Chapter 27 - Zane
The second I hit the clearing, the noise and fight drop away, all because I see her.
Naia stands in the center of it while her magic flares around her, keeping her stance level and unyielding as she faces down a rogue twice her size. There’s blood on her, some of it hers, but most of it not, and her expression is all brave fury.
She’s alive and fighting just like she always knew she could. She’s defending herself like she tried to convince me she was capable of, and seeing it with my own eyes only instills more of that belief in me now.
Relief hits me so hard it almost knocks the breath out of my lungs, then it twists and burns. She never should’ve been put in this position, and never should’ve been taken. If I had done my job right, she wouldn’t be fighting her way out of this.
She’s holding her own, yet I can’t help but feel like I’ve failed her somehow.
Rage follows close behind as I move in.
Take them down, I snap to the others through our link as we surround them.
The guys and my pack don’t hesitate, hitting the last of the rogues hard with no warning or mercy.
The first one goes down under me before he even registers I’m there. I drive him into the ground, cutting off his movement completely before shifting my focus to the next.
They’re already scrambling, both disorganized and panicked. Whoever had been calling the shots apparently isn’t alive to do so anymore.
Hunter and Dominic flank the left side while Zeke and a few others push through the right, cutting off any chance of retreat. In the distance, I sense Luke and Caleb arriving with backup, given how this concerns us all.
The rogues try to regroup, but it’s too late. They were crumbling under Hayes’ power and fully lost the second we showed up.
I move through them with precision and razor-sharp focus, calculating every strike and each movement to push them further back. One lunges and I sidestep, grabbing his flank and throwing him straight into another. They go down together in a heap, struggling to get back up.
“Zane!”
Naia’s voice cuts through everything like it always does, capturing my attention with ease.
I catch the warning in it and pivot instantly just as one of the last rogue wolves comes at me from my blind spot, but it’s already too late.
Her magic hits him first, sending him flying off course before he can reach me. With no time left to hesitate, I finish it with a final snap of my jaws, and he dies right there.
Silence crashes down over the clearing as I lift my head to scope the area, broken up only by heavy breathing. The scent of blood carries through the air, along with a shift in power.
Now it’s just Wraith Peak and us.
I straighten slowly, my gaze already locking onto the one presence in this clearing I hate more than anything.
Hayes.
He stands a few feet away with his wolves fanned out behind him, their stances tense but waiting for whatever comes next.
Still standing in his human form, blood streaks his bare skin while he takes a few steps into the clearing as he catches his breath. His attention is on Naia instead of me.
My jaw tightens, and I move close enough to make it clear that she’s not standing alone. Not anymore. Willing myself to shift back, the world around me splinters and adjusts as I stand to my full height, feeling Naia’s presence nearby.
The bond hums low and steady between us now that we’re close, almost like it has come back to life again, refusing to snuff out. Whatever caused it to turn off in a way that seemingly isn’t a problem anymore, and I’m glad for it.
Within that connection blooms something possessive, protective, and dangerous to anyone who threatens it. It’s ours, and regardless of what we’ve been through, it’s not going away anytime soon.
Hayes notices, and his eyes slide toward me briefly in quiet calculation, then back to his sister, who looks at him with a mostly neutral expression bordering on cold.
“Naia,” he says, like none of this just happened. As if he didn’t just walk in here and slaughter wolves to get to her, with all the right to stand there and speak her name.
My hands curl into fists at my sides, and I mutter low, “Don’t.”
He ignores me.
“You’ve gotten yourself in quite the mess,” he continues, tone almost conversational as if they’re just catching up. “Running off, being sold, and getting involved in things that don’t concern you.”
Naia doesn’t move, but I feel the tension emanating around her. There’s a sort of pull in the way his words dig under her skin.
He’s playing it exactly the way I expected, favoring manipulating more than any kind of force that would only drive her further away.
“But it doesn’t matter now,” Hayes says with enough false kindness to make my skin crawl. “Come home, and we can sort this out properly.”
My lip curls slightly, barely holding back a snarl. “She’s not falling back in line.”
Hayes’ gaze flicks to me again, more irritated and brief, then he focuses on her again. He knows there’s no use trying to convince me, but she’s the one with emotional ties.
“This doesn’t have to be complicated,” he says. “You’re my sister, and you belong with your pack. Wraith Peak is your home.”
The word belong leaves a sour taste on my tongue. I said the same thing to her, but I meant it, unlike him and his poor intentions.
Naia’s shoulders square slightly as she stands her ground, keeping her words steady despite the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. “I don’t belong to you. I know that now.”
Hayes’ expression tightens just a fraction as he digests her claim, and he takes a moment before he huffs a quiet breath and uses a lighthearted tone. “You’re confused, is all… they have influenced you. You’ve been away for too long.”
Before I can stop myself, I step forward slightly with a hard expression. “Careful, Voss.”
Hotter irritation sparks in him, but he continues, trying so hard to dig his claws in as deep as he can. He has always done this, even when she was young, just to keep her on his side and in his back pocket.
“You think these wolves understand you?” he asks while gesturing vaguely toward us. One of the guys growls, but he doesn’t care. “You think they see you for what you are?”
Naia is tense beside me, and regardless of her allegiance wavering slightly under the pressure, she holds out. “They do, even if they have every reason to cast me out instead.”
“No,” Hayes counters smoothly. “They see an asset to keep out of anyone else’s reach, just like the rogues did. They’ll keep you close, but only to prevent you from being a problem. You’re a liability to them, Naia…they don’t even trust magic.”
“You’re wrong,” she returns, teeth gritting. “They’re nothing like how you or Dad described them.”
“I guess you’re right. They’re worse,” he murmurs. “Stay here with them and never reach your full potential, or come back with me and find out what you can really do. Help me shape Wraith Peak, like you were always meant to.”
There he goes again, making false promises he’ll never keep his word on. He treated her like something that could be discarded, as if nothing, and it would only end the same way if she gave in.
I can’t let that happen. Not after she has come this far.
Rage rises in my chest, and I take another step forward. “That’s enough.”
This time, Hayes looks at me fully, both cold and assessing. He scowls. “You think this is about you? The one who left Wraith Peak like a coward…”
Choosing to ignore the jab, I force my inner wolf to stand down. “I think you’ve done enough talking.”
Naia adjusts to angle herself toward me now, and that’s all the reassurance I need.
When Hayes sees it too, his gaze drops briefly between us, and that understanding clicks into place. His expression darkens into something closer to disgust.
“You’ve bonded.”
I don’t answer, and I don’t need to. The tension in the clearing instantly rises as his wolves shift uneasily behind him. Regardless of their numbers, they’ve gone up against us before, only to face the same fate.
“You’ve tied yourself to him,” Hayes says, his voice quieter now and bellying the rage stirring in him as he looks at his sister again. Now, it’s like he doesn’t recognize her. “After everything?”
Naia doesn’t hesitate. “Yes. I have.”
The word lands like a final strike, and for a second, Hayes just stares at her. Then, the anger cracks through his cool demeanor and spills out.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing, or what this means for us.”
“I understand exactly what I’m doing,” she fires back, braver now. “There is no us anymore, Hayes. Not after what you’ve done, and what you made me do.”
“You’re an idiot,” Hayes snaps, jaw tight. “After everything I’ve done for you, and you do this. Instead of coming home the moment you could, you stayed and let them rot your mind. I shaped you. I helped you improve.”
The shift is immediate as the threat becomes real all over again. His wolves step forward in preparation, and ours respond instantly, forming a line and waiting for the command.
“No, Hayes. You forced me to become what you and Dad wanted, then you dropped me the moment I stopped being useful to you,” Naia says, voice tight as she manages to get the words out. “I never had the chance to know differently before, but now I do.”
“I did all of this…I went through this bogus charade to get you back, and you’re refusing to listen. I’ll force you back if I have to—”
“Try it and see what happens,” I interrupt, stepping fully into place beside her now and leaving nothing up for questioning.
Hayes’ gaze locks onto mine, and for a second, I think he might. He’s arrogant enough to push and test how far I’m willing to go just to protect her.
Naia’s magic rises with more focus now, and it feels stronger than it had. It rolls off her in a wave that makes even my instincts sharpen in response.
Hayes feels it, and I see it in the way his stance shifts. How his eyes narrow in recalculation.
Now, it’s not just me, my pack, or the others backing us that he’d have to go up against. It’s her and what she can do now without him. It’s the fearsome woman she has become, and it’s clearly more than he ever expected.
“You’ve changed,” he says slowly as the fight in him slowly disintegrates.
Naia lifts her chin. “No, I’ve just stopped listening to you.”
After a long beat, he pulls his eyes from her and fixes me with a burning stare as his jaw twitches. “This isn’t over.”
“No,” I agree. “It’s not.”
He looks at us one last time with quiet contemplation before tearing away and allowing his wolf to take over.
Instead of staying to fight, he breaks through the trees in retreat, and his wolves follow, leaving behind their subtle relief in the air.
They disappear into the trees like ghosts, and just like that, they’re gone.
The clearing settles with a note of finality. Even if Hayes decided not to push his luck and risk taking all of us on, he’ll be back eventually, but for now, it feels like the closest thing to peace.
I look around slowly and take stock of the bodies and the remaining carnage.
The rogues are done now, and whatever operation they were running is over. More blood was spilled than I wanted, but it was necessary to keep the balance. To keep them from harming more people.
With a slow exhale, the tension bleeds out of me in waves, and the feeling of Naia standing next to me eases all that remains in me. She’s here, and we’re both okay.
After everything, that’s what matters right now.