyone but it was hard.

"I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen to me," said Zorraya. "If it wasn't for me, she would be dead by now."

"What?" Danshak was terrified. "What happened?"

"When she left the compound, I followed her and caught up with her just in time as one of the beasts came out of the dark and attacked her. I saved her life."

"What do you want? A medal?" Erin asked through gritted teeth. Zorraya was getting on her last nerve right now.

"Thank you for saving her life, Zorraya. Now I need you to do me another favor," said Danshak. "Take my mate back home."

"What the hell?" Erin snapped at him. "Don't you dare treat me like a child!"

"You are behaving like one," he fired back.

Erin gasped.

"That's enough from you two," said the Prime Alpha. "This is not the time or place for your marital drama. We have a more serious issue at hand here."

"They have to go back home," Danshak insisted stubbornly.

"I am not sure it is safe," Weruona interjected. "We cannot send two of them back alone and I do not think we can spare any warriors to accompany them back home. We need every single warrior we have here because we do not know what other tricks Nikjin has planned ahead for us."

"He is right," agreed Vak. "Let the she-wolves follow us. They wanted to participate in the war, so let us allow them."

"No, not me," said Zorraya, taking a step back.

"Well, it's too late to back out now," said Weruona bitterly. He hated that his mate was in this precarious situation with him and there was nothing he could do but make sure that he kept her out of harm's way, which would be a bit distracting for him.

At Vak's signal, they regrouped and then split up again into the previous five packs that had been created before the she-wolves showed up. Erin was in Danshak's pack while Zorraya was in Weruona's pack. Each pack created its own path and they fanned out in search of Nikjin and his minions.

"I am sorry," Zorraya whispered to Weruona, seeing how angry he was to see her there. "I was only trying to stop her."

"I am not stupid, Zorraya. I know you and I know that you followed Edvana because you too wanted to participate in this war. You are only using her disobedience as an excuse to cover up your own insolence."

Zorraya frowned. "Do not take that tone with me," she said, no longer apologetic. "You are my mate, not my father."

"Noted. Now keep quiet and let me concentrate on my mission here. Be sure to keep your wits about you and do not become a burden to the others here."

She snarled at him. "Do not make me lose my temper, Weruona Smallchief!"

"Quiet! I think I just noticed a movement up ahead to the right," he said, looking away from Zorraya.

"Fine, stay angry if you want but do not pretend that you are not secretly happy to have me beside you here," she grumbled.

"I said be quiet," he growled. "Do not make me kill you before the beasts get a chance to."

She snickered. "You wish you could."

Weruona couldn't stop the smile tugging at his lips. "You are unbelievable," he said. "Now be quiet and keep your wits about you. Our lives are hanging in the balance here." "We are the balance," she said and licked his muzzle, making him cringe in embarrassment.

"Not here in front of everyone," he muttered.

"Trust me, my love, they all know we do a lot more than that behind closed doors," Zorraya snickered. "Now hush and lead us to victory."