Chapter 191 – The Sky Cracks Open
–LIA’S POV–
Smoke curled through the stairwell.
I clung to the rail as Zane led the way up, his movements sharp, focused. Behind me, Sheila, Warner, Ajax, and Aaron stayed close. My ears rang from the blast, and I could still feel the floor vibrating beneath my shoes. Somewhere above, another crash. echoed. Furniture. A wall. Something was breaking.
When we reached the main floor, I sucked in a breath.
The pack house was wrecked.
A chunk of the outer wall was missing, blown open like a cannon had torn through it. Debris covered the hardwood. Paintings. had fallen. Doors hung off their hinges. A pack member lay half–buried under part of the collapsed ceiling, groaning.
Zane didn’t pause. He crouched beside the injured man and yanked the rubble off with one motion. “I need healers! Now!”
A few wolves stumbled from the east wing. Blood on their faces. Scorch marks on their clothes. One was limping, clutching a twisted arm.
“It hit the common room,” someone said. “The whole west wall’s
gone.”
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Chapter 191 – The Sky Cracks Open
Zane’s face darkened. “How many injured?”
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Lucky Draw
“At least eight. Two are unconscious. I think Emerald’s not breathing–”
“Get them to the infirmary,” he ordered. “Anyone who can shift, shift. Defensive formation. Aaron, secure the west stairs. Warner, check for more charges.”
Aaron gave a grim nod, already half–shifted. Warner followed with a growl, claws out.
Zane turned to Sheila. “Are the wards up?”
“No,” she said. “They went down the second the blast hit. I think
they were hit with nullifiers—silver ones. That, or someone disabled them from inside.”
My stomach turned. “You think someone betrayed us?”
“I don’t know,” Zane said. “But this wasn’t random. They knew
where to hit.”
“I need to help,” I said.
“Lia–”
“Zane, I can move people. I can help with injuries, get people out of collapsed rooms, anything–”
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“You can’t compel anyone right now.”
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Lucky Draw
“I know. But I can still fight. I have claws, remember? And I’m not standing in some corner while people are dying.”
He looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t.
Instead, he grabbed my face, kissed my forehead, and said, “Then stay by Sheila. Don’t go off alone.”
“I won’t.”
He turned to the others. “Hounds, with me.”
And then he shifted.
It was instant. His body rippled, bones snapping, fur tearing through his skin. His wolf was dark, massive, and furious.
I watched him leap over the wreckage and vanish into the smoke.
–ZANE’S POV–
The cold night burned my lungs as I shot through the ruins of the west wing.
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Lucky Draw
The outer walls were caved in, flames licking the broken beams. The sky above us was thick with smoke. This wasn’t just an attack. It was a message.
We’re not waiting for the Blood Moon.
They thought an early strike would catch us unprepared.
They weren’t wrong.
But they’d made a mistake coming here.
Pack members were already shifting, forming into lines, rallying together. My wolves were loyal, trained, and vicious when provoked.
“Form two lines!” I snarled. “Reinforce the north edge!”
Derek appeared beside me, limping. Blood matted the side of his head.
“They used gas—wolfsbane laced. Got a few of us before we could shift.”
“Can you still fight?”
He growled in response.
“Then cover the flanks. I want eyes on every possible entry.”
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Jay Lucky Crow We didn’t know how many were out there. But I caught a scent—burned cloth, iron, blood–and it wasn’tours
“Contact!” someone shouted.
Movement near the treeline. Figures in black. Four. No–it Running fast.
“Hold until they cross the perimeter!” I harked. “Then drop them!“”
And we did.
The second they were close enough, three of us launched. My claws tore through one before he even got his weapon up. Another tried to raise a silver–tipped blade, but Calen crushed his throat.
The rest scattered.
Cowards.
Or bait.
“Back!” I snapped.
But it was too late. Another explosion. This time behind us.
Chapter 191
–LIA’S POV-
I covered my head as the shockwave hit.
Lucky Draw
Glass shattered down the hallway. Sheila pulled me into a doorway, shielding me with her body. Her eyes were black, claws sharp.
“They’re trying to herd us!” she said.
“Where?”
“Towards the exits. Towards a trap, probably.”
I helped lift a dazed teenage wolf off the ground. His ears were ringing and one side of his face was scorched.
“Can you walk?”
He nodded. I guided him toward the safer side of the house, heart pounding.
“Thank you, Luna,” he said to me.
My heart squeezed in my chest.
I wanted to do more.
I could do more.
Chapter 191 – The Sky Cracks Open
I could protect them all, just if the power came back.
Why had it left? Why when I needed it the most?
Lucky Draw
Aaron appeared, dragging a soldier behind him. “They got in through the north wall. At least three.”
“Where are Blake’s wolves?” I asked.
Aaron shook his head. “I don’t know. But if they don’t come out to fight soon, we’re outnumbered.”
We needed help.
Now.
–ZANE’S POV-
Blood soaked my shoulder. It wasn’t mine.
I’d taken out another one of their elite, but they were trained. Fast. Organized.
We couldn’t hold this much longer.
Then, through the chaos, a new howl cut the air. Deep and familiar.
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Chapter 191 The Sky Cracks Open
Blake’s wolves.
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Lucky Draw
They surged in from the south, dark shapes moving like liquid shadow through the trees. Ferocious. Focused. Ruthless.
They didn’t hesitate.
One of them slammed into a soldier trying to throw a gas bomb. Another caught a blade with its teeth.
I didn’t see Blake.
But I saw his pack.
Fighting for us.
–LIA’S POV–
We made it to the courtyard. Sheila was fierce, focused, and precise.
“Get the unconscious clear!” she shouted.
I saw Zane, mid–fight. A blur of muscle and fur. One of Blake’s wolves backed him up, snarling as it pinned an Order soldier by
the throat.
I didn’t know what this alliance meant. Or how long it would
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Chapter 191 – The Sky Cracks Open
last.
But for tonight, we were surviving.
Together.
Smoke filled my lungs.
The war had begun earlier than we’d hoped.
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But we couldn’t give up. Not when everything we loved was on the line.
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