LOGINLizs pov The gold light exploded from my hands, blinding me as it shot towards the thing attacking Finn. The force of it pushed me back as it slammed into the creature.It screamed out in pain, the sound deafening.It let go of Finn, its body twisting violently as the magic wrapped around it, burning through the black veins crawling under its skin. Finn hit the ground, holding his injured arm close to his chest as the thing thrashed in front of him.I couldn’t look away.Its bones cracked. Its claws scraped across the stone. The stretched grey skin pulled tight, then began to shift, folding back into itself until the monster in front of me wasn’t a monster anymore.It was a man. A broken, naked man lying on the stone.I stared at him, my mind still trying to make sense of it all.More growls echoed around me.My head snapped up.Shapes moved at the end of the street, jerking through the light, too many of them coming straight towards us.“Finn,” I yelled, running to him and the girl.
Liz’s POV“Move!” I screamed, shoving a little boy behind me as something crashed into the stone wall only a few feet away.The whole ground shook.Dust fell from the palace archway, screams ripping through the courtyard as people pushed towards the doors, tripping over each other in their panic. I grabbed the boy’s arm before he could fall and pushed him towards Diana, who was already dragging three children inside with blood smeared across the front of her dress.“Get him in,” I yelled.Diana nodded, her face pale, but she didn’t stop moving.Another growl tore through the air.I froze, my eyes searching the darkness, but I couldn’t see them. I could hear them. The scratching of claws. The wet snarls. The screams they left behind. But everything beyond the palace lights was shadows and movement.My heart slammed against my ribs.We were fighting blind.I turned, looking over to where Melissa and Alice stood near the steps, both of them trying to push people inside while keeping thei
Arthur’s POVBlackthorn was quiet. Carlos crouched beside me in the tree line, his eyes locked on the pack house in the distance. “Something's not right”, Carlos said from beside me, but I didn't look at him. My eyes stayed on the packhouse. The place looked empty, but it didn’t feel empty. My wolf pushed forward, restless beneath my skin, his attention fixed on the pack house the same way mine was. Something was wrong. I could feel it in the air, even the trees seemed to be frozen around us.I took a slow breath and, standing up, I stepped out of the trees.Carlos followed me, silent at my side as we crossed the open ground. My wolf growled, waiting for someone to appear, for a guard to shout, for Lumian to step out smiling like he had been waiting for us.But nothing came.The closer we got, the more I smelt something I didn't like. At first, it was faint, just something sour in the cold night air, but by the time we reached the steps, it crawled into the back of my throat.Death
Lizs povFinn stared back at me with wide eyes. The screams kept coming, getting louder and louder. I spun around, running towards the palace doors, Finn overtaking me a second later. The second the doors were pulled open, the sound hit me so hard I almost stumbled.Screams.So many screams.Wolves crying out. Guards shouting. Feet pounding against the ground as people ran towards the palace like the darkness itself was chasing them.For a second, fear tried to take over.It crawled up my throat, sharp and choking, making my wolf freeze under my skin. If Lumian’s army was here, if the things I had seen in that vision were outside these walls, then this was it.This was what we had been waiting for.No.I forced myself to breathe.I couldn’t panic. Not now. Not when everyone else already was. If Lumian had sent them here, then I had to find a way to stop them. I had spent a month training for this, a month trying to become stronger, and I refused to fall apart before I even saw what w
Lizs povShed stopped crying, her pain had eased, but her heart would never be the same again. Sitting next to her bed watching how her body shook as she cried, but no sound escaped her lips, was harder than listening to her blood-curdling screams filled with pain.Alice stood by the door, her eyes glued on me, but I didn't look up. I couldn’t.Because if I looked at her, I knew I would see the same thing I was feeling.Helplessness.That horrible feeling of standing there with magic in your veins and power under your skin and still not being able to do anything that mattered.The girl had come here begging us to save him, and we hadn’t. We had sat her down, asked her questions, tried to understand what was happening, but none of that changed the fact that somewhere inside Blackthorn, Josh had taken his last breath.And she had felt every second of it.Her fingers curled weakly into the blanket, her face turned towards the window, but I didn’t think she was really seeing anything. He
Arthur’s POVThe hall was full, but no one spoke.Every elite scout I trusted stood in front of me, along with my best trackers and the few agents I had placed across the country over the years. Men and women who knew how to move without being seen, how to listen without being noticed, how to walk into a pack and come back with the truth.I looked at each of them.They were waiting for orders.For me to tell them this was under control.But it wasn’t.“This is no longer just about Blackthorn,” I said, my voice carrying through the hall. “Wolves are being taken from packs across the country. Vampires, too.”A few of them shifted on their feet. They had all heard the rumours, but no one had let themselves believe it.“Lumian is building an army,” I continued.The room went colder, all their faces becoming hard.“I want every pack warned,” I said. “Quietly. No panic. No rumours spreading through villages before we have control of this. You speak to the alphas first and only the alphas, u
Liz’s POVArthur still wasn’t back.The worry had been circling my mind for hours, not just for his safety, but also as to why he had left. He’s avoiding you.Angelica’s voice repeated that over and over again.We had been in the library for hours. Long enough for the candles to burn low and be re
Arthur’s POVI should’ve torn this place apart the second I walked in.Every instinct in me wanted to—walls, doors, throats, anything standing between me and ending Angelica's life. But I forced myself to wait, because losing control wouldn’t end this.The office door creaked.Lumian entered.And
Lumian’s POV“Are you serious?” Liz's voice filled the room, making me flinch. Not because she raised her voice. Because it sounded wrong coming from her mouth. Too harsh. Too entitled. Too much like she expected the world to bend just because she was unhappy, she stood with her arms crossed, star
Lumian’s POVThe sunlight catches in her hair as she walks down the street, turning the darker strands almost gold before the light slips away again. She doesn’t rush. She never used to walk like that, so sure of where she was going. Back before he stole her from me, she stayed half a step behind m







