“How many did we lose?” Leonardo asked without hesitation, leaning forward, his elbows resting heavily on his thighs.
“Ten,” Dante replied, his voice subdued but steady. “No children or elders among the dead.” He nodded slightly, fully attuned to the storm raging within his Alpha.
I could feel Leonardo’s anguish as though it were my own, the weight of those lives pressing against his chest becoming a burden I refused to let him carry alone. I could have shut myself off from his emotions if I tried hard enough, but I didn’t. Instead, I chose to share his pain, easing some of the heaviness with every breath I sent his way, infused with love and warmth.
“What happened next?” His words cut through the air, sharper than before, laced with a hardness that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
“Things stayed quiet for about a week,” Dante began, his jaw tightening as he spoke. “Then our scouts spotted some rogues along the territory line. They noticed something odd-the rogues were sneaking around where they’d usually charge through, crashing and trampling without care. This time, they were quiet, moving carefully, almost methodically.
“They followed them for half an hour before realizing they were mapping our territory. Once the scouts caught on, they chased them off, but things only escalated from there. The attacks became more frequent-sometimes they’d vanish for a few days, other times a week, but they always came back.”
“And that’s where I come in,” Francesca interjected, her voice dripping with mock enthusiasm. She added an edge of practiced disinterest, mimicking the detached tone Leonardo had perfected. “I grew up in another pack as a kid. My best friend back then was Lavinia-she’s still a close friend, but her mate is the Alpha of the Night Lake Pack. They’ve been helping us out since you two decided to take an extended vacation to the fae realm. At least you brought back something useful. And by that, I mean your magic, obviously.”
“Lay off, Francesca,” Dante snapped, his irritation clear. She only rolled her eyes, unbothered by his anger, and turned away.
“They’re back now. That’s what matters,” he continued, his tone firm. “Now we need to fix this mess.”
“The last attack was two days ago,” Enrico said, his brow furrowed as he ran a hand through his hair. “Nothing major, but they still managed to destroy three more houses. We’re expecting another attack any day now. Some are small, others much bigger, but the whole thing is off.
“It’s like they’re testing our defenses, probing for weaknesses. No matter how many scouts we send into the forest, they come back empty-handed. The rogues keep their distance, venturing so far from the territory line that we can’t find them. The mountains and cave systems surrounding the pack only make things harder.”
“It has to be Marinella and Isotta,” I said, my voice tinged with anger as the thought of innocent lives being destroyed made my blood boil. “They’ve always wanted to tear this place apart.”
“I hoped Marinella’s death would’ve stopped their plans,” Leonardo muttered, his pale brows drawn together in frustration. A storm brewed in his eyes, dark and foreboding. “At the very least, her death means it’ll take longer to open a portal for their soldiers.”
“Do you really think she’s dead?” I asked, unable to keep the doubt from creeping into my voice.
The thought had plagued me for days, a constant gnawing at the edges of my mind. What if Marinella had survived the fireblast I hurled at her?
“The power you unleashed should’ve been enough to incinerate her,” Leonardo said firmly, though the grotesque image his words conjured only deepened the unease in my chest.
“You incinerated someone?” Enrico’s eyes widened in shock, a mix of respect and disbelief flickering across his face. “Damn, Ella. That’s brutal.”
“When you hit her, the spirit magic she’d woven around the ballroom shattered,” Leonardo added. “It’s possible the spell broke when she died.”
“For now, we’ll assume she’s dead until proven otherwise,” I said with a sigh, exhaustion seeping into my voice.
The weight of everything settled heavily over me, and my limbs felt leaden with fatigue. The stillness in the room was shattered when Noemi thrashed violently in her sleep, her lips moving rapidly as if she were arguing with someone unseen.
Her eyes darted beneath her closed lids, and the moment I placed a hand on her shoulder, she bolted upright, tearing herself away from the couch. Her sapphire-blue eyes were wide with panic, her breaths coming in short, shallow gasps.
For a moment, she stared blankly around the room, her gaze unfocused. I wondered if she was still trapped in her vision, forced to relive those endless paths before finding the final outcome.
Then she blinked, her lashes fluttering as she sank back into the couch, one small hand pressed to her temple.
“Isotta is rallying anyone in the Water Court still loyal to her,” Noemi said with a grimace, wincing as though the words caused her physical pain. “She’s telling them you kidnapped Graziana and me.”
“They can’t possibly believe that,” I said, incredulous. “They saw Leonardo take his place as their High Lord. How could they doubt what they witnessed?”
“I don’t know,” Noemi replied softly, her voice distant. “My visions have been blurring lately. The pathways aren’t as clear as they used to be. I think… I think it’s because we’re nearing the end. The final scene before everything collapses.”