The world had turned into chaos.
Sera burst into the fray, her silver-white fur streaked with the glow of the full moon above the morning was approaching. Though she lacked the refined technique of a trained warrior, there was a fire in her heart, and that fire drove her forward.
She had no time for fear.
A rogue lunged at Michael from behind. Sera threw herself between them with a snarl, her teeth sinking into the attacker's foreleg. He howled, reared back, and tried to shake her off, but she held on with everything she had. Her body screamed in pain, but she didn't let go until the rogue stumbled, giving Michael just enough time to leap in and finish the job.
Blood splattered the ground.
Sera turned, panting, eyes scanning for her brothers.
The triplets were struggling—one of them limping, and Daria was pinned under a snarling rogue twice her size. Without thinking, Sera flung herself toward them, slamming into the larger wolf with all the force she could muster. She wasn't graceful. She wasn't precise. But she was furious, and that was enough.
They rolled across the dirt, snapping and clawing. She took a hard hit to her side and felt the sharp sting of teeth graze her shoulder, but she kept going. For her family.
Just then, a blur of silver and grey swept past her vision—Zois, cutting through two rogues like a blade of vengeance. Lukas followed his massive form a whirlwind of lethal grace, taking down rogue after rogue with movements too fast to track.
Where Sera fought like a wildfire, the twins were a storm.
There was no hesitation in their attack—no wasted energy. Every lunge, every bite, every strike was exact. Coordinated. Deadly. It was no wonder their parents were preparing them to become dual Alphas. Together, they moved like mirror images—silent but unstoppable.
Rogues fell around them like leaves in a storm.
The tide had turned.
Sera stood over one of the triplets, blood dripping from her muzzle, chest heaving. She could feel Eila clawing her way back to the surface, desperate to take control now that the worst seemed to be over.
With a shake, Sera stepped back and let Eila take over. She collapsed onto the ground, bare, bruised, and breathless, but very much alive.
The scent of blood clung to the air, thick and metallic, but it no longer reeked of death.
She scrambled toward her siblings, hands trembling.
"Michael!" she cried out.
He sat on the ground, clutching a bleeding arm but smiled through the pain. "I'm okay, Ei. We're okay."
She turned to the triplets. One was groaning, his forehead cut open; another had bite marks across his thigh. But they were alive. They were breathing.
She almost cried from relief.
And then she looked up—Zois and Lukas had shifted back, blood streaking their bodies, chests rising and falling rapidly.
They were watching her—not with lust or mischief—but with fierce protectiveness, their eyes burning with something she couldn't name.
"You saved them," she whispered, her voice barely there.
Zois stepped forward, his gaze intense. "You saved them too."
Lukas knelt beside her and brushed her hair away from her face. "That was brave, Eila. Reckless, but brave."
Their closeness, their warmth—it felt like the calm after a devastating storm. Her body ached, but her heart felt full.
And yet, one thought haunted her.
Leonard.
She looked toward the forest's edge. Many haunting thoughts crossed her mind.
Where was he?
Where had he gone?
And why did it feel like the worst wasn't over yet?
The night had given her back her family—but what had it taken in return?