<h4>Chapter 226: Call of the Moon</h4>


    The Troll King’s next roar drowned out thest of Eleanor’s words, but it didn’t matter. The decision had been made.


    Her body began to change into her silver wolf form... bones shifting, muscles twisting as fur burst across her arms. Her jaw cracked outward, forming a snarling maw. Within heartbeats, the youngest Alpha of the Rayon n stood in her full werewolf form... towering above all else, exuding a potent aura. Her green eyes glowed like the ancient, silent light of a star. Her majestic silver fur caught and reflected the brilliance of the chamber’s light.


    She raised her head and unleashed her most powerful Alpha ability... the Call of the Moon. A thunderous howl reverberated through the throne room, and one by one the others answered.


    Maira knew exactly what Eleanor was doing. Though she was an Alpha herself, she felt the primal urge to yield and follow. The ancient way of the werewolves... follow the strongest, the one who can call the moon. She too could summon the Call, but this time she knew better than to im the lead.


    Dodging a strike from the Troll King, she shifted. A magnificent emerald-green werewolf emerged into view. The long, dark-green fur along her neck gleamed in the light, and her golden eyes zed like miniature suns. Maira shook her mane like a lion and answered the Call. A born Alpha, voluntarily submitting to another. With her voice joining Eleanor’s, both of them surged in strength.


    Jaciara shifted next, her form a spring-green wolf wreathed in a faint mist that drifted from her fur. Though not as radiant as Maira, her body was broader, stronger. She threw her head back and howled with all her might.


    Joshua and Kiara transformed mid-movement. Joshua became a lean grey wolf, his toned muscles speaking volumes of his physical prowess. Kiara’s green eyes shone with sharp ferocity as her limbs elongated and reshaped. She emerged as a white wolf, elegant and pure in form, yet fierce in presence. Together, they raised their voices to the Call.


    Ophelia lingered in Eleanor’s shadow. Her wolf-form was silent, cloaked in darkness... only Eleanor felt her presence as she too answered the Call.


    Together, six werewolves stood against the Troll King. Two Alphas at their head, every one of them far stronger than before.


    The Troll King did not flinch at the chorus of howls. If anything, it enraged him further. His chest swelled, ribcage stretching unnaturally as he let out a roar that shattered the air, spraying spittle across the floor. The sound cracked stone overhead, fragments of skulls tumbling down like brittle rain. Then, with shocking speed, he charged.


    The throne room quaked with each colossal stride. His massive bulk surged forward, terrifyingly swift. His first swing came like a battering ram. The werewolves scattered, ws screeching on polished stone as they leapt clear. Even so, the shockwave rattled their bones.


    Eleanor darted in first, silver fur shing, ws faintly aglow beneath the harsh light. She shed across his thigh in a blur, and flesh peeled away in bloody ribbons. But the wound sealed itself before her paws even struck the floor again. The blood that spilled hissed against the stone, steaming like molten tar.


    "Damn regeneration!" Eleanor snarled, rolling aside as the Troll King’s knee mmed down like a falling boulder.


    The King bellowed and swung his arm. Eleanor twisted aside just in time... but the sheer force of the air hurled her sideways, mming her into the throne of skulls. Bone cracked as part of the grotesque seat shattered; skulls ttered across the floor in a rattling cascade. Splinters bit into her ribs. She staggered upright, blood dripping from her muzzle.


    Maira jumped onto the Troll King’s back, ws plunging deep. She wed violently, ripping a thick strip of muscle from his shoulder. Dark blood spurted in a torrent, spattering her emerald fur. The Troll roared and reached behind, fingers like spears punching through her side. His ws mped her torso, then flung her away like a rag doll.


    Maira’s howl of agony tore through the chamber as her body hit the stone wall. She slid down, leaving a smear of blood in her wake. Her green fur was drenched crimson, her body trembling, but still clinging to life.


    "MAIRA!" Jaciara’s howl split the air. The spring-green wolf lunged, her mist thickening into a storm. She tore at the troll’s knees with savage fury, ws digging again and again, hacking bloody chunks free. Each strike left a mess of torn flesh, but the wounds sealed almost as quickly as they opened.


    The King raised his leg and brought his foot down like a hammer. The impact caved the stone floor and nearly crushed Jaciara beneath. She rolled clear at thest instant, but the force of the blow snapped ribs like twigs. The ground split beside her. For a sickening heartbeat, she saw death bearing down. With sheer willpower, she dragged herself away, chest heaving, ribs crushed inward, blood pouring from her jaws.


    Joshua darted in then, his grey wolf form weaving side to side, too quick for the eye. He struck with brutal precision, ws tearing at tendons, joints, weak spots. His shes ripped open the troll’s wrists, exposing tendons that writhed like pale snakes. For one precious heartbeat, the regeneration faltered. Joshua pressed his attack... only for the King’s hand to close around him mid-leap.


    The troll’s massive fingers crushed his torso like a vice. With a single wrenching twist, Joshua’s left arm tore free. Blood gushed in a crimson fountain, sttering the throne room, streaking Eleanor’s silver fur. Joshua’s howl of pain warped into a furious snarl as he sank his teeth into the troll’s thumb, ripping half the flesh from the hand before being hurled into a pir. He hit hard, his stump spraying blood across the stone.


    Kiara sprinted to his side. Her white fur, now drenched in red, bristled with rage. With a savage leap shended on the troll’s face, ws gouging deep into its eyes. One orb burst beneath her strike, hot fluid pouring down her legs. She ripped and tore, blinding him.


    The King shrieked and smashed his skull against the wall, nearly crushing Kiara between his face and stone. She dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Her body went limp for an instant, bones snapping under the brutal fall, yet her eyes still glowed faintly through the haze of pain.


    Eleanor’s fury exploded. With a snarl that split the air, she leapt and drove her ws into the Troll’s chest. She raked downward, tearing muscle from sternum to belly, spilling entrails across the floor. The stench of bile and blood choked the chamber. Her muzzle dripped crimson as she mped her jaws around his throat.


    The Troll seized her by the waist and crushed. Bones cracked under his grip. Eleanor coughed blood, silver fur slicked red, yet she refused to let go. Her ws dug deeper, ripping chunks of flesh free.


    "Don’t stop!" she roared, her voice mangled but thunderous. "TEAR HIM!"


    Hermand reignited the pack.


    Maira staggered upright despite the gaping hole in her side, her emerald fur slick with blood. She lunged and mped her jaws around the troll’s hamstring, shaking until the tendon snapped loose. Jaciara tore at his other leg, ws raking until bone gleamed white through the gore. Joshua, one-armed and reeling, hurled himself back into the fray, his ws carving into the troll’s back with the methodical savagery of a butcher. Kiara, broken and barely breathing, dragged herself forward and sank her teeth into his ankle... wrenching and ripping until her own jaw cracked under the strain.


    The throne room became a ughterhouse.


    The Troll King howled, his vast body convulsing. Chunks of flesh sloughed off in steaming heaps, his iron crown ttering into a pool of gore. His regeneration faltered atst, overwhelmed by the relentless assault of the pack.


    But he still fought. His fist crashed into Jaciara’s ribs, splintering them further in a spray of blood. His ws ripped across Eleanor’s back, opening long furrows through silver fur and flesh. Maira lost an ear, her emerald muzzle shattered by a backhand strike. Joshua’s leg was snapped beneath a stomp, bone jutting through the skin. Kiara’s tail was torn away in a wet spray of bone and blood.


    Still they fought, tearing him apart piece by piece, until the throne room ran ankle-deep with blood.


    Then the King suddenly stilled. His body sagged, then straightened with dreadful purpose. He was preparing hisst resort... the Roar of the King. A final strike, unleashed only at the brink of death. It was a weapon designed to break a pack: an explosion of raw force that killed or crippled everything in its radius, buying precious time for reinforcements to arrive. The price was all of the King’s remaining strength, but for his kind, it was an honourable way to fall.


    His body began to swell, veins bulging, muscles ballooning as energy surged through him. His bleeding ceased. Power rose like a tide. Eleanor’s instincts screamed in warning.


    "Run! As far as you can... he’s self-exploding!" she roared.


    The team scattered, desperate to escape the st. But what Eleanor expected never came. Instead, the King threw back his head and unleashed a roar so vast it became a weapon... pure, crushing soundced with raw energy. The st yed their bodies from the inside out. Wolves screamed in agony, muscles tearing, ears bleeding, bones cracking under the invisible pressure. The chamber itself shook, stones crumbling from the walls, until atst the roar subsided.


    The King sagged to his knees, panting heavily. He looked around the ruin. Three lifeless bodiesy crumpled against the walls. Eleanor and Maira were sprawled on the floor, barely alive only because of their Alpha regeneration. They looked almost dead, too weak to move, their eyes fixed helplessly on the monstrosity looming before them.


    Relief flickered across the King’s mangled face as his wounds began slowly to knit. But then his expression twisted into sudden horror.


    Maira, watching through half-lidded eyes, whispered hoarsely, "What...?"


    Eleanor didn’t even lift her head. Her voice came t, steady: "Ophelia."


    Ophelia had waited in silence the whole time. First hidden within Eleanor’s shadow, her ck wolf-form invisible to the Troll’s raging eyes. When Eleanor struck her final blows, Ophelia had slipped into the King’s own shadow. Shielded at the very heart of hisst attack, she had felt not the faintest scratch.


    Now, from the Troll King’s shadow, a ck wolf emerged... soundless, inevitable, like death itself. Ophelia’s head tilted slowly to one side, stretching her neck as though preparing for the kill.