The scout's words still hung in the hall like smoke. I stood there in the hall with the silver collar still clenched in my fist, the metal biting into my palm. The flutter in my belly kicked hard, like the kid could feel the threat and was already fighting back. The witch's mark on my chest burned so hot I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from gasping.
Darius's arm locked around my waist. Kane's knife was out. Rylan's claws punched through his fingertips again, eyes flashing gold for a second before he forced them back.
I looked at the pack. The crack I'd felt yesterday was wider now. A few wolves wouldn't meet my eyes. The beta who had questioned me thrice already stepped forward, his voice low with uncertainty but carrying.
"My queen… the pups. If we keep fighting, he'll collar the children. Is this worth it?"
The hall went dead quiet.
I stepped away from Darius before he could speak. My legs still felt shaky from the morning sickness, but the latent alpha blood pushed back hard. "You want to hand me over?" I asked the beta, my voice raw. "Go ahead. Open the gates. Tell my father I'm waiting with the bastard he keeps calling me. But when he puts those silver collars on your pups and drags them south, remember this moment. Because the witch won't stop at me. She'll come for yours next."
The beta looked at the floor. A couple of the older wolves nodded. The rest stayed quiet, but I felt the doubt spreading like frost on glass.
Darius spoke loud enough for everyone. "Anyone who wants to run to Shadowpine can leave now. The rest of you fight for your queen or get the fuck out of my sight."
No one moved but there were murmurs throughout the hall then came silence. The silence was heavier than any cheer.
We left the hall and went straight to the war room. Maps spread across the table. My stomach rolled again, but I swallowed it down and pointed at the ridge.
"We hit them tonight," I said. "Small team. East flank. Burn the supply wagons, scatter the wolves, and make my father understand that threatening pups means he loses everything."
Kane's jaw tightened. "You're carrying our child. The sickness is worse every morning. The mark is spreading."
"I know." I met his eyes. "And I'm still going. Because if I hide in here while he puts silver on pups, I'm no better than the man who threw me away in chains."
Rylan's grin came back, slow and mean. "That's my girl."
Darius stared at me for a long second. The bond pushed his fear straight into my chest, but underneath it I felt the same cold resolve I carried. "You stay in the middle the whole time. If it goes bad, you ride back. That's not a request."
I nodded in agreement. The flutter in my belly kicked again, like the child was agreeing with me.
Night fell fast. We left after midnight, cloaks dark, horses' hooves wrapped in cloth in order to travel clandestinely. Snow fell soft and silent. The bond wrapped around all four of us like iron, feeding me Darius's cold focus, Kane's quiet readiness, Rylan's reckless hunger. My hand never left my belly.
We reached the east flank just after the moon climbed high. The Shadowpine camp sprawled below us, fires low, sentries moving lazy. My father's tent sat dead center, his banner limp in the snow.
Darius gave the signal. We moved down like shadows.
The fight was fast and ugly. No full charge. Just blades in the dark. I stayed in the middle like I promised, knife out, dropping two sentries who got too close. The mark on my chest burned, but the latent alpha blood burned hotter. I felt the child kick hard when I drove my blade into the third guard's throat.
We reached his supply wagons first and we torched 'em. Flames caught fast. Wolves ran out and scattered, some screaming because they caught fire.
Then my father stepped out of his tent.
He wasn't alone. He had two betas beside him, silver chains dangling from their fists. His eyes found me immediately.
"Elena," he called, voice carrying across the snow. "Still alive I see and still spreading your legs for these cursed dogs. Hand over the brat when it comes and I'll let your kings live. Refuse and I burn Frostfang with the witch's help. She already sent word. She wants the child. I want you in chains. We both win."
The bond suddenly exploded in my head. Darius growled low. Kane's knife was out. Rylan's claws punched through his fingertips. Ready and set for action.
I stepped forward before any of them could move. The nausea was gone. All I felt was cold, bright rage.
"You threw me away once," I said. "You don't get to bargain for what's mine now."
I lunged at him and drove the knife straight into his shoulder stabbing him before he could raise the chain. He staggered and shouted in pain, bleeding onto the snow turning it red. He got to his knees while holding his injured elbow and his betas lunged but were immediately counterattacked by the brothers. My alphas savagely tore into them rendering them lifeless in an instant.
My father looked at me, his eyes wide with something I'd never seen before but I knew it was fear. "Kill me now or I will still come or you Elena!"
"You don't deserve death, at least not now and besides we've got more pressing matters at hand" I replied.
He was wincing and shivering at the same time from the wound and the biting cold.
But we didn't kill him, at least not yet. We left him bleeding in the snow and his camp ransacked with quite a number of dead wolves.
We went to our horses and rode back hard, snow flying under hooves. My chest started to burn. The mark felt like it was cracking open and the baby in my belly kicked like it was celebrating.
By the time we reached Frostfang the pack was waiting. They cheered when they saw us. I rode between the brothers, blood on my hands again, but this time it felt like the beginning of the end.
We headed to our chambers and inside the chambers, Darius pulled me close, forehead against mine. "Two days. We end the witch next."
Kane's hand joined his on my belly. Rylan pressed in from behind.
The bond hummed fierce and warm.
Two days.
We had two days to make the North remember exactly who the hell we were now.