Chapter 110

Lauren

“Abigail, Owen, come here.” I pulled my kids close, Abigail clutching a strange book.

My hand trembled as I gestured toward the looming shadow. “Mark… come with us. I’ll take care of you. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were—”

My brother.

The word clung to the air, heavier than the damp stone walls. Mark stood still, massive, his permanent wolf ears twitching at every sound. His tail swayed slightly—the only sign he was listening.

Abigail pressed against my side, eyes darting between me and the enormous man who was her uncle. Owen stood in front of her, small but defiant, his hands trembling.

“Mark,” I whispered, my voice unsteady. “Do you… know me?”

We had played only a few times as children—too young to remember much. Did he?

Lily’s voice was unreadable. “It’s no use. He… doesn’t understand much.”

A deep, guttural snarl tore through the basement.

Then another.

Mark lazily glanced back at the manhole tunnel behind him—just as the house shook. A chorus of howls and barks reverberated through the walls. Plaster rained from the ceiling.

The rogues had come.

“Run,” my mother breathed. Then, “RUN!”

The basement door exploded inward. A rogue wolf lunged, eyes glowing with feral hunger.

Mark moved impossibly fast. His massive hands clamped around the rogue’s throat mid-air, then—CRACK—hurled it across the room like a ragdoll. Bones shattered on impact.

Abigail screamed as I shielded my kids.

More glowing eyes appeared at the stairs. One. Two. Three. More.

“There’s too many!” I gasped.

“We have to move. NOW!” Lily yanked Owen and Abigail forward, nearly tripping over her skirt.

Mark lunged, meeting the next rogue mid-air with terrifying force. The impact sent them both crashing through the wooden beams, but Mark didn’t hesitate. He ripped into the rogue with raw strength, his massive form barely human, a juggernaut of fury.

As the light washed over him, I finally saw him clearly. He was a tank of a man—broad-shouldered and towering, his sheer size commanding every inch of space around him.

His hands, massive and calloused, could easily dwarf a dinner plate. Those long, black wolf ears twitched where human ones should have been, and a thick tail flicked behind him, restless, bristling. His lips curled back in a silent snarl, revealing sharp, gleaming teeth made for tearing.

But none of that shook me as much as his eyes. My eyes. The same shape, the same color, staring back at me. My nose, my cheekbones—I could see myself reflected in him like a distorted mirror.

He really was Mark. My brother.

I forced my legs to move, herding the kids toward the back door of the basement. Owen hesitated, his young face set in stubborn defiance.

“Go!” I snapped. “I’ll be right behind you!”

More wolves poured in, their snarls filling the air. Mark was holding them off, but even he wouldn’t last forever against these numbers as we managed to burst through the top of the stairs, Mark holding off the hoards as much as he could.

My mother spun, eyes blazing, standing between me and a rogue that had slipped past Mark.

I was tempted to transform, for my power, but something held me back. Would I even be incontrol? The Moon Goddess’ voice whispered in my mind. Give in. Shift. Use what is yours.

I clenched my teeth. No.

I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t become what they wanted me to be, I wasn’t some feral beast. I wouldn’t lose myself to the pull of power, to the destiny the Goddess had carved into my blood.

A rogue lunged for Owen.

My mother moved faster.

“No!” The word ripped from my throat, raw and desperate, as she threw herself into the rogue’s path. They collided mid-air, a brutal clash of muscle and instinct, crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Her knife flashed—a sliver of silver against the dark—but there was too many.

Claws raked down her chest, deep and merciless. Flesh tore. Blood spilled in thick, glistening rivulets, staining the earth beneath her.

She didn’t scream. She didn’t falter.

She just turned—her weak, human gaze locking onto mine. There was no pain in her eyes, only something unreadable, something vast and final. Her lips parted, as if she wanted to say something—maybe a warning, maybe a goodbye.

But the words never came.

A rogue’s teeth sank into her throat. Flesh crunched. Blood gushed, dark and endless.

She crumpled.

And I could only watch.

Time stopped. A cold, suffocating silence filled my head, muting the chaos around me. My mother—my infuriating, human, secretive, complicated mother—fell lifeless to the floor.

Something inside me snapped.

The Moon Goddess' voice was no longer a whisper. Now.

Power flooded my veins like fire, like moonlight made tangible. My bones twisted, stretched, transformed. I didn't fight it anymore. I let it take me.

Fur erupted along my skin, my muscles expanded, my senses sharpened. The world became brighter, clearer. The rogues turned their glowing eyes to me, and I could see it—their hesitation, their fear. They had expected a wolf. They had not expected this.

I lunged.

The first rogue never had a chance. My claws tore through his throat before he could react. Another came at me from the side, but I was faster. Stronger. I met him head-on, sinking my teeth into his shoulder and ripping him apart, the wall of the shack blasting though to the forest outside.

Blood. Howls. The air was thick with death.

“Lauren!” Owen’s voice was distant.

Abigail was crying.

Mark was still fighting, his massive fists breaking bones, crushing skulls. But the rogues were regrouping. More were coming.

I forced my mind through the haze of battle. I turned to my children, my brother. “We need to move.”

We bolted, my children hopping into my back, my form much larger now. I led the way, my body still humming with power, my senses overwhelmed by the scent of blood and burning wood. The cabin was in flames, smoke curling into the sky like a beacon of destruction.

We sprinted into the forest. The rogues followed.

The chase was relentless. Branches clawed at us, the ground uneven beneath our feet. The children were fast, but the rogues were faster. I could hear them gaining.

Even more surprising, my brother was keeping up on those two legs, but they were gaining. There was no way we would out run them for long.

Them, a howl rang through the trees—one that didn’t belong to a rogue.

Alexander.

He crashed through the undergrowth like a beast unleashed, a force of nature wrapped in muscle and fury. His golden eyes burned like fire, locking onto his prey with deadly precision. Then, he struck.

He tore through the rogues like a storm ripping through a forest—unstoppable, merciless. Claws slashed, carving through flesh like it was nothing. Jaws snapped, bone crunching between his teeth. Blood sprayed, the air thick with the scent of death.

Mark was right there with him, a whirlwind of raw, terrifying power. The two of them moved like retribution made flesh, their fury an unstoppable force.

The last rogue turned to flee, terror flashing in his eyes.

He never made it.

Alexander caught him mid-stride, his hand closing around the rogue’s throat like a vice. With a savage snarl, he slammed him into the dirt, the earth trembling beneath the impact. His fangs struck deep—tearing, shredding. The rogue’s dying gurgle was lost in the blood-soaked night.

Silence fell.

The fight was over. The rogues were dead.

But the war had just begun.

Beyond the trees, the city skyline glowed—but something was wrong. A thick column of smoke was rising. Fire. One of Alexander’s buildings was burning. The rogues had struck more than just us.

Alexander turned to us, his chest heaving, his eyes scanning me, Owen, Abigail. Then his gaze landed on Mark.

“What—” He paused, still catching his breath. “Who is—?”

I exhaled shakily, tears still streaming down my face, mourning for a women I didn’t know I cared about. “It’s complicated.”

Alexander looked at me, then at Mark, then back at me. And then, to my shock, hetransformed, and as did I as he reached out and pulled me, Owen, and Abigail into a fierce embrace. His arms were strong, grounding, warm.

Mark shifted awkwardly, standing just outside the moment.

Alexander looked at him, then—hesitantly. He gave me a questioning look and i nodded, motioning him forward. “Get in here.”

Mark hesitated before stepping closer. His presence was massive, overwhelming, but he squeezed over all of us.

He said one word, “Sister.”

I swallowed hard, looking at the distant fire, feeling the weight of everything that had happened.

Maybe… even in all this chaos we were a step closer to undersandinf this mess.