Chapter 83
Marcus's POV:
I thought I had lost Kayden again after he started feeling Loiza's desires, he became unstable. I still remember his rage when I suggested he reject her and be done with it. I was just thinking on getting my brother back from an abyss, that was a miscalculation I will never repeat.
But that passed and he is back to his brooding self, yet he trains rigorously daily. The unification with now ex Alpha Everett of Half Crescent Moon went smoothly and they moved into the abandoned houses of those who left with The Osupa and are now officially Blood Moon.
Kayden was so surprised by the information Everett gave him about Loiza swelling the numbers of her pack, that he asked him to continue to keep him updated. He admitted that his own sources were in The High Council, but Kayden was ok with it. He just told him to be as cautious and casual about it as possible as long as the information was good and Everett was enjoying playing private eye. His latest news was that she had a group of vampires added to her numbers and name her Queen, and that more wanted to join her... I wonder what the own Vampire Council thinks about their own people submitting to a Werewolf.
Whatever it may be it was revolutionary, vampires and werewolves were mortal enemies, yet she had invited and accepted them into the fold. Kayden was un bothered by the news, he reminded me that as a Priestess of Avalon she knew their ways and had grown up with many herself, still I noticed it made him proud of her.
Just in the past weeks of being inside Loiza's head made me realize that I can't count on the library at The Council anymore. The information is incomplete and downright deceiving at times, if that's what's in HER head I can only imagine Bayoán's, a Beta who was once a spy and served as Captain in their organized military. Kayden is right, she achieved all she did by knowing who to place where it played to their strengths and how to adapt according to the situation, she never used brute force (well except for Logan and she just used her elemental power for that). And even though she has the Bond blocked in her end, they are still fully bonded and Kayden is opening up his mind to tap into her way of leadership.
When The Osupa came and Keaton told us of their self control and we found out that Kayden's mate was one of them I imagined that some would rub of... Then when she left I thought he would go back to being the regular Alpha Kayden Black of before or worse; yet the Bond seems to be so strong that it never happened.
We wanted to know if there was anything else we needed to know before trying to call upon Avalon... Kayden destroyed the broken altar and had a small shrine built instead. He insisted to the Kappas to use the golden ratio... I didn't even know he knew about it!
We had white morning-glory flowers (Moon flowers) planted around it. He was was learning much from Endora, yet it was he who came up with a way of trying to contact Avalon by painting a pentagram on the little altar of the shrine each point has a different element (except for wind, which he says it's not necessary for it's ever present) and on the top point he had a marble bowl where he would write Lady Moira's full name with all her ranks and titles and then burning it. The weird part is the flames would turn green and it's green smoke smelled of wildflowers, not smoke. Endora was impressed, she said that this is an ancient way to summon the divine and a way of calling the attention of the gods for offerings and sacrifices. But he didn't mention where he got the idea from.
He would do that every day at dawn and at dusk. People from the pack started coming with flowers and other offerings and they were liking the new systems being put in place. There was less stress and we were all working as a unit. Nancy and other Omegas, Chis and Psis went to help Henry in medical, Kappas were taking into different crafts especially food and beer and because the pack was more harmonious the Gammas and the Deltas, which make a large number of the pack, since so many Omegas and Chis left with The Osupa, were invested in extra and harder training and focusing on getting stronger, including those who used to be of Half Crescent Moon.
After training they would go to medical for treatments, Kayden had ordered that if any Warrior felt any discomfort after training they were to put pride aside and go to medical. Because of the treatments, their healing times where cut to a fifth of the time and usually they wanted to go back to training immediately. This also helped cut shifting time to nothing, like if the moment we decided to shift our bones became much more nimble than before so the mild discomfort completely went away.
We also started sparring more in human form in case we found ourselves in closed quarters and shifting was almost impossible. The Warriors were really liking it, Avis and Adam even brought books and downloaded videos about other martial arts to incorporate. They were loving the food and the beer. The fact that they wouldn't spend hours or days in pain and that their pups were being thought by Fies, Taus and Op-silons, which according to the Osupa system are the best teachers, the Warriors didn't mind taking up the slack.
The Epsilons are the lightest on their feet and best at stealth and speed, so it went to them to be the official patrols. Endora was able to replicate something similar to what the Osupa use to spray themselves to mask their scent, that and their silence made them almost invisible. Yesterday we started trying out the new patrolling system, yet there were no attacks, however the Epsilons reported rogue scent on every side of the border.
I admit I was hesitant with with potential invaders thinking our borders where unprotected it's like we were begging for an attack, the Epsilons were right at the borders as the front line yet it was not to them to attack, their job was to sound the alarm if any intruders breeched the borders so that the Warriors would take over.
We were all on edge waiting yet we were also alert and ready standing by. Midnight came and nothing. We were now hopeful that it would remain peaceful. Yet a little after 2:30 a.m. a patrol sounded the alarm at the western border. Kayden had made sure that not all Warriors were to go in case it was a coordinated attack and to still be alert of the other borders, so the Epsilons were to stay at their posts no matter what to sound the alarm if any other border was breached, Avis was to stay behind with Gabriel to lead the fresh Warriors there or if we needed backup to send a second wave of attack.
The now much more stronger and better trained Warriors lead by Kayden and myself reached the a large number of rogues who clearly didn't expected us. We have become so much faster that we reached the border in no time and moved in long formation with myself and Kayden in the center and the stronger Warriors at the ends to flank them and surround them almost instantly. The Epsilons patrols at that border were to go up the trees and stand by as well in case we needed immediate backup.
Our adrenaline was increasing our strength and speed, we were going directly to their throats and snapping them like twigs. There must have been over a hundred yet we still outnumbered them and made fast work of them. Suddenly we received the alarm from the north border of another breach yet already Avis and Gabriel and their warriors were almost there in formation. We returned to our original place in case another border was breached and like Avis's team only move to their position if they were in need back up.
Kayden asked Avis if our team was needed, yet he told us to just stand by. Josephine, the Epsilon patrol who sounded that alarm was up in the trees as ordered, said that it was also a large group yet we made sure to make both of our teams equal in size to assure they were equally as strong. We stood by waiting and just as Avis's team was almost finished with those intruders, the alarm for the Southern border came, and Kayden and I headed there.
Kayden ordered Avis to finish and go back to position and be alert to the Eastern border, at this point we saw their pattern and suspected that they were testing every border. These were not just some wild rogues, they were in the hundreds if they were willing to gamble with the lives of so many of their own. And just as we reached the South it happened just as Kayden predicted, the alarm for the east was sounded and Avis went for it. And yet we still had fresh Warriors standing by in the event of another alarm or to back us up. No matter were a threat came from, we were prepared. And before we knew it, it was over. We took about 20 prisoners to the dungeons for questioning.
The back up of the Epsilons was not necessary and they remained vigilant for the rest of the night. All the corpses were gathered and burned in a controlled fire. Endora gave us some herbs which made the fire burn tall enough and make it bright red they were there, so if there were more it would serve as a warning... 'Try coming in our territory and all you will find is blood.' it burned bright for the remainder of the night.
We had only two casualties! And immediately the medics came to verify any serious injuries. But mostly it was bones that had to be aligned correctly so that the rapid healing would take over. Yet we were still vigilant and the warriors that didn't partake in battle were now the ones ready for any attacks.
The prisoners were to be wrapped in silver and left in pain through the night while we remained vigilant. But no more attacks came. As the Dawn came, Kayden retreated to the shrine for his now daily ritual and I heard him pray for the first time in many years thanking the Goddess for her protection.
Word got around of that night and we haven't had a threat since.
And this was in only weeks of preparation and training under the new reforms! No wonder The Council used the attack they did. The Osupa live this philosophy since birth! And we didn't have their tech! When Kayden saw how effective the Osupa system was he got angrier at our parents and branded them and The Council as cowards.
The Warriors were so impressed by what they could now achieve with little effort in battle that they wanted to increase their training even more. Even Everett started training, with his mate receiving therapy for her grief he wanted to make sure he was also ready to protect her.
And where the bodies of the dead rogues were burned pyres where put in place with the same red fire burning every night for a week and Kayden ordered they be lit every full moon as well. He didn't say why, but I have an idea that it's to honor Loiza and the tactics she shared with us, which now ensure our own survival.