The clearing lay in ruin. Trees smoldered, earth split into jagged scars, and the air reeked of ash and blood. Wolves limped through the smoke, pulling one another to safety. The pack still breathed, but barely their strength was thread-thin, their hope hanging by a whisper.
And in the center of it all, the Demon Alpha still stood.Its chest burned where Lily's claws had struck, silver light flickering within the wound like an ember refusing to die. Its form was unstable, shadows collapsing and rebuilding in grotesque shapes, but its hunger hadn't dimmed. If anything, it burned brighter, rage pouring from it in waves.
Lily swayed on her feet, every nerve in her body screaming. She could barely stand, let alone fight. Yet when her eyes met Alec's; bloodied, desperate, still fighting for her even as his body failed him she knew there was no other choice.
"This ends with me," she whispered.The bond stirred, deep and heavy. The forest seemed to shiver around her, as though it already knew what she meant. She felt Caleb's echo brush against her mind, sorrow and pride intertwined.
You understand now, his voice murmured. The bond doesn't just give. It takes. To protect the pack, the Alpha must sometimes become the sacrifice.Her chest tightened, but there was no fear — only clarity. She turned toward her pack, raising her head high despite the tremble in her limbs. "Silver Pine!" she cried, her voice carrying through smoke and ruin. "This is our land. Our home. Our blood will not be swallowed."
A silence fell, thick with grief and reverence. Alec staggered forward, horror in his eyes. "Lily… no. Don't you dare."She met him with a soft, steady gaze. "I have to."
He shook his head, pain tearing through him more fiercely than any wound. "We'll find another way—"
"There is no other way," she said, her voice gentle but firm. "But listen to me, Alec. The pack needs you. They'll look to you when I'm gone. You're their anchor. Be their strength."
His mouth opened, but no words came — only a broken sound, raw and desperate.Lily turned back to the demon. The bond thrummed within her, silver light flaring in her veins until it hurt to breathe. She let it rise, let it consume her, until her entire body burned like a living flame. The forest answered her call: roots surged upward, rivers hissed, winds howled, the very stones glowed with ancient power.
The Demon Alpha roared and lunged, its claws stretching like spears of void.
Lily charged to meet it, silver fire blazing.
Their collision split the night. Light and shadow exploded, a storm of flame and darkness swallowing the clearing. The wolves were flung back, blinded by the force. Alec screamed her name, but the sound was lost in the thunder.
In that moment, Lily let go.
She poured every shred of herself into the bond;her strength, her spirit, her very life. The fire inside her blazed outward, wrapping around the demon, searing through its chest. The wound widened, silver fire devouring the darkness, spreading until the Demon Alpha's form convulsed and cracked apart.
It shrieked, a sound of rage and hunger dying in the same breath. Its body collapsed into smoke, torn apart by the blaze, until nothing remained but ash on the wind.
And then, silence.
The light faded. The forest stilled.
Where Lily had stood, there was only the faint glow of silver embers drifting in the air, like stardust caught in moonlight.
The pack stared in stunned silence. Alec stumbled forward, his body broken but his grief sharper than any wound. He fell to his knees where she had been, his hands clutching at the earth still warm from her fire. His howl rose, shattering the night ; not of war, but of mourning.
The pack joined him, one voice after another, their cries lifting into the sky. Not just grief, but gratitude. Not just loss, but legacy.Lily was gone. But her howl — her spirit — echoed in every wolf, every tree, every breath of Silver Pine.
The Alpha had given her last. And the forest would never forget.