CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 23

VIOLET'S POV

The alarm sirens tore through the dawn silence.

I jerked awake as Damian was already pulling on his clothes, his face hard and focused. Through the window, I could see flames rising from the eastern border.

"It's happening," he said, strapping on his weapons. "Vivian's attacking. The scouts report over a hundred rogues, maybe more. They've breached both the eastern and western borders."

My heart hammered against my ribs. "Both borders at once?"

"She's trying to split our forces." Damian grabbed my shoulders, his eyes intense. "I need you to go to the reinforced safe room in the basement. Axel and an elite guard unit will protect you there. Promise me you'll stay put until I come for you."

I wanted to argue. I wanted to fight beside him. But I saw the fear in his eyes, the memory of losing his first mate.

"I promise," I said.

He kissed me then, deep and desperate. "I'm coming back to you. Count on it."

Then he was gone, his wolf's howl echoing as he shifted and charged toward the battle.

The safe room was reinforced steel and stone, built deep beneath the packhouse. Axel and five elite warriors surrounded me, their weapons drawn and ready. We could hear the sounds of fighting above us—snarls, screams, the clash of metal and bone.

"Luna, stay behind us," Axel ordered. He pressed a silver-laced knife into my hand. "Just in case."

The blade felt cold and heavy. I gripped it tight.

Minutes passed like hours. The sounds of battle grew closer. Footsteps thundered overhead. Someone was inside the packhouse.

Axel's radio crackled. "Packhouse breached. Strike team headed your way. They know where you are."

My blood turned to ice. "How do they know?"

"Doesn't matter now," Axel growled. He positioned his warriors at the door. "Whatever happens, Luna, you stay back."

The explosion came without warning.

The reinforced door blew inward with a deafening blast, throwing two warriors back against the wall. Smoke filled the room. Through the haze, figures poured in—rogues with wild eyes and bloodstained weapons.

Axel's unit fought like demons. But there were too many.

I pressed myself against the far wall, knife raised, watching in horror as one by one, Damian's warriors fell. Axel took a blade to his side but kept fighting, shouting orders even as blood poured from the wound.

Then she walked through the smoke.

Vivian.

She looked beautiful and terrible, her hair pulled back, a silver sword in her hand. Her eyes found mine across the chaos, and she smiled.

"Hello, Violet."

Axel threw himself between us, but Vivian moved like lightning. Her blade caught him across the chest, and he went down hard.

"No!" I screamed.

"Just you and me now." Vivian stepped over Axel's body, moving closer. "The way it should have been from the beginning."

I raised my knife, my prosthetic arm steady even though my hand trembled. "I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be." Vivian lunged.

I barely dodged, her blade slicing through the air where my head had been. She was fast. Trained. Deadly.

But I'd been fighting my whole life.

I ducked under her next swing and drove my knife toward her ribs. She twisted away, but I caught her arm, drawing blood.

"You're tougher than you look," Vivian admitted, circling me. "But it won't matter. Look at you—crippled, broken, barely holding that knife. Did you really think you could be Luna? Did you think Damian actually wanted you?"

"Shut up."

"He took you because you were convenient. Because hurting Kian was convenient." She feinted left, then struck right. I blocked with my prosthetic arm. The blade clanged against the metal. "You're nothing but a used toy he picked up from the garbage."

Rage burned through my veins. "You made me lose this arm," I snarled. "Now I'm going to use it to beat you down."

I swung my prosthetic arm like a club. The metal connected with Vivian's jaw with a sickening crunch. She stumbled back, blood flying from her mouth.

Her eyes widened with shock. Then fury.

"You bitch!"

She came at me wild and vicious. We crashed into the wall, both of us grappling for control. Her nails raked across my face. I slammed my knee into her stomach.

We fell to the floor, rolling, fighting. My knife fell away. Vivian's hands found my throat, squeezing.

"You ruined everything!" she screamed. "Kian was mine! This territory was mine! You were supposed to die broken and alone!"

Black spots danced across my vision. I couldn't breathe. My prosthetic hand found her wrist and twisted hard. Bones cracked.

Vivian screamed and released me.

I gasped for air, scrambling back. But Vivian was already reaching for her fallen sword.

Then a figure crashed through the doorway.

Kian.

He looked like a walking corpse, pale and shaking. But his eyes were clear and determined as he threw himself between me and Vivian's blade.

The sword punched through his shoulder instead of my chest.

"Kian!" I screamed.

He grabbed Vivian's wrist, holding the blade in place even as blood poured down his arm. "I chose you over her for six years," he rasped. "I destroyed her. I won't let you finish what I started."

Vivian's face twisted with rage and betrayal. "You're choosing her again? After everything?"

"I'm choosing to do something right for once."

His words gave me the seconds I needed. I grabbed my knife from the floor and drove it into Vivian's leg. She screamed and collapsed, the sword falling from her grip.

Kian stumbled back, clutching his bleeding shoulder.

Silver Moon warriors poured into the room, weapons raised. They surrounded Vivian, who lay on the floor cursing and bleeding.

"You were supposed to love me!" she screamed at Kian. "I did everything for you! Everything!"

"You did everything for yourself," Kian said quietly. Then his legs gave out.

I caught him before he hit the ground, easing him down. His blood soaked through my clothes, hot and sticky.

"Thank you," I whispered. "Thank you for doing something right."

Kian's eyes were already glazing over. "Be happy, Violet. You deserve it."

Then he passed out, his body going limp in my arms.

"Get the healers!" I shouted. "Now!"

Warriors dragged Vivian away, still screaming threats and curses. Healers rushed in for Kian and Axel. The sounds of battle outside were fading—Damian's forces were winning.

I sat against the wall, covered in blood that wasn't mine, my whole body shaking.

Then I heard him.

"Violet!"

Damian burst through the doorway, his body covered in gore, his eyes wild with fear. When he saw me, relief crashed across his face.

He crossed the room in three strides and pulled me into his arms, holding me so tight I could barely breathe.

"I thought I lost you," he said, his voice breaking. "When I heard Vivian breached the packhouse, I thought…"

I kissed him, cutting off his words. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. We're both here."

He lifted me into his arms like I weighed nothing, carrying me toward the healer's station. I rested my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, feeling safe for the first time since the alarms rang.

The battle was over.

We'd survived.

But as I glanced back at Kian's unconscious form being loaded onto a stretcher, I knew the real question was whether he would survive too.