Chapter 498: check on our mate!

Aidan.

The cold wind whipped down the river pass, smelling of wet earth, iron, and impending blood.

I sat tall in the saddle at the front of our column, my hand resting heavily on the broadsword at my hip. Besieged by thick morning fog, the river boundary stretched out before us. To my right, Davian sat on his war horse, looking completely relaxed, though the vein pulsing along his jaw told me he was ready to snap someone’s neck.

Between us sat Daniel, bound tightly to his mount, his hands tied behind his back and his face bruised and pale as chalk.

A heavy clanking of steel echoed from the pine trees across the river. A dozen heavily armored Lycan guards stepped into the shallow water, led by Alaric—Vincent’s chief general. His dark cape dragged in the mud, his hand resting on the hilt of his weapon as his sharp eyes scanned our line.

"Aidan," Davian muttered under his breath, his voice barely audible over the rush of the river. "Marcus’s men are in position along the ridge. The moment you give the word, they’ll drop the net."

"Let them come closer," I replied, my gaze locked onto Alaric. "Make sure they think Daniel delivered."

Alaric brought his horse to a halt in the middle of the river, the freezing water splashing around his steed’s legs. He looked at Daniel, then at the empty covered carriage sitting directly behind Davian and me.

"Alpha Aidan," Alaric called out, his voice loud and arrogant across the water. "You’re late, the Lycan prince expected your surrender procession at dawn."

"The roads were muddy," I said flatly, keeping my horse perfectly still. "And as you can see, Daniel made sure the arrangements were handled."

Alaric glanced at Daniel, his brow furrowing slightly as he took in the traitor’s bloody lip and panicked eyes. Daniel tried to open his mouth to scream a warning, but Davian reached out, grabbing Daniel’s reins and jerking them hard, forcing the horse to rear up and choking the shout right back down Daniel’s throat.

"Where is the girl?" Alaric demanded, his eyes narrowing into a suspicious glare as he gestured toward the carriage. "The Lycan prince gave explicit orders. Maria is to be handed over untouched."

"She’s in the carriage," I lied smoothly, leaning forward slightly in the saddle. "Unconscious but before we open those doors, I want your word that your vanguard will pull back across the ridge."

Alaric let out a short, mocking laugh, shaking his head as he pulled his broadsword from its sheath. The steel hissed sharply against the leather.

"You don’t negotiate terms, Alpha," Alaric sneered, raising his blade to signal the armored troops waiting in the timber line behind him. "The Lycan prince doesn’t make deals with broken Alphas... surrender the girl now, or we take her off your corpses."

Davian looked over at me, a dark, lethal grin spreading slowly across his face. "Can I kill him now?"

"Wait for it," I muttered, watching as Alaric’s front line stepped fully into the river pass, completely exposing themselves out in the open water.

Alaric spurred his horse forward, leading fifty heavily armed Lycans straight toward us. "Seize the carriage! Kill the Alphas!"

"Now," I growled.

I reached into my coat, pulled out a small flare, and struck it against my saddle horn. A bright crimson light erupted into the foggy sky, burning through the mist.

Before the spark even faded, a deafening horn sounded from the high ridge above the trees.

"Ambush!" a Lycan soldier shouted from the back line, but it was already too late.

Marcus and our elite pack guards burst from the dense timber line on both flanks, launching a barrage of heavy iron spears straight into Vincent’s vanguard. The screams of dying soldiers and the clash of steel instantly shattered the quiet morning.

Alaric’s eyes widened in sheer shock as his front line was cut in half within seconds. He whipped his head back toward me, horror washing over his face as he realized what had happened. "You bastard! Where is Maria?!"

"She was never here, you fool," I snarled.

I drew my broadsword in one fluid motion, the silver blade gleaming in the pale morning light, and kicked my horse straight into the river.

Davian was right beside me, letting out a wild, predatory roar as he charged his mount into the fray, slicing through the first Lycan guard who tried to grab his reins.

I closed the distance to Alaric in two seconds flat. He brought his sword up desperately to block, but I channeled every ounce of my Alpha strength into the strike. My blade slammed into his weapon with the force of a battering ram, snapping his steel clean in half and sending him flying off his horse into the freezing, blood-stained water.

Alaric scrambled backward in the mud, gasping for breath as he looked up at me. I reined my horse to a stop directly over him, pointing the tip of my bloody sword right at his throat.

"Tell Vincent his trap failed," I said, my voice cold as ice, vibrating with pure hatred. "Tell him Maria is safe, her blood is being cleansed, and the we are coming for his head."

Alaric swallowed hard, his face pale as death as Marcus’s men surrounded the remaining Lycan troops, cutting down every soldier who refused to drop their weapons.

Davian pulled his horse up beside mine, wiping a splash of blood off his cheek with the back of his hand, looking down at Alaric with a vicious smirk.

"The valley is ours, Aidan," Davian said, his voice rich with triumphant authority. "Vincent’s forward line is completely wiped out."

I didn’t lower my sword. I looked past the bloody river, past the fallen guards, and straight toward the high mountain ridge where Vincent’s main war camp lay hidden in the mist.

"Keep Marcus and the guards on the boundary," I commanded, my jaw set as I turned my horse back toward the pack estate path. "Secure the perimeter, lock up the survivors, and prep the heavy cavalry."

"Where are you going?" Davian asked, turning his horse to follow.

"Adrein linked me ten minutes ago," I replied, a dark, unyielding promise burning in my chest. "Maria is slightly awake and the poison is coming out of her blood."

Davian’s eyes lit up with fierce satisfaction. "Then what’s the next move?"

"We ride to Noah’s pack house," I said, shoving my broadsword back into its sheath with a sharp click. "We check on our mate, and then we finish this war."