~Cayden’s POV~
I don’t know why my rage multiplied the moment I saw them crowding Hazel. She was on the floor—tears brimming from her eyes, her hands shaking like leaves caught in a storm.
Everything around me stilled.
I turned eyes searching only to see Caspian in his wolf form. He was down, pinned. A large rogue wolf snarled over him, its teeth buried deep into Caspian’s shoulder. He roared in pain. But even that sight, my brother being mauled, wasn’t enough to drag me from the magnetic pull of her broken form.
Ragnar howled within me.
He didn’t hesitate. We rushed to Hazel’s side, blood and bone splattering as I snapped the necks of the wolves around her without mercy. One by one, their heads dropped. They never even saw me coming.
Then her eyes met mine.
Her soft hazel eyes shimmered in the chaos, drenched in fear but lit by relief. A part of me unclenched. Relief washed through her features.. She must have been so scared.
I scanned her frantically looking for injury.
Left cheek bruised. Right leg bleeding. The back of her ear–red, raw. Ragnar snarled in pure fury. Seeing her like that, broken, bleeding, scarred... it did something to me. It was like being gutted from the inside.
Then I heard the wet rip of flesh.
Caspian tore off the head of the wolf on him, blood painting the snow like ink in water. Hazel gasped, then ran straight to him. Straight past me.
I saved her life.
And she didn’t even blink at me.
Something cold and bitter coiled in my gut. Not because she ran to Caspian but because she didn’t even look back. We were losing. Badly. And I couldn’t shake the image of her turning away from me.
But somehow, Caspian—bleeding and battered—still had it in him to bring my morale back. Leon and Aurora soon joined the fight. Aurora immediately rushed Hazel away, vanishing into the shadows. Caspian guided them through a safer route while we remained to handle the imposters.
"Not only wolves are here but also witches. We might not make it..." Leon shivered beside me.
Caspian placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. "We fight. We are the mighty three of this place. Either we win... or we win."
His voice recharged us. That’s always been Caspian solid, unshakable, the calm and calculative one .
"Me and Caspian will handle them. You go check if Hazel has successfully passed the entrance," I said, barely containing the thought that had been on a loop in my mind. Ragnar kept repeating it like a broken record.
"Aurora is with her... You know how powerful she is. And the distance from here to there is not that far..." Leon argued.
"But.." I was suddenly cut off.
A low chant echoed through the battlefield. Voices, layered and eerie, speaking in sync. Witches. Dressed in black cloaks, their eyes glowing white. My head spiraled as a sudden pressure filled the air.
"What kind of witches are these?" I muttered, heart hammering.
Then it got hot. Too hot.
Caspian and Leon charged only to freeze mid-lunge. Their eyes widened. Blood gushed from their mouths, streaming down their chins. Then they collapsed.
"No!" I growled, sprinting toward them, but the witches turned to me.
I leapt—taking one of their heads clean off. But then I stopped.
I couldn’t move.
"Versa!" they chanted in unison. The sound... it pierced my skull, a screeching frequency that made my ears bleed. I dropped to my knees, clutching my head as it pounded with unbearable pressure. My chest constricted. I couldn’t breathe.
Then it came.
A surge of power—not from Ragnar. No... this was something else.
Familiar.
Ancient.
The same dark power that once took over when Dahlia and her coven trapped us in wolf form. It erupted through me, dark veins spreading across my skin. I opened my eyes—everything was sharper. The witches looked confused, still chanting, still trying.
"Versa... Versa!"
But it was too late.
The power inside me suppressed their magic. I stood up more powerful than ever. They turned to run, panic finally dawning. But I was faster. A dark smoke burst from me, engulfing them. They choked, wheezed, collapsed. Dead.
I turned, heart pounding.
Caspian was stirring, recovering. But Leon—he wasn’t. I rushed to him, slicing my palm and forcing my blood into his mouth. He coughed violently, then gasped, blinking up at me.
He was alive.
"Ragnar... was that you?" I asked, but he only growled low and confused. This wasn’t him. He didn’t know.
Then where did that power come from?
It was the same force that made me Alpha at a young age stronger than both my brothers. It created a rift between us. I tried to call it again. Nothing.
Gone. Like smoke in the wind.
A low growl interrupted my thoughts. Caspian was up, fully healed, scanning the surroundings.
"We need to leave here. Now," Leon said, still shaking. "Aurora said there are hundreds more. Maybe thousands."
"What should we do, brother?" I asked Caspian. Even though I’m the strongest, he’s the smartest. The strategist. The one who always sees three moves ahead.
He sighed, pacing, mind racing. "Come on, Caspian... think... you’ve got this," I whispered under my breath, not wanting to add to his pressure.
Then his eyes lit up.
That’s my brother.
"We can split up," he said. "There are three ways to the other side of the High-House. We distract them in all three. Then, we blow the corridors. That way, the main house stands and we eliminate the bulk of them."
He looked to us, unsure if it even made sense.
I grabbed his shoulder. "You’re damn smart. What would I do without you?" I pulled him into a rough embrace, pride and blood bonding us.
"Split up? That seems like a bad idea," Leon said, uneasy. "We need to stick together."
"If you have any ideas better than that bring it on," I said, meeting his gaze.
He stayed silent.
"That’s what I thought."
Caspian pointed. "I’ll go left. Leon you take right. Cayden, middle."
We all nodded.
We could do this.
"In three." Caspian howled
One.
Two.
Three.
"BLUE MOON!" we chanted together—and went our separate ways.