LORRAINE'S POV
I clutched my cheeks in shock. If anyone had told me that the twins were this evil, I would never have believed, but here I was, experiencing it firsthand.The feeling of heartbreak and betrayal was the worst ever.“How dare you tell such an audacious lie?! Do you think we have the liberty to entertain such expensive jokes?” Jordan snapped at me.“You got yourself a bold liar here. Fearlessly accusing my sons in our presence. In any case, I like to be fair so I will ask her to prove her claims,” Alpha Gordon said.My jaw hung in the air. Proof? Where was I supposed to get proof in the face of danger?Even if I said we were all friends, no one would believe me. Even at that, I would be asked why they would kill their friend.Tears poured down my cheeks as I called on my wolf to tell me what to do.Admit you killed her.“What?” I blurted and all attention focused on me. I lowered mMarabella POVLucien was already there when we got there. He wore all white and smiled easily.And he was alone.I frowned, sending my shadows out to see if any others were lurking.“I’m alone. To prove this is not a setup of any kind,” he said, knowing what we were all thinking.“We’re here. Say what you need to say,” Jordan said.Lucien nodded and held his hands behind his back.“Silas has been a tyrant for the last few centuries. We’ve been under his thumb, and it has been wearying on our souls. We are vampires; we crave blood but we don’t crave violence. We live pretty solitary lives as long as our blood supply is maintained.”He looked at all of us, carrying on his plight. “Silas is dead. We don’t have to do what his will construes anymore. The hive follows me and cannot exact a will that is not my own. And what I want for the vampires? Freedom,” he said.Kind of sounded like a vampire Jordan. I liked him. My shadows didn’t recoil. My magic didn’t burn at my fingertips. My skin d
Marabella POVThe twins’ power was more than even I had guessed, flowing through me easily and entirely ready to end the threat. Our shadows moved to support the magic.“I don’t have an epic monologue about power and the future. All I have is now. And right now, I’m so fucking glad I get to kill you. Because you fucked with my family, my pack, and my children. Enjoy the afterlife, Silas. I hope it hurts like hell.”I clenched my magic around him.I tightened it and tightened it as he screamed and hissed, trying to break out. But he couldn’t.The black ash of his body puffed out of the magic and floated harmlessly around us.There was a lot of it, snowing over the room as it went silent.The magic whipped back into the twins, my own sinking far down inside me to recuperate. I let out a heavy sigh, then stumbled. There was a weakness.Jayden stepped into me, holding me up. He grimaced, and I laughed tiredly.“Jayden, you’re more hurt than I am,” I said. He shook his head and kept a hold
Marabella POV I went to throw my magic back at Silas, prepared to defend the twins with whatever magic I had left.But I didn’t need to.Jayden, in his full wolf form, broke through the window and launched at Silas. Jayden’s wolf was huge and knocked Silas over before its teeth took a huge chunk out of the Vamp’s neck. Silas screamed, holding his wound, as Jayden let out a howl.His muzzle was covered in blood, and he gave a huff, shoving Silas back.But Silas was indestructible and came back again. He sank his teeth into Jayden’s hide.I shoved Silas off Jayden with my magic, but it was too late. Jayden let out a whimper as Silas climbed the wolf, wrapped his arms around him, and squeezed.I heard the crunch a second before I used my magic and shadows to get Silas off Jayden.Jayden slumped to the ground as I went wide-eyed.“Jayden?” I whimpered, going to move forward, but Silas rolled away from my magic and stood up.“He’ll heal. Slowly. Painfully.” Silas grinned. “If I let him,”
Marabella POV Silas grabbed my wrist, then used it to spin me, slamming me into the wall. My head cracked against it, and I winced. Pain radiated through my skull, and it took a minute to be able to see clearly. When I did, I was a second too late.He yanked my head to the side and sank his teeth into my neck. I screamed as pain took over me. Not an ache or a sting, it was a bone-incinerating pain that had me sagging against the wall. Silas pinned me there, sucking the life out of me.My eyes caught on the crib, and I knew I had to get Silas off if I was going to save the twins. But he was so strong. He was from the oldest vampire family. And I was weakening with every drop of my blood he stole.My body was in so much pain, my vision was fraying at the edges when he finally yanked his teeth back. My blood dripped down his chin, and he grinned at me, his red eyes glowing.“Oh, you are delicious,” he said with a grin. I grinned right back. It was delicious. My Alphas told me that all t
Marabella POVBut I couldn’t focus on the link to find out because a single distraction could cost me when it came to Silas.“You know why I am here, Marabella. Your twins are winter-born, and if my sources are correct, then they have witch magic in them now, too. I want them.”“You can’t have them,” I stated firmly. There was no bargaining, no room for misunderstanding. He knew that too.He shrugged. “I wasn’t asking,” he said, then flew at me.I saw every part of him, my focus taking in every detail as he charged. To the naked eye, he was a blur, but I had been practicing. I concentrated on everything I had and saw the second he was close.I threw my magic up and shoved him over me and the twins in the crib.He sailed over us, crashing into the far wall as I positioned myself between him and the twins again.My shadows hissed and snarled at him as my magic swirled in angry flicks.He charged again, his spiky teeth bared. He moved quickly left, right, left, right... Trying to disori
Marabella POV My magic tingled at my fingertips, and I gritted my teeth, trying to rationalize against using it.“Don’t. We can handle this,” Jordan grunted, sinking his teeth into another vampire and throwing him away. The vampire snarled and hissed, then came running back, bleeding out. Jordan ripped him apart, making sure he didn’t try again.“What if you can’t?” I cried, looking at the reality with my own eyes. Could they not see it? Or was he just saying what he thought I needed to hear?Because the odds were shit. And I had the power literally at my fingertips.“Save it for Silas,” Brax said, wrapping his shadows around a vamp and squeezing it into ash.I knew he was right. Silas hadn’t appeared yet, but I knew he was there. He was watching the same bullshit war as I was. He was watching the wolves lose.I couldn’t just watch though.“Little Luna,” Jayden warned. He knew what I was going to do. He knew I had no other choice.All of them knew I was terrible at listening too.I l