Chapter 7: The First Stand

Tehila's POV

The windows shattered inward as Alpha Thorne's warriors crashed through them. Glass rained down like ice, cutting through the candlelight. My heart hammered against my ribs so hard I thought it would break free. I had never been in real combat before, watching from the sidelines wasn't the same as standing in the center of death's circle. Every instinct screamed at me to run or hide, to become invisible again. But that girl was dead.

Zane shifted beside me, his massive wolf form a wall of black fur and muscle. The rogues and rebel pack members formed defensive lines, but I could see the fear in their eyes. We were like farmers facing soldiers. Omegas facing warriors. Jamie stood to my left, trembling but holding his ground. His courage steadied something inside me.

Then I saw movement from the bed. Dalton dragged himself upright, his face gray with pain. Blood seeped through his bandages, spreading like dark flowers across white cloth. He shouldn't have been standing, no he can't. The silver poisoning should have kept him down for days. But guilt, well was a powerful medicine.

"You can't fight," I said, but my voice was lost in the sound of snarling wolves and breaking furniture. He shifted anyway, his wolf smaller than it should have been, weaker. But present. Always present when it was too late to matter.

The front door exploded off its hinges. Warriors poured through like water through a broken dam. The once safe house became a battlefield. Claws met fur, teeth found flesh. The metallic scent of blood filled my nose, mixed with sweat and fear and something darker.

A massive gray wolf lunged at me. I barely dodged, his claws raking across my shoulder instead of my throat. The pain was sharp, I had never felt anything like it not the emotional wounds Dalton inflicted, but pure physical agony. I stumbled backward, my hand coming away red.

Zane was there instantly, his jaws closing around the gray wolf's neck. The crack of bone echoed through the chaos. He didn't kill. Not yet but the warning was clear. The gray wolf retreated, whimpering. Zane positioned himself in front of me, his growl a constant rumble that I felt in my bones.

"I can fight," I shouted at his back, but I wasn't sure if I believed my own words. My hands shook and my legs felt weak. Fear was a living thing inside me, clawing its way up my throat.

Jamie appeared at my side, his smaller wolf form protecting my other flank. Around us, the omegas fought with desperate courage. They weren't trained warriors, but they fought like wolves with everything to lose. Because they did. This was their last stand too.

Dalton's father moved through the battle with military precision, shouting commands to the rebel fighters. His years as Beta showed in every calculated strike, every tactical position. He was trying to turn our ragtag group into an actual fighting force. But we were still outnumbered three to one.

I shifted then, letting my wolf free for the first time in combat. The transformation hurt more than usual, fear made everything harder. But when I stood on four legs instead of two, something changed. The world became sharper, clearer. Predator instead of prey.

A brown wolf came at me from the right. I met her head-on, surprising us both. We collided in a tangle of fur and teeth. She was stronger, but I was angrier. Every humiliation, every betrayal, every moment I had swallowed my pain, it all came pouring out through my jaws and claws.

We broke apart, circling. I recognized her. She was one of Jade's friends who had laughed when Dalton rejected me. That knowledge made me fight harder. She lunged again, and this time I was ready. My teeth found her shoulder, drawing blood. She yelped and retreated.

The battle raged around us, but I started noticing something strange. Some of Thorne's warriors fought half-heartedly. Their strikes missed by inches when they should have connected. Their tackles didn't carry full force. I watched a large male wolf "accidentally" trip over his own packmate, disrupting an attack formation.

They didn't want to be here.

Not everyone followed Thorne willingly. Some came out of duty, fear, or pack bonds they couldn't break. But their hearts weren't in the fight. I filed that knowledge away, hoping we'd survive long enough to use it.

Then the temperature dropped. Power rolled through the safe house like thunder before a storm. Every wolf froze, even mid-strike. My wolf whimpered, wanting to submit, to roll over and show her throat. The Alpha aura was something else.

Alpha Thorne stepped through the broken doorway in human form. He didn't need to shift to be terrifying. His eyes glowed with barely contained rage, and every line of his body radiated authority. Warriors parted before him like the sea before Moses.

"Enough," his voice boomed, and the fighting stopped. Even Zane's rogues paused, unable to resist a direct Alpha command. "This ends now."

I shifted back to human form, not caring about my nakedness. Someone threw me a shirt. It was Jamie, still in wolf form. I pulled it on with shaking hands.

"Tehila Morrison," Thorne addressed me directly. "Surrender yourself, and I'll show mercy to these fools who followed you. Refuse, and I'll kill every last one of them. Starting with the omegas."

"No deal," Zane said, shifting beside me. His voice carried its own power, different from an Alpha's but just as compelling. "She's under my protection."

"Your protection means nothing here, Rogue King. This is pack business."

"She stopped being pack business when you banished her."

"A technicality I'm willing to overlook if she comes quietly."

I looked around at the faces watching me. Jamie, who'd risked everything to follow. Dalton's father, who'd turned against his own Alpha for honor. The omegas I'd protected over the years, now protecting me. And Dalton, bleeding and weak but still standing.

"What will you do with me?" I asked.

"Make an example. Show what happens to wolves who disrupt pack order."

"You mean kill me?"

"If necessary." His smile was cold. "But I'm feeling generous. Banishment and severed bonds with everyone here. You'll be truly alone. Isn't that a fate worse than death for a wolf?"

It was. Complete isolation drove wolves mad. We were pack animals, built for connection. Cutting all bonds would mean agony.

"Don't," Zane growled. "Don't even consider it."

But I was considering it. These wolves had families, futures. What did I have? A broken mate bond and borrowed protection.

Thorne saw my hesitation. His eyes gleamed with triumph. "See? She knows the right choice."

"The right choice," a new voice rang out, "is calling you the murdering bastard you are, Marcus."

Every head turned upward. Dr. Lorett stood on the safe house roof, a rifle aimed directly at Alpha Thorne's head. The moonlight caught her silver hair, making her look like an avenging angel.

Thorne's face went white. Actual fear flickered across his features before he masked it.

"Lorett," he said carefully. "This doesn't concern you."

"Doesn't it? You killed your first mate, Marcus. Snapped her neck when she couldn't give you an heir. I was the one who examined her body. I know the truth."

The safe house went silent. Even the wounded stopped whimpering.

"One more step toward that girl," Dr. Lorett continued, her voice carrying to every wolf present, "and I'll tell them all exactly what you did to Margaret. Every detail. Every lie you told."

Thorne's hands clenched into fists. His aura pulsed with rage, but he didn't move forward.

"You wouldn't dare."

Dr. Lorett smiled, and it was terrifying. "Try me."