~Ella Windsor POV~
"Get her out!" Edward roared, his wolf form pressing through the smoke.
Markus grabbed my wrist, his pale eye gleaming. "We move now."
"Don't touch her," Leonard snapped, grabbing my other arm. For a moment, both of them were pulling me in opposite directions.
"Stop fighting!" I coughed, pushing them off. "We're all going to choke if we stay here!"
The attacker used the distraction to leap through the broken window, vanishing into the stormy night.
"Damn it!" Leonard cursed under his breath, while Edward shifted back to human, his breath ragged.
Ma'am Emilie, face pale, ran up to me, covering her mouth with her scarf. "Ella, we have to leave! Whoever sent that assassin will not stop."
"Assassin?" I repeated, my voice low. My hands shook around the sword. "They weren't here for you three, they came for me."
Markus laughed, a rough sound. "Of course they did. You're the prize everyone wants, little wolf."
I turned on him. "Don't call me that!"
Leonard stepped closer, his expression serious. "We need to talk, but not here, Crownstone Tower is safer, and my men will guard you."
Edward frowned. "Safe with him? Don't be a fool! Come to the Ridge, my pack will protect you under the old laws."
Markus leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Or come with me.... No guards, no laws, just freedom. No one will find you if you don't want them to."
I shook my head. "I'm not going anywhere with any of you until I get answers."
"Answers will get you killed if you stay here," Leonard said. "The assassin will return."
"Then tell me who sent them," I shot back. "If you know."
The three of them exchanged glances, a silent conversation I couldn't read.
Edward broke the silence first. "There are whispers of a shadow pack. Wolves who sold themselves to silver merchants, they hate the old bloodlines, and if they know who you are... they will try to end you before the Accord seals."
"Shadow pack?" I repeated, my stomach sinking.
Markus tilted his head. "Or maybe one of us hired them, ever think of that?"
Leonard's growl rumbled through the room. "Careful, rogue."
"What? You think I'd waste money on an assassin when I could just take her myself?" Markus smirked, but his gaze on me softened just a little. "Besides, if I wanted her gone, I'd have done it already."
The storm outside roared, thunder shaking the walls, I looked at the sword in my hands, still glowing faintly with my blood.
"This isn't just about me choosing a mate," I whispered. "This is war waiting to happen."
Leonard didn't deny it, Edward didn't either.
Ma'am Emilie took my hand. "Child, we have to move, please pick one, tonight."
I froze, looking between them, my wolf clawed at me, urging me to decide, but my heart refused.
Then a sound broke the silent, a long, low howl from outside. Not Leonard, not Edward, not Markus.
All three of them turned sharply.
"What is that?" I asked, my chest tightening.
Leonard's eyes went gold, sharp and deadly. "Not one of us."
The windows rattled as another howl answered the first, then a shadow moved across the street, bigger than any wolf I had ever imagined.
Edward's voice dropped. "The shadow pack, they found her!"
Markus's grin faded. "Well, things just got interesting."
The front door creaked, and a figure stepped inside, it wasn't masked, it wasn't even fully human. Its skin shimmered like silver, and its eyes burned white.
"Blood daughter," it hissed. "Your time is up!"
The figure in the doorway didn't breathe like a normal wolf, each exhale rattled, like wind through hollow pipes. Its skin shimmered as if it were made of molten silver, reflecting the lightning outside. My grip tightened on the moonsteel sword, and every instinct screamed at me to run, but my wolf refused. This thing wasn't a wolf from any pack I knew, it was wrong.
Leonard moved first, he stepped in front of me, his posture protective, voice cold and sharp. "Stay behind me."
Edward shifted again, the sound of bones snapping and fur tearing through skin echoing in the small shop. His white wolf form crouched low, teeth bared. Markus, still in human form, tilted his head and smirked, though there was anxiety in his pale eye. "Looks like the party's just starting."
The silver creature stepped forward, leaving burns on the floor where its feet touched. "Blood daughter," it hissed again. "Your death ends the Accord, three packs fall, and we rise."
The way it spoke chilled me, not a voice like ours, but something stretched and broken, as if two voices spoke through one throat.
"Who are you?" I demanded, though my hands trembled.
It tilted its head, and I saw the faint outline of fur under its silver skin. A wolf drowned in metal.
"Kill it," Leonard said, his voice cold.
Edward growled, already lunging, but the creature moved too fast, it darted sideways, slashing at Edward with claws that glinted like blades. He yelped as a cut scorched across his flank, silver smoke rising from the wound.
"Edward!" I cried, rushing toward him.
"Stay back!" Leonard shouted, grabbing my arm. His touch was firm but not rough, as if he knew I might break free anyway.
Markus grabbed a broken broom handle, his expression shifting to something deadly serious. "I hate to say it, but this thing is out of our league."
Ma'am Emilie, pale and shaking, loaded her crossbow with trembling hands. "Moonsteel arrows, take the sword, Ella. That's the only thing that can end it."
I gulp hard, gripping the sword with both hands, my cut palm still burned from earlier, the bloodline connection humming through me, and the sword felt pulsing with a strange heat.
The silver creature's gaze turned to me, its white eyes locking on the blade. "The daughter carries the key," it rasped. "Break her!"
Leonard snarled and charged, his movements were precise, sharp, almost mechanical. He fought like a man who had trained his whole life for this. He slashed at the creature with a knife, but the silver skin repelled it. Markus tried flanking it, but the creature spun, throwing him across the room, he crashed into a shelf, wooden splinters raining down.
"Do something!" Sara yelled from behind the counter. She'd stayed hidden until now, clutching a practice staff.
I moved, and my body wasn't mine anymore; it was my wolf guiding me. I leapt forward, swinging the moonsteel sword in an arc. The blade met the creature's arm, slicing through the silver like it was fabric and a horrible screech ripped from its throat, echoing like metal grinding against metal.
"Ella!" Leonard shouted, catching me as I stumbled back from the blow. "You have to end it! Only you."