*Cali POV*
“She is lying and trying to get between us!” Rose snaps, her eyes blazing at me. 
I don’t know when Leroy snatched Rose from Alloy, but in a split moment she is on the floor lifeless.
“No one talks to my mate like that!” it’s Sky who roars. My hero. I strangely don’t feel any pain for Rose. I hope Leroy doesn’t regret this afterwards. 
“We are outnumbered,” Marcus reports as if Leroy did not just kill Rose. 
“Cali and the pups are priority,” Leroy says before running his hand over by tummy. Marcus and Alloy nod while I shake my head. Can’t they see that I am not the one in danger?
“No. They are here for you,” I tell Leroy who shrugs. 
“It does not matter. You and our pups take priority,” he insists. 
“It matters to me, Leroy. Let me go speak to them. They will not touch me,” I present an alternative as the hauling gets closer. That means the gate guards and the ones outside are already outnumbered. 
“No!” they all respond in unison. 
“Stop being cavemen. They won’t touch me!” I snap. I love them to bits for caring, but no sane wolf will attack me unless they have a death wish. 
“If they do? I can’t risk it, Cali.”
“Leroy,” I call to him while he shakes his head. He has seen first hand what happened to the rogue who once bit me. 
“As your mate and your king, I forbid you from going out there.”
“You can’t just…” I am trying to object when he cuts me off. 
“I can and have. Disobey me and…”
“And what, Leroy?” I snap, my anger rising. He always finds it easy for him to die and leave me, while knowing that I can’t really live without him. 
“I will reject you and I will never forgive you if something happens to our pups,” he continues. 
Now I am fuming. I storm towards the stairs. 
“Babe?” I can hear panic in his voice.  We don’t fight like we used to because we understand each other now. Well, that’s what I thought. 
“Leave me alone!” I yell and curse under my breath when he holds on the wall to stop himself from falling. The Sable king. Damn it! I forgot how fragile he is. 
“I am obviously never leaving you, you idiot! You can’t irritate me and act all dramatic now with enemies at the door!” I yell, unable to help myself and feel his heart picking up before our eyes lock. 
“We need a plan without tearing at each other, commanding or threatening each other,” I say and he actually agrees. 
“Okay, what do you have in mind?”
Now, that’s my mate. My anger is completely gone. 
“The signal is jammed. I can’t reach my family,” Alloy reports. “They should be here soon,” he adds right when the door falls and angry wolves come charging at us. My eyes land on the woman in the middle with snow white hair. 
“She has our Epsilon and Rufus,” I say noticing the familiar charms on her neck. That must be the witch Rose spoke about. Now it makes complete sense why they both have not been seen. They would have warned us about this attack. 
Leroy instinctively pulls me to be behind him as he, Alloy and Marcus shift. 
She lets out an evil laugh before raising her right hand and clenches it while her evil eyes focus on me. I can feel my feet leave the ground and the tightness around my neck. I am suddenly struggling to breathe. 
“Sky, the witch,” I link with my pitch black humongous mate, who looks at me before leaping into air, charging towards the woman. She is obviously targeting me with her witchcraft to lure Sky to a slaughter. 
“Be careful,” I link with Sky again. “You are my everything.”
He does not respond, but I can feel his heart racing and his anger exploding. 
“Alloy, Marcus, protect him,” I mutter, my head already spinning. I am suffocating. 
“The Sable king!” Gasps fill the hall. 
I guess many had not seen Leroy since he transformed. This may be good for us. They know all about the legend. 
“He can’t be defeated,” others murmur as they turn to flee. It’s over half of the group, but we are still outnumbered. 
“He can be if we have his mate!” the witch snaps and tightens her fist, completely cutting off my air supply. I guess they did not rehearse this well. I have to act strong. My hands are around my neck to try and relieve whatever she is doing to me, but there is nothing. She is over a metre away but her actions are suffocating me. Sky better get to her soon because I can feel myself slipping away. I can’t shift into Gold now, that would be fatal to our pubs and she knows it. 
Sky, Alloy and Marcus are now surrounded by over thirty wolves, who, I assume have decided to challenge the legendary Sable king and a hybrid or die trying. All this just to get to Leroy. I really don’t get what they have against my mate. 
I am slowly drifting off when the man who cut me out of my dying mother’s womb flashes in my head. He raised me for months before leaving me to be found by Marcu’s parents’ maid. We must still have some connection. He always showed up when I was troubled. I don’t know what the witch did to him, but I try to connect with him. 
“I need you. She is using your power to kill me.”
I don’t feel anything. I don’t even know if I should feel something. I wince when Alpha Oscar’s teeth sink on Marcus’ hind leg. Blood sprays out painting the floor crimson. Lord no!
Panic washes over me. I can’t lose my brother. 
“Good always triumphs over evil. She can’t use your power to kill me. I need you. Your child, Luna and Queen needs you. The nation needs you,” I try again, desperate and completely helpless. Marcus can’t continue fighting with his leg injured like that. Sky and Leroy won’t be able to win this on their own, not if I collapse. My mate will be completely paralysed by that, but I don’t think I can hold on any longer. I can’t help wondering if this is our punishment for defying the goddess. If it is, I hate her. 
“You must be a witch like her, not a god!” I am cursing the diety in my head. Everything about your punishment for Leroy because of his father’s sin was flawed. You don’t deserve to have any command over us!” I continue cursing. My head feels heavy and I am suddenly so drowsy.