Chapter Thirty-Nine
The roaring wind whipped shards of broken glass across the living room floor, scattering them like vicious confetti.
I clutched Twobble’s arm, my heart pounding.
The huge, dark wolf outside was poised to crash through the window at any moment, his growls sending tremors through my feet.
Suddenly, there was a commotion behind us.
Another crash.
I spun, half expecting the worst, only to see the kitchen door burst open.
Keegan stormed in, followed by Nova, Stella, and Ember close on his heels. The snowy gust followed them, swirling around their boots, but none seemed fazed by the cold.
Their expressions were grim, keyed to battle as they looked around the cottage.
I exhaled a shaky breath of relief. “Thank goodness—”
But before I could finish, Keegan’s gaze locked onto the glowing wolf’s eyes in the shattered window.
His entire body tensed, and a muffled curse slid through his clenched teeth.
Nova moved past me in a swirl of magic-infused air, raising a hand in front of the broken glass to bolster the Ward.
The shimmering lines of her protection flickered, holding the window together in a tenuous weave as the glass turned to sand and melted under her spell, returning to each sill as it had always meant to be replaced.
The unbothered wolf slammed into the cottage again, eliciting a sharp crack that resonated in my bones.
“Where’s Frank?” Keegan rasped, never taking his eyes off the wolf.
The tension in his shoulders suggested he was seconds away from bolting outside. Maybe to confront the beast, maybe to draw it away.
“In the cellar,” I managed. “I locked him down there. I—” My voice cracked, still trembling from the shock of almost facing my grandfather alone. “Can’t let him fight like this.”
Ember strode forward, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
“Then let’s make sure he’s safer still.” At my look of confusion, she nodded toward the cellar hatch. “We’ll move him. Away from… prying eyes if time permits.”
A spike of panic shot through my chest. “How will he remain unseen?”
“My mode of operandi, but only if it’s safe,” Ember promised, winking.
A faint swirl of magic curled around her fingers, and I recognized it as one of her specialty illusions—a mesmerizing blend of hush and shadow that often made her presence vanish.
I swallowed thickly and returned to the scene at the window as Miora appeared by the fireplace.
Where had she been?
My grandfather’s massive silhouette dwarfed the porch. His haunches were easily taller than my shoulders, a terrifying testament to his alpha lineage.
But I refused to let him scare me.
I remembered my vow to myself. He will not break me. He will not break what I’ve built here.
Stella sidled closer, her eyes darted between me and Nova, still weaving a protective barrier over the windows and door.
The front door rattled—no, buckled —as the wolf rammed it with furious strength.
A deep snarl reverberated through the threshold. I heard the wood splintering and knew that door wouldn’t hold much longer.
Nova’s wand spiraled through the air as Stella joined in.
Twobble puffed out his chest, a sarcastic grin slipping across his face.
“Huh. Seems we have an uninvited guest. Guess we forgot the welcome banner.” His bravado covered a bedrock of fear, but some of my tension ebbed at his dry humor.
A guttural roar shook the window frame, and I caught the flicker of movement overhead—through the swirling snow visible in the gap, gargoyles swooped and snapped at the wolf’s ears and tail.
Karvey and his crew, fierce in their stony might, clawed at my grandfather’s fur, distracting him from smashing through the Ward entirely.
I still didn’t even know my grandfather’s name—somehow, that made this worse, like fighting a specter rather than a real person. Keegan’s posture stiffened. He must’ve read the confusion on my face because he muttered, “Malore. His name is Malore.”
The single word jarred something in my memory. A faint recollection of my mother whispering a name under her breath—Malore—just once when I was young. An echo of the heartbreak she never explained. I shuddered, tasting the bitterness of what this name truly meant.
Before I could dwell on that, the wolf— Malore —lunged for the window again, jaws wide.
I reached for my wand by the bookshelf as Nova’s magic crackled, temporarily stopping him.
Glass shards ground against each other, fracturing further. She let out a soft cry of effort as a splinter jutted toward her, and instinctively, I rushed to her side, raising my hand and trying to recall the incantation for Ward's reinforcement.
My words stuttered, but the attempt ignited a faint, flickering light that joined hers. The wands glowed. The glass hovered in place, bridging the gap, but I could tell it wouldn’t last. The front door groaned, straining as Malore hurled his weight against it.
Keegan nodded at me—maybe gratitude, maybe approval—and then squared his shoulders.
“I’m going outside,” he announced. “He won’t stop until we force him to. Better to meet him on open ground.”
My heart lurched. “You can’t face him alone!”
He pressed his lips into a grim line.
“I’ll manage. Nova, Stella—cover Maeve. Twobble,” he added wryly, “keep up that snark, would you?”
It suddenly felt like he was saying goodbye, and my heart clenched.
Twobble rolled his eyes. “On it, boss. I’ll keep her from losing her mind.”
Nova shot Keegan a look of shared understanding. Stella pressed her lips together but said nothing, already stepping closer to me, bracing for whatever storm was about to break.
Keegan took off in a blur, heading through the back exit of the kitchen.
The door slammed, the wind’s howl rushing in briefly before it closed behind him.
My chest tightened with dread. My gaze fell on Twobble, who gave me a small shrug that betrayed his worry.
“He’s a big boy,” Twobble muttered. “If anyone can keep the wolf at bay for a while, it’s him.”
Then, the front door exploded inward with a sickening crack.
Nova’s protective spell shimmered at the threshold, but splinters flew everywhere, the top hinge dangling by a thread.
Malore’s monstrous snout punched through the debris, foam flying from his muzzle as he snarled. The gargoyles dive-bombed him from overhead, one snagging its claws in his fur. Malore roared, snapping at them, momentarily distracted.
“Now,” Nova urged, pressing a luminous sigil into the doorframe. “Reinforce it!”
I scrambled to her side, half-remembered spells tumbling from my lips.
Together, we locked arms, my trembling voice merging with her practiced command. Tendrils of yellow light snaked across the fractured door as a temporary protection lattice wove together.
Malore shook off two gargoyles, sending them tumbling into the snow, and lunged again.
The wands sparked, aiming at and halting him, but not before his claws raked the wood's edge.
Every nerve in me screamed to run.
But I stood my ground, chanting.
The magic threatened to slip away from my trembling hands, but Stella’s voice joined ours.
Outside, over the furious wind, I heard a series of snarls and growls.
Malore turned away as the gargoyles festered magic on the lone wolf.
Keegan had to be taunting my grandfather, welcoming him in the blizzard-laden darkness.
My heart twisted. Why did it feel like everything was unspooling too fast?
A cold gust ripped through the threshold, nearly snuffing out the magic from our wands.
Nova hissed in pain, reeling backward, and I fought to maintain the spell. Another ear-rending screech—metal or stone scraping something—rang out from outside. Then a crash. Had the gargoyles pinned Malore, or was he plowing through them? Was it Keegan?
Miora’s ethereal presence, calm and soothing, began lifting pieces of the cottage back again.
“We’ve got this, ladies. Nothing a little Lemon Pledge won’t handle tomorrow.”
Stella chuckled as the humor forced a power through my fingertips.
“That a girl, Maeve!” Stella shouted, her hair whipping around her face. “Just a bit more—”
Then everything happened at once.
The shattered window sealed, but Malore’s massive paw reared back, and with a final, furious surge, he tore the door from its hinges and sent the protective light scattering like broken glass.
Nova and I stumbled, losing the incantation.
But Stella remained.
Her long fangs glistened, and she grinned at her new enemy like the joker.
A swirl of snow blasted into the living room, and the wolf’s glowing eyes fixed on me with chilling focus.
Time seemed to freeze.
Stella stepped before me, brandishing her wand higher at Malore.
But what happened to Keegan?
A swift shape flew overhead—Karvey or one of the other gargoyles—snapping at Malore’s back. For an instant, the wolf turned, jaws gnashing stone.
The gargoyle shrieked with its wings beating furiously.
But Malore shrugged it off and surged forward another step. He was in the living room now, towering and lethal, half-silhouetted by the night, half-lit by the cottage’s meager lamps.
With trembling hands, I prepared to fling a banishing charm that might not even work against such raw power. But I couldn’t stand by. If I hesitated, he’d tear the place apart, searching for what he came for.
My father, Stella, Nova, Ember, and Keegan were in the chaos. I couldn’t fail them.
Miora was hovering near the door, attempting to piece it together again.
“Get back!” I shouted, voice cracking. Stella shifted aside, and Twobble pressed himself against the wall, leaving a clear line of sight for me and Nova. Malore snarled again, hateful eyes gleaming, muzzle dripping. We had maybe a heartbeat before he sprang.
Nova began chanting, her voice low and melodic. I mirrored her as best I could, summoning every ounce of courage. Sparks danced along my fingertips, illuminating Malore’s snarl. The wind howled, the gargoyles shrieked—
A horrendous crash erupted from the side of the house, accompanied by a splintering of wooden beams.
My concentration shattered.
Snow and debris flew.
For a half-second, everything vanished in a swirl of white.
The next thing I saw was Malore’s hulking form lunging past me. Something caught his attention.
I stumbled, lost in a frost spray, and my incantation derailed.
Through the whirlwind, I spotted a dark silhouette in the destroyed entryway—Keegan braced for impact, arms raised as if to wrestle the wolf. Blood stained the snow at his feet.
The wind roared.
Nova’s cry rang out in alarm, and Stella shouted something I couldn’t decipher.
It wasn’t English.
A low rumble rippled through the clearing, vibrating under my feet.
Malore growled as his massive wolf form silhouetted against the moonlight, and fur bristled with fury on the porch.
My heart lurched, ready for the worst.
Until I saw Keegan—his stance impossibly steady, shoulders rolling as if something seismic raged within.
He let out a roar that cracked the hush of night. His features contorted, flesh rippling, bones stretching. I stumbled backward, barely able to breathe as I watched him grow—limbs elongating, muscles bunching beneath impossibly thick fur.
A primal look lit his eyes, blazing gold under the moon’s pale glow.
His eyes connected with mine for a brief moment.
Within seconds, Keegan stood on all fours.
His coat, dark as midnight, shone with a metallic sheen, each hair bristling in readiness. He raised his colossal head, and the air pulsed with raw dominance. He towered above Malore’s hulking frame.
Malore staggered, ears flattening in shock or maybe recognition.
A low, fierce growl poured from Keegan’s throat—at once wolfish and undeniably human in its rage. I could only stand, heart slamming in my chest, as Keegan bared his teeth, poised to clash with Malore in a battle that only one alpha could survive.
“I thought he couldn’t shift…” My voice trailed off.
“Never had a reason to, I suppose,” Stella said.
And then the wolf and Keegan collided in a furious snarl of teeth and strength, vanishing in a swirl of drifting snow outside the torn wall of the cottage.
Horrified, I scrambled forward.
Keegan had heart and size.
Malore had experience.
Twobble grabbed my arm, trying to hold me back.
I nearly screamed, my heart hammering so hard I thought I might faint.
I last saw Malore snapping, Keegan ducking, and a violent spin of claws and fangs.
Darkness enveloped them both in a flurry of white.
All sense of direction vanished.
Behind me, Nova gasped, and Stella rushed forward, her voice echoing.
The night was alive with roars and shrieks, a cacophony of terror.
My chest felt hollow.
Keegan was out there.
My father was in the cellar—or had Ember whisked him away?
Everything was chaos. I couldn’t let them fight alone.
My foot lifted to race outside as adrenaline pulsed in my veins.
But a gale-force wind surged through the shattered door, blinding me with snow.
Twobble yelled something, tugging on my coat, but I stumbled, disoriented.
Over the roar, I heard a massive snarl, and time seemed to slow as I realized someone was about to lose this fight—
And then the night swallowed them all, leaving me breathless and terrified in the splintered wreckage of my home.