LOGINMaddox POV"Hold them. " Eve said. The dagger flared and everything changed. Not exploded, like I somehow expected, just… shifted. Like something ancient had turned its head and finally looked back.The crack in the ground pulsed in response, darkness thickening, stretching upward like it was testing the shape of this world again.Calder swayed. We all saw it.“Don’t you dare fall.” I muttered under my breath, already shifting my stance to compensate, already recalculating distance, angles, threats.Because if he would dropp we would lost our center. And right now, center was everything.“I said hold them.” Eve repeated, sharper this time. Not a request. A command.Not Alpha command. This was something else. Something that made my wolf go still for half a second - listening. Then baring teeth in agreement.“Fine.” I growled. “Then don’t take too long.” I added, because I didn’t know how long we had.They came harder this time. Not so scattered. Not mindless. Directed.The things craw
Maddox POVThe moment that voice touched the bond - everything in me snapped into place. There were no hesitation or fear.“She knows we are here.” I said, already moving, already positioning myself between Evelynn and the door. Too late to be quiet. Too late to be careful.Now we need to survive.Jaxon exhaled a sharp laugh behind me, rolling his shoulders like he’d been waiting for this exact moment. “Finally.”Calder didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. His presence locked down the room - Alpha command bleeding into the air like pressure before a storm.Eve stood at the center of it, dagger in hand, power still humming through her like something ancient had just recognized her and decided it liked what it saw. - Mine.The thoughts wasn’t clean. Wasn’t calm. It was instinct. - Claim. Protect. Destroy anything that tried to take her.The first impact came before I could say another word. The corridor outside exploded inward. Wood splintered. Stone cracked. Dust and debris blasted into th
Evelynn POVThe forest changed long before we crossed into Thornborne lands. At first, it was subtle.The air got heavier. Thicker. Like breathing through something unseen. The wind carried a different scent too - less pine, more rot. Damp earth turned sour, like something beneath it had been disturbed and left too long to fester.Then the silence came. No birds. No small animals. No life.Only the sound of engines cutting through something that didn’t want us there.My wolf didn’t like it.“She touched this place.” she growled low, pacing just beneath my skin. I felt it too. Not just corruption. Claim.I slowed slightly, raising a hand. The others followed instantly.Engines dropped to a low growl as we coasted to a stop beneath the shadow of dead branches.“What is it?” Maddox asked.I tilted my head, listening - not with my ears. With instinct. “They’re ahead.” I said quietly.Jaxon leaned forward. “How many?”“Enough.”Calder’s voice cut in. “Ambush?”I nodded once. “They’re waiti
Evelynn POVWe didn’t slow. Not for the wounded. Not for the dead. Not even for Elara.That thought should have broken something in me. Instead, it hardened.Because this - this was exactly what the Hollow Mother wanted. Chaos. Delay. Grief turning into hesitation. And hesitation got people killed.Maddox pushed open the doors out of the medical wing, and the noise of battle crashed into us again - louder now, closer to the inner grounds.Too close.“They’re still pushing?” I asked, already scanning movement, exits, threats.“Last wave.” Maddox said. “Or what’s left of it.”Rafe’s voice cut through the bond a heartbeat later - tight, controlled. "Outer ring holding. But barely."Calder followed. "Make it quick."No wasted words. No reassurance. Just fact.I tightened my grip on the vials. They pulsed once. Warm. Alive. Wrong. My fingers stilled for half a second.Maddox noticed. “What is it?”“Nothing.” I said automatically. Lie. Not a good one.His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t press.
Evelynn POVThe moment we stepped back outside, the world hit us again. Noise. Blood. Movement. War hadn’t paused for us.If anything - it had gotten worse.The courtyard was barely recognizable now. Bodies littered the ground, some still shifting, some very much not. The air was thick with the scent of iron and burned magic, the kind that clung to the back of your throat and refused to leave. Making you feel sick.But the tide - the tide was turning. Rafe and Jaxon had done their job.Wolves still fought, but the chaos had shape now. Formation. Control clawing its way back from the brink.Good. Very good. We hadn’t lost Ironfang.Not yet.Maddox stepped forward, already scanning the field, already calculating. Then his focus shifted - not outward. Inward.The bond flickered. A thread reaching.“Mireya,” he said under his breath, voice dropping into that deeper register - the one that carried through more than just air.A mind-link.I felt it brush the edges of my awareness. Not mine
Evelynn POV“We need the Codex.” I said, already moving.Calder’s hand caught my wrist. “Not alone.”“I’m not going alone.” I met his gaze, steady despite the chaos screaming around us. “But I’m not sending someone else either.”His jaw tightened. Because he understood. Because this wasn’t just strategy anymore. This was mine.Maddox stepped in before Calder could argue further. “I’m going with her.”Of course he was. I smiled.Calder’s eyes flicked between us - calculating, measuring risk against necessity. The battlefield roared around us, wolves clashing, the ground still trembling beneath our feet like something alive and restless.“You have five minutes.” Calder said finally. “No more.”Rafe’s voice cut in from behind, sharp and focused. “We’ll hold the courtyard.”Jaxon grinned, blood already streaked across his cheek. “Try not to bring the whole place down while you’re gone.”I didn’t answer. I was already running. The path back to the packhouse wasn’t clear anymore. It should







