by Sara Snow
A Resurrected wolf in its first form was on top of me, and I held my arm up to block my throat, screaming inwardly as its canines sank into my forearm. I kicked upward, hitting it in the stomach and then stabbing it in the eye with my free hand. It fell off me, and I moved quickly, jumping onto its back and snapping its neck.
My heart broke to kill one of my own, but I told myself I was only setting a tortured soul free.
Black smoke from above engulfed a wolf in its final form, and Cyrus descended on it, a sword made of smoke piercing the wolf's heart. A lightning bolt sent Cyrus flying through the air, and the witch who’d sent it was immediately tackled by Darian.
Darian ripped the witch's head off in his massive second form and threw it to the side before looking my way. He held his head back and howled, and in my heart, my wolf howled as well.
I began shifting, my bones breaking painfully, but it was also a good feeling. The last time I’d shifted was the night my pack had been attacked. I moved past my first form and shifted into my final form.
My white fur stood out among the darkness of the night, and I released a thundering howl to match Darian’s. Roots emerged from the earth beneath me, and I began slicing away at them with my claws as they wrapped around me. The Guards sent to protect the town were fighting as well, and one in his first form jumped onto the Resurrected fae who controlled the roots.
Something sharp pierced my back, and I cried in pain and swung around to see a Skin, its claws coated in my blood. It smiled up at me, its fangs stained red, and I snarled at it. Then the Skin vanished from in front of me, and I howled in pain as it re-materialized and slashed at my back once more. I flashed my tail as I spun around, hitting it, and it disappeared once again. This time, though, I anticipated its move and turned around.
I grabbed its face the moment it appeared behind me, my claws piercing its head as I crushed its face and threw it to the side. I wasn’t going to show Skins and Bleeders any mercy—not when they didn’t know what mercy was.
A wolf’s cry of agony met my ears, and my wolf reacted, snarling loudly. I looked around frantically until I found him—a Werewolf Guard in his human form was being attacked by three Bleeders. I sprinted, the claws on my feet digging into the earth to help propel me forward.
The smell of burning flesh and blood burned my nostrils, the scent distracting, but I pushed forward.
I had told Darian I wouldn’t use my divinity . . . but I wouldn't lose control if I only used a little of it.
The moment I reached out to one of the Bleeders, my claws inches away with electricity dancing at their tips, an enormous root wrapped around my abdomen and yanked me back. I landed on the ground hard, and another root circled around my left leg and pulled me toward the forest. I tried to slice the one around my abdomen with my claws, but it was far too thick and only tightened. Another root looped around my elbow, further hampering my efforts.
I started to shift back into my human form, my body growing smaller, and as I closed my eyes, I focused on aiming my divinity at only the roots wrapped around me. My power exploded from my body, burning the thick vines so I could easily break free from them. Then I flipped onto my hands and knees and kicked off, charging at the Resurrected fae on all fours.
It was as if another side of me was brought to life whenever I fought. My body moved in ways it wouldn't have otherwise because I had to think and move quickly, or I’d lose my life.
When I was close enough to the fae, I stopped and slammed my opened palms on the ground. Lightning bolts traveled across the ground and latched onto him, wrapping around his body. Burned to a crisp, he fell to the ground with a thud, and I stood up and looked around for the others.
There were too many Bleeders and Resurrected, and they just kept coming. I glimpsed Will, who beheaded a Bleeder, then scooped up a woman and child, and vanished.
High above the town, Cyrus flew, raining balls of fire down on the Resurrected and Bleeders before he plunged to the earth, a second sword appearing in his hand.
Darian was in his final form fighting ferociously by the townspeople’s side, the ones strong enough to defend their homes.
“Help! Get away from me!”
The voice of a child caught my attention. To my right, a little human girl with bright auburn hair was walking backward, a Bleeder advancing on her slowly. She was young, no older than seven maybe, and I instantly thought of my brother Jackson. He was younger, but like him, she was just a child.
She was crying, with tears streaming from one eye. A wound on her head was causing a steady stream of blood to run down her face, covering the other eye. Her left arm was across her stomach, and her breath came out as wheezing, but she still held out her other arm weakly. “Stay away from me!”
From where I was, I could hear her galloping heartbeat, and panic filled me. What happened next occurred so quickly, it was over before I could blink.
The Bleeder attacked her and threw her against the wall. The sound of the girl's spine breaking traveled to me in the air, and my heart constricted as I watched her eyes roll back in her head. Tears sprang to my eyes, and red, hot anger consumed me.
From where I was fighting, I wouldn't get to her and the Bleeder in time, so I held my hands up above my head, and thunder rumbled above the town. I didn't care anymore about what I’d promised Darian. I wasn't going to watch anyone else die.
She was only a baby.
The dark sky glowed as a bolt of lightning shot down from the heavens. It struck the Bleeder, and a feeling of satisfaction warmed my soul as its burned body fell to the ground. Other Bleeders and the Resurrected stopped fighting, just as they had when they attacked my pack, their attention now fully on me.
My chest began to rise and fall rapidly as the chains holding my divinity back broke. Lightning struck in the distance, followed by a clap of thunder. I closed my eyes. It was as if the lightning and thunder were connected to the power inside me.
Will appeared by the girl's side and picked her up as Cyrus fell from the sky to stand by my side. Will's red eyes met mine, and he nodded.
“Do it,” he said and then vanished with the girl.
Cyrus placed a hand on my shoulder. “If you’re going to do this, remember what I said in the forest. You control this power. It doesn't control you.” He stepped back, his wings flapping and lifting him off the ground. “Breathe.”
I took a deep breath as he flew away, his red wings illuminated when the night was lit up by another flash of lightning. "Goddess," I prayed. "Lend me your power and control. I have to save these people. I can't let them die."
I uncurled my fists and held my hands wide apart, my palms facing downward. In the forest, I’d unlocked a new ability. I had been able to feel the earth and its power, its strength, and stability beneath my feet. I imagined my hands reaching down into the ground beneath me, feeling the coolness of the soil. I could feel life beneath the earth, the roots of trees buried deep, and the earth's core filled with energy.
I drowned out the sound of the Bleeders, the Resurrected, and the townspeople fighting.
Whenever my divinity took over, all I felt was chaos. Its power was like a rogue wave, rushing in and destroying everything in sight. But this time, it was going to be different. I focused on the silence beneath the earth and accepted its power.
The shaking began as a slight tremor, and I smiled as it steadily began to grow at my command.
That’s it, I told myself. Breathe.
When I opened my eyes, the earth moaned as if a monster had been trapped within it.
And I smiled.
6
Will
I disagreed with Darian's assertion that Elinor shouldn't use her powers. The more she used her divinity, the more accustomed to it she'd become. She'd learn her limits and be able to control how much of it she released.
I carried the human child to Skye, who looked at me with regret. The girl’s wounds were too severe, even for Skye. Werewolf pack doctors were herbal healers
, but some wounds could only be mended by someone more powerful, like a witch.
“Do what you can,” I told her as a slight tremor shook the building.
I made my way back outside as the tremors grew worse, and the earth began to shake violently. I watched as Darian lost his footing, but a Skin saw that as an opportunity to attack. I moved quickly, the world blurring around me.
The moment Darian's wolf turned around, I grabbed the Skin and pulled him backward, his claws inches away from Darian's jugular.
We fell to the ground together and rolled, and my hood fell off. The Skin beneath me froze, his red eyes filled with recognition as he stared up at me. I acted in haste, beheading him with his eyes still wide with bewilderment. As his body started to disintegrate, I stood up and pulled my hood back over my head. I felt no remorse as dust appeared where his body had been seconds ago. Violence against each other was normal among vampires.
No wonder other species saw them—us—as savages.
Darian appeared by my side as he shifted into his human form. He stared down at the dead Skin and then up at me, and neither of us spoke. I wasn't expecting a thank you, and frankly, I didn't want one. His dislike for me was clear, and the feeling was mutual. But I knew he cared about Elinor and was only trying to protect her.
For that reason only, I'd tolerate him.
There was a sudden explosion, and we turned around to see that the earth had cracked just before Elinor’s feet. Her eyes were as white as clouds, her black hair billowing wildly around her, and I was reminded of just how beautiful she was.
The air was sizzling with her power, and beside me, Darian growled. "Elinor, don’t!”
"You're wasting your time," I told him, stepping past him to help a satyr carrying another who was wounded. "Keep trying to control her the way her father did, and you'll lose her."
Darian’s clawed hand wrapped around my arm and spun me around. He stepped forward, his face twisted with anger. “Don’t think for a second you know anything about Elinor, let alone what's good for her. You’re an abomination, just like the rest of them.”
I moved quickly, slipping from his grip. Behind him, I snapped a fae’s neck, and her body fell between Darian and me. I said nothing and held his stare. I was hundreds of years older than this wolf. His attempt at intimidation would never work on me.
“I ruled these lands before your great-great-great-great-great-grandmother was even born. I’m here because of Elinor, remember that. But, as you're so determined to remind her, you, too, need to remember that I'm a vampire—and a General. Know your place, pup." I looked past him as lightning struck the ground, and Darian turned around as well.
Above us, Cyrus yelled at everyone to get inside, and the townspeople who had been doing their best to protect their village scattered. Only a handful of witches remained. I counted five of them, so there was definitely a witch's coven here.
Still, there were enough vampires and Resurrected left to overrun the town. But with Elinor, that wouldn’t matter for much longer. Darian and I jumped back as spikes emerged from the earth in front of Elinor and began rolling forward through the town like a wave.
The spikes impaled all the Bleeders, Skins, and Resurrected, their cries of pain creating a chorus that could be heard for miles. I dispatched the ones who had been skewered but were still alive, while Darian and the witches killed those who had escaped the spikes.
Earth magic was difficult to control, but Elinor was managing to do it while lightning bolts continued to fall from above—more proof of just how powerful she was.
My mother’s biggest mistake was thinking she could control Elinor.
The earth was soaked with blood and covered with bodies. The sight reminded me of the olden days when I had been on the opposite team. I had been a heartless creature back then, but now I understood the terror humans and supernaturals had felt.
Now I shared Elinor’s passion for preserving life and peace, but the way she had looked at me the moment Vivian had told her who she was had been branded onto my mind. I had seen the raw pain in her movements before she lost control, and the next thing I knew, my entire body had been burning from the outside in.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt such intense pain.
It was killing me that I kept hurting the woman I loved when she meant more to me than life itself. Somehow we always ended up back here, separated because of me. I kept things about myself a secret not because I feared telling her, but because I feared losing her.
I winced, biting back the pain as two Bleeders attacked me, one latching onto my back. Its teeth sunk into my shoulder while the other slammed into us, forcing us all to fall. I threw them off me, and spikes exploded from the ground on either side of me to impale them.
I killed them swiftly, their blood pooling on the ground. When I turned to Elinor, she was already staring at me. She looked away as our eyes met, and I sighed. She was right to be angry with me, but I needed her to know Vivian had meant nothing to me.
No one had ever been as important to me as she was, and that would never change. She was angry with me now, but no matter what we faced, I refused to let her go. And I sure as hell wouldn’t let my mother have her.
Elinor
I couldn't believe I was doing it. My energy was draining by the second, but I finally had control. Darian, Will, and Cyrus, along with a handful of witches, were reclaiming the town.
I wasn't sure how much longer I'd be able to keep this up, but for now, it was working.
I kept taking deep breaths, allowing my power to flow through me like a current without resisting it. I tried to stay calm because I realized that my divinity reacted to my emotions. If I grew angry, my power increased. But that also meant I was a step closer to losing control.
Watching as those Bleeders attacked Will had made me panic for a moment, and a bolt of lightning had struck a building instead of its intended target, a Skin. I had to keep up the protections I’d built around myself, as well, since I wasn’t immune to attack.
I lacked the stamina needed to keep this battle going, but I had no intention of giving up.
A Bleeder charged at me, and a whip made from electricity wrapped around its throat. The whip of electricity yanked the Bleeder backward and dragged it on the ground to a stop in front of a witch. She didn't give the hideous gray creature a chance to move before she stabbed it through its eye with a dagger, then embedded the dagger’s blade through its forehead.
Violet eyes met mine, and the woman nodded to me in greeting as blood dripped from parts of her curly black hair.
Her skin was dark like Skye’s was, but she was taller and older—in her late thirties at least—with a sprinkle of gray hair around her hairline.
Behind her, at the opposite end of the town where the vampires and the Resurrected were pouring in, I noticed a woman at the tree line. Her eyes were red like a vampire’s, but she had electricity dancing around her clenched fists like a witch. I instantly recognized that she had to be a hybrid, a creature with body parts from multiple supernaturals. No doubt, she was the one controlling this attack.
While a handful of vampires and Resurrected ran past her to retreat, she began walking forward. She suddenly vanished, moving with the speed of a vampire and cutting down two witches.
The witch that had protected me screamed and ran forward, but a sword made of electricity appeared in the hand of the hybrid. The witch stepped back, and the sword's tip slashed her across her chest, tearing her flesh open.
The hybrid disappeared, then rematerialized behind the witch before she had time to ready herself to meet the hybrid’s attack. I held my hand up as if I was telling the earth to rise, and it did, creating a wall between the witch and the hybrid seconds before the hybrid could attack again.
The hybrid turned to me and hissed as black veins appeared at the sides of her eyes. She disappeared, dancing through the spikes that kept bursting from the earth, and a bright light started to glow on her chest under h
er top.
I froze, knowing instantly what it was.
When Cyrus, Theanos, and I had rescued Skye, a hybrid had attacked us. When it became obvious his defeat was at hand, he tried to combust, attempting to create a colossal explosion that would kill everyone and everything for miles around.
I fell forward onto my hands as they turned into paws. I pushed my transformation further until I was in my final form, while bolts of lightning kept the hybrid at bay. If I didn't move quickly, she'd explode, and all of this fighting would have been for nothing.
Everyone would die.
My energy was almost depleted, but I had to take her out, no matter what. I rushed forward, allowing the hybrid to attack me. Although I was twice her size, she didn't back down as a sword appeared in her hand. I grabbed the sword and absorbed the electricity to make it mine, and I reached out with my other hand and grabbed her face, my palm covering her face entirely.
Her body was shaking from the pulsating red light under her clothes when a dagger pierced her body from behind.
Her heart stopped beating straight away, and she went limp in my hand. The light on her chest vanished, and I released her to fall to the ground. Her red eyes transformed back to blue and behind her was the witch, tears streaming down her face.
She fell to her knees beside the girl and dropped the dagger in her hand.
“She was one of us,” the witch said as she cried softly. “She was among the first to be taken from my coven.”
I reverted to my human form, and the witch looked up at me.
"The rumors are true, then? You're a white wolf."
After we finished off the last of the Resurrected and vampires, people gathered around us. I looked around me, overwhelmed by all the teary eyes filled with gratitude.
"I-I am," I stuttered, and behind the crowd, I spotted Will as he turned away and vanished into the forest. "I'm Elinor.”