We awoke to the sound of shouts and barks. I sat bolt upright, only to be thrown back down. Cyrus was shoved away as Cerberus pulled me underneath him. I twisted around between his knees, trying to see the commotion around us.

  Asken soldiers were everywhere. Lycans fought for some semblance of order amongst our ranks, but were vastly outnumbered. Already many had fallen. Their bloodied remains brought back memories I cared not to remember of hallway filled with corpses.

  Crimson Claw and Cyrus were back to back, trying to defend against the soldiers closing in around us. I frantically searched for those I knew in the commotion.

  My heart sank as my eyes rested on the light gray form of Soulflight, lying motionless on the ground, blood running from her mouth. Some leaves had been kicked over her, almost as if to begin burial before the battle was even over. I quickly tore my gaze away.

  Shirah was a little ways further, fighting her way through the army. Following ahead of her path, I found River to be in a dire situation. The little lycan desperately clawed at the dozen men surrounding her, but it was clear she was vastly overpowered. Spear wounds dripped along her sides.

  Back in Preene, before I became queen and banned the fights, she had been sentenced to this. I couldn't allow it then, and certainly not now. I made to stand.

  A furred hand shoved me back down. Cerberus took advantage of a temporary respite to shoot me the briefest of glares.

  "But River-"

  "Leave her."

  I struggled against Cerberus. It was no use, his grip was far stronger than I was. I was forced to look on her plight with helplessness and pray Shirah made it in time. The woman made slow progress, and I could see River beginning to weaken. It was only her viciousness which allowed her to hold out as long as she did. The gray female fell.

  A large lycan came barreling through the ranks, clawing and tearing as she went. She moved so quickly it was difficult to track her. It took a moment for me to realize the lycan which burst into the circle surrounding River was Nightmoon. She threw men as easily as I would a ball and sent them crashing into one another. Shirah was able to slip around the disorientated soldiers, falling to her knees to look over the injured female.

  The next scene I witnessed made my heart stop. Alice clung to the straps of Sunshine's harness jacket as the lycan desperately fled from their mounted pursuer. Howens himself galloped after the pair as they wove through the trees, running dangerously close to the miniature battles that peppered the landscape around them.

  I didn't see what did it, whether it be a stray sword or simply the strain, but I did see Alice fall back, still clinging to the remains of the strap which once held her in place. She hit the ground hard, crying out. Sunshine turned on his heels and ran back for her.

  Howens came up behind, arm outstretched as if to catch the toddler by the coat. Sunshine lept at him. His horse skittered to the side, screaming. The Asken lord reached to the opposite side of his saddle. The metal piece he pulled from it was so long I initially assumed it to be a sword. Sunshine lunged again.

  The loud bang that echoed through the forest was unmistakable.

  The tan lycan fell back. He landed a foot away from the toddler, who immediately jumped to his side. I realized with horror that the blast had blown away much of the lycan's shoulder. Smaller wounds were sprinkled on the side of his chest. Red pooled around him. His body heaved with the labor of strangled breathing and silent whines.

  "No! Sunshine!"

  Howens regained control of his horse and now trotted back to the pair. The noise of his first shot had frozen everyone in their place. He slid another canister in the slot, reloading, then leveled the barrel with Alice's head. No one dared move.

  Alice didn't seem to notice the threat. She stroked the fur of her lycan as he continued to fight for each breath. "No, Sunshine, you can't die!" she cried, "Please don't, please!"

  His eyes were misted over in pain. They stared out, unseeing, somewhere above him. Yet, his ears swiveled back in the direction of her voice.

  "Please stay! Don't go!"

  His mouth opened and closed, as if trying to speak. It was as if, for that moment, he thought he could possibly talk and say the words cut from his throat.

  Then he quit breathing.

  "No! Sunshine, don't! Please don't!"

  Howens was talking. I couldn't listen. I couldn't stand to hear his voice. He had no right to say anything, not after what he'd done.

  That was until I did listen.

  "Shirah played her part beautifully."

  My head snapped up to face him. I glared at the Asken Lord. I had not known hatred until this moment. Apparently, he interpreted my expression as interest.

  "Don't worry, she really is a turncoat, and that was a spectacular escape. But did you really think we couldn't catch you? You were all but limping away."

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  I didn't want to hear him. I didn't welcome the flash of doubt of my friend, no matter how brief. No more than I rejoiced at the feeling of utter foolishness his words brought.

  "The problem is, I know you. I knew what you were the moment you were brought in that court, even if no one else understood. I knew your plan to kill Perimone the day I received reports of the Lady of the Lycan Mountains."

  How dare he say anything. A quick search revealed neither Balazza nor her bear. Even still, we were so vastly outnumbered it was clear we were fighting a losing battle. Half my warriors were killed. Why say anything at all? Why not finish us off in silence?

  "Perimone tried to convince me otherwise, but I knew sending that messenger's head to you would win us the war. Just as I knew you'd send your legion barreling over that cliff."

  What was the purpose of this? There was no reason to be speaking. Already my loathing for him was an endless abyss I wanted nothing more to drown him in. I had asked no questions. He was required to give no answers.

  "You're too predictable. So I knew you'd go straight to your precious lycans, it was just a matter of following your trail. I knew that, just as I know how you'll react when I tell you what a good price your wild army's pelts went for in Detris."

  At first, my mind didn't process it. It whirred around, chasing its own tail in confusion rather than accept his meaning. Then it dawned. The castle, the dead lycans...

  Howens’s smirk told me all I needed to know. "We got a bear, sedative, and even had some left over for coffee."

  I stood up so quickly Cerberus was unable to stop me. My hands curled into fists as I pressed them to my sides. I panted with the exertion of keeping myself in place.

  "Come on, poison me. I dare you."

  So that was what he was up to. I was no fool, I knew by now Howens would never allow me to touch him. Once I got within range, he'd turn that horrible long gun on me and I would share the same fate as the lycan which lay at his horse's feet.

  The Asken lord frowned. I assumed he hadn't foreseen that, as he claimed he had with my past and future. However, he did still have a last trick tucked away up his sleeve.

  "I'll let everyone still standing go if you come poison me. I'll even release Dr. Aster to cure the children. All you need to do is touch me."

  I knew what he was asking; he was offering my life for theirs. What I couldn't figure out was why. He had us surrounded, outnumbered, and weakened. It would be more of a massacre than a battle at this point.

  Was it possible the man that just taught me a new definition of hatred was trying to spare his soldiers? Could it be, despite the cruelty he enforced to earn them, for whatever reason, he wished to remove them from harm?

  From where I stood, I could see Nightmoon and Shirah standing over the injured River. I could see Graniteback, panting but confident as he stared down the soldiers around him. Crimson Claw's hackles were raised against the back of Cyrus's coat. But most clearly I could see Jared's face, more whole and healthy than it had ever been in life. That was the way this should have ended. That was the life I promised him.

  Yet, as I made to step forward, furred arms wrapped around my waist. A hand caught mine. I looked first to Cerberus, then Cyrus.

  "I have to," I whispered.

  "You can't." They said it in unison. Despite myself, I smiled. Sometimes they were more alike than I could have guessed. I cared deeply for them both.

  Which was why I had to save them, no matter the cost.

  A rider came cantering down the hill opposite Howens. Balazza trotted around the remains of squabbles. She didn't seem to notice me, only Howens. When she got closer, I could see she was out of breath. She reined her horse to a stop beside his, pointing back the way she had come.

  "They're here!" she said, leaning over to support herself on the pommel of her saddle. "Just over the ridge. They chased me!" It was then I noticed her horse's hind end was bleeding from several lacerations. They looked like claw marks. My eyes darted up to the peak of the hill.

  Several canine forms stood there, observing the scene below. More appeared with each passing second, until the hilltop was populated with a forest of lycans.

  A strange sound echoed through the valley. It took me several moments to realize it was metal armor. A human army was moving quickly. Within a minute they appeared, rushing into the valley like an azure ocean. Their silver accents glittered in the early morning light. Preene's army, my army, twenty two thousand lycans and humans.

  Howens scowled at my supporters. At his signal a trumpet sounded. Balazza kicked her horse, urging the animal to a gallop. Howens wasn't far behind, leaving his foot soldiers to fend for themselves as they hurried to disentangle themselves from our ranks and follow.

  I paid the retreating soldiers little mind as I pushed my way forward. Cyrus trotted past me to join Shirah by River while I knelt beside Alice. The six-year-old turned bright blue eyes up to me.

  "Why'd he do it?" she asked. "Why'd he come back for me?"

  "He-" I hesitated. I didn't know what to say. In truth, I didn't know why Sunshine was so devoted to the girl, no more than I could explain my own instincts to protect her.

  A bump on my arm brought my attention to my side, where Cerberus approached. He flicked his head to the side, gesturing for me to move. Although confused, I did as he asked, shifting back so the lycan could settle in my place.

  The albino lowered his head so that he was eye level with the girl. "Sunshine couldn't leave you because you were in danger. The moment he saw that his life no longer mattered."

  Strong hands tugged at my arms. I allowed Cyrus to lift me up, pulling me to his chest. My gaze didn't leave the pair.

  "But..." Alice swallowed a sob as she looked down on her fallen friend. She was trying to put on a brave face, I could see the conflict in those eyes too young to have learned how to hide it. "His life mattered to me..."

  Cerberus let out a deep sigh, following her gaze. "As much as you loved him, he loved you much more."

  Alice stared at the lycan lying before her as if she had never seen him before. Her mouth was open in a silent ‘oh’. The light he had been named after shone over the horizon, turning tan fur golden as it lit the sky red. His canines sparkled with drying saliva. His bared teeth were the only sign that eyes closed in the moment before death were not simply resting. Despite his imperfections, his scars and half missing tail, it was obvious Sunshine was a truly impressive creature, one of pure power, intelligence, and utmost loyalty. Incorruptible despite all he had suffered.

  The girl fell forward, wrapping her arms as best she could around his neck. "Thank you!" she sobbed, "I love you too, Sunshine! I love you with all my heart!"

  Cyrus squeezed my shoulders as I covered my mouth, trying to hold my own tears back. Cerberus let Alice cry on Sunshine for a little bit, then put a paw on her shoulder, gently pulling her away. She turned to the alpha lycan. He allowed her to bury her face in his fur, wrapping an arm around her back and resting his head on hers.

  The albino alpha turned his crimson stare my way. I nearly gasped. His eyes held such love and devotion, I could suddenly understand the message written in those red irises. It had always been there, as long as I could remember, yet, only now I knew its meaning. Only now could I finally put words to that emotion.

  And his crimson stare said, ‘I would die for you.’