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“Don’t say that,” I breathed. “I’m not letting you die today!” I needed him to believe it. To fight. But his eyes held the calm, distant look of someone who’d already said goodbye.

Once the crowd settled, Johan raised his arm, and the moments seemed to slow into an eternity.

Each agonizing tick of the clock could be the last before my world shattered.

I reached into my bodice, my fingers finding Jase’s dagger.

If I could sink the blade into Johan’s neck, maybe taking out the head of the snake would end all of this?

It would likely cost me my life, but it would be worth it.

All eyes were on Johan, waiting for his signal.

This was my moment, and I steeled myself for whatever the consequences might be.

Before I could make my move, the whistle of an arrow filled the silence.

It breezed past my face, landing with a sickening thunk.

Johan’s valet dropped at his feet with an arrow in his chest. I turned back to the crowd, all of them parting to reveal a cloaked male with a bow in hand.

He pulled his hood back and my heart leapt—Lucius.

“You!” Johan seethed.

An explosion rocked the courtyard. The ground trembled as rebels surged into the square.

I lost sight of Lucius as the crowd dissolved into chaos, panic-stricken faces scattering in all directions.

Johan was instantly surrounded by his personal guard.

Urgent fingers dug into my flesh as a guard seized me.

This time, I was ready. I plunged the dagger into his thigh with a scream.

He dropped me with a cry of his own, and I didn’t waste the moment.

I twisted the blade and ripped it free. I threw all my weight into him.

Before he hit the ground, I was in motion, throwing myself over the railing and into the crowd.

I headed straight for the gallows, running as fast as the iron shackles allowed.

“Executioner! Finish it now!” Johan boomed from behind me.

The executioner pulled the lever. A deafening crack echoed through the square as the trapdoors dropped open. My heart seized in my chest as I watched Hunter, Finn, and Sawyer plunge downward, each falling until the ropes snapped taut around their necks.

“No!” My scream ricocheted off the courtyard walls. I wasn’t close enough. The crowd was too thick. I couldn’t get to them.

Dark shadows curled from every corner.

“The dagger, Michaela. Throw the dagger.” Gunner’s voice echoed in my mind and I froze, momentarily blindsided by the sound of my lost Bruin.

“ There’s no way I can make the shot.” I was too far, and the ropes were too small of a target.

“You can do it. Do it now.” His voice was calm, a pillar of strength in my frantic mind. I felt the warmth of him at my back and I allowed it to wash over me.

I pulled in a centering breath, gripping the dagger firmly in my hand.

Blue lines of power swirled around my wrist. I took a heartbeat to aim before I let the dagger fly.

The rope snapped, and Hunter fell to the ground.

Relief surged through me, but Finn and Sawyer still hung, their faces turning purple as they struggled against the ropes.

“Michaela!” Nico’s voice cut through the chaos. I turned to his voice, his eyes meeting mine. He was only a few feet away from me, but there were still so many bodies between us. “Get down!”

He pointed skyward. A volley of arrows swarmed above. I dropped a second before they struck. Screams erupted from the crowd and bodies fell all around me. I felt the impact before the pain raced up my thigh, and my own scream joined the rest.

My name rang out from every direction, as if all of my fated could feel my pain.

A crack of thunder shuddered the air, and the sky opened up, pouring down on us.

The thunder ebbed, replaced by the guttural roars of my beasts.

The gallows splintered and collapsed. Finn had shifted despite the wolfsbane—his bear lay atop the rubble.

Sawyer curled in on himself, barely conscious.

Nico reached me, kneeling by my side. “Little bird, are you… your leg.”

“How did he do it? How did he shift?”

“They all did—for you. The need to protect you was stronger than the wolfsbane,” he said as he pulled off his belt and cinched it around my thigh. “We have to get you out of here. Take a deep breath. I have to remove the arrow.”

He held my gaze as I gave a nervous nod. I clenched my teeth, swallowing back the scream as he tore the arrow from my thigh.

Lucius barreled through the crowd in his bear form. He sniffed the air, catching the sharp tang of my blood. A growl rumbled deep in his chest, dangerous and possessive. His eyes locked onto mine for the briefest moment, a silent vow that nothing would touch me again.

“Focus, Lucius. She’ll live. We’ll take our retribution after she’s safe. Right now, you have to get her out of here. Mic, hold still.”

Nico paused, long enough to raise a pole axe over his head and cleaved my ankle chains. He hoisted me onto Lucius’ back.

From there, I saw the battle raging all around us. My beasts fought side by side with the Raven’s Hand, pushing the guards back.

“Time to go, little bird,” Nico said, a pained look on his face.

“Aren’t you coming with us?”

“I have something I need to finish. I’ll be right behind you.”

He didn’t believe what he was saying, I could see it in his eyes.

“Get her out of here now!” He slapped Lu’s whither, and we were in motion.

I grabbed a fistful of his coat to remain seated.

He moved through the crowd with surprising speed.

Finn, Hunter, and Luca flanked us. Every rock, every jolt of his gait jarred my wound.

But the pain was a distant notion. My thoughts were only on Nico.

We stopped when we reached the tree line, the dense forest giving us enough protection to pause and catch our breath. Lucius shifted and pulled me into a crushing embrace.

“Did they touch you?” His voice broke, trembling with barely restrained violence as he scanned me for injuries. “Their scent… it’s all over you.”

“He didn’t—I’ll be fine.”

“They got too close to what’s mine. Tell me what they did?” he growled, fear and anger warring in his eyes.

“I can’t. Not now, Lucius. Give me some time.”

He pulled me back into his arms. “I thought I’d lost you,” he mumbled into my hair, not pressing for answers.

“Lucius, we have to go back for him.” My voice trembled, but my resolve was steel.

The wind howled through the thicket of trees where we’d taken refuge, carrying the scent of blood and fire from the battle.

Finn paced like a caged beast, his eyes flicking toward the castle where his brother remained.

He shook his coat as if trying to shed the horror of going back to the nightmare he’d just escaped from.

Lucius knelt beside me, still catching his breath, his broad chest heaving.

Hunter and Luca remained in their bear forms, scanning the horizon like they expected Nico to appear at any second.

“You saw the way he looked at us,” I said, hands clenched at my sides. “He stayed because he didn’t think he’d survive. He was trying to save us. I won’t let him die alone.”

Lucius clenched his jaw. I knew I was asking too much.

“Michaela, if we go back in there?—”

“If we don’t, we lose him,” I cut in, stepping closer. “I won’t lose another mate. Jase—” His name stuck in my throat. Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks. “I tried to save him, but I…”

“Shh, it’s alright, Dove,” he said, brushing away a wayward tear. “None of this is your fault.”

“If we leave him behind, he’ll die. And I can’t live with that. I’m not asking any of you to come with me—but I have to go. He needs me.”

They all stared at me in silence, their beasts eyeing me up and down. Luca shifted, a sharp grin tugging at his mouth.

“You didn’t think we’d let Nico have all the fun, did you? I think we all deserve to spill Johan’s blood. But you can’t go into battle with that leg.”

I felt his power surge into me—blue lines racing across my skin, healing every ache, stitching my skin together. I sighed as his power renewed me.

“Now that’s better,” Luca said. “Lu, where’d you stash those clothes? Or are we charging in with nothing but our tattoos to cover us?”

The castle looked deserted. Smoke billowed from shattered towers, casting an ominous haze over Mathenholm. The crowd was gone. Only a trail of destruction and dead bodies remained.

The few guards left behind, once fanatically loyal to Johan, faltered at our approach. Whispers of the true king echoed through the halls. Some dropped their weapons and fell to their knees. Others fought—half-heartedly. The tide had turned.

Lucius and Luca met steel with steel, while Hunter and Finn, still in bear form, tore through what resistance remained. I fought beside them, my strength restored, a borrowed blade singing in my hands. My heart was fixed on Nico.

“Where are they?” Lucius snarled, his sword at the throat of a young guard who had surrendered.

“I… I think I saw them go that way.” The guard tripped over his words, waving down the grand hall. “The king?—”

“He’s not the king!” Lu barked.

“Yes, yes, of course. Johan lured him to the throne room. Said his powers are stronger there.”

I didn’t wait for more. I bolted down the hall, my name echoing behind me as the others called out—but something deeper pulled me forward.

The world tunneled. My breath ragged in my throat as my skirts tangled around my legs.

My heart hammered—not just from the sprint but from the bone-deep fear that I was too late.

That I’d reach the throne room just in time to watch Nico fall.

A trail of chaos marked their path—chipped stone, overturned furniture, splashes of blood and dead guards told a story that had my blood running cold. What would I find when I finally reached him? Had he already been mortally wounded? There was so much blood.