Chapter 314

Ellie POV

Isla shifted without warning.

One heartbeat she was beside me-human, breathing hard, eyes locked on the chaos beyond the wards-and the next her body folded inward, bones cracking and reforming in a blur of motion that made my stomach lurch.

A sleek wolf hit the stone in front of me, dark brown fur already slick with rain, muscles coiled tight with purpose. She didn’t hesitate. Not even for a second.

She launched herself forward.

“Isla-no!” I shouted, my voice ripped away by the wind.

She was already gone, a streak of dark motion surging past the wards the instant a gap opened, joining the Silver Fang warriors as if she’d been born for this exact moment.

Pride and terror slammed into me at the same time.

She had promised me. And she was keeping it.

I took a step forward on instinct, my body screaming to follow her, to chase her into

the fight-but I stopped short, breath catching painfully in my chest.

I couldn’t.

No wolf. No claws. No teeth.

Just power I barely understood and a responsibility I couldn’t abandon.

The wards pulsed again, reacting to the chaos outside, to Felicity’s presence

pressing against them like a blade testing armor. I could feel the strain now, the way

the magic hummed too loud, too fast. dangerously thin.

I swore under my breath and turned away from the courtyard.

Running felt wrong-cowardly-but Alaric’s words rang loud and clear in my mind.

Your role is not to fight the storm. It is to defend your home.

So I ran toward what I could protect.

eads stretching

Inside, the packhouse was a study in controlled panic. Noncombatants had already been moved deeper into the inner keep, corridors cleared, doors sealed. The silent alert had done its job-but now the silence was breaking under the weight of impact, shouts echoing faintly through stone.

The goddess’s presence surged as I moved, responding to urgency, to fear. I guided it the way Alaric had drilled into me-slow breath, sharp focus, intention before release.

The saferoom.

My feet carried me there without conscious thought, bare soles slapping against cold stone. The corridor lights flickered as I approached, wards flaring brighter in recognition of me.

I pressed my palm flat against the door.

+25 Bonus

It thrummed under my touch, layers of magic already woven deep into its frame-but not enough. Not for this.

“Okay,” I whispered. “Okay, I’ve got you.”

I closed my eyes and reached inward.

Not outward toward the storm. Not toward Felicity’s cold, gnawing presence. I went down-to the still place beneath my fear, beneath the chaos. The place where the goddess’s power settled when I didn’t fight it.

I felt the warmth there, the same feeling that had settled into me the first time my mother came to me through

this connection.

I felt tears spring to my eyes immediately.

This was the aid I needed now. To help me protect my family, my children, I needed the strength of my mother. And she was there, deep within the magic that coursed through me. I could feel her, almost hear her voice in my mind.

I pictured the room beyond the door. August. Ian. Rae. Warmth. Safety. Stone that would not break.

Then I pushed.

Magic poured through me in a steady, deliberate stream, not the wild surge I’d unleashed in the courtyard but something denser, more precise. It flowed into the door, the walls, the seams between stone blocks, reinforcing every weakness I could sense.

The wards brightened visibly, lines of pale gold threading through the darker magic already in place.

My knees trembled as the effort took its toll.

Istaggered back a step just as the door slid open.

Rae stood there, eyes wide, hair pulled half loose as if she’d risen in a hurry. August was on her hip, one chubby hand tangled in her shirt. Ian’s cries echoed from inside the room.

“Ellie?” Rae said. “What’s going on?”

Her voice cut through me sharper than any blade.

“We’re under attack,” I said bluntly. There was no point in softening it. “Rogues. Felicity is here.”

Rae’s jaw tightened instantly. “The boys-“

“They’re safe,” I said, forcing certainty into my tone even as fear clawed at me. “They will be. I just strengthened the wards. This room is the most secure place in the packhouse right now.

Her eyes flicked past me, toward the corridor, where another distant crash reverberated through the stone. She shifted her weight instinctively, protective, ready,

“I can help,” she said. “I won’t just sit-“

“You will,” I cut in, more sharply than I intended. I softened immediately, reaching out

to grip her forearm. Please. Rae. I need you here. With them.”