Logan screamed, and several things happened at once.

"Attack!" Casper yelled, and the whole of Logan's warriors roared and raced toward the Rogue King and his army. The rogue army equally chanted in a loud voice and beat their weapons against their shield, then ran at the oncoming warriors.

Both armies met in the middle of the grassy land. The sound of their collision was terrible and harsh to the ears: the screeching of iron on iron as shields met, the barking and snarling of the frontline wolves as they tore at each other, the painful yells of dozens of Lycan warriors as they were stabbed or speared or torn apart to death.

The bodies of Logan's gamma and the spy from the rogue pack were lost in the commotion. Logan barely had time to access the situation of the battle or go after the Rogue King. He had eyes only for his mate. He spotted her in the middle of the stampede, lying on the floor as her life seeped out of her body.

He ran towards her after she slipped to the ground before the rogue army could get to his side. He slid to a stop beside her and grabbed her to himself, rolling to the side before the army could kill them in the stampede.

She was limp and lifeless in his arms, her eyes closed. Logan felt stab after stab of pain hit his chest and his stomach as he looked at her still form. He knelt and cradled her in his arms like a little baby, her blood staining his fighting gear and tears welling up in his eyes as he urged her to wake.

"Aella...baby, Aella. Please open your eyes." He whispered while hugging her close to him as tears fell from his eyes and onto her face.

The kind of pain that came with his first wolf turning was the only way to explain the pain he felt as he watched the life leave her body. He knew that wolves could not heal in their human form, and the only way for her to survive the stab wound was to morph into her wolf form.

But he knew she couldn't gather the willpower to Turn if she was losing blood like this. He looked around, desperate for help, but Casper was at the head of the pack warriors, hacking down rogue wolves with a sword. He looked back at his mate and continued to push and encourage her.

"You can do this; I know you can. You have to Turn, Aella. Turn for me. It is the only way you can survive this. Turn, Please Aella. Don't leave me." He continued to whisper to her, urging her to wake up.

But she remained still and unmoving, regardless of the constant pushing and encouragement. He frantically pushed the strap of her dress to the side and felt for the pulse at the base of her neck. He could feel it weakening and slowly dying out as the seconds ticked by.

The crescent tattoo on her shoulder was burning hot, so hot that even Logan could feel it through his fingertips. He hastily withdrew his hands from her body and watched as the tattoo changed color, from its usual black to a bloody red. Then suddenly her body went limp and her heartbeat died in his ears.

"Fuck! No!"

He could hear the desperation and sheer pain in his voice and could feel the tears of agony running down his cheeks. This woman had changed him in so many ways. He, to whom tears or crying was so foreign, was crying openly in the presence of his warriors. He was oblivious to the flying spears and swords around him as he had eyes only for his mate.

There was a steady pounding in his ears as he looked at the still form of Aella in his arms. Then, just as he was about to let go of her body, she let out a small gasp and opened her eyes. Logan stared at her, his face straightening as he sobered up immediately.

"Yes...Aella, look at me. Look at me, baby." He said and she slowly turned her head to him. She was still bleeding out, but at least she was alive, albeit barely.

"Aella, you're going to do something for me real quick now." He said, slightly panting from the effort of holding her up. "I want you to morph into your wolf form. That's the only way you can heal, Aella. You're going to bleed to death if you don't morph."

Tears dropped from Aella's eyes as she looked at her mate. "I can't. I... can’t. Logan—"

"You can. I will help you."

"I'm going to die, Logan," Aella said, tears falling from her sodden face as she looks away.

"You're not. Aella, look at me." Logan begged and commanded her at once. She shook her head slowly, sobbing.

"I can't, Logan. Just let me die."

"You're stronger than this, Aella. I know you are—"

"No..."

"Aella, listen—"

"No!"

"Look at me!" Logan yelled, channeling the power of alpha into his voice. She had no choice but to turn her head and open her eyes. 

Their gazes locked and he willed all the power in his body into hers through that one gaze. He could feel the irises of his eyes burn as the current of energy between them tightened. Then the brown of her eyes started to glow until it turned into a deep golden color. And Logan gave her one last, simple order through their mind link.

Turn.

Aella's body began to rise in the air. Logan unwound his arms around her and stepped away, his eyes never straying from her. For a moment, the both of them seemed to be caught in a web of current as Logan sent bolts of strength after bolt of strength through her body. As alpha, he had the power to provide strength for any of his pack members that were weak.

Logan was vaguely aware of the battle around them subsiding as both the rogue army and his warriors stopped to watch the scene. Aella's body floated a few metres above the ground, her white dress billowing around her legs and her dark hair falling in limp strands. Her eyes were still open, but they were staring eerily at the sky now. She looked more like a corpse than ever.

Then suddenly she opened her mouth and let out a piercing scream that cut through the ears of all the warriors around. She twisted in the air and began to Turn slowly. Bones cracked and muscles tore as her wolf form came out. Her limbs elongated, her canines shot out and white fur sprouted across and along her body. 

Then Logan broke eye contact with her and she fell to the ground. Her white dress lay in tatters around her, and in the midst of it stood a Great White Wolf.

The wound in her chest had completely healed and she was looking as strong and as radiant as ever. Her white fur gleamed, and Logan noticed that the crescent tattoo on her shoulder was completely gone.

Aella pawed the ground and snarled at the onlookers, her amber eyes glowing like golden balls. Then she looked to the side where Logan stood, and he heard her, strong and brave through their mind link.

Thank you.

Then Logan heard a vague gallop of a horse and looked to the side. The Rogue King was coming towards them at full speed, the rage clearly evident in his eyes. Aella began to growl as the king approached them and Logan swiftly moved to her side, changing to his own wolf form as he went.

The two wolves stood side by side as they looked at their enemy:  so different in color and yet so alike in motive. Aella ran forward to meet the Rogue King and Logan followed, keeping an eye on her. He knew she could take care of herself, but he had gone through too much heartache in the past few hours that he wasn't about to let her go so easily again.

The Rogue King had a spear in his hand, its tip gleaming with Aella's blood. The spear was aimed right at her chest and immediately he got within a safe distance from the White Wolf, he threw it at her.

The spear, however, had no impact on Aella. It seemed to bounce off her fur and shattered into pieces. Aella kept running at the Rogue King, who drew a sword from his belt.

"Today is your last day, White Wolf." The Rogue King roared and raised the sword high. But before he could do anything, Aella leapt into the air and pushed him off his black stallion. The both of them rolled across the ground littered with bodies of fallen warriors.

They ended their rolling with Aella on top and the sword fell out of the King's hands. She held his neck with one hand and smacked him across the face with the other, claws extended. 

The Rogue King roared in agony when Aella's claws made contact with his skin. They left inch-deep clawmarks across his face, from which poured blood. The wounds sizzled as though Aella's claws were acidic.

Logan, Casper, and the rest of the warriors watched as the claw marks continued to sizzle and expand. The Rogue King gave a high-pitched scream as his tattooed face continued to burn. It spread across his body and Aella was forced to release him and step back.

Then as the Rogue King continued to burn to death, each and every one of the rogue warriors began to fall down dead. The tattoo on the Rogue King's face which had anchored them had been destroyed, and all of them went down with their master. They continued to fall down dead one after the other, until all that was left on the field were Logan, Aella, Casper, and the pack's warriors.

"It's over. It really is over." Casper whispered, laughing silently.

A conch horn came off from the direction of the pack house and everyone on the battlefield could hear roars and yells of jubilation coming from that direction. Logan, still in wolf form, slowly padded to where Aella stood and escorted her toward the pack house, followed by their warriors.

The battle was over.