Chapter 93.
Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Siege of Amalfi
on POV:
The flight to Italy is a blur, every mile that passes beneath us bringing us closer to Phera, to ending her torment. My brothers and I sit in grim silence, each lost in our own thoughts, our own fears for what we might find when we arrive. The coordinates lead us to a small coastal town named Amalfi, a picturesque place overshadowed now by the dark deeds unfolding at its edges.
The moment our jet touches down, we’re met by a team of local pack, RavenClaw Pack, who’ve been briefed and are ready to assist according to the eilter team the alpha king had sent with us. We waste no time; every second counts. Our command center is set up in a secure location just outside the town, hidden from view by thick groves of lemon trees, their sweet scent a stark contrast to the gravity of our mission.
Axel takes charge of the aerial surveillance, coordinating with drone operators to get a live feed of the area. Zane and I focus on ground operations, mapping out the approach and positioning of our troops. We’ve divided our forces into three. units: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Alpha will secure the perimeter, ensuring no one enters or leaves the area without our
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knowledge, which is run the RavenClaw’s pack Alpha, Vince. Beta is in charge of diversion, creating enough disturbance to draw the enemy’s attention and resources away from where we believe Phera is held, which is headed by their Gamma, Thomas. Gamma, which I lead, is
the rescue team.
ed to be precise,” I instruct the unit leaders. “Any mistake
пр
ip them off or, worse, put Phera in direct danger. We do his clean, we do this quietly.”
The troops nod, understanding the stakes. Each man and woman is sharply focused, their expressions set in lines of determination. They know what Phera means to us, to the pack.
As the sun begins to set, casting long shadows over the rugged cliffs that line the coast, our surveillance drones pick up movement in a secluded villa perched on the edge of a steep drop to the sea. The place is fortified, more than usual for a private residence, with guards patrolling the perimeter at regular intervals.
“That’s got to be it,” Zane mutters next to me, pointing at the screen where thermal images show several heat signatures within the villa.
“Looks like they’re not taking any chances,” Axel adds, his voice grim. “But neither are we.”
We finalize our plans, going over every detail again and again. As night falls, we’re ready. The air is tense with anticipation and
Chapter 93
fear, a potent mix that keeps adrenaline coursing through my veins. I check my gear for the umpteenth time, making sure everything is in place.
The operation is set to commence at 0300 hours, under the cover of darkness. Beta units start their manoeuvres, a series of controlled explosions and fires designed to pull the enemy forces outward. As expected, we see the villa’s defences scramble, their focus shifting towards the source of the disturbance.
It’s our cue. Gamma moves out, silent shadows flitting through the underbrush. Every step is calculated, every breath measured. My heart pounds not just with the fear of battle but with the hope, the desperate, clawing hope, that we’ll be in time to save her.
We reach the outer walls of the villa without incident. Using grappling hooks, we scale the walls quickly, efficiently. From here, it’s a sprint to the building, to the room where we believe they’re holding her.
As we position ourselves outside the villa, ready to breach, I feel a sharp pang through the mate bond-a spike of fear, of pain, from Phera that nearly brings me to my knees.
“Hold on, sunflower,” I whisper into the night. “We’re here. We’re coming.”
Axel POV:
the cloak of darkness, the operation unfolds with ision, each team executing their role with lethal efficiency. rom my vantage point, I coordinate the movements, my eyes flicking between drone feeds and the real-time updates from our ground forces.
Alpha team, led by Vince, the Alpha of the Raven Pack, secures the perimeter. Their task is crucial; they form the steel ring that nothing can breach. Vince’s commands are crisp over the comms, his experience in tactical manoeuvres evident as he positions his team at critical points, ready to intercept any attempt at reinforcement or escape by the enemy.
Meanwhile, Beta team under Thomas, the Gamma of the Ravenclaw Pack, continues to sow chaos, their diversion tactics- peeling away layers of the enemy’s attention from the villa. The sound of controlled explosions ripples through the air, a series of deep, guttural thuds that shake the ground and ignite the night sky with bursts of fire and light. Thomas orchestrates each detonation with precision, his team’s actions drawing more of the enemy’s forces away from where we suspect Phera is being held.
The tension is palpable, a tangible thread stretched taut among all of us as we inch closer to the villa’s main building. My heart. hammers in my chest, not just with the adrenaline of the imminent confrontation but with the growing urgency to find Phera, to bring her back from this brink of despair.
“Gamma team, you’re up,” I relay to Damon over the comms, my ce steady despite the storm of emotions inside me. “Proceed h entry.”
Acknowledgment crackles through the headset, and I watch through the night-vision cameras as Damon and his team, cloaked in the shadows, make their approach to the villa. They move like phantoms, barely a whisper of sound, even as their presence is as lethal as the night itself.
The drone overhead provides a bird’s eye view, the infrared cameras picking out the heat signatures of the guards still patrolling the grounds unsuspectingly. Each member of Gamma team knows their role, the layout of the villa committed to memory from the countless reviews of the blueprints and surveillance footage.
As they reach the entry point, a side door we identified as the least guarded, the tension shifts, a prelude to the violence I know is about to unfold. The door is breached quietly, a soft hiss of air the only sound as the lock is picked and the door eased open.
Inside, the villa is a maze of shadows and corridors, but Damon leads his team with confidence, guided by the detailed recon we’ve gathered over the last hours. They slip through the hallways, neutralizing guards with swift, silent precision, their movements a dance of shadows within the larger ballet of our operation.
Every takedown brings us closer to her, each cleared room a step nearer to ending her nightmare. Yet with each passing moment, the weight of what we might find grows heavier. fear that we might be too late, that we might find her broke beyond repair, claws at me, a relentless beast that gnaws at the edges of my focus.
But we cannot falter, not now, not when every second counts. So I push the fear down, lock it away where it can’t interfere, and keep my eyes on the screens, on the progress of my brothers as they fight through the darkness to bring back the light of our pack, our Phera.
Zane POV:
As we storm through the villa, each corridor and shadowed corner teems with danger-the kind that sets my blood aflame with a primal urge to fight, to reclaim what’s ours. Damon leads Ga*ma team with a ferocity that matches the pounding fury in my own chest. We’re here for one f*cking reason:
to tear an anyone who stands between us and Phera-my sunflower, our sunflower.
The combat is savage. Each enemy encounter is met with brutal efficiency. Our hands and weapons are smeared with blood; there’s no room for mercy here. The stark halls of the villa resonate with the sounds of bones snapping, flesh tearing, and the last gasps of those foolish enough to face us. They’re just obstacles, soon-to-be corpses in our relentless push toward her.
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“Keep moving!” Damon barks orders.
His voice a grating snarl over the clash of metal and the thuds of bodies hitting the ground. Every room we clear is another step closer, every downed enemy a message: we’re coming, and hell’s coming with us.
The resistance intensifies as we hear the dungeons. These b*ta*ds seem to multiply, but they’re no match for our rage. My claws and teeth are weapons honed by years of combat and the sharp edge of my desperation. I relish the crunch of bone under my fist, the give of flesh beneath my strikes.
“Motherf*ckers!” I spit out with each takedown, my voice rough with rage.
Finally, we break through to the dungeons. The air grows colder, heavier, as if saturated with the despair that has seeped into the stone walls. Damon and I slam our shoulders against the heavy metal door, the sound a booming echo in the confined space. The door groans under our combined force before swinging open with a resounding clang.
The sight that greets us is a gut punch of raw agony. Phera, my heart, suspended and beaten, her once vibrant strength reduced to this… this display of cruelty. Her body is a canvas of bruises and wounds, each one screaming a tale of pain that stokes the fires of my fury to white-hot. She barely lifts her head, but when her eyes find mine, there’s a flicker of relief that quickly morphs. into terror.
“Run!” she chokes out, the warning tom from her lips it a trap
Her words are barely out before the world explodes into chaos A deafening blast sends us hurtling backward, the force of the explosion a physical blow that robs the air from my lungs I hit the ground hard, the impact jarring every bone in my body
“F*ck!” I curse through gritted teeth.
