Help came with the sound of engines.
Distant at first. A low thrum against the soft underbrush. The kind of noise you almost miss if you aren't listening for it.
But I was.
Still in wolf form, I crouched in the tall grass just uphill from the wreckage, ears pricked toward the treeline, heart pounding in sync with Nyx's whispered growl in my skull.
Someone's coming.
But not from the direction I expected.
The gang wouldn't have sent aid so quickly—if at all. I'd made peace with that already.
These vehicles… they moved different. Cleaner. Strategically.
Military formation.
Tactical precision.
Not ours.
Not ours, Nyx echoed.
I backed up slowly and watched as the first armored vehicle rolled into view, its matte black surface dusted with leaves and travel. No insignia. But I knew those tires. I knew that sound. And when the door cracked open and I caught the first scent—
My chest seized.
Kade.
The man himself stepped out a moment later, flanked by four others in gear heavier than anything we had.
He looked taller than I remembered. Colder, too.
His eyes scanned the scene like it was an equation. Broken van. Smoke. Blood. Bodies.
Then his gaze landed on me.
He froze.
"Nyx," he muttered.
And then, louder, "She's here."
Another figure stepped out behind him—someone I didn't recognize—who knelt beside Kol and began barking medical orders. Kade didn't look away from me.
I didn't move.
Not until he took one slow step forward, hand out.
"You're bleeding," he said. "Are you—?"
The ground shuddered.
Once.
Twice.
A low vibration, like thunder rolling under the surface of the earth.
Kade's team lifted their weapons instantly.
I spun around just in time to see the first body fall.
The thing hit from above—silent and fast.
One of the soldiers went down in a heap of torn metal and bone. Blood sprayed across the windshield of the second truck. A scream shattered the morning stillness.
Then everything erupted.
"Contact!" someone shouted. "North ridge!"
Another man fired—three shots, tight grouping.
None of them landed.
The creature moved like smoke. One second it was behind a tree, the next it was on the hood of the truck, smashing through the windshield to grab the driver.
The vehicle reversed violently before careening sideways into a tree.
Kade drew his blade—silver, high-frequency edge—and rushed forward.
I didn't wait.
I leapt.
Fur and fangs and fury, I slammed into the monster just as it reached for Rae.
It shrieked again—that same high, metallic sound.
This time, I bit deep.
I tore something loose. It might've been a tendon. Might've been a mouth.
Whatever it was, it bought us a second.
But only one.
It flung me aside like a rag, and I hit the slope shoulder-first, rolled, and skidded into a tree.
I staggered upright in time to see Kade hurl his blade.
It sang through the air.
Buried itself in the thing's chest.
It paused.
Blinking.
Then pulled the blade out.
And smiled.
Kade swore and pulled a secondary blade from his belt.
I lunged again, catching the creature's arm in my jaws just as it turned toward Kol's unconscious form.
We went down together.
The rest of the fight was blur and blood.
Three more of Kade's men died.
One was dragged screaming into the treeline.
The other two were torn in half before anyone could react.
By the time backup from his side arrived with flame units and sonic weaponry, the thing had already vanished again—slipping through trees like shadow, its body riddled with wounds that didn't seem to slow it down at all.
It disappeared with that same bone-deep smile.
And we were left in the ruin.
I shifted back behind a tree, gasping.
Naked, bloody, shaking.
Kade found me minutes later, throwing a blanket around my shoulders without a word.
He didn't ask what it was.
Didn't ask how I'd survived.
He just crouched beside me, silent.
Watching the fog return.
Watching the forest breathe.
"You weren't supposed to be here," I murmured. My throat was raw.
"No," he said. "But I was close. When I heard the call…"
"You didn't have to answer."
"I know."
Silence stretched between us like a wound.
He looked down at his hands. "You were right. About what you said. Back then."
I didn't speak.
He ran a palm over his face. "I didn't know how to protect you, so I convinced myself I didn't have to."
"That's not protection," I said quietly. "That's abandonment."
"I know," he said again. This time softer. "I think about it every day."
The forest was quiet again. The smoke from the burning truck filtered through the trees. Somewhere behind us, his men were tending to the wounded. Burying the dead.
He stood, brushing off his hands. "You don't owe me anything. I know that. But I'm here now. If you need help getting them home… I'll stay."
I looked at him for a long time. And for the first time, I didn't feel sharp anger. Just the dull echo of something broken that used to matter.
"I don't need saving," I said.
A small smile. "Didn't say you did."
Then he turned, walking toward the firelight.
Leaving me standing in the quiet.