All Chapters of THE LAST SHIFT: A Werewolf without a Wolf : Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

The blast seared the grove in a storm of light. For a moment, I thought the whole world had shattered--the earth heaved, trees split apart, roots tearing like they were screaming. The chains shrieked louder than steel in a forge, snapping back from the blaze.When the light dimmed, the guard still stood. Its body smoked, parts of it split open where our fire had struck. And there--at its center--the pulsing gray core glowed clearer than before, like a heart carved from ash and iron.I stumbled, clutching Kieran's arm. My breath was fire in my lungs. "It's still standing.""Then we hit it harder," he growled, storms raging in his voice. His grip tightened on my wrist. "Kaia, listen to me. Don't let it get close. Keep your fire sharp--cut, don't just burn."My chest heaved. "I--I don't know if I can hold it.""You can," he snapped, turning his eyes on me. Even through the smoke, they burned like thunder. "Because I won't let you fall. You hear me? Not now. Not ever."The ember flared in

The mist closed around us like a blanket. It smelled of wet stone and old wood, thick enough to taste. Every sound from the ridge fell away until the only noise left was our breath and the soft scrape of roots underfoot.Kieran's hand was warm in mine, but his step dragged. He tried to hide it, but I saw the limp in his rhythm. When his boot slipped on a slick loop of root, I tugged him steady."You're limping," I said.He squinted, storms flickering at the corners of his eyes. "No. I'm walking.""Liar." I stopped, planting my boots. "Your fire's too high. You're covering the sting."He turned, sweat plastering hair to his forehead, jaw tight. "Better high than gone," he muttered.I stepped close, my voice sharper than I intended. "You keep acting like you're the only one allowed to break. I'm not glass. I can fight. I did fight."His storms raged for a heartbeat, then softened. He looked away, exhaling hard. "I know. I saw you." His thumb brushed the back of my hand, gentler this tim

The first one lunged.Its shape was smoke stretched into limbs, claws made of absence. Kieran's fire struck it midair, roaring bright and the thing shrieked. Not like an animal. Like a person.I staggered back, hands flying to my ears as the sound split the clearing. For a second the shape burned away in the flames, but at its core something glowed faintly; pale, fragile. Then it re-formed, shuddering, its claws scraping the dirt."They don't die," Kieran spat. "Not clean."More shadows rushed us, faceless heads tilted in silent hunger. His fire cut swathes through them, but every time, their cores pulsed and pulled them back together.I threw my ember forward, wild and sharp. It lit the clearing in a blaze of white-red, tearing through three shadows at once. They scattered into smoke, their cores flickering, then crawling back toward shape again."Not enough!" I gasped.Kieran slammed his hand down, storms cracking the earth, fire spreading like a wall between us and them. "Then we k

Light swallowed everything.Not fire, not storm, not ember, something older. It surged through the clearing, so bright the roots shrieked and shriveled back into the dirt. My chest split open, ember blazing wild, tethered to the shadow's core by a burning thread.I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. The chains wrapped around the shadow writhed, hissing as if alive. Their silver gleam turned black where the ember struck, but instead of breaking, they tightened, biting deeper into the figure's form.The shadow screamed.It wasn't rage this time. It was human pain. Terrifyingly human.Kieran's fire wrapped around me, desperate, anchoring me against the pull. "Kaia! Let go!" His voice was raw, his storms snapping the air sharp. "It's dragging you under, cut the tether before it takes you!"But I couldn't. The ember wouldn't let me. It blazed hotter, dragging me deeper into the shadow's core.Images poured through me, too many, too fast. A battlefield of ash. A man with storms in his eyes, f

The crack ripped the clearing in half.The sound wasn't metal. It was bone, marrow, blood. The second chain split under my ember's strike, the silver shrieking as it curled away, dissolving into sparks that seared the soil.The forest convulsed. Roots burst from the ground, thrashing like serpents, splitting rocks and toppling trees. Shadows scattered at the edges, screaming as the blast of light tore through them.My father, if he was still mine, collapsed forward, smoke ripping off him in waves. Flesh showed clearer now: scarred shoulders, arms too human for a monster, a chest marked with burns that bled smoke instead of blood. His face flickered, broken but forming, framed in shadow.And his eyes; gold, fierce, alive."Kaia!" His voice ripped from his throat raw, but no longer thunder. It was a man's cry. A father's cry. "Keep going. Don't stop!"I staggered, clutching at my chest. The ember blazed too bright, spilling out of me in cracks of light that burned through my skin. My ha