جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 120

Derek ran without looking back.“Malia!” Lydia shouted behind him. “Derek, stop!”He heard her, but he did not slow down. His mother was at the gates, surrounded by armed strangers, and a wounded man had said she might not survive. Nothing else mattered.“Come back here!” Lydia called.Derek raced past two cottages and nearly collided with an elderly woman carrying a basket. He barely noticed her cry of surprise. The war horn sounded again, closer now, and the ground seemed to shake beneath the shouting.He had never heard of a battle before. He had never seen people fight to the death. But he knew the sound of danger, and every instinct told him to get to his mother.Behind him, Lydia turned to the wounded runner.“How badly is she hurt?” she demanded.“I don’t know,” the man gasped. “I saw her take a blow. There were three warriors closing in on her when I left.”“Then why are you standing here?” Lydia snapped. “Take me there!”A villager hurried to support the injured man. Lydia ga

For one terrible moment, the battlefield seemed to stop breathing. Around us, the settlement’s defenders slowly lowered their weapons in silence, but no one cheered. They watched Derek as if one wrong movement might turn him against them, too, and I could not blame them for being afraid. Derek stood in the mud with red eyes fixed on the fight ahead. A fallen Redfang warrior lay at his feet. No one moved to help him. The men nearest Derek backed away, their faces drained of color. “What kind of child is that?” someone whispered. No one answered. The Redfang warriors who had mocked Derek moments earlier now watched him with fear. Their weapons shook, and none dared approach. I forced myself to stand. Pain burned through my ribs, and blood ran down my arm, but I barely felt it. Derek was walking toward Roderic. The red glow in his eyes seemed brighter with every step, and the men in his path were falling before he even touched them. One clutched his chest and dropped dead. Another

“Derek! Please, sweetheart, wake up!”I held my son against my chest, patting his pale cheeks while waiting for him to open his eyes. His body felt heavy in my arms, and the silence from him frightened me more than anything I had witnessed on the battlefield.“Malia!”Mara came running toward me, with Lydia close behind her.“What happened to him?” Mara asked, dropping to her knees beside us.“He collapsed. His eyes returned to normal, and then he just fell.” My voice shook. “Mara, please, do something. He won’t wake up.”She pressed her fingers against Derek’s neck, checking his pulse before placing a hand against his forehead.“He’s breathing,” she said. “We need to get him home.”Lydia crouched beside me and touched Derek’s cheek. “Come on, little one. You’ve frightened us enough for one day.”He didn’t respond.I tightened my arms around him. “I can’t lose him, Lydia. He’s all I have.”“You won’t,” she said, though her worried expression betrayed her words. “Let’s get him inside f

No one dared come closer. I stood before them with my injured ribs aching beneath my clothes, trying not to show how much their fear unsettled me. These people had shared their food with us, welcomed Derek into their homes, and treated us as their own. Now they looked at me as if I had brought a curse to their door. Garrick moved to stand beside me. “Give her room,” he ordered. “You wanted answers. Let her speak.” A few people muttered, but they obeyed. The Alpha’s face was hard, though I could see the strain around his eyes. His pack members were wounded, and some might not recover. Whatever I said would not bring the dead back. I looked at the crowd. “Before I explain anything, I want you to know that I am sorry.” My voice wavered, so I forced myself to continue. “Your people were hurt because Redfang came here looking for my son. Some of your warriors died protecting this settlement. I will never pretend that their sacrifice means nothing.” A wounded man near the front scoff

My wolf snarled inside me, demanding to be released. “Malia.” Lydia’s voice came from behind me. I turned slightly and saw her stepping outside. Her eyes moved to my face, and she stopped when she noticed the silver flicker in my eyes before they returned to their normal color. She knew something was wrong. “Malia, come inside,” she said quietly, approaching me. “Please.” “I can’t leave this unfinished.” “You’ve said enough. They’re frightened, and they’re not thinking clearly.” “They are calling me a liar.” “And you don’t have to prove anything to them.” I shook my head. “You don’t understand. If I walk away now, they’ll believe everything that man said. They’ll think I invented my past because I’m afraid of being sent away.” Lydia caught my arm and lowered her voice. “Then let them think whatever they want. We can leave this settlement if that’s what the whole pack wants. We can find somewhere else to go.” I stared at her. “And what happens when Redfang finds us there?