~Kade~
We were fighting off the wolves that came from the woods. Neither I nor Knox could focus. We constantly flicked our gaze to the house where that damn light was hiding Layla and the witch.
Sebastian was holding my daughter. As though he sensed me looking, he raised his gaze and looked up, finding my eyes staring at him.
We grabbed the wolf’s head and leaped from the ground, breaking his neck on the way down.
Two more emerged from behind the trees. Saliva dripped from their jaws, and they snarled on their way to kill us.
There was something different about these wolves. I looked at Cara fighting one of them. She was the strongest female in our pack, an Alpha’s daughter, and yet she struggled to get a kill.
“You see it too?” Mason asked through the mind link.
“Something’s not right,” I said.
He turned his head and gave me a look before reaching out and digging his claws into the wolf’s neck.
I heard a loud thud, someone landing on the ground. Anna struggled to get back up, and the wolf was stalking her.
We ran over and knocked him to the ground.
“What the hell kind of wolves are these?!” Anna spat furiously.
A dramatic light flare burst from the cottage and over Sebastian’s head. He bent down, covering my daughter’s body with his own. I felt my brows pulling together in confusion.
He was protecting her. For some reason, he wouldn’t let her get hurt. My heart stopped for the seconds it took to see that she was okay.
“Kade!” The voice of my sister pulled my attention around.
I managed to duck in time to see the wolf leaping over me. They weren’t stopping. With each wolf we killed, two more emerged from the woods.
Rays of light burst out from the door.
What the hell is going on in there?
“Go!” Justin shouted, seeing me look at the cottage. “We’ve got this!” he exclaimed and broke the neck of another wolf.
Right on time, two more stepped out.
“Oh, come on,” Justin groaned.
I ran toward the house, jumped on the porch, and aimed for the door. There wasn’t a wall, so why the fuck did I bounce back and fall to the ground? The stones ripped at my skin, and my fingers dug into the dirt to stop my body from moving back.
I looked up. Justin was every bit as confused as I was.
“Magic,” he said and bit down.
He growled, his canines extended, and bit into the wolf’s neck. Emberclaws were definitely a different breed.
I felt myself grimacing when I saw the chunk of his flesh being spit out of Justin’s mouth.
We may be predators, but it’s usually our wolves doing the ripping and not us.
Layla was in the house. She was with the witch, and I couldn’t get in.
The flares shot out from the door and the windows. I looked to Sebastian for a reaction, to see if he smiled. He didn’t. He was following the flares with his eyes; they grew round. Sebastian was confused. His eyes searched through the window for his witch. He held my daughter closer.
Like fireworks, the flares flew up and disappeared toward the sky.
They shot out toward us, and Anna ducked. Mason threw himself on the ground to avoid getting hit.
“Is it gonna blow?” Cara screamed.
“No,” I growled in annoyance.
However, I couldn’t help but wonder the same thing.
“Layla!” I shouted. The flare was coming toward me. Fuck, they were fast, and they were hot.
The wolves continued to attack.
“Layla!” Why isn’t she answering? The windows started to crack from one corner to the other. The flares stopped. The light dimmed; it withdrew into the house. I panted on the ground and pushed my hands down to stand.
“Layla,” I breathed, waiting for her to come out.
I held onto the railing. The fighting was loud behind me. However, everyone stopped when the light disappeared. Danielle stood next to a wolf, holding its head pressed into the ground.
She fell forward. Her palm hit the ground where the wolf’s head had been. The wolf was gone.
“Layla?”
Nobody was coming out of the cottage. The light came back, seeping through the windows and the walls. Boards were flying at our heads.
“Anna!” I ran over and knocked her to the ground.
Anna was underneath me, shielding her head from the debris from the house.
“It’s not gonna blow, he says!” Cara scolded.
“Fuck!” Danielle screamed in pain behind the tree, pulling her back up against it. A piece of wood was lodged in her leg, sticking out on the other side.
My eyes were searching through the flying debris and broken pieces of furniture and glass.
“Where is she?” I whispered into the air, not thinking to speak louder.
I didn’t see her or Sebastian. I cursed and slammed my fist down on the ground. I couldn’t move and risk anything hitting Anna.
Boards were lodged in the trees, glass covered the ground, and once the last pieces fell to the ground, there was no longer a house on these grounds.
I pushed myself up from the ground and coughed through the rising dust. Anna was patting on the ground with her hands. I leaned down and grabbed her arm, helping her to her feet.
“Layla?” she asked and looked around frantically.
Though we couldn’t see past our feet, I witnessed Anna punching in the air to guide herself forward.
“Layla!” A broken scream left Anna’s lips, and it twisted my heart. She coughed, her hand flew to her mouth, and she fell on her knee.
“Anna, come on.” I put my arm around her waist and held her up.
“Somebody say something!”
“Kade, we’re here,” Cara hoarsely said in an attempt to scream.
I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“You can see through this shit?” I asked.
Justin nodded. He heaved a breath, the dust went down to his lungs, and he bent over as he coughed. Justin looked at the hand that covered his mouth. I grabbed it and turned it over.
“Blood. Sit down,” I said and pressed his shoulder down. I also helped Anna down on the ground and told them to wait it out.
