A familiar and warm presence consumed me; I was starting to feel a bit more energized and whole again. I closed my eyes, taking in the new aura that had surrounded the village, listening as the cackling of electricity echoed through the air.
As we ran, shadows floated from the grounds and began to shape into something unorganizable. I gawked at the shadows that morphed into one giant being.
I heard rogues barking orders to one another, but they were also being consumed with terror.
I didn’t need to see her to know who was doing all of this; soon, my mother was breaking through the clearing with her large white wolf howling in fury. She wasted no time to stand by my father who seemed to have been waiting for her very presence and fight along his side.
“Mom!”
I breathed, tears burning in my eyes.
Seeing both my parents in their fighting stance gave me strength and I smiled knowing we were going to win this battle.
I held onto the shoulders of Enzo’s wolf and lowered himself, giving him permission to go faster. He did so immediately, and we raced to the safehouse. Once we were inside, he shifted into his human form, grabbing a pair of pants that was left by one of the men inside the brick building, and together we went into the tunnels.
Diana stood quickly and ran to me as I handed her the bag.
“Did you get everything?”
She asked shock in her voice.
“Everything except blood,”
I admitted, hating that I couldn’t get that for her.
“It’s okay,”
she said, giving me a proud smile and touching my face gently. “You did good.”
I smiled in return. Her eyes flickered to Enzo and a sob escaped her lips as she ran to him. He hugged her immediately.
“I’m so glad you are okay,”
she breathed.
“You too,”
he said in return.
I hadn’t even noticed that the fighting above quieted until I felt a warm and inviting aura circling around all of us. Diana’s eyes widened as she stared up at the dirt ceiling with a bright smile on her face.
“A shield has been placed,”
she breathed. “How is it possible?”
“My mother,”
I said in return.
“She’s here?”
Diana asked with raised brows.
“Yes,”
I said, leaning against Enzo for support. I was so tired after all of this, and I needed to rest for a minute. “We are safe for right now…”
I heard the relieved cries of those around us. Diana went to help those injured and I continued to lean on Enzo for physical support. But then his entire body tensed, and I glanced up at him, seeing his eyes glazed over.
He was speaking with someone in a mindlink.
“What is it?”
I asked as he blinked a couple of times and looked at me.
“It was Ethan… he found Hazel’s location. She’s in Starcove.”
Lila’s POV
“Starcove?”
I asked as we made our way out of the tunnels to join my parents above the ground.
“It’s a place that isn’t very welcoming to wolves,”
Enzo said, his tone going dark as he got lost in thought. “It’s a population of witches and humans.”
My eyes widened.
“Why would Hazel be there?”
I asked.
“She was taken there; I’m assuming by the Ravenclaw Coven Master.”
“Coven Master?”
I asked, swallowing the large lump that formed in my throat.
“Her name is Jasmine. I’ve never personally met her, but I’ve certainly heard of her. She’s the most powerful dark witch to ever exist.”
A chill crossed my entire body and I shuddered at the thought of someone being that evil and that powerful. I didn’t like the idea of it and I didn’t like the idea of Hazel being brought there. Most importantly, if this Starcove place didn’t welcome wolves, then how were we going to get her back?
Enzo grabbed onto my hand, holding it firmly in his as we made our way out of the brick safehouse and into the open outdoors. I could see the light haze of the shield surrounding the entire village. At least what was left of the village; it didn’t seem as if there was a lot left.
My heart tugged painfully in my chest; how many times were they going to have to rebuild this village? I was sick to my stomach just thinking about it.
I could smell the copper scent of blood seeping into the forest ground around me and knew it belonged to the many dead bodies that had fallen in the battle. There were a lot of injured men and women who stayed to fight against the rogue attack. There were also a lot that were dead.
My parents stood with one another with worried expressions on their faces and it was clear they were in the middle of a deep conversation.
“Aiden, Donovan, and a few other warriors are already on their way to meet up with your Beta and warriors at Starcove,”
my father said to Enzo as soon as we approached.
“We should get there too then,”
Enzo said to him in return; my father nodded too.
“I need to stay here and keep this village shielded and protected,”
my mother said. “I’m sure they could use some healing as well.”
“There are injured wolves in the tunnels of the safe house,”
I told her.
“My mother can handle those,”
Enzo said, looking at my mother with serenity. “Focus on the ones that are above ground. They need help more than anything. Find any survivors.”
It was weird that he was barking orders to my mother, but it didn’t seem to faze her; she nodded to him and went to do just that.
“I’m coming with you to Starcove,”
I said before he could start barking orders at me.
“It’s too dangerous Lila and you were so weak only moments ago,”
Enzo argued.
I shook my head, staring up at him with narrowed eyes.
“I’m fine now. Being around my mother rejuvenated some of my powers. I can probably shift now too honestly. I feel fine. You need protection if you are going to a place like Starcove.”
He opened his mouth to argue again, but to my surprise, it was my father that spoke.
“She’s right,”
he said quickly. “We do need extra protection if we going to witches’ territory. Jazzy is no joke.”
“Jazzy?”
I asked, raising my brows.
“Jasmine. She goes by Jazzy,”
my father explained. “We don’t have a lot of time to waste. We should go now.”