The attack came at dawn.
Kael was standing at the window, watching the sun rise over the Pacific. Lyra was asleep—real sleep, exhaustion finally claiming her. Elara was in a bassinet beside the bed, her small chest rising and falling.
Then the window shattered.
Kael moved before he could think. He covered Lyra and the baby with his body, shielding them from the glass. A crossbow bolt embedded itself in the wall above the bed. Silver-tipped.
"Get them downstairs!" he shouted.
Mira burst through the door, already shifted. She grabbed Lyra—still dazed, still weak—and pulled her toward the stairs. Kael grabbed Elara, cradling the baby against his chest.
Outside, the sounds of fighting. Wolves and vampires, their temporary family, clashing with attackers in the gray morning light.
Kael reached the ground floor. Cassius was there, his face hard. "The remnants. Selene was right."
"How many?"
"A dozen. Maybe more. Garrett and the others are holding them off."
Kael handed Elara to Lyra. "Stay here. Stay hidden."
"Kael—"
"I'll come back."
He shifted. The wolf took over—fur and claw and instinct honed by years of training. He burst through the front door into chaos.
The remnants of the Silent Ones fought with desperate fury. They knew this was their last chance. If Elara survived, the bridge became permanent. The old hatred could never return.
Kael fought. Not to kill—he had learned that killing only fed the cycle—but to disable. To protect. Garrett was beside him, wolf form, teeth bared. Thorne moved like shadow, disabling attackers with precise strikes.
It was over in minutes.
The remnants lay scattered across the lawn, unconscious or too wounded to fight. Selene stood among them, her gray hair wild, her eyes bright.
"It's done," she said. "The last of them."
Kael shifted back to human form. "Are you sure?"
"As sure as I can be. There may be others, hiding deeper. But the organized resistance is broken."
He looked at the house. Lyra stood in the doorway, Elara in her arms. The baby was crying—a thin, reedy sound that was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard.
He walked to them. Took Lyra in his arms. Touched his daughter's cheek.
"It's over," he said.
"For now."
"For now."