Draco’s POVThe familiar scent of the pack hit my nostrils as we left the pack’s borders and approached the pack house.Home. After everything that had happened, the word had never meant more. The pack house came into view, and I could see figures moving on the porch—Millie, Grace, Max, and several other pack members who had stayed behind to guard the pack in our absence.“Sera! Sera!!” The sound of Ruby calling out to Sera reached us even before we laid eyes on her.We’d just reached the steps when two small bodies launched into my mate’s arms.I reached out to take Pup from her arms so she could attend to her siblings.“Careful,” Sera laughed, tears filling her eyes as she knelt to embrace the twins. “Careful of the pup.”Ruby turned to glance at the bundle in my arms, eyes lit with curiosity.“Is she okay?” She asked, her green eyes wide with worry. “The wicked lady didn’t hurt her?”“It’s a ‘he’,” Sera corrected with an amused smile.Ruby’s face crunched up at Sera’s words.“A
Draco’s POVThe path back to the pack stretched before us, seeming unending, yet as we drew closer, I felt a calm settle in my chest at the thoughts of our victory.I glanced down at the small bundle in Sera’s arms — our son, now back to us. His little fingers curled around my large ones, and I felt a burden in my chest ease for the first time in weeks. My mate walked beside me, cradling our pup with a fierce protectiveness that was satisfying to watch.“I still can’t believe we got him back,” Sera whispered, her voice carrying the same disbelief we both felt. “All this time, Aria was right there in the pack, just watching us...” Her voice trailed off, and her jaw clenched with barely contained rage.“She’s gone now,” I said firmly, shifting our pup to one arm so I could reach out and squeeze my mate’s free hand. “She can’t hurt anyone anymore.” Aria’s last moments in that ancient temple remained a disturbing mystery. The way the shadows had consumed her, and her voice had echoed
Sera’s POVThe temple walls pulsed brighter, and I felt something pulling at me, to drag me toward the altar at the center of the room. But I fought it, my wolf rising to meet the challenge.“But you made one mistake,” I said, my voice steady despite the chaos in my chest. “You assumed I’d go along with your plans quietly, remaining pliant in your hands, unable to fight back.”Moving out from behind my mate, I stood face to face with the source of all my misfortunes.The sweet little Aria, who even now held a wide smile as she watched me.I went into a half-shifted state, letting my wolf’s strength flow through me as I lunged forward. But Aria was ready.She’d always been ready. Aria sidestepped my attack with inhuman speed and then dangled my pup over the altar. She held him suspended above carved channels that I now realized were to collect blood.“One more step and I drop him,” Aria warned, her voice no longer human.I froze, my heart stopping as I watched my pup’s slight form s
Sera’s POVThe temple loomed before us like a sleeping giant, its faded stone walls covered in carved symbols that seemed to pulsate with an otherworldly aura. My heart hammered against my ribs as we approached the entrance, each step echoing in the creepy stillness that had fallen over the Barren Lands.“Something’s wrong,” Miles whispered, his stoic face curved into a frown.The boys exchanged glances with solemn expressions, and my wolf stirred beneath my skin in response.The air itself felt heavy.Charged with malevolent energy that made my teeth ache.Just then, Draco’s large hands found mine, his fingers intertwining with mine in a gesture that should have been comforting. Instead, it made my heart lurch into my throat.“Stay close,” he murmured, his gray eyes scanning the shadows that danced between the carved pillars. “We’ll end this today. I promise.”My eyes caught his, and even as he said those words, his eyes reflected my inner thoughts.Entering the temple was a gamble
Sera’s POVThe scent of fear mixed with desperation, tinged with something else I couldn’t quite place, hit me as we approached a clearing in the Barren Lands.The moonlight lit up our path as we advanced, getting closer to the source of the scent.My wolf stirred as Draco raised his hand, signaling the team to halt.“There,” Seb whispered, pointing toward the cluster of makeshift shelters, visible through the dense undergrowth. “Rogues,” he spat, his voice low and dangerous.Draco moved closer, his massive frame tense and face impassive. “How many are there?”Joseph, a pack enforcer, closed his eyes and took in a deep whiff of the air. “Fifteen... maybe twenty. But something’s off.” I felt the strangeness too.The usual aggressive territorial auras were absent. Instead, I caught the scent of milk, nursing mothers and the sweet innocence of pups, which was unsettling.“They’re not hunters,” I murmured, meeting Draco’s gray eyes. “They’re hiding.”Bruno stepped forward, his face set
Draco’s POVThe stench of death hit me before I saw the treacherous expanse that lay before us.“This can’t be right,” Bruno muttered, his voice barely audible over the eerie silence of the Barren lands.His face, usually stoic and unreadable, betrayed his unease as he stared at the deceptive land which lay ahead of us.I frowned as I studied the expanse.We’d thought nothing of it while questioning the rogue, but it turned out the Sine River wasn’t a river.A vast stretch of quicksand gleamed in the sunlight.Scattered across its surface were bones of countless wolves who had dared to cross, their remains a reminder not of the danger that was the Sine River.The enforcers hesitated, stepping back, their faces pale.“The rogue tricked us,” Sebastian whispered, his brows furrowed in a deep frown, hands clenching in a fist.I felt Noble clawing at my chest, desperate to shift and use our enhanced senses to find another way around this death trap. But I already knew what we’d discover.