Sorry for the delay in updates, I have been travelling a lot and it made it difficult to post chapters. Hope you enjoyed this long one to make up for it! xx
Gabriel POVThe ticking clock on the wall sounds like a drum of war. Too soon does the nurse return with Stacey’s blood work. It’s as I feared — completely clean. Swallowing, I head to the cupboard and pull out a tonic that will help wake her. The sooner I know what the damage is, the quicker I can deal with it.Jaden watches me like a hawk, causing my hands to shake as I fiddle with the cap on the bottle. I need to get to Caleb and Riley, but if she doesn’t wake up … I have no idea what spell the witch cast on Stacey. After seeing what she did to Dylan, anything is possible.Slowly, I walk over to the bed where Jaden is stroking back her hair, laying on the bed beside his mate. He whispers something in her ear before placing a swift kiss on her lips. The look he gives me when he pulls away screams, don’t fuck this up.“Lift her head slightly,” I ask as he does, being far more gentle than I knew him capable of. I guess when it comes to our mates, we are all capable of change. I tilt h
Gabriel POV The hospital erupted in pure chaos. Blood-soaked gurneys squealed down hallways as I mind-linked every doctor and nurse within reach, their thoughts flooding mine in a deafening wave of panic. We’d barely gotten Caleb, Stacey, and Riley here alive—Caleb’s limbs twisted at impossible angles, Riley in shock and loss of her mate, her eyes vacant. Jaden stalked me like a predator, his wolf energy crackling against my skin, demanding I save his mate first. I couldn’t refuse—Stacey had risked everything for me and Aurora, even though her body seemed the least ravaged by the attack.Stacey’s skin had gone gray against the white sheets, her chest barely rising. It wasn’t a great sign, but she wasn’t bleeding like the others. The oxygen mask fogged weakly with each shallow breath, the heart monitor’s erratic beeping a countdown I couldn’t stop hearing. “When. Will. She. Wake. Up?” Jaden’s words weren’t a question but a threat, his hot breath hitting my neck as his claws partially
Ethan POVAs soon as Elio turns to Kara, I see Sabastian’s muscles bunch, his gaze flicks to Teddy. He nods once—soft as a gun cocking—and I know. Teddy dies here, tonight. I didn’t give a fuck if he wasn’t supposed to die now. The snivelling halfwit backpedals, eyes wide, pathetic I catch from out the corner of my eye. Not a fucking chance.I bare fangs: a second later I’m wolf, fur ripping through skin in hot, violent tufts. I give Sabastian a smug glance: follow if you can. He chuckles as Teddy swallows as we force him to shift to his wolf if he wants any hope of outrunning us. It’s laughable, really. Despite the hours we had spent battling without the sun and his witches, he was just an average alpha. My brother kept phasing forward, appearing in front of Teddy like a ghost so that he would be forced to change direction unless he wanted my brother to end his pathetic life.We drive Teddy to the ridge of the mountain, to the border of our pack. Every growl shakes my ribcage. Teddy
Jaden POV My hands shook so hard I could barely lift her. My pumpkin lay limp in my arms. Stacey’s dark hair, matted with blood and sweat, tumbled over my forearm as I sank to one knee in the churned earth. Every ragged breath felt like shards of glass in my lungs. My whole body shook with uncontrollable rage.This can’t be real?That fucking cackle was grating on my nerves, the sound slicing through the night, and I turned to see her silhouette gloating. Gently, as though afraid to jolt her, I lowered Stacey’s limp body onto the muddy ground. Her face, usually alight with laughter, was pale and still, framed by flecks of soil that clung to her lightly tanned skin.A low growl rumbled in my chest, ancient and furious. My heart hammered as my bones cracked and reshaped. Fur sprouted along my arms, my back arched upward, and with a final, feral roar, I shifted into wolf form, barrelling towards the witch. I could feel Aurora’s shield struggling to keep up with me —a wavering dome of si
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