CHAPTER 4: Invaders In The Pack

Isabella's POV

Sleep refused to come as I laid on the guest bed, staring at the dark ceiling like it owed me answers. I turned to my side and then to the other side and then flipped again. At one point I even punched the pillow and whispered, “Can you cooperate for once?”

It still stayed flat and useless and my mind kept replaying everything... Edmund’s voice rejecting me, the final snap of our bond and Clara’s loud moans echoing in my head like some horrible soundtrack I never asked for.

“Great,” I muttered. “Just what every rejected Luna wants to remember before bed.”

I sighed and rolled over again and then I thought I heard something. A light noise like a quick scrape or shuffle.

I froze.

Maybe it was just a bat or something. This pack had too many bats but then... I heard it again. A faint thud and definitely not a bat.

I sat up slowly and my wolf pricked her ears too. Something’s wrong.

I stood and walked out of the room. The hallway was empty.. too empty. There were usually guards near every corner, especially at night.

“Hello?” I whispered but got nothing.. not even a snore.

I walked toward the front of the house and the moment I stepped outside, I noticed that the night was calm… unnaturally calm and even the crickets sounded like they were holding their breath.

My eyes traced the shadows to see a slight movement and then another.

I squinted... and my heart lurched when I saw them. Dark figures creeped around, sliding between bushes and one of them grabbed a guard from behind, slit his throat and laid him down quietly like he was just helping him nap.

“What...”

Before I could finish my thought, a massive thing slammed into me from the side. It was a wolf.. huge, snarling and its teeth snapping for my neck.

I reacted on pure instinct. My claws shot out, long and sharp and with one clean slice, the wolf dropped dead at my feet. I didn’t even get a full second to breathe.

“INTRUDERS!!” I shouted with everything in me. “WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!”

The shout rang through the quiet night like an alarm bell. Guards stormed out of the pack house, wolves shifted mid-run and the entire place exploded into chaos as invaders poured in. But I had only one thought. Magnus.

I bolted back inside, racing past guards who were rushing out to fight. I didn’t care about anything else. I didn’t care about the battle. My son... my only child... was all that mattered.

I reached the hallway near his room…

…and froze because Clara was standing there with her claws out and Magnus... my baby... was in her grip with her claws pressed right against his small neck.

“Clara?” My voice broke. “What are you doing? Let him go.”

She smirked like the evil witch she was.

“Oh, sweet Bella,” she said. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

“Clara, please,” I begged with my hands raised. “Look, take me instead. Whatever you want. Just leave my son out of this.”

She laughed like a maniac.

“You think this is about your son?” she asked. “The Lycan King is taking this pack and guess what? I’m the one who let him in.”

My stomach dropped.

“You… what?”

“Oh yes. I opened the door like a good girl and Edmund?” She grinned wider. “He didn't even notice. He slept like a baby after all the fun I gave him.”

Of course she had to mention that.

“Clara,” I whispered. “whatever it is you think you're doing.. He’s a child. Please. Think.”

Her eyes gleamed.

“No.”

“Clara...”

She dragged her claw with one painfully long stroke with one horrible, final sound and my son’s blood splattered across the floor. Magnus collapsed before I could even scream!

I didn’t hear my own roar. I only felt it rip out of me like fire and I lunged... but invaders rushed in behind Clara, charging toward me. She glanced back with her lips curling in a smirk.

“Ah, right on time,” she muttered.

Realizing I was only in my nightgown and unarmed, I turned just in time to avoid being grabbed. Instinct took over as I ran with my heart shattering into pieces with every step. I reached a window, threw myself through it and shifted mid-air. My wolf hit the ground running.

I didn’t stop. The pack was burning, screams filled the night and wolves fought in every direction, blood stained the grass and I just ran.

I ran like something inside me had broken open and spilled out until I reached the familiar road leading toward my family’s compound.

I shifted back on the run, stumbling and crying as I reached the gate. My fists slammed the door.

“Mom! Dad! Please! It's me!”

The door swung open and my mother dragged me inside before I finished breathing.

“Oh moon goddess,” she cried. “Isabella, what happened to you?”

“Magnus…” My voice cracked. “Clara… she... she killed him. The pack... Mom, the pack is gone... They came from everywhere. They’re attacking everyone.”

I wiped my face.

“I need my old armor. I’m going back. I have to help...”

“No.” My father grabbed my shoulders sharply. “Listen to me. If Evergreen fell that fast, the other packs might fall too! It's just a matter of time. You must leave now!”

“I don’t care!” I cried. “My son is dead! I want to fight!”

“Isabella!” he snapped. “You must run. They will come here next. You need to survive.”

“But you two...”

A loud pounding hit the front door and we all froze. My father’s eyes widened.

“It’s them.”

“No... no, you’re coming with me,” I said, backing away.

My mother cupped my face with her tears streaming.

“We love you. We always loved you.”

“Then come with me!” I begged. “Please, don’t do this...”

My father yanked open a carpeted hatch in the floor and a narrow entrance to an old escape tunnel sat hidden beneath it.

“Get in,” he ordered.

“I’m not leaving you!”

“You must!” he barked. “Go, Isabella! Now!”

The pounding on the door turned into full-on ramming and my mother pushed me toward the hole.

“Live,” she whispered. “Please. Live for us.”

“No... Mom... Dad... please...”

The door cracked loudly and my father shoved me into the passage. My mother grabbed the cover... and before I could reach up to stop them, it slammed shut.

From the inside, there was no latch and no hinge.. nothing I could use to open it.

“Mom!! Dad!!” I screamed, pounding the underside of the cover. “Please! Please don’t leave me!”

Heavy footsteps could be heard with wood breaking and snarls and then... their screams…