4/4
The room was still, the only sound being the rhythmic beeping of the medical equipment beside me. My body ached, my limbs felt Ike lead, but the pain was nothing compared to the weight pressing down on my chest.
Twenty days.
I had been unconscious for twenty days.
The reality of that was slowly sinking in, but I didn’t have time to cess it before Rowena’s voice pulled me back.
“There’s something you need to know,” she said, her expression grie
1 turned my head toward her, my heartbeat picking up. My mates were still close, hovering like they were afraid I’d disappear again. Elijah’s fingers rested lightly against my arms, his touch grounding me
“What happened?” I croaked, my voice still taw.
Rowena exhaled, her brows furrowed in clear frustration and grief.
“After the Shadow Weaver nearly killed you, we thought… we thought that was it,” she admitted. “She had the Keystone, she had Mother, and you were…” She swallowed hard, her gaze darkening
Tcould tell she was reliving it–the moment she must have thought had died.
Elijah’s grip on my arm tightened, and I felt the tension in my mated as they, too, remembered that moment.
“We were ready to fight to the death,” Austin said, his usual cocky affitude replaced with something far heavier.
Isaiah nodded, his jaw clenched. “If Rowena and her witches hadn’t arrived when they did, we wouldn’t be here talking to you.”
I blinked. “The witches…?”
Rowena nodded, “Not all of them sided with the Children of the Eclipse. There were many of us who refused to bow to the Shadow Weaver. When we realized what was happening, we gathered what strength we had left and launched a counterattack.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
“We lost many of them,” she murmured, pain flickering in her eyes.
Guilt curled in my gut. These were people who had fought and died trying to protect us, and I had been lying here, unconscious, useless.
I clenched my fists. “I should have-
“No.” Rowena cut me off, her voice firm. “You nearly died, Stormi. If you had been awake, you would have died.”
Her words stung, but I knew she was right.
Still, that didn’t make the guilt any easier to bear.
“What happened after that?” I asked, forcing myself to focus.
Rowena’s expression darkened even further. “That’s… not the worst of it.”
1/3
Chapter 211
A chill ran down my spine.
“The world is changing.” she continued. “The Shallow Weaver is nonger hiding in the shadows. She’s making her move–and she’s not lust using witches and umbrakina.”
I frowned, “What do you mean?”
Rowena hesitated, then sighed. “The human governments have know about us for years.”
I frope.
“What?”
She nodded. “They’ve always known. They tolerated our existence, long as we stayed in the shadows. But now, for the sake of peace with the Shadow Weaver, they’ve chosen a alde.”
A sickening feeling settled in my stomach.
Elijah’s jaw was tight. They’re capturing werewolves, Stormi.
My breath hitched. “What?”
Rowena’s hands clenched at her sides. “They’re rounding them up entire packs, families–and sending them to military camps.”
My vision blurred with rage.
“Why?” My voice was low, dangerous.
Rowena’s next words made my blood run cold.
“Our insider information says they’re being turned into umbrakins, thers being used as experiments as
bio–weapons.”
Silence.
A heavy, suffocating silence.
I shook my head, refusing to believe it. “That’s… not possible. Werewolves can’t survive that kind of transformation. The umbrakins are made of shadow magic, they’re—”
“They’re dying,” she confirmed. “Most of them aren’t surviving the process. But the ones that do…..”
She didn’t finish. She didn’t have to.
My fist trembled as I gritted my teeth.
The Shadow Weaver wasn’t just spreading her darkness through witches and rogue packs–she was using the humans now, bending
them to her will.
“We have to stop this,” I said, my voice filled with anger and determination.
“We already are,” Elijah said, his golden eyes burning.
I turned to him, contused,
“Since you’ve been out, we’ve formed rescue teams,” he explained. “We’ve been breaking into the military camps, freeing as many
2/3
Chapter 211
werewolves as we can and bringing them here.”
I looked around the roant, finally realizing the space we were in wasn’t just a simple hideout.
“This is a bunker,” i murmured,
Rowena nodded. “A large one–bigger than two football fields. It’s hidden beneath the ruins of your family’s castle.”
Even after all these years, after everything I had lost, this place was still ours.
But
that wasn’t what mattered now.
“This bunker,” I said. “It’s where you’ve been bringing the rescued wolves?
“Yes,” Rowena confirmed. “But it’s getting too small. The number of verewolves we’re saving is growing faster
r than wi
we expected.”
1 exhaled sharply. “That’s a good thing.”
“It is,” Austin agreed. “But it
also means we’re running out of supplies, space, and time.”
I ran a hand through my tangled hair, my mind racing.
We had a safe haven, but how long would it last?
“We need more al
allies,” I muttered.
Elijah nodded. “And we need to strike back.”
My eyes met his, and I saw the same determination I felt burning inside me.
“We will,” I promised. “We will fight back.” I vowed. “Because if we don’t…”
I didn’t finish the sentence,
I didn’t have to.
We all knew the answer.
If we didn’t stop the Shadow Weaver now–if we didn’t fight back–there wouldn’t be a world left to save.
Chapter Comments
LIKE
