Chapter 470

At the cabin in the mountains
It felt like forever, but night eventually came.
Strangely, Roman had settled. Though still feral, the beast within him had quieted, no longer thrashing against the walls, trying to be free.
To be honest, Asher and Alaric were tempted to return to Violet, but if earlier events had taught them anything, then they were safer out there than the inside where Violet’s scent would tempt them into losing control.
The plan was to survive the night in this cabin with Roman, and by dawn, pray the fever broke. They sat in heavy silence with their backs pressed to the wall, when Roman’s ears twitched and his nose flared.
A low, rumbling growl rolled from his chest.
Alaric straightened. “What now?” he muttered, already bracing himself. Just when he had started to believe Roman was calming down.
But Asher was already alert, his eyes narrowing. Roman wasn’t acting up, but was reacting to something.
“There’s someone out there,” Asher said grimly.
Alaric focused, tuning into his werewolf hearing. Then he heard it.
“We’re surrounded.”
“Don’t make a sound,” Asher ordered, low and lethal.
Whether he was speaking to Alaric or Roman, it didn’t matter because the feral Roman had already froze, motionless as stone.
For a moment there was unnatural silence as the boys stood taut, waiting in anticipation. Then Roman picked on the smallest sound and growled the warning just as Asher shouted. “Down!”
The windows shattered as bullets rained through the cabin. The floorboards cracked, splinters flying, and both boys hit the ground, shielding their heads while Roman buckled to a crouch in the darkness.
The bulletstorm seemed to last forever and when it finally stopped, dust choked the air.
“Found them!” someone shouted from above.
They moved fast, boots pounding down the stairs to the basement. But as soon as the first soldiers barged in, Alaric threw out his hands and bolts whipped across the air, striking down each soldier as they came into view.
While that was going on, a roar came from behind and they turned only to see that Roman had broken free from his confines.
“Oh shit!” Alaric barely dodged as Roman stormed past him, fully shifted, his bear form monstrous in the dim light.
He tore through the armed men like rag dolls, slamming bodies aside with guttural snarls. And they didn’t stand a chance at all.
Before any of the soldiers could recover, Alaric finished them off.
Asher was the first to reach the surface but Roman was nowhere to be found. Unknown to him, an enemy crept behind him with his gun raised. Before he could fire, Alaric fried his arm with a crack of lightning and the man screamed, dropping the weapon.
Asher lunged forward and punched him through the mask, then ripped it off and locked eyes. He compelled him.
“Who sent you?!”
“We were ordered to kill the Cardinal Alphas and take Violet Purple alive!” the soldier gasped.
“Asher!” Alaric warned, hurling a bolt just as another body dropped behind them.
But more were coming. Almost immediately, a silver bullet grazed Asher’s ear, fire searing across his skin. Damn it! Silver bullets.
“Kill them!” He commanded the man who nodded like a robot and picked up his weapon, spinning and opening fire on his own squad.
Asher ducked, weaving between bullets, and dropped beside Alaric behind cover.
“We need to find Violet. Now.”
Alaric nodded once. Then lightning erupted from his hands and tore a path through the trees.
Together, they ran into the forest toward her while praying to the goddess they weren’t too late.

“No, Violet—what are you doing?!” Griffin shouted in dread.
When he told her to run, he meant away from danger, not straight into it.
But Violet wasn’t thinking, something instinctive had taken over. Her feet moved before her brain caught up. She stepped between the soldiers and Griffin, her breath shaky, her skin burning with fever and fury. The gunmen raised their weapons, but hesitated to shoot. They had their orders to bring her alive.
And then, she screamed.
A soundwave exploded from her throat, raw and seismic. It tore through the hallway like a sonic hurricane, slamming into the armed men and flinging them backward. The shockwave shattered the sonic emitter they’d used to incapacitate Griffin.
He gasped like a drowning man breaking the surface. His shoulders straightened, and then, he was back on his feet.
Violet ran to his side. “I need the beast.”
Griffin didn’t need a second prompt. His body contorted, bulking up rapidly, bones stretching and snapping into place until he towered over her at seven feet tall, barely containing his size beneath the cabin roof.
The soldiers groaned as they tried to get up. Griffin grabbed Violet and leapt through the broken window of the one-story building like it was nothing.
They hit the ground hard, but they weren’t alone. Mercenaries on the lower level whipped around with guns raised.
Griffin didn’t wait. He snatched one of them like a toy and hurled him into the others but it wasn’t enough. The rest were regrouping, and aiming at them.
With a thunderous snarl, Griffin leapt and
Violet didn’t scream like last time even as the bullets chased them midair. But she did fear for Griffin, especially when she heard the sharp yelp of pain mid-air, just before they landed.
They crashed into the forest, Griffin breaking through thick branches before collapsing onto the ground.
“Griffin!” Violet cried, scrambling out of his hold just as he slumped to the forest floor.
Moonlight poured through the canopy, revealing the blood on Griffin’s hand as he pulled it from his side.
“Shit! You’ve been hit!” Violet’s voice shook with fear.
It had to be silver. A normal bullet would’ve been pushed out by now, but this was killing him.
“We have to get it out,” she said, her heart pounding.
But behind them, voices were closing in.
“They went this way!”
The beast’s eyes met hers. “Mate. Run.”
“No.” Violet shook her head. “I’m not leaving you.” Fınd the newest release on.net
“Run. Now!” he roared,his voice trembling with command and pain.
This time, Violet ran.