The attack came at dawn.
I felt it before I heard it—the wrongness spreading through the Lycan network. The darkness. The—
*The enemy.*
I shifted instantly. Already moving before my feet hit the floor. Already shouting commands before my mind fully processed.
*KAEL. SELENE. GET UP. THEY'RE HERE.*
*Who?* Kael's mental voice was groggy with sleep. *What's—*
*THE FORGOTTEN ARMY.* I was already out the door, running down the hallway. *THEY'RE ATTACKING.*
*The children—*
*SAFE.* I'd checked. *Still asleep in their rooms. Viktor's watching them. We—*
*We defend the pack.*
We burst into the courtyard—Kael, Selene, me—and found chaos.
Cultists everywhere. Pouring through the perimeter. Swarming over the walls. Fighting with a discipline I'd never seen before.
*They're not rogues,* Selene observed, taking out two with a single strike. *They're trained. Organized. They—*
*They're soldiers.*
I scanned the battlefield—counted heads, assessed threats, found—
*Found the leader.*
A woman. Tall. Armored. Moving with deadly precision. Directing her forces. Shouting commands.
*THEY WANT THE CHILDREN,* I sent to everyone. *PROTECT THE NORTHERN WING. THAT'S WHERE—*
*WHERE THEY ARE.*
I fought toward the leader. Cutting through cultists. Taking them down. Not killing—just disabling. Breaking bones. Shattering weapons. Leaving them unable to—
*To fight.*
The leader saw me coming. Smiled.
*The Lycan Queen,* she sent. *We've been waiting for you.*
*You found me.* I shifted to full Lycan form—seven feet of power and fury. *Congratulations. Now get off my territory.*
*Not without what we came for.* The leader attacked—fast, skilled, enhanced. *Your children. Their blood. Their—*
*Their everything.*
*You're not touching them.*
*We'll see.* The leader fought like nothing I'd faced before—faster than vampires, stronger than werewolves, using magic to enhance every strike. *You're powerful, yes. But you're one. And we are—*
*Many.*
*I don't care if you're a thousand.* I caught her sword mid-swing, snapped the blade, knocked her back. *You're not getting my children.*
*Your children?* The leader laughed. *They don't belong to you. They belong to the prophecy. To the future. To—*
*To us.*
*They belong to themselves,* I snarled. *And if you think I'm letting you take them—*
*Then you're stupid.*
*No.* The leader's mental voice dropped. *Just a mother.*
She signaled. Cultists swarmed toward the northern wing.
*NO.* I moved to intercept—*
*And she caught me.*
Sword through my side. Enchanted blade. Poison coating the metal.
*I've waited a long time for this,* the leader whispered in my ear. *To bring you down. To break you. To—*
*To take what matters most.*
*You're not taking anything.*
I pulled the sword out. Ignored the pain. Ignored the poison. Shifted fully—
*And fought.*
But I was weakening. The poison. The blood loss. The—
*The exhaustion.*
*ELENA,* Kael sent desperately. *THEY'RE BREACHING THE NORTHERN WING. THE CHILDREN—*
*I'M COMING.*
I turned to run—to get to my children, to protect them, to—
*And the leader caught my ankle.*
*Not so fast.*
*LET ME GO.*
*No.* The leader's mental presence darkened. *You stay here. Fight me. While my soldiers take what we came for.*
*FELIX,* I sent desperately. *DARIUS. LUCIAN. CAN YOU HEAR ME?*
*MAMA,* Felix sent back. *They're here. In the hallway. Outside our door. They—*
*Don't open the door,* I said fiercely. *Don't let them in. Fight them. Use everything we taught you. Everything—*
*Everything you are.*
*We will,* Felix promised. *We promise.*
*Fight hard,* I said. *I'm coming. I'm—*
*I'm coming.*
I fought harder. Faster. Desperately.
But the leader was too strong. Too fast. Too—
*Too enhanced.*
*Give up,* she urged. *Accept it. Your children are gone. Your bloodline belongs to us now. Your—*
*Your future is over.*
*NEVER.*
I poured everything into one attack—every drop of power, every ounce of strength, everything I was—
*And broke through.*
Knocked the leader back. Gave myself an opening. A chance to run. To get to my children. To—
*To save them.*
I took it.
Ran toward the northern wing. Through the chaos. Through the fighting. Through—
*Through the nightmare.*
*FELIX.*
I reached the hallway. Found the door—shattered. Broken open.
My heart stopped.
*No.*
I burst into the room—
*And stopped.*
The cultists were there. Three of them. Armed. Moving toward—
*Toward Felix.*
My son stood in the center of the room. Shifted. Growling. But he was alone. Darius and Lucian were—
*Gone.*
*WHERE ARE YOUR BROTHERS?* I demanded.
*They're hidden,* Felix sent back. *In the closet. I told them to stay there. To not come out until—*
*Until it's safe.*
*It's not safe.*
*No.* Felix's mental voice trembled. *But I'm not letting them take us. I'm not—*
*I'm not letting them win.*
The cultists laughed.
*One child,* the first said. *Alone. Afraid. This is—*
*This is disappointing.*
*I'm not afraid,* Felix said quietly. *I'm the Alpha's son. The Lycan Queen's child. The firstborn. The—*
*The one who will lead.*
*And we're the Forgotten Army,* the second cultist said. *We've faced Alphas before. We've killed leaders before. We've—*
*We've ended bloodlines before.*
*Not this one.*
Felix attacked.
Not like a child. Like a warrior.
He moved fast—faster than I'd ever seen him train. Faster than should be possible for a nine-year-old. Using everything we'd taught him. Everything he'd learned. Everything—
*Everything he was.*
He took down the first cultist. Then the second. The third backed away—hesitated. Uncertain.
*Get out,* Felix growled. *Get out of my home. Get away from my family. Get—*
*Get out.*
I watched him. My son. My baby. My—
*My leader.*
He was doing it. He was leading. He was fighting. He was—
*Being the first.*
*MAMA,* Darius sent from the closet. *Are you okay? We felt your pain. Through the bond. We felt—*
*Felt you get hurt.*
*I'm fine,* I sent back. *Stay where you are. Don't come out until Felix says it's safe.*
*Okay.* Darius's mental voice was small. *We love you.*
*I love you too.* I turned my attention back to the fight—just in time to see Felix take down the third cultist. *Felix?*
*I'm okay.* He shifted back to human form—breathing hard, bleeding from a cut on his arm, but standing. *They're down. Not dead. Just—*
*Just out.*
*Good.* I went to him, checked his injuries. *You're hurt.*
*It's nothing.* Felix shrugged. *I've had worse in training.*
*This isn't training.* I hugged him tight. *This is real. They could have killed you. They could have—*
*But they didn't.* Felix pulled back to look at me. *Because you trained me. Because you taught me. Because—*
*Because I was ready.*
*I wasn't ready for you to be ready,* I said quietly. *I thought we had more time. I thought—*
*I know.* Felix hugged me again. *But we don't have more time. Do we?*
*No.* I kissed his forehead. *We don't.*
*Then it's good that I can fight,* Felix said simply. *Because I'm going to. I'm going to protect my brothers. I'm going to help you. I'm going to—*
*I'm going to lead.*
*You are,* I agreed. *You already are.*
The door opened. Darius and Lucian stepped out of the closet—both looking shaken but unharmed.
*We felt you fight,* Darius said to Felix. *Through the bond. You were... amazing.*
*You were,* Lucian agreed. *I've never seen anything like it.*
*You were scared,* Felix corrected. *I could feel it. But you fought anyway. That's not amazing. That's just—*
*Just what we do.*
*Just what Lycans do.*
*Just what we do.*
The fighting outside was dying down. The pack—reinforced by alliance guards—was pushing the cultists back. The leader, seeing her forces crumble, signaled retreat.
*Fall back,* she sent. *Regroup. This isn't over.*
*It's just beginning,* I sent back. *And we'll be waiting.*
The cultists vanished—using magic to disappear, just like the intruders had. Just like they—
*Like they always do.*
I slumped against the wall. Exhausted suddenly. The poison. The blood loss. The—
*The everything.*
*Mama.* Darius was at my side instantly. *You're hurt.*
*I'm fine.* But I wasn't. The poison was spreading. My vision was blurring. My—*
*You're not fine.* Lucian joined him. *You need help.*
*I need Selene,* I corrected. *She can heal me. She—*
*She's coming.* Darius closed his eyes. *I'm calling her. Through the network. She—*
*She's on her way.*
Kael arrived a moment later—bursting into the room, looking frantic, looking terrified, looking—
*Looking for us.*
*You're okay,* he breathed, seeing us. *You're all okay.*
*We're okay.* Felix went to him. *We fought. We won.*
*You fought.* Kael stared at his son. *You're nine.*
*I know.* Felix stood tall. *But I'm also the first. The one who leads. And today? Today I led.*
Kael looked at him. Really looked at him. Saw not a child but a warrior. A leader. His son. His—
*His heir.*
*I'm proud of you,* Kael said quietly. *So proud. But also terrified. And angry. And—*
*And sad.*
*I know.* Felix hugged him. *Me too. But this is who we are now. This is what we do. This is—*
*This is our life.*
Selene arrived with Astrid—both looking concerned, both assessing the damage.
*Poison,* Selene said immediately, seeing my wound. *Enchanted blade. We need to get this out. Now.*
*Do it.* I sat on the bed. Let them work. Let Selene use her magic. Let Astrid apply herbs. Let—
*Let them heal me.*
*The cultists are gone,* Kael reported. *Retreated. Vanished. But they left bodies behind. Some dead. Some unconscious. We're questioning them now. Trying to find out—*
*Find out what they know.*
*They won't talk,* Maya said from the doorway. She'd arrived with the reinforcements. *Cultists never do. They'd rather die than betray their master. They—*
*They're loyal.*
*Then we find another way,* I said. *We track them. We follow their magic. We—*
*We hunt them.*
*Not tonight,* Selene said firmly. *Tonight, you rest. Tonight, you heal. Tonight, you—*
*You be with your family.*
*Tomorrow?* Felix asked.
*Tomorrow we plan,* I said. *Tomorrow we train harder. Tomorrow we prepare. Tomorrow—*
*Tomorrow we get ready for the next fight.*
*And the next,* Darius added.
*And the next,* Lucian finished.
*And the next.*
*And the next.*
I lay back on the bed—let my children gather around me, let Kael take my hand, let Selene finish the healing. And as I drifted toward sleep—exhausted, hurt, but safe—I thought about Felix. About what he'd done today. About who he was becoming.
*The first will lead.*
He already was.
*The second will see.*
Darius had seen the fight through the bond. Had felt it. Had understood.
*The third will remember.*
Lucian had watched. Had learned. Had—
*Had remembered.*
They were coming into their own. Faster than I'd wanted. Sooner than I'd hoped. But they were doing it together. United. Whole.
*Only together,* I thought drowsily. *Only united. Only whole.*
*Can we save the future.*
I fell asleep believing we could.
Believing we would.
Believing—
*Believing in them.*