ARIA POV
The sound of glass breaking woke from my sleep. I jumped out of bed, my heart racing. My hands flew to my stomach, protecting my babies.
"Get down!" Jaxon shouted, jumping across the room to tackle to the floor just as sothing crashed through the window.
We hit the ground hard. A tal canister bounced across the wooden floor, hissing as it exhaled thick white smoke.
"Cover your mouth!" Jaxon pressed a cloth over my face. My eyes burned and watered as he dragged toward the door.
The pack house was in chaos. Wolves ran in every direction, so in human form, others already changed. Alarm screams filled the night air.
"What’s happening?" I gasped when we reached the hallway.
"Humans," Jaxon growled. "They’re attacking from all sides."
My mind raced back to yesterday’s events at the Ancient Grounds, to Kael’s capture by the fake queen wearing my face. Now another attack?
"Where are Lucien and the others?" I asked.
"Command station in the basent. Co on."
We hurried down the stairs, past injured pack mbers being treated by healers. The sight made my blood boil. My pack, my family, hurt because of .
In the basent, Lucien stood over a table covered with maps. His face lit up with relief when he saw .
"Thank the Moon Goddess," he breathed, pulling into his arms.
"What’s our situation?" I asked, trying to sound strong despite my fear.
"Not good," Lucien said. "The humans have surrounded the area. They’re using weapons we’ve never seen before – tranquilizer darts, smoke bombs, sothing that stops our ability to shift."
Elder Malin stood in the corner, her aged face grim. "This is not a random act. They know too much about us."
A chill ran down my spine. "Emma."
Lucien nodded. "We found this in her room after she escaped." He handed a small black device.
"What is it?"
"A recording device," Jaxon explained. "She’s been gathering information on us for months – pack numbers, shift patterns, even blood samples."
My hands shook with anger. "I trusted her. She said she wanted peace between people and wolves."
"She lied," Lucien said bluntly. "And now she’s working with the false queen to expose us to the world."
"If humans learn about our existence..." Elder Malin didn’t finish the thought. She didn’t need to. We all knew what would happen – fear, hunts, extinction.
The door burst open, and Mira stumbled in, blood trickling from a cut on her brow.
"They’ve breached the east wall!" she panted. "And they have Kael in a cage. They’re... they’re doing sothing to him. Making him shift back and forth against his will."
My stomach twisted with fear. "We have to save him."
"That’s what they want," Lucien argued. "They’re using him as bait to draw you out."
"I can’t just leave him to suffer!"
"And I can’t let you sacrifice yourself and our babies!" Lucien countered.
I felt stuck, desperate. The false queen wanted my babies – one to destroy, one to make. The spirit woman’s words repeated in my mind: "The creator must be hidden."
"There’s sothing else," Mira added, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I overheard two people talking. They’re going to livestream proof of werewolves to the world at dawn. They have files, videos, DNA tests – everything Emma collected."
The room fell silent. Dawn was only three hours away.
"Where?" Jaxon finally asked.
"The old radio tower, five miles east," Mira answered. "That’s where they’re holding their command base."
Jaxon’s eyes t mine, a fierce purpose in them that I’d never seen before. "I’ll go."
"No," Lucien and I said together.
"It has to be ," Jaxon declared. "Kael is caught, Lucien needs to stay and protect you and the pack. I’m the only chance."
"It’s suicide," Lucien protested.
"Maybe," Jaxon shrugged, that familiar wild smile playing on his lips. "But I’ve always liked bad odds."
I grabbed his arm. "There has to be another way."
"There isn’t," he said gently. "And you know it, Luna."
He was right, and I hated it. We had no ti, no choices.
"How will you even get in?" I asked.
Jaxon’s smile turned dangerous. "Emma isn’t the only one with secrets. I’ve been watching her for weeks. I know things about these people that even they don’t know I know."
He pulled sothing from his pocket – a small silver badge identical to the ones the human spies wore.
"You’ve been spying on them?" Lucien looked shocked.
"Soone had to," Jaxon answered. "I never trusted Emma’s peace talk."
For the first ti, I saw beyond Jaxon’s wild appearance to the calculating mind beneath. While Kael led with power and Lucien with wisdom, Jaxon had been watching, planning, protecting in his own way.
"What’s your plan?" I asked.
"Get in, destroy their evidence, free Kael, get out," Jaxon said simply. "Maybe set sothing on fire for distraction."
"You make it sound so easy," Mira mumbled.
"It won’t be," Jaxon agreed. "But I’m not going in alone." He looked at Mira thoughtfully.
She blinked in surprise. "?"
"You’re small, fast, and nobody expects an oga to be dangerous," Jaxon said. "That’s your advantage."
I wanted to argue, to protect them both, but leadership ant making impossible decisions.
"Be careful," I said instead, hugging them both. "Co back to us."
Jaxon and Mira prepared quickly, arming themselves with what little guns we had. As they headed for the door, Jaxon turned back.
"If we’re not back by dawn..." he started.
"You will be," I cut him off, refusing to consider the option.
After they left, I paced the room, my twins kicking frantically inside .
"The stone wolf guards the seventh cradle," I mumbled, rembering Emma’s ssage. "What does it an?"
Lucien’s head snapped up. "What did you say?"
"Emma’s ssage. ’The stone wolf guards the seventh bed.’"
Lucien’s face paled. "The seventh cradle... it’s an old tale. Seven werewolf pups were hidden during the Great Hunt centuries ago, each in a different cradle, watched by stone wolves."
"The spirits at the Ancient Grounds ntioned a stone wolf where three rivers et," I added.
Elder Malin gasped. "The Three Rivers Point. There’s an old shrine there with a stone wolf figure. It’s said to mark the ho of the First Pack."
"And now the false queen is wearing my face," I said, pieces clicking together. "She’s not just after my kids. She’s after sothing hidden at that place."
"We have to get there first," Lucien decided. "If it’s connected to your past, to the truth of who you are..."
A faraway explosion shook the building, cutting him off. The lights flickered and went out. Ergency generators kicked in seconds later, leaving the room in dim red light.
"They’re closing in," Elder Malin warned.
My mind raced. Jaxon and Mira at the radio tower. Kael caught. The stone wolf shrine. The fake queen. My kids.
"Lucien," I said, making a choice that broke my heart. "We need to split up."
"No," he said firmly. "We stay together."
"We can’t," I maintained. "Soone needs to go to the shrine before the false queen gets there."
"Then we’ll go together after dawn."
I shook my head. "We don’t have until dawn. Don’t you see? This attack, Emma’s deception, it’s all a distraction. The false queen is already on her way to the stone wolf."
Before Lucien could argue further, the downstairs door flew open. A pack fighter stumbled in, arrow protruding from his shoulder.
"Luna," he gasped. "They’ve breached the south door. And... and..."
"What is it?" I asked.
His eyes t mine, filled with fear. "It’s Jaxon. He’s been caught. And he’s... he’s telling them everything."
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