LUCIEN’S POV
Rogues poured out of the tree line like a wave of shadows, wild and frothing at the mouth, snarling as if something had driven them past the point of sanity. The ground trembled under the weight of their charge. The air stank of blood and dirt and something… wrong.
I didn’t have time to think.
1 shifted mid-stride, bones snapping and reshaping as my wolf burst forward. The moment my paws hit the earth, a rogue slammed into me.
I caught it by the throat, flipped it, and tore into it before it could blink.
Blood sprayed across the dirt.
And the battle began.
We fought hard-every warrior, every guard, every wolf willing to stand between the palace and death.
They kept coming
Rogues were never organized. They never fought with strategy. But these… these were different.
They were wild, yes-but united. Driven. Almost frantic.
And that made them easier to kill-but more dangerous too.
I ripped another rogue off one of my younger warriors, snapping its spine with a quick twist. The warrior yelped a weak “Thank you,”
through the link before turning to help someone else.
I didn’t slow. Couldn’t slow.
The king had left the palace in my hands.
And I would rather die than fail him.
‘Hold the line.’ I commanded through the link, my voice sharp and steel-hard. ‘Protect the palace. Protect the people. No one gets through you. Do you understand me?’
A chorus of growls echoed through the pack link.
Good.
We fought in formation, exactly as we’d trained for, but the rogues were relentless. For every one we took down, three more rushed at us, snarling with foaming mouths and crazed eyes.
My claws sank into the earth as I prepared for the next wave. I could taste blood-mine, theirs, everyone’s-thick on my tongue. The air felt hot despite the cold night. My muscles burned, my lungs stung.
But I refused to stop.
A rogue lunged from my left, catching me off balance. I twisted, grabbed it by the leg, and slammed it against a tree hard enough to crack bark. Its bones crunched under the impact, but it staggered back up, trembling, fur bristling as it snarled at me.
Damn thing didn’t know when to die.
We circled each other. Low growls. Raised hackles. The clearing spun with movement around us-claws scraping, bones shattering, wolves crying out in pain and fury.
Then we clashed.
I lunged, jaws wide, and we collided so violently the shock rippled up my spine. Its claws raked across my shoulder, tearing into flesh, Hot pain shot through me, but I ignored it. i grabbed its muzzle, shoved it down, and tightened my jaw until | felt the sharp, satisfying crack of bone.
It dropped.
I didn’t even get a chance to breathe.
Movement.
Fast.
A blur of gray fur streaking toward me from behind.
Shit.
I spun-too late.
But just as the rogue leapt at my exposed flank, something slammed into it mid-air-hard.
A brown wolf.
She hit the rogue with so much force it rolled across the dirt, yelping before she snapped its neck clean with a brutal bite.
Adele.
My chest tightened in away that annoyed the hell out of me.
Her scent hit me next-warm, stubborn, wild. Distracting. Too distracting.
I snarled through the link before I could stop myself.
‘What the hell are you doing here, Adele?!’
She shook blood off her muzzle, lifted her head, and shot me the wolf equivalent of an eye roll.
“Saving your ass,
she said, voice dripping with attitude.
Unbelievable.
“I told you to go to the safe room with the others, I growled, irritation burning hot through me. ‘Why can’t you listen for once in your life?’
‘Because I’m not a damsel,’ she snapped back. ‘And I’m not hiding while everyone else is fighting.’
Then-because she was Adele, because she was reckless, because she had no damn sense-she ran back into the battle before I could stop her.
My heart jumped into my throat.
Of course it did.
Of course she’d make my blood pressure skyrocket in the middle of a war.
I growled in frustration and sprinted after her, slashing through anything that tried to get near her. I wasn’t about to let her die. Not tonight. Not ever.
Dozens.
No.
Hundreds.
Heavy. Fast. Commanding.
For a split second, panic gripped me. More rogues? If more came, we were finished. Completely finished. We’d fought too long, bled too much. The palace would fall. The king would return to a massacre.
‘Everyone stand ready!’ I barked through the link. ‘Form a line. Shield the palace. Now!’
Warriors dragged themselves into formation. Some limped. Some dripped blood. Some shook from exhaustion. But they stood.
We all stood.
Adele moved closer, her flank brushing mine, steadying herself-and me.
The trees parted.
Wolves emerged from the shadows.
Not rogues.
Not enemies.
But alphas.
Dozens of them.
Every alpha from every pack stepped into the clearing-bigger, stronger, radiating raw fury. And behind them? Their warriors. Lines and lines of them, each one glaring daggers at the rogues still snarling around us.
The rogues froze.
Even they understood the shift in power.
The leader of one of the packs stepped forward-a massive wolf with scorching brown eyes. His power rolled over the clearing like thunder.
More alphas lined up beside him, each one baring their teeth, growling low and murderous.
My breath caught in my throat.
Relief flooded my body so fast my legs nearly buckled.
Adele let out a small, breathless sound beside me.
The rogues stared at the alphas surrounding them, their wild eyes wide, frantic, unsure. *
And in that moment, I knew:
They were done.
They were absolutely done.

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