<b>Chapter </b><b>158 </b>


    My legs were still unsteady when Haiden caught me, his hand instinctively syed over my bump like it was the only thing that mattered in the world. My own eyes were already darting past him, across the battlefield. The smoke, the blood, the bodies, too many of them were ours. My chest tightened until I could hardly breathe. Mum. I didn’t think, I ran. The woman who had taken me in with no hesitation, who had hugged me like I belonged, who baked the kind of cakes that made you forget the war for one damn bite. Who teased me about glowing, who swore swaddling me in nkets fixed everything. She couldn’t be gone. Not her. Tobias stood like a wall of ck fur and muscle, his massive wolf body blocking her from the world, teeth bared and lips curled back in a snarl. His muzzle dripped with blood that wasn’t his own<b>, </b>his eyes zing gold. He growled the second I came close, every line of his body screaming: mine. Do <i>not </i>


    <i>touch</i><i>. </i>


    I skidded to a stop, breath catching in my throat. “Please,<i>” </i>I whispered, my hands already reaching, trembling.


    Xavier came up behind me slowly, palms out, his voice steady and calm. “Dad. It’s Envy. It’s safe. Stand down. Let her see Mum.”


    Tobias‘ growl deepened, low and guttural, his head dropping closer to Milly’s prone body. Her hair was tangled in dirt and blood, the back of her skull slick with it. I swallowed hard, my heart racing.


    “Dad,” Xavier said again, firmer now. “She’s not here to take her from you. She’s here to


    help.<b>” </b>


    For one long, agonizing beat, I thought Tobias would lunge. But finally, with a shudder that rattled through his massive frame, he stepped back, his growl tapering off into a warning rumble. His eyes never left me, but the way was open.


    I dropped to my knees at her side. Blood pooled thick at the base of her skull, matting the dark strands of her hair, and my hands shook as I reached to cradle her head. Her skin was mmy, her breath shallow, but there, they were breaths. And her heart. Weak, fluttering, but there. Relief cut through me, jagged and sharp, and my magic surged forward on instinct, the urge to heal overwhelming. I pressed my hands to the wound,


    ready to let the light pour from me, but before I could release it, Haiden was there. His hands closed over mine, pulling them away.


    “Love.” His voice cracked on the word. “You can’t.”


    “I can save her!” My voice broke, desperate. “I can heal this, Haiden, I know I can!”


    “You just shifted,” he cut in, voice hard and trembling at once. “You’ve poured every ounce of power you had into fighting, into keeping us alive. We don’t even know if the baby is okay.” His eyes dropped, just for a second, to the swell of my belly. Fear and love warred in his gaze. “I can’t let you risk them. Not like this. Remember what happened when you saved Levi?”


    The memory hit me like a de. My body copsing, the darkness closing in, my magic spent. He was right. If I tried to heal her now, I might burn outpletely<b>. </b>


    “Fine!” I snapped, jerking my hands back, throwing them up as frustration wed through me. My throat tightened, my chest heaved. “Fine. Then conjure me up some gods–damned medical supplies. Bandages, poultices, whatever you’ve got. I’ll do it the hard way. Someone check the others!”


    Haiden didn’t argue, just barked orders, his voice carrying over the wreckage of the battlefield. Noah was already sprinting toward Theo and Felix. Levi and Xavier ran to check on Aleisha and Tommy. My brothers‘ towering Lycans moved like shadows over the field, clearing what witches still twitched.


    I stayed where I was, kneeling in the dirt, my hands shaking as I brushed blood away from Mum’s face. “You’re not leaving me,” I whispered fiercely, pressing my forehead to hers. “You’re too damn stubborn for that. Stay with me, Mum. Please.”


    Hershes fluttered once, but her eyes didn’t open. Still, I swore I felt her fight.


    Haiden conjured a full medical kit, the leather bag snapping into ce at my knees. I grabbed it with hands that wouldn’t stop trembling and yanked it open. Gauze, herbs, antiseptics, sutures, the sight of them made my throat close. It had been too long since I studied this, back when I thought medicine might be my calling. Back before blood and magic had stolen all of that from me<b>. </b>I prayed it was still somewhere inside me. Mum’s breathing was shallow, her chest rising in quick, uneven bursts. I tilted her head


    carefully, grimacing at the blood matted thick into her hair, the gash at the back of her skull still oozing. “Okay, okay,” I whispered, more to myself than her. “Airway, breathing,


    cirction. I remember this. I can do this.”


    <b>Noah </b>


    I ran for Theo and Felix. Zion shifted back, fur sinking into flesh. He fell to his knees beside Theo, his hands shaking as they pressed at his friend’s throat. “Come on,” he choked, his voice raw. “Don’t do this to me, not you.” He pressed harder, his ear dropping to Theo’s mouth, searching for breath. “Wake up! Damn it, Theo, wake up!” His voice cracked into a roar, half–cry, halfmand. I knelt by Felix. His body was wrecked. Skin grey and ck, chest blistered like someone had pressed fire straight into his ribs. He looked ten years older and drained. My fingers pressed hard against his wrist. Faint. Weak. But there. “Still breathing,” I rasped.


    Zion’s curses filled the air behind me, broken and desperate.


    I leaned over Felix. “Felix. Hey. Stay with me.” My palm cupped the side of his face, gentle, firm. “Felix?”


    His eyelids fluttered,shes clumped with sweat. For a second, I thought it was just reflex, but then his lips parted. “…Where’s Theo?” The words were slurred, shredded, but they were there.


    I swallowed hard. “He’s here. Zion’s with him.”


    Felix’s eyes opened wider, panic flooding the grey. “Where’s my son?!” His hands wed at the ground, trying to haul himself upright. His chest spasmed, the burn splitting as blood welled.


    I shoved him gently but firmly back down. “Don’t. You’ll kill yourself. Just wait.”


    “My boy!” he roared, and the sound ripped straight through me. “That’s my boy! Let me…” He coughed hard, blood wetting his lips. His whole body shook with the effort to rise again, his gaze locked past me to where Theo stilly unresponsive.


    Zion’s voice was hoarse in the distance. “Come on, brother. Come on!” He pped Theo’s face lightly, then harder, his shoulders shaking.


    13:25 <b>Mon</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>8 </b><b>N </b>


    78


    Tears streaked Felix’s soot–stained cheeks as he rasped, “He’s all I have. Please, don’t you understand? That’s my son!”


    I tightened my grip on his wrist, grounding him even as my own throat burned. “I do understand. Which is why you stay alive. For him. You hear me? For him.”


    But his eyes never left Theo. And mine, mine couldn’t either.