Where Anna lay broken and still, her throat opened in a red smile that painted the wallpaper in abstract art no one should ever have to see. Her dress was soaked through, and her eyes stared at nothing with the emptiness that meant she'd never see anything again.
“No.” The word escaped on a breath that felt like dying.
My wolf launched without conscious command, fury overriding strategy as I slammed into the rogue threatening Michael. Bones snapped under my claws, and blood sprayed across walls that had probably never seen violence worse than a stubbed toe.
Behind me, light exploded as Gideon threw magic at another rogue, white fire that made the creature howl as it crashed into what remained of the dining room table. The third one turned toward Nate, jaws opening wide enough to snap his spine like kindling.
I moved faster than thought, faster than fear, claws ripping through matted fur and finding the soft places underneath. The rogue's snarl cut off in a wet gurgle, and I kept tearing until nothing remained that could threaten the people I loved.
Silence fell like a curtain, broken only by ragged breathing and the sound of blood dripping onto hardwood floors that would never be clean again.
Michael stared at me with eyes wide enough to show white all around the edges, chair leg still clutched in hands that shook like leaves in a storm wind. “What the hell. What are you?”
His gaze flicked from my naked, blood-covered form to Gideon's hands still glowing with residual magic, trying toprocess evidence that didn't fit into any reality he'd been prepared for.
I ignored him, stumbling toward where Anna lay like a broken doll someone had thrown away. My hands shook as I pressed trembling fingers to her neck, searching for a pulse I knew wouldn't be there.
“She's gone,” I whispered, and the words felt like tearing out pieces of my soul.
Nate's scream echoed through the ruined house, raw and broken and holding more pain than any human throat should be able to produce. He collapsed against his mother's body, hands trying desperately to hold together wounds that had already stolen her away.
“Mom.” His voice cracked on the word, grief cutting through him like a blade. “Mom, please. Please don't leave me.”
But Anna was already gone, taking with her the warmth that had made this house feel like home. Taking with her the woman who'd welcomed me into her family like I'd always belonged there.
Michael staggered backward, pale and shaking, still trying to make sense of a world that had just revealed teeth and claws and magic. “Witches?” His voice barely qualified as a whisper. “Wolves? What the fuck is happening?”
Gideon's shoulders sagged. The magic had faded from his hands, leaving behind just a tired man who'd seen too much death. “We'll explain everything, Michael. I promise. But not here. Not like this.”
Before Michael could respond, boots thundered across the front porch. Dad burst through the destroyed doorway with half the pack at his back, wolves in human form bristling with violence barely held in check.
His eyes swept the scene, taking in the dead rogues and shattered furniture, the blood that painted everything in shadesof tragedy. When his gaze landed on Anna's body, his face hardened into something that belonged in old stories about gods who demanded payment in blood.
“Calder is behind this,” he growled, voice carrying Alpha authority that made the house itself seem to lean in and listen. “This was meant to break us.”
Nate lifted his head, eyes wild with grief and fury that transformed his face into something I barely recognized. “Break us? They killed my mom! She's dead because you dragged us into this! Because you?—”
He choked on the words, clutching Anna tighter like he could keep her soul from slipping away through proximity alone.
Dad knelt beside them, placing a heavy hand on Nate's shoulder. “No. She died because Calder has no honor. But if you want justice, you'll stand with us. With Evan.”
His voice was iron wrapped in velvet, already pulling Nate into the war whether he was ready or not. Because that's what Alphas did. They turned grief into purpose, pain into weapons that could cut down the things that threatened their people.
I stood frozen between them, torn between holding Nate while he fell apart and following Dad's lead into whatever came next. My wolf howled inside my chest, demanding I protect what was mine, but I didn't know how to fix this. Didn't know how to bring back the dead or heal wounds that went deeper than flesh.
“Mom,” Nate whispered, and the word broke on a sob that seemed to come from somewhere deeper than his lungs. “Mom, please. I can't— she was supposed to meet our kids someday. She was supposed to—” His voice shattered completely, and he pressed his face against Anna's shoulder like he could hide from a world that had just stolen everything good from it.
The sound of his grief, raw and helpless and utterly human, cut through me worse than any blade. Because this was what oursecrets had cost. Not just Anna's life, but Nate's faith that the world was a place where love could keep you safe.
My silence was the sharpest cut of all.
Gideon finally spoke, voice carrying the weight of knowledge that came too late to matter. “This isn't the end. This is only the opening strike. And the hand behind Calder isn't his own. It's Silas.”
Nate stared at Gideon, tears burning tracks through the blood on his face. “Then I want him.” His voice shook with grief and rage and something darker that made my chest tight with fear. “I don't care if I have to bleed for it. I'll make him pay.”
The vow hung in the air like a promise and a threat rolled into one, and I could see the exact moment when grief carved Nate into something sharper. Something dangerous.
“Nate.” I reached for him, desperate to hold onto whatever pieces remained of the boy who'd loved me despite my claws and fangs.
