INICIAR SESIÓNAella POVThe attention stayed on Xander.Not intentionally.No one was praising him.If anything, everyone looked mildly terrified that my son had accidentally developed the ability to summon people across realms.Still...He had become the center of every conversation.Apparently, that was unacceptable.At least according to my other two children.Riot was the first to protest.The little menace, who until recently had only been crawling and climbing, suddenly decided that walking was beneath him.Running, however...Running was perfect.He took off across the infirmary with a delighted squeal."Aurora!" Queen Samantha called.My eleven-year-old sister-in-law gasped."Oh no."Riot disappeared beneath one bed.Aurora dove after him.The little boy emerged from the other side laughing triumphantly."You little monster!" Aurora cried as she chased him around the room.Riot only laughed harder.Hunter, still lying in bed with his head wrapped in bandages, watched the chase with wide eye
Aella POVThe laughter slowly faded.Poor Hunter still looked thoroughly offended, his head wrapped in enough bandages to make him resemble an oversized mummy.Xander, meanwhile, floated happily around the infirmary, completely unaware that he had just become the center of one of the strangest rescue operations in history.I opened my arms."Come here."The little boy immediately floated into them, smiling as though he hadn't accidentally dropped my aide headfirst onto the Sanctuary's throne.I kissed the top of his head."You scared me."He blinked those bright little eyes at me.Then placed both tiny hands against my cheeks.The familiar warmth spread through our bond.Not our mate bond.Our mother and child bond.It wasn't words.Not exactly.More like emotions wrapped around images.A feeling.A memory.A thought.Everyone around us grew quiet.Chaos tilted his head."He's trying to explain."I closed my eyes.The images became clearer.Darkness.A forest.Hunter walking ahead.Th
Aella POV"Hunter!"The word tore itself from my throat as the portal snapped shut.One second he had been smiling at us.The next...Gone."No!" Sol tried to stand, but the moment he pushed himself off the ground, his knees buckled. I wasn't doing any better.The sixteen-hour ritual had left us with barely enough strength to breathe, much less fight.I planted my hands against the earth and tried again.Nothing.My arms trembled violently before giving out.We both collapsed back onto the grass.Chaos was already beside us."Don't move.""We have to—" Sol protested."You can't," Order interrupted.For once, neither spirit sounded calm.Hunter had been taken.Order looked toward the place where the portal had appeared, his expression unreadable."There is no residual magic.""What?" I whispered."It disappeared completely."Chaos cursed under his breath.Without another word, the two spirits placed a hand on each of us.The world blurred.The Sanctuary.We reappeared inside the throne
Aella POVFive hours.Five hours of walking.Five hours of bleeding into the earth.Five hours of repeating ancient vows until the words no longer felt like words, but part of my breathing.Step.Blood.Promise.Step.Blood.Promise.The ritual had become almost hypnotic.My palm no longer hurt.It had gone numb hours ago.The earth beneath our feet glowed faintly wherever our blood touched it, ancient runes awakening one by one as the Academy slowly accepted our oath of protection.Order's prism light continued to bend around Sol and me.To anyone watching, the forest appeared completely empty.Only the footprints forming in the dirt betrayed that someone had passed.Even those disappeared moments later.At the five-hour mark, fatigue finally began catching up with us.My shoulders ached.My legs felt heavy.Every step required conscious effort.I could feel the same exhaustion through the Bond.Sol was hiding it.Poorly.Ahead of us, Hunter and Chaos continued walking as if nothing
Aella POVThe Academy adapted.It wasn't something I wanted to admire.Most of the students were between fifteen and twenty-two years old. They were no longer children, but they were still far too young to become accustomed to war.Yet that was exactly what was happening.The Academy had become a fortress.Not because of its walls.Because of its students.As Sol and I walked through the campus after the attack, I watched the future leaders of the shifter world doing exactly what they had been trained to do.Senior Alpha students organized defensive patrols around the damaged buildings.Older Beta students established communication stations, handing out phones so younger students could contact their families and reassure them they were alive.Gamma trainees coordinated supplies, distributing food, water, blankets and first aid equipment while directing volunteers toward the infirmary.The warrior cadets were already rebuilding barricades and repairing defensive positions.No one had o
Aella POV The attacks didn't stop. If anything, they became worse. Every morning another report arrived. Another village destroyed. Another pack asking for help. Another family displaced. Every time we thought we had identified a pattern, Elias changed it. One day the mutants attacked from the north. The next from the east. Sometimes they struck three places simultaneously. Sometimes they vanished for days before appearing somewhere completely unexpected. It was impossible to predict. Sol and I answered every call we could. The commanders from the Academy spread across the neighboring territories, reinforcing the smaller packs. The Silver Pack sent warriors wherever they were needed. The Dragon Kingdom joined the effort under Queen Samantha's command. Even the newly formed Void Guard began escorting civilians away from dangerous areas. It still wasn't enough. The mutants were relentless. They didn't retreat. They didn't surrender. They fought until every last on
We walked quickly toward the access doors of the Silver Tower. Bruno—the Tiger Alpha—was already speaking into his comms, his voice clipped and controlled. “Monarchs have arrived. Repeat—Monarchs have arrived. Maintain barricade positions. No one breaks formation without direct authorization.”
The transition from "Ascended Monarchs" to "starving shifters" happened remarkably fast. For hours, we were buried in vellum and leather. We moved through stacks of ancient scrolls, but it seemed the Great Library of the Queens had a sense of humor—or a very mundane side. We found "The Little Drag
Maxwell was gone. Truly gone.For a flickering second, a memory I had tried to bury surfaced. I remembered his laughter as a pup, high and bright. I remembered him rolling around in the dirt with Caleb and Jax, four children making a mess of the world. He used to help me in ways no one else dared,
Two months had passed since the cafeteria incident, and the hierarchy of the Imperial Tower had shifted permanently. Amelie had leaned fully into her "victim" persona, limping through the halls and wearing silk scarves to hide bruises that had long since healed. She whispered to anyone who would li







