YOU'RE NOT TAKING HER
The courtyard fell into a deadly silence.
The creature’s glowing red eyes remained fixed on Aria.
“I’ve come to bring you home.”
Aria felt a wave of cold anger rise in her chest.
“Home?” she repeated.
The monster’s twisted mouth curved into a smile.
“Yes.”
Its voice still carried the calm, cold tone of the Blood Emperor.
“You’ve been away long enough.”
Rowan stepped in front of Aria immediately.
“Yeah, that’s not happening.”
The creature ignored him.
Its attention remained locked on Aria.
“You belong with me.”
A deep, thunderous growl suddenly rolled across the courtyard.
The Alpha King.
His massive black wolf stepped forward, golden eyes blazing with pure fury.
The ground trembled slightly beneath his weight.
The Blood Emperor’s creature finally turned its gaze toward him.
“Ah.”
Its smile widened.
“The Alpha King.”
Lucian’s silver wolf stepped beside the King.
His icy blue eyes gleamed with quiet amusement.
“Two Alphas,” the creature said thoughtfully.
“How interesting.”
The Alpha King’s voice echoed through the courtyard in a deep, threatening rumble.
“You will leave.”
The creature tilted its head.
“And if I don’t?”
The Alpha King’s claws dug into the stone ground.
“You die.”
For a moment, the monster was silent.
Then it laughed.
A chilling sound coming from such a twisted body.
“I’m not the one who should worry about dying.”
It slowly lifted one clawed hand.
Behind it, the other creatures began moving.
Thirty monsters shifting restlessly in the darkness.
Rowan swore quietly.
“Here we go.”
The creature spoke again, the Blood Emperor’s voice smooth and confident.
“Aria.”
She clenched her fists.
“What?”
“You can come willingly…”
The monster’s glowing eyes brightened.
“…or I can tear this fortress apart and drag you out.”
Before Aria could respond—
The Alpha King lunged.
His black wolf crossed the courtyard in a blur of motion.
His jaws snapped shut around the creature’s throat.
The fight exploded instantly.
The creature slammed into the ground as the Alpha King tore into it with savage fury.
Lucian’s silver wolf didn’t hesitate.
He leaped forward too.
Straight into the approaching swarm of monsters.
His claws ripped through the first creature that tried to reach the gate.
Rowan groaned.
“Fantastic.”
Then he shifted mid-run.
His brown wolf joined the battle.
Kael followed seconds later, shifting into his dark wolf form with a vicious snarl.
The fortress warriors began firing arrows from the walls.
Some arrows struck the creatures.
Others bounced off their unnatural skin.
The courtyard turned into chaos.
Claws.
Teeth.
Roars.
Aria stood frozen for a moment as the battle erupted around her.
Her wolf’s voice shouted in her mind.
Move!
She shook herself and ran toward the battlefield.
One of the creatures lunged at her immediately.
Its claws slashed toward her chest.
Aria threw her hand forward instinctively.
Power exploded from her palm.
A blast of silver energy slammed into the monster.
It flew backward and crashed into two others.
Rowan’s wolf barked approvingly.
But the Blood Emperor’s creature was still fighting the Alpha King.
Even with his throat torn open, it kept moving.
Its claws slashed across the King’s shoulder.
Lucian suddenly appeared beside them.
His silver wolf slammed into the creature from the side.
Together, the two Alphas forced the monster to the ground.
For a moment, it looked like they might destroy it.
But then—
The creature suddenly laughed again.
“You still don’t understand.”
Its body began to dissolve into dark smoke.
The Alpha King snapped his jaws, but caught nothing.
The smoke swirled upward.
The Blood Emperor’s voice echoed through the courtyard again.
“You can kill my toys…”
The remaining monsters began retreating slowly toward the forest.
“…but you cannot stop what’s coming.”
Aria looked around at the battlefield.
The creatures were pulling back.
One by one.
Vanishing into the darkness.
The Blood Emperor’s voice whispered one last time.
“Run while you can.”
Then the forest fell silent again.
Only the sounds of breathing and distant crackling fire remained.
The Alpha King shifted back into human form slowly.
Lucian did the same.
Rowan limped over, shaking his fur.
“Well,” he muttered.
“That could have gone worse.”
Aria exhaled slowly.
Her heart was still racing.
But the Alpha King wasn’t looking at the battlefield anymore.
He was staring at the forest.
His expression dark.
Lucian noticed.
“What?”
The Alpha King’s voice was quiet.
“That wasn’t an attack.”
Rowan frowned.
“Then what was it?”
The Alpha King’s golden eyes hardened.
“A distraction.”
Aria’s stomach dropped.
“From what?”
Before anyone could answer—
A massive explosion suddenly shook the far side of the fortress.
Stone cracked.
Warriors shouted in alarm.
Smoke rose into the night sky.
Rowan’s eyes widened.
“Oh no.”