Chapter 513 TWANG II.

MARIA.

The air in the hallway felt like ice, bitter and thick with the heavy stench of copper and ash. My chest was heaving so hard my ribs burned, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the violent, hollow void ripping through my soul.

Adrein was gone.

He had dissolved into golden light right in front of my eyes, leaving behind nothing but empty dust and a pool of fresh blood on the stone floorboards. He had taken more than four arrows for me. He had sacrificed his life so I could draw another breath, and the grief choked me like a physical hand around my throat. Tears blinded my vision, scalding my cheeks as I collapsed against Noah, clutching his bloody tunic in sheer, helpless agony.

And then, that terrible sound shattered the quiet again.

A sharp, metallic twang echoed from the shadows above the archway, followed by the brutal, sickening thud of iron punching straight through heavy chest armor.

I gasped, snapping my head around just in time to see Damien stumble backward. A black-shafted arrow was driven clean through the center of his chest plate, the sharp tip protruding from his back, dripping bright crimson onto the floor.

"DAMIEN!" I screamed, the sound tearing out of my throat in a ragged, hysterical burst.

My heart slammed against my ribs in pure, unadulterated terror. Not again. Please, god, not again! I scrambled across the slick stone, reaching out for him as Aidan and Davian caught their brother before he hit the ground, their faces twisted in absolute horror and grief.

"Who did this?!" I shrieked, my tears burning as my eyes darted wildly up toward the high wooden rafters near the ceiling. "WHO IS THERE?!"

I looked up down the line of the archway, tracing the path of the arrow back to the high wooden beam in the shadows.

A slender figure stepped out into the faint lantern light, holding a heavy war bow. Dark leather armor framed her shoulders, and a cold, arrogant sneer was carved across her face.

My blood ran instantly cold, and then, in a fraction of a second, it boiled into pure, lethal fire.

Galen.

Vincent’s sister. The cold-blooded, scheming princess who had stood behind her brother’s every move, orchestrating our misery from the shadows. She was the one who had helped plan the siege, the one who had supplied the venom, and now she stood above us, her bow raised, having just put a shaft through Damien’s heart.

A wave of feral, blinding rage exploded inside my chest, drowning out the grief, drowning out the weakness in my limbs. My wolf surged to the surface with a deafening, internal roar. I didn’t care that my body was still recovering from the poison. I didn’t care that I was unarmored and barefoot. I wanted to tear her throat out with my bare hands. I wanted to watch her bleed on the same stone where Adrein had just dissolved.

"You murderous bitch!" I screamed, pushing myself off the floorboards, my nails digging into the stone as I prepared to launch myself up the stairwell toward the archway.

Before I could take even a single step forward, a heavy, solid arm suddenly wrapped firmly around my waist, stopping me in place and hauling me backward. The grip tightened around me, holding me back despite the force I put into trying to move forward.

"Maria, no!" Noah’s raspy voice growled right beside my ear, his voice sharp with urgency.

"Let me go, Noah!" I thrashed wildly against his grip, twisting my body and kicking hard against the floor. My fingers clawed desperately at his gauntlet, trying to pry his arm away from my waist. "Let me go!" I shouted again, struggling harder. "She shot Damien! I’m going to kill her! Let me go!"

I fought against his hold with everything I had, refusing to stop as my anger surged through me.

"Stay behind me!" Noah commanded, his grip tightening like an iron vice around my waist, anchoring me securely behind his broad back. He shifted his weight, using his massive body as a human shield to block me completely from Galen’s line of sight. "You are not stepping into her line of fire!"

"Noah, release me!" I cried, my voice breaking as I tried to shove past his hip, but his frame was an immovable wall. I was trapped behind him, my movements entirely limited, forced to watch through the narrow gap between his arm and torso as Galen stood high above us.

Aidan stood over Damien’s collapsed form, his broadsword trembling in his grip, his eyes burning with a terrifying, demonic gold. "Galen!" Aidan roared, his voice shaking the stone walls of the estate. "Surrender now! Drop that bow and step down from that beam, or I swear on my brother’s blood, I will skin you alive!"

Galen didn’t even flinch. She let out a low, mocking laugh that echoed coldly off the vaulted ceiling, her dark eyes looking down at us with absolute disdain.

"Save your threats, Aidan," Galen called down, her voice smooth, sharp, and utterly devoid of fear. "You think you’ve won because you dragged my brother to your cellar? You’re out of guards, your pack house is in ruins, and one of your Alpha is bleeding out on the floor... you are in no position to give orders."

Davian shoved himself up from Damien’s side, his chest heaving, blood dripping from his knuckles as he pointed his sword straight at her. "I will tear your head off your shoulders!"

"Try it, and the next arrow goes through your neck," Galen spat, her tone dropping into a deadly, razor-sharp demand. "I am not here to negotiate with you dogs. Here are my terms: You bring my brother Vincent up from that dungeon right now... unharmed... and you hand over Daniel, as well. We are leaving this territory tonight."

"You’re out of your mind!" Aidan barked, taking a heavy step toward the archway. "Vincent is going to die in that cellar, and you’re going to join him!"

"Hand them over quickly!" Galen shrieked, her voice snapping like a whip.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Galen reached behind her back, pulled a fresh black arrow from her quiver, and notched it to the string in a single, fluid motion. She raised the heavy war bow, pulling the leather string back to her ear, pointing the sharp, iron arrowhead straight at Davian’s exposed chest.

"You have five seconds!" Galen threatened, her eye locking down the shaft. "Bring Vincent and Daniel to this hallway, or I put this shaft right through Davian’s heart! One... two..."

"Galen, don’t!" I screamed from behind Noah, trying desperately to pull his arm away so I could reach the thrown blade on the floor.

Davian didn’t back down. He stood his ground, baring his teeth, glaring up at her bow. "Shoot then, you coward!"

"Three!" Galen snarled, her fingers tightening on the release, preparing to loose the lethal shaft straight into Davian’s throat.

Suddenly, a shadow detached itself from the high wooden rafters right behind her.

Before Galen’s fingers could let go of the bowstring, a figure lunged out of the darkness, slamming hard into her back with the weight of a falling anvil.

"What—?!" Galen gasped, her eyes widening in sudden, panicked shock as the blow struck her from behind.

The heavy impact threw off her balance entirely. Her grip slipped, and the fully drawn bowstring snapped forward prematurely.

TWANG!

The black arrow whistled through the air, completely off its intended trajectory. Instead of piercing Davian’s heart, the iron arrowhead sliced violently across his upper shoulder, tearing through his leather armor and scraping deep across his skin before embedding itself harmlessly into the stone wall behind him.

Davian stumbled backward with a sharp grunt, his body staggering from the force of the blow. One hand immediately flew to his shoulder, fingers pressing against the bleeding wound as his face tightened in pain. Blood slipped between his fingers, and his breathing came in short, strained bursts. Yet despite the pain, his eyes suddenly snapped upward, locking onto the high beam above us. Shock flashed across his face as though he had just realized where the attack had come from.

High above us, balanced along the rafter, Galen let out a furious, sharp cry. Her voice echoed through the corridor as she was suddenly tackled hard against the wooden floor. The impact sent a violent tremor through the old wood, and her bow slipped from her grasp. It clattered uselessly over the edge, falling down into the corridor below with a sharp, echoing sound.

My breath caught in my throat.

I could barely move as I stared upward through the shadows, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. My heart hammered wildly against my ribs, each beat louder than the last. My eyes remained fixed on the rafter, following the sudden movement above us while my mind struggled to process what had just happened.

Davian had been seconds away from something far worse, but fortunately he was still standing.

Someone had just saved Davian’s life.