Chapter 503: Too late sweetheart.

DAVIAN.

The freezing night air slashed against my face like loose glass as we thundered through the northern pass. Pine needles and dark mud sprayed up from our horses’ hooves, the dull thud of fifty heavy cavalry mounts echoing off the jagged rock walls of the valley.

My broadsword was already free of its sheath, resting comfortably in my right grip. My knuckles were tight around the leather hilt, my golden Alpha vision slicing clean through the pitch-black shadows of the dense pine forest.

To my left, Aidan rode like a demon possessed, his massive war horse kicking up gravel as he kept pace. To my right, Damien leaned low over his saddle, his eyes fixed on the tree line ahead, his jaw clenched so tight the muscle was twitching under his jawline.

"How far out are they?" Damien shouted over the roar of wind and pounding hooves.

"Less than a mile now!" Aidan called back, his deep voice carrying over the clanking of our steel armor. "They think they’re slipping through the rear boundary unnoticed! They don’t expect us to hit them out in the open!"

"Good!" I barked out, a vicious, breathless laugh ripping from my throat. The wild thrill of the hunt was surging through my veins, completely drowning out the cold. "I was getting sick of standing around in that courtyard anyway! Let’s see how smart Vincent feels when we drop his surprise party right on its head!"

Up ahead, the narrow forest trail opened into a wide, snow-dusted clearing surrounded by towering black pines.

My eyes locked onto the distant shadows moving through the trees. Dozens of them. Heavily armored Lycan soldiers wearing Vincent’s dark silver crest were moving in a tight, quiet column, rushing toward the rear walls of Noah’s pack house. They had light torches, keeping their march low and quiet, totally unaware that fifty mounted Alphas were bearing down on their flank at full gallop.

"There they are!" I yelled, pulling my reins tight and kicking my heels hard into my horse’s flanks. "Look at these roaches crawling through the dirt!"

Aidan raised his broadsword high into the cold air, his roar shattering the quiet night. "Charge! Leave none of them breathing!"

We burst into the clearing like a runaway train.

The enemy vanguard didn’t even have time to form a shield wall. The moment the sound of our thundering hooves hit their ears, their head officers whipped around in sheer panic, their eyes widening as we smashed directly into their front line.

My war horse slammed into the first two Lycan guards, throwing them backwards into the snow. I leaned out from the saddle, sweeping my broadsword in a wide, lethal arc. The silver blade bit deep into leather and bone, taking out a third soldier before he could even draw his dagger.

"Ambush! It’s the quadruplets!" a Lycan captain screamed from the middle of their line, desperately trying to pull his horse around. "Form up! Form up now!"

"Too late, sweetheart!" I sneered, reining my horse around in a sharp pivot and driving my blade straight through his shoulder guard, ripping him out of his saddle and onto the hard ground.

Beside me, Damien was a total wrecking ball. He dropped off his horse directly into the thickest part of their formation, his broadsword whirring through the dark air like a mill blade, cutting down three guards in two seconds flat. Aidan kept on horseback, trampling their archers before they could even notch an arrow to their bows.

The clearing erupted into total, bloody chaos. The clash of iron, the terrified screams of dying soldiers, and the sharp scent of fresh blood instantly filled the freezing night air.

I swung my leg over my saddle, vaulting down onto the bloody snow beside Damien. A heavy Lycan guard lunged at my chest with a spear, but I caught the wooden shaft with my bare, gauntleted hand, jerking him forward and driving my elbow straight into his nose. His helmet flew off as he hit the ground with a wet thud.

"Davian! On your left!" Damien roared, parrying a heavy axe strike and kicking his attacker back into the bushes.

I spun on my heel, bringing my blade up just in time to catch a broadsword swinging straight for my neck. Sparks flew into the dark air as our blades locked. The Lycan officer pressing against my steel was sweating bullets, his teeth bared in a desperate, wild grimace.

"Where is the Lycan prince?!" I demanded, shoving against his blade with pure Alpha strength, forcing him backward step by step into the mud. "Is he hiding behind you cowards, or did he run back to his mountain tent?!"

"Go to hell, Alpha!" the officer spat, trying to disengage and slice at my ribs.

I ducked under his swing, stepped inside his guard, and drove the butt of my sword straight into his jaw. He stumbled backward, dropping his weapon, and I instantly planted my boot on his chest, pinning him flat against a thick pine trunk. I pressed the cold tip of my bloody blade right under his chin.

"Wrong answer," I growled, leaning in close so he could see the golden fire burning in my eyes. "I’m going to ask you one more time. Where is the Lycan prince?"

The officer gasped for breath, his eyes darting frantically around the clearing as Marcus’s men and our cavalry completely wiped out the rest of his strike team. "He... he isn’t in the clearing!" the officer choked out, blood dripping from his mouth.

"Where is he?" I repeated, my tone dropping into a deadly, quiet promise.

"The main force!" the soldier gasped, tears of pain welling in his eyes. "This... this was just a decoy unit! The Lycan prince took his elite guard around the southern ridge! He’s hitting the pack house from the south while you’re out here!"

My stomach dropped into a cold, heavy pit.

A decoy.

I shoved the soldier away, letting him collapse into the snow, and whipped my head around toward Aidan, who was wiping his bloody blade on a fallen cloak.

"Aidan!" I shouted, my voice cutting through the fading groans of the dying enemy troops. "It’s a diversion!"

Aidan turned sharply, his face instantly darkening. "What did he say?"

"This whole squad was bait!" I yelled, taking heavy strides back toward my war horse. "Vincent didn’t come north! He took his elite unit around the southern ridge! He’s heading straight for the pack house right now!"

Damien swore loudly, shoving his sword back into his scabbard and vaulting back into his saddle in one fluid motion. "Noah and Adrein are the only ones back there!"

"They have the inner guards, but if Vincent brought his heavy elite team, they’re going to hit those gates hard!" I said, grabbing my reins and mounting up, my pulse pounding like a war drum in my ears.

Aidan didn’t waste a single second. He pulled his horse around, pointing his sword back down the dark trail toward Noah’s compound.

"Cavalry! Turn it around!" Aidan roared, his voice echoing off the mountain walls with terrifying authority. "Full speed back to the estate! Now!"

I dug my spurs into my horse’s sides, letting out a ferocious growl as we thundered back into the dark woods.

"Hang on, Maria," I muttered through gritted teeth, my jaw set as the wind whipped past us. "We’re coming."