Rejected and Claimed by her Alpha Triplets-Chapter 285 - it over?

285

~Rowan’s POV

Damon watched him, eyes cold. "You did what you had to," he said finally. "Bring your men. We need every blade."

Hald bowed his head. "Some of our men are still out there. They chased off a small band, but others pushed toward the east copse. I left a small force to clear them." He sucked in a rough breath.

"It’s fine," Damon said curtly. He sounded like the man who forgives because he must, not because his temper is soft.

"We need a plan," I said. My voice felt small in the wide place, but theirs were smaller. "They keep coming in waves. We can’t let them regroup."

"Rowan," Kael said, wiping blood from his lip, "orders."

I turned to Hald. "How many can you field right now? How many are still fighting outside the walls?"

Hald counted on his fingers, jaw tight. "Forty able, sir, and maybe twenty trapped in skirmishes. We lost twenty on the western road."

"That’s..." My chest tightened. "We’ll work with what we have."

"Listen." I kept my voice low, sharp. "We wipe the intruders off our land before the sun rises."

Damon stepped close, voice hard as flint. "Their leaders must be taken alive. Whoever led this raid will stand and answer."

I could hear the growls before I saw them, deep, rough, hungry sounds coming from every side. The intruders were many. They didn’t come in lines anymore. They came wild, fast, and straight for us.

"Kael, right!" I shouted through the mind-link.

"I see them," Kael growled. His voice sounded like thunder breaking bone.

"Move!" I snapped, and the guards all charged towards them.

Damon’s growl came too, low and sharp. "Don’t wait for orders. Tear them apart."

We were already shifting again. Bones cracked. My hands broke into claws, my skin burned, and my fur tore through.

The first wave hit me hard. Three men with blades. One swung a sword; I ducked, felt the blade scrape my back. I turned fast, claws slicing across his chest. He screamed and fell. Another lunged for my neck. I met him midair, bit deep, and felt his throat split under my teeth. The third tried to run, but I caught him by the leg and tore it open.

They didn’t stop. More came.

Across the yard, I saw Damon to my left and Kael to my right, fighting two wolves at once. His claws flashed. He kicked one back, then crushed the other’s skull against the wall.

The guards tried to hold their lines, but the enemy had more men, more claws. I heard the screams, my men falling, one by one.

"Hold your ground!" I roared.

A young soldier ran past me, sword shaking in his hand. "Alpha Rowan! They’re breaking through the north gate to reach here!"

"Then block it!" I barked. "Use fire if you must! We have enough of them to deal with here! Hold them off till we get there!"

But the boy didn’t make it back. A spear went straight through his chest before he turned. His eyes froze open.

My blood burned.

I ripped through the next wolf that came my way, slashing through fur and flesh.

"Rowan!" Kael’s voice hit my head through the link. "Behind you!"

I turned, too slow.

A heavy body crashed into me. A blade bit deep into my side. I roared, twisted, and sank my teeth into the man’s neck. I tore until his body went limp.

My vision blurred for a second, but I forced it clear. No time to bleed.

Across the courtyard, Damon slammed into a massive wolf. They rolled, biting and tearing. I heard the snap, a bone breaking. Damon’s, maybe. I didn’t know. But when he rose, the other wolf wasn’t moving.

"Alpha!" one of the guards shouted. "They’re after you! They’re not fighting anyone else!"

I looked around and saw it, clear now. The enemy was splitting. Half fought the guards. The rest came for us, me, Damon, and Kael.

We were the targets.

They wanted our heads.

"Kael! Damon! They’re focusing on us!" I warned again.

"Let them!" Kael’s growl tore through the air. "We’ll show them who leads this land!"

I charged forward, claws out. Three men rushed me. One with a sword, one already half-shifted, one full wolf. I ducked under the sword swing and clawed the half-shifted one across the face. His eye came out in a spray of red. The wolf lunged, and I met him with my shoulder, threw him off, then tore into his chest.

But I was slower now. The pain in my side burned. Every movement pulled at the wound. My fur was slick with blood.

I saw Kael drop to a knee as a spear went through his shoulder. He yanked it out and used it to stab the man who threw it. Damon was limping too, blood running from his ribs.

Still, they didn’t stop.

We didn’t stop.

"Fall back!" I shouted to the guards. "Protect yourselves!"

But they didn’t move. They threw their bodies between us and the intruders like it was a holy duty.

A guard jumped in front of me and caught a blade meant for my neck. He went down, chest open. I roared, slammed the attacker down, and bit his head off.

"Damon!" I yelled through the noise. "How many left?"

"Too many!" he shouted back. "But they’re tiring!"

Another man tried to leap on Kael’s back. Kael turned and ripped his arm clean off. "Tiring?" he said with a half laugh. "I hope they all die tired!"

More came.

They just kept coming.

I don’t remember every swing, every bite, every scream. I only remember the heat, the smell of blood, the dirt under my claws.

"Rowan!" Kael called. "They’ve got you surrounded!"

I turned and saw five men closing in.

I crouched low, heart pounding, and waited for the first to move. I managed to kill them.

When I looked up, Damon was standing on a pile of bodies. Kael was covered in blood, his fur torn in places. We were still breathing, barely.

But they were not done.

"Kill the Alphas!" their leader screamed. "Don’t stop!"

They charged again, the last of them, twenty, maybe more.

Damon took the front. "No retreat!" he growled.

Kael and I flanked him.

They hit us hard, but this time, we didn’t hold back.

We were done defending. We were hunting.

They tried to fall back, but there was nowhere to run.

We tore them down, one by one. Blood and dust rose around us like smoke.

When the last man fell, the world went silent.

Only our breathing filled the night, heavy, rough, burning.

The guards who still stood were staring at us, eyes wide. Some bleeding, some trembling, but alive.

Kael spat blood. "Is it over?"

I turned slowly, scanning the bodies. "I think...."

And then I saw him.

A figure stepped from the shadows beyond the gate, calm and tall, holding a sword that gleamed red in the moonlight.

Behind him stood dozens more, armored, silent.

My stomach turned cold.

"Uncle Fridolf," Damon said, voice low and sharp.