Chapter 0446

"NO!" Evelyn's scream tore through the battlefield as Theron shifted back to Adrian. I watched in horror as silver tendrils crept toward his heart. His hands cradled her face, whispering words lost in the chaos before his tether snapped.

Seraphina's raw grief erupted like a shockwave, her powerful aura shielding Valeria and me from the hunters while she clutched Adrian's lifeless body, pleading for his return.

My next defensive pulse faltered without Seraphina's strength. Then I spotted Victor across the bloodied field. Our eyes locked - his body riddled with wounds. The moment our bond flickered, icy terror seized me.

This wasn't supposed to happen! I was the Guardian, the one meant to save them all. But the hunters kept coming, their numbers overwhelming us. Each fallen pack member weakened our collective strength.

The gunshot echoed before I saw it - a bullet piercing Victor's chest. My heart stopped when Magnus's fading voice whispered his love through our bond. Victor collapsed, shifting back to human form as the life left his eyes.

Beside me, Valeria suddenly gasped, clutching her chest. "SEBASTIAN!" Her anguished cry shattered what remained of my composure.

The battlefield told the grim truth. We were losing. Our packs decimated. Our mates slaughtered. Numbness crept through me as the carnage unfolded in nightmarish slow motion.

My hand instinctively covered my stomach. My unborn child - the life I'd fought so hard to protect - would never draw breath. White-hot rage erupted through my grief.

These hunters wouldn't win. They wouldn't take everything from us.

Closing my eyes, I reached for Seraphina and Valeria's auras. Beyond them, I sensed every pack member like candles in my mind. Drawing their power would weaken them further, but I had no choice.

Separating Valeria's healing energy, I fused it with our collective strength. "Aurora," I whispered to my wolf spirit.

"I know," she responded. "Protect our pup. I'll handle the rest."

With a shuddering breath, I pulled from every living member of all three packs - their strength, their pain, their fury. The energy coalesced into two massive orbs - one for destruction, one for salvation.

As I released the power, Aurora curled protectively around our child. The energy tore through me like a supernova, shredding my body from within.

The violet death wave obliterated hunters where they stood, their bodies bursting like overripe fruit. It rolled across the battlefield in an unstoppable tide of vengeance.

The golden-purple healing light sought every wolf - even those whose candles had dimmed. It purged silver from their veins, knitting torn flesh and reigniting extinguished sparks of life.

On my knees, I pushed every ounce of remaining strength into the healing light. Only when I heard Seraphina's gasp, Valeria's relieved cry to Sebastian, and felt Victor's tether snap back into place did I know it was working.

One by one, the candles flared back to life.

Through our renewed bond, I sent Victor my final message: 'I love you too.' Then darkness claimed me.