Aurora POVClouds. I’m floating on an endless sea of them—soft, billowing cotton beneath me—while distant harp notes drift through the air, lulling me into a haze of pure serenityBut then - jolted from my dreamlike state-I felt the ground beneath me shift. That dreamy glow overhead warps into agony as Gabriel’s scream rips through the sky. His face is frozen in terror, eyes wide as he crouches beside Ethan, both of them paralyzed by whatever horror they’ve witnessed. A stench of coppery blood rushes in on the wind, hot and cloying.I fling my hands forward and pour every ounce of power into my bubble shield, yanking its edges taut until Gabriel and Ethan stand protected beneath its shimmering dome. A jagged jet of sickly green light slams into the barrier with a crack like thunder.“Aurora?” Gabriel gasps, hauling me upright. I whirl, scanning the chaos.Kara and Sebastian clash with Teddy in a deadly ballet—white flames dancing against shadow and roaring fire. My heart hammers; they
Riley POVMy stomach plummeted again and again as I huddled on the cold wooden bench with Rosa and the kids in the bunker. The single oil lamp’s flame quivered, casting giant, frantic shadows on the stone walls. I’d bitten down three nails already—I could taste the metallic tang of blood—and I kept whispering to myself, It’ll be okay. It won’t be okay.“I’m bored. I want to go fight!” one of the twins hollered—Knox or Jax, they sound alike in my rattled mind. I pressed my palm to my throbbing temples, stood, and forced myself to pace back and forth, counting to ten. Kneeling in front of them, I forced a sturdy smile. “The alphas have it covered. You two have an important job: protecting me and Rosa if something goes wrong.” I prayed under my breath that nothing would go wrong. Rosa winked at me—just the faintest flicker of reassurance—and I swallowed. Both twins seemed happier with that and got to work planning their defence.Xander and Addie sat together playing a thumb war. Xander l
Gabriel POV The word “ouch” is laughably inadequate for the searing agony coursing through my body right now. My wolf’s healing abilities are trying to kick in, sending a chilling tingle beneath layers of scorched, blistered flesh, but it’s slow and torturous. I have never known a pain like it.My fire suit is undoubtedly obliterated, reduced to charred remnants clinging to my battered frame. Even after testing the suit with Kara, I had thought I had perfected it to withstand a direct hit - clearly I miscalculated somewhere.A relentless ringing fills my ears, a brutal reminder of the impact when I hit the ground with bone-crushing force and tumbled down the grassy bank. Each jagged rock I collided with tore at my skin, shredding it like paper, and my shattered bones screamed in protest. The thought of moving again is a distant dream; every limb is paralyzed by pain and shock. All I can do right now is watch the clouds float across the sky. I don’t want to mind-link anyone as it migh
Caleb POV I clawed at the witch with ferocity, my talons desperate to pierce her heart, to extinguish her malevolent power once and for all. She cannot be allowed to survive. Her shrieks pierce the air, a symphony of agony, as I bind her hands above her head, thwarting her attempts to summon her dark magic. “It’s over. Teddy has your mate. Let her live or I’ll see your mate suffer for the rest of her days,” a voice slithers into my ears, chilling my blood. I whirl around to face the wizard, his jet-black hair and ghastly pale skin a horrifying presence. It can’t be true. Aurora would have fought back. Her shield would have protected her. How could Teddy possibly have captured her?The man steps slowly towards me; his confidence alone is enough to make my stomach roil. How can he be so casual unless he is so certain they have won? My heart thunders in my chest, my fingers going numb as the woman beneath me starts to cackle, her mismatched eyes gleaming with … victory.She gets out fro
Sabastian POV“AURORA!” I scream, my voice a raw edge as I catch a glimpse of Teddy with his filthy hands on my mate. She isn’t even resisting. What the actual FUCK!The wolf I’m battling is relentless, snapping viciously at my heels, preventing me from reaching her. Desperation claws at my insides, and I let out a feral howl at the sun, summoning the others with an urgency that burns hotter than fire. My jaws snap with lethal precision, aiming for the wolf’s neck, teeth tearing through fur and flesh in my attempt to unlike him. No one is keeping me from my MATE.Ethan is a whirlwind beside me, fists a blur as he pummels one of Teddy’s men, blocking his shift with brutal efficiency. With his brows drawn tight in laser focus, and after months of pent-up frustration, he is finally letting loose how he does best. Blood sprays from the man’s face like fat raindrops, his bones crunching as he tries to block and retreat. He even uppercuts Ethan, but it does nothing to stun him.To my right,
Aurora POV Hurtling from the sky was a fireball heading straight towards us. Looking at it, I could feel the heat melting my face. “Fuck,” Sabastian growled, calling forth his shadows, but there was no way he would be able to move all of us and still have the energy to fight.“I’ve got this!” I let my hands out in front of me, calling forth my shield as it spread over my hands and face. Instantly I felt cooler. “Get closer,” I yelled as everyone hurried to my side. The little bubble of my shield expanded until it covered us all. I need to keep them all safe. “You don’t know your shield will hold against this; we need to move,” Ethan cut me a look, and as I much as I wanted to argue - I didn’t know if this would work. But it had to. We weren’t running away from this fight.We took several steps back in unison, moving tightly so my shield would keep us protected. As the ball of fire grew closer, the heat pressed in until it felt unbearable. “Couldn’t have made these suits with a coolin