Kael's POV
Explosions tear through Shadow Vale like the world ending.
I grab Lyra as the wall beside us explodes inward. Stone and fire rain down.
Safe room! Thomas shouts over the chaos.
No. We fight, I say through gritted teeth.
You can barely stand!
Then I'll fight on my knees if I have to.
Riordan's rogues pour through the breach. Hundreds of glowing red eyes. Moving with unnatural coordination.
Shadow Vale wolves attack bravely but they're outnumbered three to one.
We're going to lose this.
Everyone's going to die.
I look at Lyra, and an insane idea forms. The bond. We used it to control fire. We can use it to fight.
You're too weak
Not if we combine our strength. Not if we truly let the bond flow freely. I meet her eyes. Trust me. One last time.
The bond flares between us, eager. Hungry for this.
I feel strength returning. My wolf surging to the surface despite the silver and exhaustion.
I can feel you healing through me, Lyra gasps, eyes wide.
The bond is amplifying both of us. Making us stronger together than apart.
I shift. My black wolf form explodes out. Silver eyes glowing with power I shouldn't have.
Lyra shifts beside me. Beautiful silver-blonde fur. Storm-gray eyes now blazing.
Together, we charge into the battle.
The rogues don't expect us. Don't expect the dying king suddenly fighting at full strength.
I tear through them like paper. Lyra at my side, perfectly synchronized.
Every move she makes, I anticipate. Every strike I plan, she complements.
We're not just fighting together.
We're fighting as one being.
Shadow Vale rallies behind us. Fights harder seeing their Alpha King hasn't fallen yet.
Then Riordan appears through the smoke.
Massive black wolf. Red eyes blazing. He's bigger than I remember. Stronger.
Ready to die, little brother? he snarls through the pack link.
He lunges with impossible speed.
We collide mid-air. Rolling. Biting. Clawing.
He's definitely stronger than before. Faster. Enhanced somehow.
Isla gave me gifts, Riordan gloats. Made me better than you'll ever be. The bond makes you weak. Her science made me unstoppable.
He pins me with brutal efficiency. Teeth at my throat.
This is it. This is how I die.
Lyra slams into him like a silver missile. Knocking him off me, sending him rolling.
Touch him again and I'll rip your throat out, she snarls with pure protective rage.
Riordan laughs, circling us. The murderer protects her mate. How touching. Seraphina used to protect me too. Before she betrayed everything.
I'm not Seraphina, Lyra growls.
You're worse. You already killed your mate. Proved you can do it. It's only a matter of time before you turn on Kael when someone threatens your sister again. Or yourself. Killers always kill again.
The words hit Lyra. I feel doubt flicker through the bond.
Don't listen to him, I send through our connection.
But Riordan presses his psychological advantage. You killed Damon. Innocent Damon who only loved you. What stops you from killing Kael when the stakes get high enough? When someone offers the right threat?
Stop, Lyra whispers, shaking.
The bond will kill him just like it killed me. You'll destroy him. It's what the bond does. It weaponizes love.
The bond didn't kill you, I snarl, moving between them. Isla did. She manipulated you. Poisoned your mind. Used Seraphina as a weapon against you.
She freed me! Showed me the truth! You're both dying because you're too blind, too stupid to see the prison you're building around yourselves!
He attacks again.
But Lyra and I move as one perfect unit. Coordinated through the bond.
I strike left. She strikes right.
Riordan can't defend against both simultaneously.
We drive him back step by step. Our combined strength overwhelming his enhanced power.
You can't win, Riordan, I tell him. Not against true mates united.
I don't have to win this fight, he laughs. I just have to delay you long enough.
Horror hits me. What did you do?
While you two fought me here my wolves captured what actually matters.
His rogues appear from the smoke. Dragging Mira between them. She's unconscious. Bloodied. Bruised.
NO! Lyra screams with heart breaking anguish.
The game was never about winning a battle, Riordan says coldly. It was about breaking you. Nothing breaks a wolf faster than losing who they love most. I learned that from Seraphina.
Lyra shifts to human form, naked and desperate. Let her go. Take me instead. Kill me however you want. Just let my sister live!
Oh, I'm taking you both. You'll watch me kill your sister slowly. Then I'll kill you while your mate watches helpless. When Kael's completely broken when he has nothing left then I take his throne.
Over my dead body, I growl, shifting to human.
That's exactly the idea, little brother.
Riordan holds a silver knife to Mira's throat. One cut and she dies.
Choose. Come peacefully. Submit. Or watch the girl die right now.
We're out of options. Out of moves.
Out of time.
Then I feel something through the bond. Multiple presences approaching fast.
Lyra feels it too. Her eyes widen.
The ground shakes like an earthquake.
The forest erupts with wolves.
Hundreds of them pouring out. Pack wolves, organized and disciplined. Not rogues.
Leading them Thomas Blackwood.
And every Shadow Vale wolf who evacuated before the attack.
You hurt my pack, Thomas says with cold fury. Used my son's death. Manipulated a child. This ends tonight.
More wolves emerge from all sides. The six armies that supposedly followed Riordan now surrounding his rogues.
Turning against him.
What is this? Riordan demands, confusion breaking his composure.
A rebellion, Marcus says, stepping forward from the shadows.
My uncle. Smiling like he's won a chess game.
There was a traitor in your court, Kael. But it wasn't just Isla. It was me. Working against her from the inside.
My mind reels. What?
I've been tracking Isla for years. When she 'killed' Riordan, I suspected she kept him alive. Twisted him into a weapon. So I played along. Made you think I wanted you weak and dead. Made Isla think I was her ally. Let everyone believe I was the villain.
But why
To draw out all the conspirators. Every traitor. Every wolf working against the throne. I let them think they were winning. Let them reveal themselves completely. He looks at Riordan with something like pity. Now they've shown their full hand.
The armies I start.
Were never loyal to Riordan. They were loyal to me. Waiting for my signal to turn.
It was a trap. Marcus's elaborate trap.
Years in the making.
The six armies attack the rogues simultaneously. Surrounded. Outnumbered.
Slaughtered.
Riordan screams in rage and betrayal. Grabs Mira tighter. Knife at her throat drawing blood.
I'll kill her! I swear I'll
An arrow pierces his shoulder.
He drops Mira with a howl of pain.
Vera Blackwood stands twenty feet away. Holding a crossbow with deadly aim.
Damon's mother.
Nobody hurts children, she says coldly. Not even for revenge. That's where I draw the line.
Lyra runs to Mira. Pulls her unconscious sister to safety. Holds her tight.
Riordan staggers, bleeding, defeated. Red eyes wild with disbelief.
This isn't over. Isla will
Isla is dead, Marcus interrupts quietly.
Everyone freezes.
The words echo in sudden silence.
I killed her three hours ago. Found her hideout while you were all distracted. Ended her permanently.
He tosses something at Riordan's feet.
A silver ring. Wolf head design.
Isla's ring. Unmistakable.
Riordan stares at it. You killed her. You actually killed Isla.
I killed the monster who destroyed my family. Who manipulated both you and Kael. Who poisoned everything she touched. But it ends tonight, nephew. It all ends.
Something human flickers in Riordan's red eyes. Lost. Broken. The brother I remember for just a second.
Then it hardens into something terrible.
If I can't have the throne, neither can you, Kael.
He pulls out a detonator from his pocket.
My blood turns to ice. What is that?
Explosives. Throughout Shadow Vale. Underground. Enough to level everything for miles. Everyone dies.
You're bluffing, I say, but my voice shakes.
Riordan smiles. A broken, insane smile. Am I, little brother?
He presses the button.
The world explodes into fire and darkness.
Everything ends.