On and on the battle raged. The inner perimeter was being held strongly by her trainees and those in the sniper posts. The enemy wolves still outnumbered them but her fighters vastly out skilled them. Her fighters carried out their attack moves and strategies flawlessly, improvising often and reacting immediately to the arrival of more rogues. Wave after wave of rogues came forward. They were relentless in number and in ferocity. Silver bullets laced with wolfsbane were raining down on them from above. Any wolf who dodged the gunfire was being met mercilessly by the inner perimeter and those warriors that were still in the fight.

Rogue blood was shed across the entirety of the forest. There was no green anymore, not on the leaves or bushes, no brown bark, no colourful flowers, just red as far as the eye could see.

Alex was covered in blood and pieces of wolf flesh. She knew she was bleeding profusely and felt the ache of the long battle but she kept her legs moving and her eyes fixed on the next target. And the next and the next. She had never battled so hard and for so long in her entire career. She tried not to think about the fact that there were so few standing between the rogues and the town. If there was a breach now, the rogues could overwhelm the fortresses and find a way to enter the tunnels. It would be a slaughter. Her fear spurred her on, snapping necks and barrelling into oncoming wolves with violent intent.

Night had fallen before the battle seemed to slow. She reminded her fighters not to lose vigilance in case this was part of a bigger plan. Although the rogue bodies were piling up in every direction, the slow down of the attack did not rest easy on her. She knew with battle fatigue and injuries, they would start to lose members soon if an onslaught started up again.

She stopped mid-fight in surprise when the Alpha mind-linked her. Relief flooded her body as she broke the neck of the rogue she was fighting. Aidan must be close by.

'Where is Marcus? What is happening? Are you safe?' Alex could hear the fear in Aidan's voice.

'Marcus is alive but out of combat', Alex shared quickly, 'The outer patrols are dead or badly injured. My fighters have created an inner perimeter just inside the sniper posts. Final protection detail at the hospital. Tell your warriors to create a perimeter around the edge of the pack lands. Drive the last of the bastards towards my fighters. I don't want a single one to escape. And maintain a double patrol line to make sure no one else enters our land'.

'Did you all hear your Luna? Aidan linked.

'Yes Alpha. Yes Luna'. The chorus brought relief to her tired heart.

'No mercy', she repeated, 'they came to murder us all'.

And so the fight continued. There were plenty more rogues who had either hoped to escape if they thought they wouldn't win or who had been planning a final attack. Focused on barrelling towards one of the warriors who was pinned by two rogues, Alex just missed the rogue jumping at her from his hiding position. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and she howled with the pain and he bit viciously into her. She managed to get her paws beneath her and jumped, smashing him into the tree. Stunned, he released her which gave her a second to latch her own jaws on one of his hind legs, turn and throw him with all her might towards the two wolves attacking the fallen warrior. Just in time too as the warrior's valiant efforts were slowing. The second he was relieved of their unmerciful attacked, the warrior wasted no time in jumping up and ripping the throats from one of the rogues while Luna looked after the other two.

She sniffed the air. Aidan was near. That meant the last of the rogues were now caught between her perimeter and the Alpha's legion who were chasing them inwards. She mind-linked Laura for an update. Some had already been met by the legion so their areas were clear. Then another scent flooded her senses and stopped her in her tracks. A scent she remembered from her night in the cell. Dax Stevens was in the battle and moving somewhere nearby.

Alex turned direction and powered forward, lusting after Dax's blood. He was the reason for all the bloodshed, for the bodies laying slain across the forest, for families being divided and torn apart up and down the country and, despite never being able to prove it, for the death of her own mother. She thirsted for a fight to end him.

The scent became stronger as she bounded through the trees and within seconds she saw him. Dax was a big light brown wolf, greying fur lining his back. He was being flanked by at least twenty wolves, stalking towards the inner perimeter. Those closest to her turned as she lunged out from the trees, pummelling them into the ground as she barged through. The others closed ranks around their Alpha, growling and snapping their jaws viciously at her. They were too poorly organised to have a strategy to attack her and a Lycan was even more of a difficult foe for them to overcome individually. She savaged through a handful of them with minimum effort before a single rogue even took a step towards her.

Dax was clearly sending them orders as they attempted to surround her. Their mistake was failing to take into account the second Lycan who leaped into the mix, on a mission to exterminate first and ask questions later. Aidan and Alex fought in tandem, seamlessly vanquishing every wolf until there was only one left standing.

Dax was cornered, his eyes darting around the forest for potential escape routes as Aidan and Alex stood before him. Alex motioned for Aidan to step back. This was her fight and she didn't need any assistance. Dax fixed his eyes on hers, growled in a low grumble before launching himself at her. Alex dodged him easily and allowed him to crash into the tree that had been behind her. She circled him slowly. She wanted to toy with him, to make him feel fear before she took his life. He lunged again, and Alex bit his hind leg hard as she side stepped him. Dax whimpered, unable to put his injured leg to the ground. Each attempt at assaulting Alex resulted in him receiving strategic bites and rips across his body. Alex wanted him to suffer, slowly and painfully. Before he could collapse before her, she pinned him to the ground. His breaths came shallow and fast from his lungs; the whines and whimpers were growing in volume and Alex could sense the panic in the wolf beneath her. She looked him directly in the eyes and savoured the moment before immobilising his head with her huge paw and tearing out his throat.