The Alpha’s Fated Outcast: Rise Of The Moonsinger

Chapter 352: Face to face with evil...

Lyla

I tried to get up, to crawl my way to Ramsey.

If only I could move to where he lay, I could heal him. I could heal them all. A strangled sob escaped my throat as grief settled over me. I wanted to cry, to wail like Neriah when she had seen Rian lying next to Thames, both of them lifeless.

Just as the feeling settled over me, I heard a still voice.

"Lyla!"

It was Nymeris.

"Nym," I settled for a minute, straining to listen, "Is that you?"

There was silence for a bit, almost when I thought she wouldn’t answer, a soft murmur came.

"Lie on your side, Lyla, you’ll hurt the babies if you lie on your belly."

"Ramsey," I breathed out, "Everyone was hit, Nym... Maybe they’re dead."

"Hysterics and grief would do nothing for you. If you don’t want to end up dead like Neriah, you’ll do as I have told you. Lie on your back!"

I sighed, rolling my eyes. Nymeris was never sweet. The only time she acted tender towards me was the day I had to kill her. With the strength in me, I managed to roll back until I was lying on my back.

My hands touched my belly, wondering if the babies were doing fine.

"It’s dangerous to transform into your wolf form when you’re pregnant," Nymeris’s voice filtered into my mind again. So, it’ll be you doing all the fighting, but I’ll help you. You can do a lot in your human form, even though you’re not properly healed. We don’t have much time, so we’ll do our best."

"I thought you died," I murmured, confused "Or did everything just happen in my memory?"

"I’m here for the babies, Lyla. If you die, then I’ll be completely gone, which is what I’m trying to prevent. We have the twins to worry about, including the future."

I nodded.

The next instant, her presence flooded me like fire, giving me strength. My muscles unlocked, my vision cleared, and I roused myself to my feet just as a Feral launched itself through the smoke toward Ramsey’s unconscious form.

I threw myself between them, caught the creature mid-leap and blasted it with a burst of white light. It dissolved into ash before it could touch him.

As I bent to check Ramsey, Nymeris’s voice filtered into my ears. "He’s fine, Lyla. You can come back for him later. Tackle the Ferals first, I don’t have all day."

True to her words, more Ferals were pouring through the destroyed tent walls. These weren’t the weakened creatures we’d just defeated – these were stronger and seemed to know what they were doing.

I fought with everything I had, channelling my abilities and every combat skill I learned. Without my wolf form, I had to rely on speed and precision rather than strength. Every movement had to count.

With each strike, I kept blasting white light from my hands, cutting through Feral after Feral. But for every one I destroyed, two more seemed to take its place.

Some of our surviving warriors rallied to help me, but were quickly overwhelmed. These Ferals fought with intelligence and coordination—nothing like the mindless beasts we’d faced three hours ago.

I kept fighting, protecting Ramsey’s and the others’ unconscious form while trying to reach Caius and Terra. But I was tiring fast. The exertion of using my abilities, combined with the physical demands of combat, was draining me rapidly.

Then I saw them.

Seven Ferals emerged from the smoke, moving towards me. My blood ran cold as I recognized them—the same seven I’d encountered in the Northern Forest years ago after my fight with Ramsey.

Back then, they had a Trinax, which turned out to be Mr. Dupree. Seeing them again could only mean one thing: Xander was nearby, and they’d been hunting for me specifically.

They began to circle me slowly, their glowing red eyes fixed on my face. Unlike the chaotic battle around us, they moved patiently like they had the whole time in the world. They knew exactly what they were doing.

I backed toward where Ramsey and the others lay motionless, keeping myself between them and the advancing Ferals. My hands glowed with white light, but I felt something was wrong. I was feeling sluggish.

"Come on then," I whispered, raising my hands in a fighting stance. "Let’s finish this."

For a moment, they just circled, studying me. Then, without warning, all seven launched themselves at me simultaneously.

Time slowed as I watched death rushing toward me from every angle, knowing there was no way I could fight them all at once.

***

Just as the seven Ferals launched at me, a crack split the air. One of the creatures jerked backwards mid-leap, a tranquillizer dart protruding from its neck. The Feral stumbled and crashed to the ground, twitching but very much alive.

Caius burst through the smoke, his tactical crossbow already loaded with another dart. He was bleeding from his head, arms... There were also blood-stained patches on his shirt, and part of his armour was torn.

"Miss me?" he shouted over the chaos.

Behind him came Terra and Sage, one of the three priestesses, who had come with Terra to White Mountains.

Terra threw herself at the nearest Feral without hesitation, pulling a dagger from beneath her clothes. She drove it deep into the Feral’s chest. noveldrama

Sage tackled another one, her hands burning brightly with protective ward magic that sent the Feral flying backwards into a pile of debris.

That left me with four.

I didn’t waste the opportunity. Drawing on every ounce of energy I had left, I launched myself at the closest Feral. White light erupted from my fists as I struck its chest, and the magic burned through its flesh like acid. The Feral howled and staggered backwards.

I spun toward the second one, ducking under its claws and driving my knee into its stomach. As it doubled over, I grabbed its head and channelled my power directly into its skull. The Feral’s eyes rolled back as the energy coursed through it.

The third one came at me from the side, but I was ready. I caught its arm mid-swing and twisted, using its momentum to flip it over my shoulder. It crashed into the fourth Feral, sending both tumbling to the ground.

I stood over them, breathing hard. The white light was still crackling around my hands, but my victory was short-lived.

The wounds on all seven Ferals began to close immediately. The dart puncture sealed itself. The knife wound knitted together. Even the burns from my moonsinging ability faded like they’d never existed.

Within seconds, all seven creatures were back on their feet, completely healed and very much alive.

"Well, that’s not good," Caius muttered, reloading his crossbow.

The four of us instinctively moved together, standing back to back in a defensive circle as the Ferals regrouped around us. Terra pressed her back against mine, her breathing steady despite the situation.

"Any bright ideas?" she whispered.

"Working on it," I replied, watching the Ferals circle us.

The largest Feral—the one I’d hit with the knee strike—bared its teeth in what might have been a grin. Then it charged.

Caius fired dart after dart. He was a good shooter, so every shot hit its mark. But the tranquillizer only slowed the Ferals for seconds before their enhanced healing burned through the drugs.

He switched to explosive bolts, the small charges ripping chunks of flesh from the creatures, only to watch helplessly as the wounds sealed themselves almost instantly.

Terra danced between two Ferals. Her dagger left trails of silver light as she carved strange patterns in the air. Each cut she made on the Ferals made sizzling sounds as if she were burning something, causing them to shriek and recoil. But even then, they healed in a few seconds.

Sage chanted continuously, weaving protection spells around our small group while launching bolts of pure energy at any Feral that got too close. Her magic created temporary barriers of light that the creatures couldn’t cross—but the barriers only lasted seconds before shattering under the Ferals’ attacks.

I fought with everything I had, white light flowing from my hands. I burned through Feral flesh, shattered their bones, and even managed to tear one’s arm completely off. But nothing stuck. Every injury healed within moments, leaving them as strong as ever.

The largest Feral caught me with a hindleg blow that sent me staggering. Before I could recover, another grabbed my arm and threw me toward the edge of our defensive circle. I hit the ground hard, tasting blood.

"Lyla!" Terra screamed, spinning to help me.

That moment of distraction cost her. A Feral’s claws raked across her shoulder, tearing through her protective vest and leaving deep gashes in her flesh. She cried out but kept fighting.

Caius had run out of explosive bolts and switched to using a gun firing them as fast as he could draw. But conventional weapons were useless against creatures that could heal from anything. A Feral grabbed his crossbow, snapped it in half, and then kicked him across the clearing.

Sage’s protective barriers were failing faster than she could rebuild them. Sweat poured down her face as she pushed her magic beyond its limits, but I could see her energy flagging. One of the Ferals broke through her defences and caught her in the ribs with a vicious kick. She doubled over, gasping for air.

We were losing. Badly.