The battlefield was eerily quiet. The smell of burnt wood, blood, and death clung to the air, suffocating in its intensity. I stood in the middle of what remained of our pack, my fur covered in black blood. Some of it belonged to the Umbrakins, some of it–I wasn’t
sure.
I turned, my gaze sweeping over the carnage. The fires Austin had put out had left behind nothing but blackened structures, smoke rising into the night sky like mourning spirits.
I shifted back, my body aching from the effort, I looked around, my heart heavy as I took in the damage. We had won. But at what cost? Austin reached beside me and here me his shirt to wear.
Eira approached me, her expression grim.
“I’ve never seen so many of them attack at once,” she said. Her usual fierce demeanor was subdued, her dark eyes filled with something Stormi had never seen before–fear. “It wasn’t just a raid. This was an extermination attempt.”
I swallowed hard, dread curling in my stomach.
“How many survivors?” I asked.
A swirl of shadows appeared beside me, and Isaiah stepped out, his face set in stone. He hesitated before answering, as if the words themselves pained him.
“Almost everyone is gone.”
My breath caught in my throat.
Isaiah continued, his voice quieter, as though speaking the truth out loud it.”
made it worse. “The Alpha and Luna… they didn’t make
I barely registered the sharp inhale of Alex behind me, or the way Austin clenched his fists at the news.
I was still processing.
The Alpha and Luna. Dead. Elijah’s parents were dead.
They hadn’t always been kind to me, but they had been the only stability I had known in my childhood.
Gone.
I turned sharply to Isaiah, my heart hammering. “Elijah?”
Isaiah ddn’t answer right away. Panic gripped my chest.
“Where is he?” I demanded.
4
When Isaiah still didn’t respond, I didn’t wait for an answer. I shifted and focused on Elijah’s scent–charcoal and pine, something uniquely his–and took off.
I heard Isaiah follow, his shadows swirling around us as he kept pace
We appeared at the same time near what remained of the pack house
Or rather, what used to be the pack house.
1/4
Chapter 127
I shifted back into my human form, my legs shaky from exhaustion. Isaiah, ever the silent protector, took off his shirt and handed it to her. I took it without a word, slipping it on as I stepped closer to the ruins.
And there, kneeling amidst the rubble, was Elijah.
His broad back was hunched, his hands clenched into fists against the ash–covered ground. He wasn’t moving. He wasn’t speaking.
Something about the stillness of his form unnerved me more than any battle had.
“Elijah,” I called softly, stepping forward.
He didn’t react.
I hesitated.
This wasn’t like him.
Just as I opened my mouth to speak again, laughter rang through the air.
A slow, mocking laugh that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
I whirled around.
A shadowy figure stood at the edge of the destruction, its body flickering like it was barely tethered to this world.
I knew immediately who it was. The Shadow Weaver.
The entity that had been manipulating the Umbrakins, that had orchestrated every attack against us.
“I warned you, Silver Wolf,” the figure rasped, its voice slithering through the air like poison. “This is just the beginning.”
I immediately shifted. My muscles coiled, ready to lunge, to attack, to rip this thing apart-
But the Shadow Weaver simply laughed again.
“I will destroy everything in my path,” it continued, tilting its head in mock amusement. “And when my children release me, I will kill everything in my way.”
I bared my fangs. “Not if I kill you first.”
The figure chuckled, shaking its head.
“Oh, no, Silver Wolf. I won’t kill you.” Its smoky form twisted, eyes glowing like burning coals. “You, I will save for last. So you can see what happens to those who think they can be saviors.”
I lunged.
-My claws extended as I called upon the moon’s power, prepared to obliterate it.
But the Shadow Weaver was already dissipating.
it vanished into thin air before I could make contact..
The silence it left behind was deafening. I stood there, fists clenched, chest heaving. The rage inside me burned hotter than the fires that had destroyed the village.
2/4
C
This wasn’t just war. This was personal.
I turned back to Elijah, expecting him to have reacted in some way to what had just happened.
But he was still in the same position.
Kneeling. Unmoving.
Alex gave me his shirt to cover myself, I hesitated before stepping closer.
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