KAEL POV
"Move! Everyone move now!" I scread as the magical blast from Oberyn’s test sent shockwaves across the battlefield. Three vampires didn’t listen fast enough and got thrown into the air like rag toys.
I caught one of them before she hit a tree. "Are you hurt?"
"I’m fine," she gasped. "But what happened to Aria and the Fae King?"
I looked toward where Oberyn and Aria had been standing. They were both frozen in so kind of magical bubble, completely still like statues. The Prisoner’s laughter rang around us, making my teeth ache.
"I don’t know," I allowed, helping the vampire to her feet. "But we can’t wait for them."
That’s when I realized sothing that made my stomach drop. Everyone was looking at . Werewolves, vampires, dragons, fae warriors—they were all looking at like they expected to have answers.
"Kael," Queen Seraphina called out, running toward with blood on her arm. "The Shadow Lords are reforming. They’re getting ready for another attack."
I looked around and saw she was right. While we’d been distracted by Oberyn’s test, the shadow creatures had pulled back and made new battle lines. There were more of them now. Way more.
"How many?" I asked.
"At least two hundred," she said sadly. "Maybe more."
Two hundred Shadow Lords against maybe fifty of us. And our two best fighters—Aria and Oberyn—were trapped in magical ice.
"What do we do?" asked Marcus, one of my pack mbers. His voice was shaky. "Without Aria’s Earth Guardian powers and the Fae King’s magic..."
"We fight," I said simply.
"Fight?" Marcus stared at like I’d lost my mind. "Kael, look around! We’re outnumbered four to one!"
He was right. This was hopeless. Any smart boss would order a retreat. We should run, recover, and hope that Aria and Oberyn broke free soon.
But I thought about what my father, Alpha Darius, used to tell when I was little. "A true Alpha doesn’t run from impossible odds, Kael. He finds a way to make the impossible possible."
I’d never believed those words before. I’d always thought they were just pretty sayings. But now, with everyone counting on , I finally understood what he ant.
"Listen to ," I called out loud enough for everyone to hear. "I know this looks bad. I know we’re outnumbered. But we have sothing those Shadow Lords don’t have."
"What’s that?" soone shouted.
"We have each other," I said. "Werewolves, vampires, dragons, fae—we’ve been enemies for thousands of years. But today, we’re family. And family protects family."
I saw so heads nodding. A few people stood up straighter.
"Here’s what we’re going to do," I continued, feeling a strange confidence building inside . "The Shadow Lords are expecting us to attack them head-on. But we’re not going to do what they expect."
I pointed to the left side of the battlefield. "Dragons, I need you to fly over there and make as much noise as possible. Breathe fire, roar, make them think that’s where our main attack is coming from."
The dragon boss, a huge beast nad Thornscale, nodded. "We can do that."
"Vampires," I turned to Queen Seraphina. "You’re the fastest. I need you to circle around behind them while they’re distracted by the dragons."
"And then?" she asked.
"Hit them from behind. Don’t try to fight them—just cause chaos. Make them confused."
"What about us?" asked Jaxon, appearing beside with dirt and blood on his face.
I was surprised to see my brother. We’d been fighting earlier about Aria, and I thought he might not listen to my orders.
"Werewolves are the strongest in close combat," I said. "We wait until the Shadow Lords are confused by the dragons and vampires. Then we hit them in the heart, right where they don’t expect it."
"That’s actually not a terrible plan," Jaxon admitted, sounding shocked.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I said dryly.
"But what about Lucien?" Jaxon asked, looking worried. "He used up all his healing power earlier. He’s too weak to fight."
I looked over at our younger brother, who was sitting on the ground looking pale and exhausted. Without his Life Guardian skills, he was just a regular werewolf. And barely that.
"Lucien stays back with the wounded," I decided. "He can’t heal anyone right now, but he can still coordinate the retreat if this goes wrong."
"If this goes wrong?" Marcus laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. "Kael, what are the chances this actually works?"
I thought about lying to make everyone feel better. But these people deserved the truth.
"Honestly? Maybe one in ten," I said. "But that’s better than zero, which is what we have if we don’t try."
"Those aren’t great odds," Queen Seraphina pointed out.
"No," I agreed. "But they’re our chances. And I’d rather die fighting beside all of you than live knowing I gave up."
I raised my voice again. "Everyone knows their job. Dragons to the left. Vampires circle behind. Werewolves wait for my signal. Questions?"
No one spoke up.
"Good. Let’s show these Shadow Lords what happens when they ss with our family."
The dragons took off first, their wings creating huge gusts of wind. The vampires vanished in blurs of motion. My werewolf pack crouched low, ready to charge.
But just as I was about to give the attack order, sothing happened that changed everything.
The frozen magical bubble around Aria and Oberyn began to crack.
"Look!" Jaxon pointed.
Light was pouring out of the cracks. Not normal light—sothing brighter and more powerful.
"Is that good or bad?" Marcus asked nervously.
Before I could answer, the bubble shattered totally.
Aria stepped out, her eyes sparkling with power I’d never seen before. But when she looked at , her face made my blood run cold.
"Kael," she said in a voice that didn’t sound quite like hers anymore. "I need to tell you sothing about the forecast. About why you can never be Alpha."
My heart stopped.
"What are you talking about?"
"You’re not Alpha Darius’s son," she said softly. "You never were."
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