Chapter 109 - The Final Battle

(Luca's perspective)

The sound cracked through the air like a gunshot, a sickening finality that turned my stomach to stone.

Then came the screaming.

Quinn. Ash. Nick. Their voices tore through the chaos, raw and broken, but I couldn't move. My legs buckled, my knees hitting the ground, my breath catching in my throat. My eyes locked on Kimmy's crumpled body, her lifeless stare frozen in time as if the world itself had stopped in reverence of her sacrifice.

Cale turned to me, his lips curling into a slow, victorious smirk. "Your move, Luca."

My move? My fucking move?

I couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. Kimmy was gone. She had given everything—for us. For me. And I had failed her.

Then, something inside me snapped.

A fire, dark and violent, erupted in my chest. My vision blurred, my body shaking as a growl clawed its way up my throat. My fists clenched so hard my nails bit into my palms, drawing blood, but I barely felt it. Ash and Nick were already shifting beside me, their howls ripping through the suffocating air.

Then we moved.

The hall transformed into a battleground. Wolves clashed, snarling and snapping, a blur of fur and fangs. Blood sprayed the walls. Bodies hit the floor. I barely registered any of it. Cale was my only target. I lunged, my claws slicing through the air, but he dodged effortlessly, his smirk never faltering.

"Luca, focus!" Ash barked, but the words barely registered.

Cale danced through our attacks, laughing—actually laughing—as if we were nothing more than a joke to him. Fury burned through my veins, making my movements reckless, desperate. And then I felt it.

Quinn's pain. Her grief.

It hit me like a freight train, raw and unbearable. I turned, my heart twisting at the sight of her cradling Kimmy's body, her sobs cutting through the battlefield like a blade. Derek hovered nearby, his body rigid, ready to fight but torn between duty and the girl he swore to protect.

"Quinn, get out of here!" I shouted, my voice rough with rage.

She shook her head violently, tears streaming down her face. "I can't leave her! I can't leave Kimmy!"

Damn it, Quinn.

I aimed my thoughts at Trinity. "Trinity! Get her out of here! Shift if you have to!"

Trinity didn't hesitate. In seconds, Quinn shifted almost immediately and her wolf form was sprinting toward the exit, Derek and the Lunas of the other packs flanking her. Relief crashed into me, but it was drowned by guilt. I'd forced her to leave her best friend behind. Forced her to abandon Kimmy's body like she was nothing. But I couldn't lose her too.

The fight from the other packs spilled out into the forest where wolves slammed into trees, snapping trunks like twigs while we were still in the big hall-the scent of blood choking the air, thick and metallic. My body was a mass of wounds, but I didn't stop. Couldn't stop. Marcus and Ethan joined the fray, their snarls blending into the chorus of violence. Five against one, but Cale held his ground—no, he did more than that. He dominated. And he hadn't even shifted.

"What the hell is he?" Ethan hissed, panting.

Then, Cale stopped.

The air shifted. Heavy. Suffocating.

A black mist curled around him, thick with the stench of death. Bones cracked, twisting and warping. The world seemed to shrink, pressing in as the creature before us changed into something unnatural.

"Oh, fuck," Ethan whispered.

When the transformation ended, Cale was gone.

In his place stood the Echo Wolf—a nightmare of muscle and shadow, its fur shifting like smoke. Glowing red eyes burned into me, and I felt it the fury and the hate.

Silence fell. Even Amarok hesitated, his growl uncertain.

Then Cale attacked.

Chaos erupted. We lunged as one, a desperate last stand. Claws tore. Teeth snapped. We fought with everything we had, but one by one, we fell. Ash. Nick. Marcus. Ethan. All of them beaten down, broken, unable to rise.

And then, it was just me.

Blood dripped from my wounds, soaking the floor beneath me. My breaths came in ragged gasps, my body screaming in agony. Still, I stood, legs shaking, ready for whatever came next.

Cale tilted his head, amusement flickering in those hellish eyes. "Give up, Luca. You've lost." His voice was everywhere. A whisper. A roar. A force of nature. "There is no defeating me."

I spat blood at his feet.

Then I attacked.

We collided, a blur of claws and fury. Amarok roared inside me, our pain and rage fusing into one last desperate stand. I slashed, bit, fought like a man and animal possessed, but Cale was faster. Stronger. Every hit I landed, he returned twice as hard.

A swipe of his claws sent me flying. My back hit the ground with bone-jarring force. I coughed, blood splattering my mouth. My vision blurred. My body refused to move further and Amarok was no longer able to maintain wolf form.

As I changed back to my human body, I thought about my wolf and the mistakes I made that got us here, my eyes shimmering with tears. "I'm sorry Amarok."

"You did everything you could and we fought well brother. It was an honour to be your wolf." Amarok's voice was faint now, a distant echo.

Cale shifted back, his clothes somehow intact. He loomed over me, a king standing over his conquered enemy.

"You fought well," he mused, tilting his head. "Better than most. You would have made a worthy ally."

I forced out a laugh, hollow and broken. "What the fuck are you?"

His smirk widened. "I am power, Luca. True power. Something you could never comprehend."

"You always planned this."

He gave a casual shrug. "Not quite. Killing you wasn't necessary. Not until you marked Quinn." His eyes darkened. "She can't be mine as long as you live."

Cold dread slithered down my spine.

Quinn. He was doing this for Quinn. My bond with her had sealed my fate.

I had failed her. Failed as her mate. Her protector. Her love.

Tears blurred my vision. I thought of her smile. Her warmth. The future we would never have.

Cale pulled a silver blade from his coat. The metal glinted in the moonlight, a beautiful, deadly promise.

"I'm sorry, Quinn," I whispered, my voice barely a breath.

Then the blade plunged into my chest.