Chapter 144
(2
I dropped back to my human form in one breathless flash, my heart pounding in my ribs like war drums. My skin was burning. My hands still trembled. Someone, Ash, probably, threw a cloak over me. But I didn’t care. I didn’t blink. I didn’t even look up. I stared at the floating image of Soria kissing Varek. And Vaela grinning at Lucien like she belonged there.
Tears burned in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
“They were supposed to be family,” I rasped. “I would’ve died for them.”
Lya Monroe stepped up quietly, her lion mate Lyle flanking her. “You think it was mind control?”
“No,” I snapped. “I know what that looks like. This wasn’t forced. They chose this.”
The air vibrated with silence. Hurt. Anger. Confusion. “I don’t understand,” I whispered.
And then, louder, stronger…..“They made their choice.”
I lifted my chin, my gaze sweeping across the room like the eye of a storm. “Now we make ours.”
Ashrian POV
Stormclaw War Room
I couldn’t stop staring at her.
Elowen, our goddess, our girl, had just shifted into a silver bear so massive and divine it made even me flinch. And I’d watched hellhounds tear through cities. This wasn’t just power. This was rage carved into divine form.
She was breathing hard now, her cloak hanging from her shoulders, fire still dancing in her eyes. We were all frozen. Shaken. Not because we didn’t know she could do it, we knew El could wield our powers when the bond burned hot, but that shift? That form?
That wasn’t borrowed power. That was hers. Before anyone could speak, Taya stepped forward, holding the crystal orb like it might bite
her.
“Wait,” she said, voice sharp. “Look again.”
The projection flared brighter, and focused back on Vaela and Soria in the Aegis training yard. She tapped her fingers to the orb, zooming in. And then I saw it.
“Pause,” I said quickly.
The image froze. And that’s when everything shattered.
Red black runes coiled around Vaela’s forearm like vines, moving under her skin. Soria’s hands were wrapped in something even darker, necrotic symbols, jagged and cursed. And then…Taya tapped again.The image zoomed closer. Their eyes. Black. With red rims. My stomach dropped.
“Elowen,” I breathed, “look at their fucking eyes.”
1/3
11:28 Wed, Oct 8
Chapter 144
She turned, slowly, as if she already knew what I was about to say and didn’t want to hear it out loud,
“They turned them,” I said, my voice cracking. “They fucking turned them.”
Lachlan flinched beside me. “Nay…”
“They’re vampires,” I whispered, horror twisting deep in my gut. “The girls… they’re not just training with Lucien and Varek. They’re blood bound.”
Draven’s hand slammed down on the table. “That’s illegal!! Soria is a minor!”
Luna Aelira’s eyes widened. “And hybrids. Turning them is a death sentence.”
“They didn’t just turn them,” I said, my voice like ice. “They branded them with blood runes. That’s high level dark magic. This isn’t Aegis protocol. This is….” I swallowed. Hard. “….Blood goddess shit.”
The room went quiet. I mean silent. You could hear hearts pounding. Lachlan spoke first. “Ye don’t mean…”
“Oh, I do,” I muttered. “Realith Mortem. Queen of Crimson. The fucking Mother of Eternal Hunger.”
Alaric cursed in Gaelic. Nira gasped. Bram looked like he might rip someone in half. Elowen just stared at the image, shaking, one hand clenched so tight her nails pierced her palm.
“She took them from me,” she whispered.
“No,” I said, stepping toward her. “She used them. That’s different.”
“But it feels the same,” she snapped. And I knew she wasn’t wrong.
I turned back to the projection. Soria was fighting like a goddamn demon, brutal, fast, too fast. Lucien clapped for her. She smiled at him like a pet. Vaela stood over a human sparring partner, blood dripping from her knuckles. Fangs bared. Like she liked it.
“She marked them,” I said. “This isn’t just a turn. It’s a claiming.”
“The Blood Goddess is binding them,” Luna Nira said, her voice trembling. “We have to sever it, or we’ll never get them back.”
I looked back at Elowen. Her lip curled. Her voice was pure venom.
“Then we kill her. And every single thing she ever touched. I don’t think they want to come back. This was clearly their choice.”
She shook her head, looking at Luna Aelira still sobbing. “I’ll kill them all for this.”
