More riders.
The distant horns cut through the night like a bad memory I couldn't shake. I lay tangled between the brothers, heart still racing from the last knot, but the sound yanked me straight back to reality. My hand flew to my belly again. The small flutter was still there, faint but stubborn, like it already knew trouble was coming for us.
Darius sat up first, ice-blue eyes narrowing at the window. His palm stayed heavy on my stomach, protective in a way that felt new and raw. "Shadowpine. At least two companies. They're moving fast along the southern ridge."
Kane was already on his feet, pulling on leathers, knife strapped to his ribs before I could even blink. Rylan rolled out of the furs with that reckless grin, but his amber eyes were flat and mean. "Your father's pissed we sent Thorne back in pieces. Guess he didn't like the message."
I pushed myself up, ignoring the ache between my legs and the fresh bite marks on my shoulders. The witch's mark on my chest throbbed in time with the bond. "He never liked anything that didn't bleed when he told it to. We ride out or we let them reach the gates?"
Darius caught my wrist before I could swing my legs off the bed. "You don't ride anywhere tonight. Not with the child quickening. You stay behind the walls."
I yanked my arm free, anger flashing hot. "I just killed their beta with my own hands. I'm not sitting here like some fragile doll while they come for me again."
Kane's voice cut in, low and rough. "You're carrying our kid now. One wrong hit and it's gone. You want to risk that?"
The words landed like a slap. My hand pressed harder against my belly. The flutter answered, small but real. For the first time the protectiveness wasn't just theirs. It was mine too. But so was the rage. I wasn't going to hide behind stone while my father tried to finish what he started.
Rylan tossed me a clean tunic and cloak. "She fights from the walls then. Arrows, knives, whatever. But she stays where we can reach her."
I dressed fast, fingers still sticky with dried blood from the pass. The bond hummed between us, tight and angry, feeding me flashes of their fear mixed with that new, sharper hunger to keep the child safe. We moved through the halls at a run. Wolves were already gathering in the bailey, pulling on armor, grabbing spears. The horns sounded closer now, echoing off the ridges.
We climbed the southern wall together. Frostfang spread out below us under moonlight, snow glowing white. Torches flickered along the battlements. I stood between Darius and Kane, Rylan a step ahead scanning the tree line. My shoulder still burned from Marek's claws, my body still raw from everything, but the latent alpha blood kept me steady. It wanted this fight.
The first Shadowpine riders broke from the trees. At least forty, banners snapping, wolves in partial shift howling as they charged. My father wasn't leading them. He never did his own dirty work. But I recognized the second beta at the front: old Garret, the one who'd backhanded me during the trial.
Garret reined in just out of arrow range and shouted up at the walls. "Send out the traitor, Blackthorns! Gamma Voss demands his daughter back to face pack justice. Keep her and we burn every inch of your cursed rock."
I stepped to the edge before anyone could stop me. The wind whipped my cloak. "Tell my father the traitor sends her regards. And next time he wants me, he can come himself instead of hiding behind betas I already killed once."
A ripple went through their line. Garret's face twisted. "You think three mad kings make you safe? You're still human and a sack of meat with weak blood. We'll drag you back in chains and let the pack finish what we started."
The bond roared in my head. Darius growled low beside me. Kane's knife was already out. Rylan laughed once, sharp and ugly. "Weak? She tore Marek's ear off with her teeth and put Thorne's head on a spike. Come closer and find out how weak she is now."
Arrows flew from their side. One whistled past my ear. Darius yanked me back behind the parapet. "Enough talking."
The order came fast. Frostfang archers loosed a volley. Shadowpine wolves charged the gates. The fight turned ugly quick. I stayed on the wall like they wanted, but I wasn't useless. I grabbed a bow from a fallen guard and started firing. My shots weren't perfect, but the latent blood made my hands steadier. One arrow took a rider in the throat. Another hit a wolf mid-shift.
Below us the brothers led the counter. Darius shifted and tore through the front line like a storm. Kane moved through them quiet and deadly, knives flashing. Rylan laughed as he ripped into anyone who got too close to the gates. I felt every kill through the bond: cold satisfaction from Darius, quiet efficiency from Kane, wild joy from Rylan. It fed me. Made my own shots land harder.
A Shadowpine wolf broke through a gap and started climbing the wall. I dropped the bow, drew my knife, and met him at the top. He swung claws at my face. I ducked and drove the blade up under his jaw. Hot blood sprayed across my hands. He dropped twitching at my feet.
The bond purred approval. My chest burned where the witch's mark sat, but the child inside me felt… stronger. Like it was feeding on the violence too.
The attack lasted less than an hour. Shadowpine broke and ran when they realized we weren't breaking. We left their dead where they fell. Another message.
Back in the bailey the pack cheered low as we walked through. Eyes that had once called me weak now watched me with something closer to respect. The beta from before gave me a short nod. "Your father's losing men faster than he can replace them."
I wiped blood from my knife on my cloak. "Good. Let him feel it."
We went straight to the chambers again. The door shut heavy behind us. Darius turned me to face him, hands rough but careful on my shoulders. "You fought well. But next time you stay further back."
I looked up at him, still breathing hard. "I'm not hiding. Not while they come for what's mine."
Kane poured water and started cleaning the new cuts on my arms. Rylan dropped onto the bed, watching me with that reckless grin. "She's changing fast. The witch felt it. Your father felt it. The whole North is going to feel it soon."
I let them clean me up, the bond humming warm and fierce. My hand kept drifting back to my belly. The flutter was there again, stronger now. The child wasn't even showing yet, but it was already tying us tighter than any chain ever could.
Darius pulled me into his lap once the blood was gone. His palm settled low on my stomach. "The full moon is in nine days. The witch will test the mark she put on you. We need to be ready."
Kane nodded from the side. "And your father will send more meat before then. He's desperate."
Rylan's hand joined Darius's on my belly. "Let him. We'll send every last one back missing pieces."
I closed my eyes and leaned into them. The bond wrapped around all four of us, protective and hungry at the same time. I wasn't the girl from the prison cell anymore. I had three feral kings at my back, a child growing inside me, and teeth sharp enough to bite back.
But as sleep started to pull at me, another sound drifted through the window. Distant. Steady. More horns. Not from the south this time.
From the east.
The witch wasn't waiting for the full moon.
And neither were we.