The Alpha's Fated Outcast: Rise Of The Moonsinger. Chapter 414 414: The broken sanctuary

Lyla

"I'm not sure. The scent is muddled, like it's being masked or distorted."

Against every instinct screaming at to flee, I found myself moving toward the kitchen. The blood trail was clear and unmistakable, leading us deeper into the house.

Ramsey stayed close to my side, his body positioned to shield from whatever we might encounter. Kyren took point, his weapon drawn and ready, while Circe brought up the rear.

As we approached the kitchen doorway, I could hear voices – low, urgent conversation that stopped abruptly as we drew near. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure everyone in the house could hear it, and the twins were moving almost frantically now, as if they too sensed the approaching danger.

Kyren paused at the threshold, holding up a hand to signal us to wait. He peered around the corner carefully, then his entire body went rigid.

"Well," he said, his voice carefully controlled. "This is unexpected."

"What?" I whispered, trying to see around him.

Instead of answering, Kyren stepped into the kitchen, keeping his weapon ready but not actively threatening. "Miriam," he said, and I heard surprise in his voice. "And Eliass. This is... quite the dramatic entrance."

My mind reeled as the nas registered: Miriam, my mom and Elias.

I pushed past Ramsey's protective arm and stepped into the kitchen, needing to see for myself what was happening.

The scene that greeted was both better and worse than I'd feared. Miriam sat slumped in one of our kitchen chairs, her usual pristine appearance dishevelled and her face pale with pain. Her clothes were stained with blood – so of it clearly hers, so of it belonging to the man she was tending to.

Elias lay on our kitchen table, unconscious and badly injured. His clothes were torn and bloody, and even from across the room I could see the severity of his wounds. But he was breathing, and Miriam's hands were glowing with healing energy as she worked to stabilise him.

"What happened?" I asked, rushing toward them despite Ramsey's sharp intake of breath behind .

Miriam looked up at , her usually calm eyes filled with urgency and fear. "They found us," she said. "Xander's children. They've been hunting anyone connected to you, anyone who might have information about your whereabouts."

"But how did they find us?" Circe demanded, moving to examine Elias's injuries. "The protective wards—"

"Are keyed to allow allies in need," Miriam replied. "There's a lot of connection between Delia and Lyla. I'm so sure of that."

I stared at Elias's unconscious form, noting the claw marks across his chest and the unnatural pallor of his skin. Whatever had attacked them hadn't been entirely human.

"How bad is it?" I asked quietly.

Miriam's expression was grim. "Bad. But he'll live, if we can keep him stable through the night."

"And you?" Ramsey asked, noting the blood on her robes.

"I'll recover," she said dismissively. "But Lyla, we have a bigger problem. They're not just hunting randomly anymore. They have a plan, an approach to finding you. And they're getting closer."

Miriam didn't look up. "Clean towels," she snapped. "Boiled water."

"I'll get it," I said, already moving. Ramsey caught my wrist.

"Slow," he warned in a voice that should have been ridiculous but wasn't. He helped skirt the glass-littered floor and set a heavy pot on the stove while I grabbed towels. Circe flicked her fingers, and a blue fla burst to life under the pot.

"Circle the house," Kyren told her. "And check the wards while you're at it."

"On it," she nodded and disappeared.

Kyren went opposite Miriam and peeled back a torn edge of Elias's shirt. The wound had a ragged mouth. The flesh around it was angry and grey, the edges frothing a little like it was salt burn.

"Hold him," Miriam warned.

As if on cue, Elias's eyes fluttered open. For a few seconds, he gazed around as if he was in a daze until his eyes found mine, and they blinked in recognition before he smiled. "Luna Lyla, I'm so sorry for causing so much trouble."

"Shut up," I told him gently. My hands shook as I set towels next to Miriam. "Who hit you?"

"Two n," he said, "and one woman. The n had a strange scent going on, and I'm sure there was a woman too."

"Strange," Kyren said.

Miriam pressed harder, and Elias gasped.

I put my palm over Miriam's hands. "Let try," I whispered.

"Careful," she said, but she eased a fraction of the pressure.

I closed my eyes and humd until a bright blue light pooled under my palms and flowed into Elias's torn skin.

The humming made the pain in my lower back fade. My babies, which were agitated a while ago, were calm now as if they liked the vibration.

Elias's bleeding slowed.

"Good girl," Miriam breathed. She reached for the boiling water, dipped the towels and wrung them quickly. "Kyren, see if there's any internal bleeding."

Kyren nodded and pressed two fingers near the wound. His eyes went flat.

Ramsey kept his body between and the door and slid a knife out of a drawer like he'd put it there earlier, just in case. He watched the hall, the foyer, the window. Everything.

Elias groaned with pain as Miriam massaged his body with the hot water.

After a while, he looked up at Kyren. "They said your na twice."

Kyren's mouth twitched. "It appears I have fans. I'm touched."

"I was just coming in from the errand which you sent earlier and had almost reached the front door when they ca out of nowhere."

"And I was just in the kitchen, trying to put myself to sleep with a glass of milk when the attack started. They followed Elias inside the house, but as I tried to step in, they ca for too."

After a while, Circe returned. There was a puzzled look on her face.

"All the wards are up, there was no sign of intrusion, which is surprising because how could they have attacked them?"

"They latched on to Elias," Miriam said quietly. "Since the house was accessible to Elias, what better way to infiltrate than to latch on?"

"That would explain why there was no breach," Circe nodded.

"Yeah," Miriam agreed and touched my hands. "Lyla, ease off."

Ramsey turned to Kyren. "Let's move him into one of the guest rooms upstairs. He can stay there and recover."

While they were still talking about what Elias needed urgently now, with Circe suggesting we get him proper treatnts by professionals, I allowed my eyes to scan the room. There was no sign of a forced break-in.