Chapter 139

The Rogue King arrived with forces that filled the darkness like dark but deadly stars. It felt impossible to estimate just how many warriors were outside. I'd seen armies before, but this? This was different. Years of scheming had built this force. Every soldier hand-picked. Every weapon sharpened for one purpose.

David prowled between his troops like a wolf among sheep. He moved too smoothly, too perfectly. Nothing about his gait seemed human anymore. But something was wrong with his movements. Too mechanical. Too controlled. Giana's magical influence had stripped away everything human about him, leaving only cold calculation.

"Aurora," his voice carried across the battlefield with supernatural amplification. "You destroyed my network. Killed my mate. Only your blood will satisfy the price."

The demand sent ice through my veins. We'd fought so hard. Lost so much. And here we were—my death the price for everyone else's tomorrow.

Kane didn't hesitate. He stepped between me and those thousands of enemies. His body became my shield. "Not a chance in hell," he said quietly.

Raymond joined him. The determination on his face could've cut steel. "I've already failed to protect you once, Aurora. I won't let it happen again."

Something warm spread through my chest. Two men who'd loved me differently, now standing together. Their rivalry meant nothing compared to this moment. Protection mattered more than pride. It was everything I'd once dreamed of—except the circumstances were a nightmare.

But as I watched the Rogue King's massive army position themselves for assault, tactical understanding clicked into place. But David's fixation on me? That gave us an opening. Personal revenge made even smart people stupid.

My mind started working overtime. "If I can get close enough," I whispered, "my artifact connection might work against him. The magical backlash when I destroyed Giana's control matrix—it created a resonance that might disrupt his enhanced abilities."

Kane's response was immediate and absolute. "No. Absolutely not. I won't lose you when I just found you again."

"Aurora, please," Raymond added, his voice breaking slightly. "There has to be another way. Some other solution that doesn't require your sacrifice."

Their fear hit me hard, I felt it in my bones. But leaders don't get to choose easy paths. Sometimes you have to walk into hell to save everyone else.

"This isn't about dying," I told them, trying to summon every ounce of strength I had. "It's about choosing. My choice to protect everyone I care about."

Then I sensed someone behind me. Familiar footsteps. Elsa appeared with a steady resolve.

"You're absolutely right about choosing." Her voice stayed soft. "But sometimes experience makes better choices than courage."

Everything slowed down. Like watching a car crash happen in front of you.

Elsa moved faster than I'd ever seen her. Her Luna training kicked in while I was distracted. Before I could react, she'd taken my position at the front of our defensive line.

"Elsa, no!" I screamed, lunging forward.

But Kane and Raymond both caught me, their combined strength preventing me from following her into the open ground between our forces and the Rogue King's army.

"Let me go!" I struggled against their hold. "She can't take him alone!"

Kane's voice broke. "She's giving us time. Don't waste what she's doing." "Don't waste her sacrifice."

David's soldiers made a wall between us and Elsa. Perfect discipline. No gaps. Just steel and death blocking our path.

David stalked toward Elsa like she was already dead. His enhanced abilities made him seem ten feet tall. Then he spoke, and something changed in his face—recognition flickered through Giana's control.

His voice traveled across the battlefield. "Elsa. You shouldn't be here."

"I've spent twenty years looking for you, David." The dignity in her voice could break your heart. "I had to see the man you really are. One last time."

We were trapped behind enemy lines. I watched in horror as everything played out. Elsa had skill, sure. But David's magical boost made him impossibly fast. Impossibly strong. No normal person could match that.

"Please," Elsa kept trying. Hope clung to every word. "This isn't you. Giana twisted everything you were, but the real David's still in there. The man I loved."

For a moment—just a moment—David hesitated. His attack patterns faltered as some buried part of his consciousness struggled against the magical conditioning.

But Giana's control was too strong, too deeply embedded. The hesitation passed, replaced by cold calculation as her magic reasserted its hold.

It ended fast. Brutally. David's speed overwhelmed everything Elsa tried. Strike after strike broke through her defenses. No wolf could counter those moves. But Elsa? She managed something impossible in her final moment.

Her hidden silver blade found its target just as David's claws shredded her chest. The weapon carried fragments of the destroyed artifact, magical resonance that Elsa had somehow preserved.

That blade shattered Giana's magic. The sound was like glass exploding.

David stumbled back. His enhanced abilities died like someone cut the power. Real emotion flooded his face for the first time in years—terror, confusion, crushing regret.

His voice cracked. "Elsa?" He stared at her bleeding body. "What did I do? Dear Goddess, what did I do?"

Elsa whispered back, her hand touching his face with impossible gentleness. "I know who you really are. You never would've done this if you'd had a choice."

David crumpled beside her. His wounds were fatal too—the magic that kept him alive was gone. "I'm sorry. For everything. I tried fighting it, but she was stronger."

"All I wanted..." Elsa's voice got weaker. "Was to see you one more time."

The light faded around them. David held Elsa like he could protect her from death itself.

Giana had been hiding near the pack house, watching everything. When David died and her magical network crumbled, she screamed. The sound carried across the entire battlefield.

"No! David!" The cry was raw with genuine pain, revealing emotions she'd kept hidden behind layers of calculated manipulation.

That scream gave her away completely. Kane's head whipped toward the sound. His tactical instincts kicked in before his brain caught up.

"There!" He pointed at the pack house where Giana's shadow showed against the lit windows.

Realizing she'd been discovered, Giana turned and fled toward the pack house with desperate speed. Her carefully constructed conspiracy was collapsing around her, leaving only survival instincts and raw panic.

"We can't let her escape!" I shouted, breaking free from Kane and Raymond's protective hold.

Without the Rogue King's magical enhancement to sustain them, his forces were already beginning to scatter. Some fled entirely, others simply stood in confused shock as their supernatural coordination disappeared.

Kane and I immediately gave chase, our partnership falling into perfect tactical synchronization as we pursued Giana through Blood Moon territory. Behind us, Raymond coordinated the aftermath, securing prisoners and organizing medical care for the wounded.

"She still has access to whatever artifacts she kept hidden," Kane called as we ran. "If she reaches them, she could disappear forever."

The pack house loomed ahead of us, its familiar corridors now feeling like a maze where our greatest enemy could vanish into the shadows. This wasn't over yet—not while Giana remained free to rebuild her conspiracy somewhere else.

But as we closed the distance, I realized that everything had changed. The Rogue King was dead. His army was scattered. The magical network that had threatened werewolf civilization was finally broken.

Whatever happened next, we'd already won the war. Now we just had to finish it.