Chapter 139

Anila’s POV

The house was on fire when I reached it. There was rubble everywhere and something was blocking the front door from opening. I barely recognized the place because of all the ash and rubble that surrounded the yard. I felt no attachment to being back at this house, nor did I feel any remorse over the fact that it was burned to the ground. I didn’t really care about any of that; it was no longer my home.

My home was where my mates were and that was the place I longed to be at last.

I gave up on the door and tried a window instead. Thankfully, it wasn’t locked, and I was able to get into the dark home. I nearly was choked out by the amount of smoke and soot in the air. Instead of staying in human form, I decided to strip out of my clothes, throwing them outside so I would have them later, and then I shifted into my wolf. Even in my wolf form, it was difficult to breathe, but at least I was lower to the ground my wolf’s senses were stronger, so I was able to navigate through the house.

I heard the breathy whimpers and gasps from someone upstairs so that was where I headed.

Claire was in her room, under a pile of rubble. Her face was nearly black from the soot and her hair was singed from the fire that burned her. She also had blood on her hands and legs as she struggled to get herself free.

When she saw me, her eyes widened, and I could see the pure fear in her eyes. She had no idea it was me. I was sure of it, but she wasn’t used to being around a werewolf in wolf form either, so I knew she held a lot of fear for the supernatural.

I ignored her pleas and cried and got to work at clearing some of the rubble, using the canines of my wolf and her large claws to make a pathway through the rubble to the window.

Once I got Claire free, I saw that her leg was busted, and I knew she wouldn’t be able to walk in that condition.

I grabbed her ripped shirt with my canines, and she winced, being this close to a werewolf. I threw her on my back, her screams piercing through the thick air with not only fear but also pain because of her busted leg.

She wrapped her legs and arms around my wolf’s back and without a second thought, I leapt from the second-floor window and onto the ground in the front. She screamed during the process, and I could hear her rapidly beating heart as I ran around the house and grabbed my clothes off the ground, holding them in my mouth as we ran through the streets until we reached the town’s center. Gina was already in the town’s center, in the middle of being ushered into the underground sewer by Jaxon.

“Who the hell are you? Why do we need to go underground? It’s gross under there!” I could hear her complaining, making me internally roll my eyes.

Jaxon turned to look at me and I could see the relief in his eyes as I approached. Claire still clutching me tightly.

I lowered myself, letting Claire climb off my body shakily. Without another thought, I shifted back into my human form, making Claire scream.

“Anila?!” She gasped. “W…what is going on?” She asked, her eyes wide and filled with tears.

“There’s no time to explain. But it’s safer under the ground,” I told her as I slipped on my clothes.

“Mom?” Gina asked, rushing to Claire. “You’re alive?”

Claire pressed her lips together in a thin line.

“No thanks to you,” she murmured.

“No time for arguing,” I said, glaring at them. “Get under the ground!”

They all stared at me with wide eyes; I hadn’t realized that my voice had amplified until they both took a step back. I had never seen that look on their faces before and I thought maybe it was because I was being assertive for once. A vast difference from when they last saw me.

Without another word, they followed the crowd to the sewer, which surprised me. It was almost like they were possessed.

“Anila, you’re glowing,” Jaxon pointed out, glancing at my hands.

I stared down at myself and saw that he was right; I was glowing.

“Is that everyone in town?” I asked him, ignoring my glowing state.

“Everyone I could find,” he answered. “They are going to move on to the next town though if we don’t hurry and stop him now.”

I nodded and whistled as loudly as I could, using my fingers to make it even louder. I wasn’t sure if that would work, so I was almost amazed when Ember landed right next to me almost a second later.

Even Jaxon looked impressed.

Before Jaxon could comprehend what was happening, I was airborne. I could hear him yelling my name as Ember lifted me into the air and buzzed through the sky. I grabbed my wand again and started to use defense magic to keep the dragons from doing any more damage or moving onto a new town.

“Anila!” I heard my name and when I turned, I was shocked to see Xaden, Harley, and Damien in a helicopter. I didn’t even hear the helicopter approaching because of the chaos of everything happening.

I was relieved to see them, though I was curious as to where Zach was.

Xaden held out his arms for me to jump into them. I jumped from Ember’s back and into the helicopter without a second thought. They all managed to grab me and pull me into the helicopter before I fell to my ultimate doom.

“I don’t know what to do,” I said, tears filling my eyes. “I managed to get one of the dragons to break the hold the king has on him… but it didn’t last long.”

“It’s the Dragon stone,” Xaden said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “As long as the King has it, they will remain under his hold.”

“We need to get it back,” I said, staring between them.

They all looked at one another as if they had some kind of secret.

That was when I saw something in the distance. I squinted my eyes.

Was that an owl?

“Penny?” I asked as the owl got closer.

“Anila!” I heard Penny’s voice in my head, and it startled me.

How was it possible that I could hear her? Not only was she a different species, but I was still in human form. I stared down at my arms and legs and saw that I was still very much glowing.

Was this one of the powers of the Moon Queen?

“There are dragons’ going into the next town,” Penny informed me in my head.

“Anila, you have a powerful influence. We can feel it from here. You need to get them to safety,” Damien told me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“But what about the dragon stone?” I asked, staring at them with wide eyes.

“Leave that to us,” Xaden told me, a smile on his lips. “We have a plan.”

“Technically it was Zach’s plan,” Harley corrected him. “But trust us, Anila. We are your mates, you have to believe in our abilities just as we believe in yours.”

I heard the screeching of the Alpha King in the distance; he was furious that we were trying to stop his plans. He was coming to help soon enough and if that happened, I fear for everyone.

I wanted to trust my mates, but I worried for them.

“Are you sure?” I asked, turning to look at them.

“We don’t have time to argue about this,” Xaden said. “Go to the next town and safe them.”

Without another word, I jumped onto Ember’s back, and we took off. Penny was right behind us; for a small owl, she was very fast and was able to keep up with us with ease. I was surprised she was there and wondered if the others followed her as well.

Did my mates get Penny to help us?

It was stupid of them to involve her, but I pushed the thoughts out of my head and focused on my task at hand. Once we reached the next town, it was pretty much the same as the one we just left. There was fire and mayhem everywhere as everyone struggled to reach safety.

I needed to get them under the ground, but there were so many of them and thye were all so scared, I feared they wouldn’t listen to me.

I remember a spell that Damien taught me a while ago to amplify my voice without the use of a loudspeaker. Grabbing my wand, I cast a spell on myself, making me glow even more.

My voice boomed across the entire town, causing everyone to stop and look up at me. Their demeanors were now calm, and their eyes were wide as they listened to each word I spoke, as if I held all the answers they needed.

“You need to get under the ground,” I told them. “It’ll be safer there. The dragons won’t be able to fit under there if you use the sewer drains and magic is weaker under the surface.”

I thought there would be more resistance and arguing, but there wasn’t any. Most took the initiative and started to open the sewers.

They trusted me.

I stared at my glowing hands as well.

Was that part of my powers?

Out of anger, dragons started to come at me, blowing fire and trying to knock me off balance. Ember was quick in her movements and dodged each attack. I used my wand to cast defense magic, not wanting to hurt anyone, but knowing I needed to get them off my back as I made it to the next town.

There wasn’t as much damage, but everyone was still alarmed and trying to get to safety.

Like the last town, I was able to get them under the ground with ease. They all trusted me based on my words alone and it was a good feeling to have that type of influence.

I heard the screeching of the dragon King once again and this time, he was coming at me.

This was it… I was about to fight the King himself.