A Fated Ambush

Almost eighteen years ago. 

It was a chill fall morning. It was towards the end of September as the sun rose in the early morning sky. The sun cast multicolored rays of light to dance across the pre-dawn sky. The sounds of birds awakening filled the morning air as they spread their joy at awakening another morning. The sound of running water in a nearby stream filled the camp with a sense of peace and tranquility. Twenty-five-year-old Luna Lykos quietly slipped out of the tent she shared with her mate, Drogo Lykos. In her arms was the fussy infant, Fenrir Lykos. Her precious perfect son. 

She slipped him into the baby strap that she carried and tucked him against her chest to keep him warm. She walked over and bent down to grab a few pieces of firewood and stroked the fire, building it back up again. Once the flames started licking the top of the wood, she sat back in the folding chair nearby and smiled down at her Fen. Her perfectly bouncing baby boy was wide awake. Of course. He didn't want to sleep when he was supposed to, didn't want to eat when he was supposed to. It all had to be done on his time and only on his time. But she knew one thing that always relaxed her baby. She closed her eyes and began to sing a soft lullaby of her people. Her harmonic and melodic voice filled the campsite as she sang of times long past. Of heroes and adventure, love and loss. She sang the epic tales her people passed down for generations. 

Her boy bounced in his wrappings and smiled up at his mother while she sang. Luna lost track of time as she enjoyed this moment with her baby. She missed the sounds of the tent flap opening and was startled when a hand offered her a hot cup of coffee. "Here my love, this will help warm your bones this morning." Luna smiled as she looked up to see her handsome, fierce male by her side. Drogo Lykos. Feared as a powerful protector of her people and the current leader of their commune. He had long, beautiful curly black hair that fell down past his shoulders and constantly blocked his sharp blue eyes from sight. He had on his usual black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans on a chilly morning as he took a seat in the chair next to hers and spread his hands out over the fire rubbing them together. 

"Thanks baby. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," she said gratefully as she took the cup and enjoyed a sip of the hot coffee, warming her bones up. "Someone didn't want to stay asleep, and I felt like singing this morning," she said apologetically. 

Drogo's handsome face turned to look at the beautiful slip of a woman next to him. Unlike him, she was tiny, barely five-foot-five, thin and lean. No one would guess she was a strong fighter. She was able to plant him on his own rear whenever they sparred. He smiled at her as he shook his head, his long hair moving with the motion around his shoulders. "Don't be sorry, I love to hear you sing," he said softly as he closed his eyes, fighting back a yawn. 

"Is today moving day baby?" she asked as she noticed other members of the camp beginning to stir and break down camp sites across the clearing. 

Drogo sighed regretfully. "Yeah, we decided last night that we had been here too long and need to move on. "We'd have moved sites before now, but there were too many females too close to giving birth," Drogo said as he looked around and watched other members waking up and the signs of activity beginning. 

Every few months, their commune had to pack up and move to a different location to avoid being caught by the public. They had a unique secret. Every single of their commune was a shape-shifter. But that was the problem. The problem was the fact they were werewolves. Thanks to a purge that happened centuries ago, their clan just barely managed to survive the genocide that befell other clans and shifters. Now, they are relegated to staying in the forests, hills and mountains of the world and avoid detection by following a set of new laws and regulations the elders of each commune put down for the safety of clan and kin. 

"You stay here with the munchkin while I get us packed and ready baby," Drogo said as he leaned over and stole a deep kiss from his wife. God's he loved his fierce woman. This tiny twig of a woman was so fierce, protective and kind that she stole his heart the first time they met all those years ago. It was the happiest day of his life when she agreed to marry his grumpy self. 

Luna smiled up at her mate as she felt his passion in the kiss and let him walk away towards their tent and camping supplies. They had a small wagon and a horse that pulled all of their gear, so he slowly broke down the tent, packed it away in containers and chests and walked back and forth, carrying everything over to the wagon and packing everything neatly away for the journey over the next few days. Luna walked around other members of the commune and helped where she could with packing. Fenrir cooed and babbled away as she moved, and made sure he was safely tucked away inside his bindings against her chest. 

It only took a couple of hours for everyone to get fully packed up and ready to move out that morning. The sun wasn't quite in the middle of the sky when they were ready to move out. Drogo looked down at his watch and saw the time was 930 am. Plenty of time to cover almost half the distance to the next camp site. It was about a total of thirty miles away towards the mountain cave system where they would spend the winter in seclusion and safety from the cold and snow. With any good luck, they would arrive by evening the following night. Drogo walked around before they departed. He checked on the elders of the commune, the young, and everyone in between. He made sure their camp site was cleaned and scrubbed with as little evidence of them being there as was possible. He had to ensure their safety. He had to ensure they stayed a secret. Too many enemies out in the world of man that would not want to see a group of alpha predator shifters back and alive. Let alone a group that bears a royal bloodline among them. 

Once the final walk-through was complete and checks were made, he hopped up into the wagon and grabbed the reigns of his horse. "Alright folks, you know the drill. Today we move on to the winter shelters. With luck, we will be there tomorrow night. We need to watch each others backs, watch for danger, and stay together. Remember. No shifting." He called out as he snapped the reigns and the horse began pulling the wagon. The caravan of wagons and carts began filling in behind them as they made their way down the game trails towards the mountains. They were only about a few hundred miles north of a major city, Allario. They stayed this distance so they could occasionally go into town when medical reasons were needed, certain supplies needed gathered, traded or bought. Most of the members did online work to provide some type of income and money for these situations for the group. They had plenty of solar gear and laptops to accomplish such tasks easily while on the road. 

It was a pleasant ride. The children would run around in-between the carts and wagons out of boredom when they didn't want to stay cooped up inside the wagon the entire time. Little Fenrir slept peacefully against his mothers chest as they rode down the trails. Drogo looked up and decided he felt like bringing some life to the ride. He began to sing, his rich, deep bass filled the air as he sang. Luna grinned like a young girl as she heard her mate's voice. His singing voice always made her hungry for him in the best way when she heard it. She joined in the song, her voice a perfect harmony with his as they moved down the path. They lost track of how long they had been singing together, and eventually other members of the caravan joined them in song, their voices filled the forest air as they moved together. 

It was a beautiful day, all things considered, as they made their trek through the woods towards their next destination. Unfortunately, screams rang out from the back of the group as gunshots filled the air. Bodies started dropping along the wagons and horrified screams filled Drogos' ears. An unknown number of enemies came running from the forest, all of them clad in black with an insignia of a circle, with bat's wings sprouting from the top. "Return fire, protect the females and children!" Drogo ordered instantly. His wolf was demanding to be let loose. He could smell the blood all around. More and more members of his caravan were falling under the onslaught. He gave into his instincts as he shifted into this proud werewolf form. He stood tall and angry. Black fur covered his body as he snarled. He threw his head back and let loose a mighty howl of rage and horror. 

Luna acted quickly when she saw him shift. She focused her manaflow and summoned a wall of earth to surround the front few caravans to block incoming fire towards them. There were some women and children gathered around her caravan. "Gather all the surviving males to go with Drogo. The women and children are to come with me, and we must flee while the men go to battle", she called out to her best friend and second female in charge, Allison. The blonde-haired older woman nodded determinedly as she shifted in response to the command from her female alpha. She took off and gathered what survivors she could as Drogo joined his magic with hers. He summoned forth more walls of earth and mud to block and protect more of the wagons as the enemy forces appeared to be getting closer to the front of the caravan. Other men already shifted, and some with firearms in their hands ran over to Drogo. 

Drogo leaned down to kiss his wife deeply. He had to protect his people. He had to stay behind. He had a feeling in his gut that this might be the last time he would ever see her and their son again. He fought back the tears in his eyes as he locked gazes at Luna. She nodded solemnly as she said, "I know my love. We must protect the women and children. If you can't come back to me, then by all the gods take as many of them as you can with you," she said fiercely as she cupped his elongated snout in her hand, feeling his soft fur against her skin for what might be the final time. She was ever a fierce warrior, and she knew the likely outcome of this battle. They would all die to protect the children. They were also sick and tired of being hunted all the damn time, and she wanted blood herself for this ambush. 

Drogo snarled in rage and fear as he turned to face the men that had survived so far. "These men think they can take your wives from you, they think they can take your children. We will not allow this to happen. We will remind these fools why the world feared alpha shifters so long ago. Brace yourselves lads. For tonight, we will dine in hell on the bodies of our enemies!" Drogo called out to the assembled group of warriors. He saw grim, determined faces staring back at him. He threw his head back and let loose another howl, one of hunting and ominous promise. The other members of the pack joined in, their calls echoed through the forest and even made the blood of the enemies run cold. They lost their chance at a genocidal ambush. Now the wolves had a chance to regather and focus. Now the wolves were on the hunt. Some of the ambushers panicked and tried to run away, but were quickly put down by their own commanders for their cowardice. 

Luna looked at the gathered women and children. "Do not worry children, we will make it to the caverns. There will be other communities there that can send help back to your fathers and brothers. We will survive!" she promised them as she summoned more of her manaflow and erected giant walls of mud and earth that would protect them for a few miles of escape, she hoped. She didn't mention how weak this action made her though. She just used so much of her mana to provide this shelter of escape for them. But she did not care. She would give her life to protect this clan if need be. "Allison, lead the way and protect the people. If you see anyone not part of the commune, kill them first and ask questions later" she commanded her second female in charge. 

Allison nodded grimly as she grabbed two of the smaller children and took off at a run. "Yes my alpha," she called back, and the other women followed as Luna stood back, hesitating. 

Drogo snarled as he ripped the throat out of an attacker. He jumped back to avoid a fireblast that was shot towards him. "Keep up the assault, we will survive!" he called out, bolstering morals and their forces. He turned and as he went to lunge for the next attacker, a bullet struck him right between his eyes, ending his life before he even realized what had happened. 

Luna stumbled a step as she felt a crushing pain stab through her heart. Tears flowed down her face instantly as she understood what the pain meant. Drogo was killed. Her beloved mate was gone. She growled and snarled. Thrashed from side to side in pain and suffering as she tried to get her emotions under control. She threw her head back and let loose a banshee cry of a howl, filled with emotions of sadness, loss and grief. "Don't worry filthy wolf, you will join him soon enough," a voice called out from behind her and she instinctively jumped to the side as the sound of a bullet ripped through the air where she stood a moment before. Another of the females that was nearby launched herself a the man and pushed them back by throwing up a wall of fire between them. 

"Alpha Luna, we need you. You have to get it together," she called out as she struggled to maintain the barrier. Luna gritted her teeth to fight through the pain as she summoned the last of her mana and made a hole in the ground. She placed young Fenrir down into the hole and covered it back up, leaving a few holes for air to move through. She hoped this would be enough to hide her son and someone would find him in time. It was the only way she could think of to save his life. "Go, run back with the others, protect them in my stead, Allison," she told her best friend and second in command. 

"Beg your pardon Luna, but that is something I will not obey. We stand and fight, and probably die here together," she declared as she stood side by side with Luna. 

"Stubborn idiot," Luna mumbled as the fire barrier died down, and they saw the number of enemies that were waiting on the other side. Luna paled as she gritted her teeth. This wasn't a simple bandit attack. This was organized and planned. Damn it. 

"To battle!" Allison called out and charged, fire filling her hands as she threw fireball after fireballs. Luna joined her, throwing large builders of rock and stone at them. But it was not enough. They were quickly brought down and ended unceremoniously. 

"Go, finish them!" the leader called out, a man with a single slash down the left side of his face, from temple to chin. 

A few hours later.

A young couple were hiking through the woods when they came out onto a trail and discovered a man-made earthen wall, almost like a tunnel down one of the game trails. "Where did this come from?" the man asked. The was young, maybe in his mid-twenties, as he approached cautiously. 

"I don't know Lucian" the woman replied as she slowly followed him over. She was a beauty with dark brown hair pulled back into an easy ponytail. "Over here!" she called out as she saw a body laid down on the ground, covered in blood. 

Lucian rushed over and gently put his fingers on the woman's neck. He shook his head sadly, "No pulse" he said. They looked down the tunnel and horror filled them both. A multitude of bodies, women and children, filled the tunnel, as if they were massacred. "I don't know what happened here Evelyn," he said softly. 

They slowly made their way through the tunnel. They stopped to examine every one of the bodies they found for a pulse or signs of life. Not a single heart beat among the masses. The horror and fear were palpable as they made their way through the earthen tunnel. Lucian stayed close to Evelyn as they made their way. Towards the exit, they found a pile of several women piled in one area, as if protecting something. 

They heard some muffled cries as they neared the pile of bodies. Lucian gently moved the bodies to the side as he uncovered a small hole in the ground with an infant toddler who cried loudly. Evelyn reached down and gently scooped the child into her arms. She tried hushing and comforting the baby as she rocked him gently in her arms. "Poor little thing, he must have lost his entire family in this massacre," she said softly as she looked at Lucian. 

Lucian nodded grimly as he looked at the precious baby in her arms. "We can't just leave him, we should take him with us and raise him as our own," Lucian said as he walked over and gently cupped the baby's cheek in his mighty paw of a hand. 

"We shall name him, Gavin," Evelyn said as she looked between her husband and the baby already asleep in her arms, as if he sensed he was safe now. 

"Welcome to the family, little Gavin Johnson," Lucian said softly.