Chapter 37
Lisa’s POV_
I took one hesitant step toward the restaurant’s front window. I had to see what was happening.
And then I saw them.
Rogues.
There were dozens of them. They were scattered through the parking lot and streets. They were snarling
and shouting as they lunged at terrified humans and wolves alike. Some were in wolf form. They had matted fur and their wild eyes were flashing under the streetlights, while others remained human, wielding knives, bats, and anything else they could use to threaten and steal.
They were attacking people. They were ripping handbags, grabbing wallets, demanding phones, jewelry and anything of value. The air was thick with smoke, screams and chaos.
One man was dragged out of his car and beaten. A woman was sobbing beside him. She was clutching a small child as another rogue tried to pry her wedding ring off her trembling fingers.
My breath caught in my throat. My body wanted to move but I was frozen.
“Stay inside!” Rylan shouted as he turned back to look at me from the middle of the street, his voice firm and full of Alpha command. “Don’t follow me, Lisa. Please.”
His eyes met mine through the glass. They were dark, protective, and full of urgency. Then he shifted into his sleek, powerful black wolf form and charged toward the chaos without another word.
I didn’t follow.
I stood there, trembling as I stared out the window. He had told me to stay.
So I did.
For now.
Outside, Rylan wasn’t alone. Two men from the restaurant had joined the fight. I recognized one of them as the restaurant owner. They tried to hold the line, forcing the rogues back with snarls and fists. But it was clear that they were outnumbered.
My hand pressed against the glass as I watched, helpless. People were screaming. Someone had lit a small fire in a trash bin. The shadows danced against the walls of nearby buildings. Everything was spinning out of control.
And then…
CRASH!
The front door burst open with a deafening bang.
Wood splintered. Screams erupted inside.
Three rogues stormed in. Their faces were twisted into cruel grins. Their clothes were torn and bloodied. Their eyes gleamed with hunger and madness. They shoved tables aside like they were nothing. Dishes shattered on the floor. A waiter tried to stop them, but one punch sent him flying into a wall.
I dove behind a table in the far corner. My heart was pounding like a drum inside my chest. My breaths came in shallow and panicked gasps as I crouched low and hid in the shadows.
Please don’t see me. Please don’t see me.
I peeked out from behind the table.
One of the rogues; a tall and scarred man with greasy hair and a jagged blade, grabbed a young woman by the arm. Her eyes were wide with terror.
“Give me that necklace,” he growled while pointing to the glittering diamond pendant around her neck.
She shook her head frantically, both hands gripping the chain. “No…please, it’s from my mother…”
The rogue snarled and raised his hand to strike her.
A small child, maybe four or five years old, clung to the woman’s leg, sobbing. “Mama!”
The rogue’s lip curled in disgust. He reached down, seized the little boy by the collar, and flung him aside
like a broken doll.
The child hit the corner of a table with a sickening thud.
He didn’t scream after that. He just lay there, limp and quiet.
My heart shattered.
A wave of cold fury rushed through me.
No.
I couldn’t stay here. I couldn’t watch this happen and do nothing.
Sierra’s voice trembled in my head. Lisa… that little boy…
“I know,” I whispered. My hands clenched into fists.
The woman was screaming for help, and the rogues were circling her like vultures. My heart pounded in my chest, and my wolf, Sierra, growled low inside me. But there were so many of them. Five… six… maybe more. There was no way I could fight them all.
But I had to try.
The seer had told me I had powers. That I just needed to focus. That I had something inside me, something sleeping deep in my soul. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate, but… nothing happened.
I felt so helpless and useless.
But then…one of the rogues hit the woman.
I saw her collapse to the ground. Her body was limp and blood was pouring from a cut on her head.
Something inside me snapped.
A storm of emotion surged through me. I felt rage, fear and desperation. It wrapped around my heart like fire and then exploded through my veins. My body trembled, and the air around me changed. It crackled,
hot and wild.
Before I could even think, I raised my hand, and a pulse of raw energy shot from my palm.
It hit the rogue square in the chest, and he stumbled backward with a roar of pain, crashing into a tree.
The other rogues froze. Their eyes widened as they stared at me.
“That was you,” one of them hissed while pointing at me. “She did something!”
They charged at me.
My heart thundered. I didn’t know what I was doing but my instincts took over.
I clenched my fists and focused not, on fighting, but on protecting.
“Stop!” I cried.
A burst of white-blue energy exploded around me like a wave.
The blast slammed into all the rogues at once. They flew back and collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Silence followed. There was no wind, no growls but just my own ragged breathing.
I blinked. My hands were still trembling. I had done that.
1 had really done that.
Before I could process what had just happened, a searing pain shot through my left wrist.
“Aah!” I cried out, clutching it.
The skin burned like it was on fire, and then… a glowing symbol appeared, etched into my skin as if by magic. A triangle with a crescent moon inside. The shape shimmered in silver and gold and it was pulsing with light.
But it wasn’t just glowing, it was burning.
I fell to my knees, clutching my wrist as the pain intensified, spreading up my arm like wildfire. Tears stung my eyes. It felt like my very bones were being branded.
“What… what is this?” I whispered through clenched teeth.
The light grew brighter. It was blinding almost…and then suddenly dimmed. The pain faded just as quickly
as it had come.
I was left there, on the forest floor, breathing hard, my wrist throbbing and my heart racing.
The woman I saved was unconscious. The rogues were down. And I….
I had no idea what I had just awakened.
But something inside me had changed forever.
