CHAPTER 13

Aura's POV

Standing on the porch of Kai's cabin, the wind was strong that night, cutting through the air like a blade. My hands curved around a steaming cup; the aroma of herbs did nothing to soothe the anxiety rising within me. Something seemed wrong. Beneath my skin, my wolf stirred nervously, her instincts on edge.

Kai was inside strengthening the back door. I could tell he had smelled the same peculiar scent I had smelt earlier that day while we were gathering firewood, even though he hadn't mentioned anything yet. Rogue wolves.

They're becoming bolder.” Kai said behind me. " I looked over and saw him using a rag to wipe his hands. “We must prepare ourselves.”

I nodded a little, grasping the mug more tightly. A soft kick against my ribs from the baby served as a soothing reassurance that I wasn't alone. But the kick felt a little different. More powerful.

Kai moved past me and put a gentle hand on my arm. “Please head to the safe room in case something goes wrong. Okay?”

I arched an eyebrow. “You think I’m going to hide?”

He almost smiled as his lips moved. “No. But I’d like you to at least be safe. For the baby.”

I sighed and looked out into the woods. Shadows danced between the trees as the wind rocked them. “Do you think he sent them?”

At first, Kai remained silent. His gaze swept across the tree line as he moved up next to me. “All I know is, Ryder doesn’t let go of what he thinks belongs to him.”

A shiver ran down my spine.

~~~~~

That night, I lay up long after Kai had fallen asleep in the room next door. The baby rolled and stretched inside me, and my cravings had come again with a vengeance. I ended up in the kitchen, munching peanut butter straight from the jar with pickles on the side. Disgusting. Yet divine.

I could feel the tension in the night air, the kind that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

A sharp knock echoed throughout the cabin while I was cleaning the spoon. I froze.

One knock.

Then another one.

Silence.

My heart raced. My wolf rose completely now, alert and growling. I laid the spoon down softly and crept to the window.

Movement. Three figures, barely visible, crouched in the darkness near the edge of the forest.

Shit.

I went to Kai’s room and burst in. “Kai!”

He was already sitting up, shirtless, his eyes shining slightly in the dark. “They’re here?”

I nodded.

Without another word, he grabbed his jeans, jerked them on, and reached for his weapon—an iron blade, carved with symbols I hadn’t asked about yet.

“Go to the safe room.”

“I’m not leaving you,” I growled.

He didn’t argue this time.

A crash sounded in the back of the cabin.

We moved rapidly. Kai took the front, I took the back. My hands shook, yet adrenaline raced through me.

Kai cautiously made his way to the door. He opened it a little and looked into the shadows. The door was pushed open before he could react, and a gang of rogues with ferocious, hateful eyes rushed in.

One sneered and lunged at Kai, asking, "Looking for us?"

Kai slammed into him, their bodies thumping together. The room erupted into chaos as more rogues entered, their snarls and growls filling the air.

I stepped back, my heart hammering. One of the rogues gazed at me and a sneaky sneer formed across his face.

He mockingly said, "Well, well, the little Luna-to-be," as he approached me.

My initial instinct was to flee.

However, something else happened.

A growl ripped from my throat the instant he charged at me, savage and snarling. Deep. The world tilted, my vision became blurry, and I moved.

Fast.

Too fast.

I ducked under the rogue’s swipe and punched upward, catching his jaw with a painful crack. He staggered baI took the iron pan off the stove and banged it into the head of the second person.

"Get the girl!" One of them let out a bark. "Alpha wants the child!”

My blood froze.

Alpha.

Ryder

I ducked and kicked the first rogue in the gut when he lunged again. He faltered. Snatching the iron poker from the fireplace, I jumped over the table.

A few seconds later, Kai rushed into the kitchen, his blade streaming. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I answered, panting. "They’re here for me. For the baby.”

Another rogue tackled him, and the two went down hard. I turned just in time to see one of the rogues—eyes wild, saliva dripping from his mouth—reaching for me.

“Come with us, girl. Alpha said unharmed, but he didn’t say unbroken.”

My vision turned red.

The next few seconds were a blur. I screamed, my voice tearing through the cabin. Something inside me—raw, ancient—surged forward. My hands had a slight glow. He flew back like he had been struck by lightning when I smacked him in the chest.

He lay still.

I gasped, trembling all over.

Kai stood panting, having taken out his attacker. He looked at me, stunned. “Aura… what was that?”

“I-I don’t know.”

We barely had a moment to breathe before the last rogue, wounded but alive, coughed and spat blood on the floor.

“The child… must be delivered… to the Alpha,” he rasped, before collapsing.

The cabin fell silent.

I dropped the poker and backed away.

Delivered.

Like a package.

Kai moved to me quickly, steadying me as I began to shake. My knees gave out, and he carried me to the couch.

I buried my face in his, gasping for air and letting the tears fall. “He wants the baby, Kai. He wants to take it from me.”

Kai’s jaw tightened. “Over my dead body.”

We sat in silence, the fire flickering weakly. My hands still tingled with whatever power had burst from me. I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew one thing:

My baby wasn’t just mine.

It wasn’t just Ryder’s.

It was something more.

And he wasn’t going to stop until he got it.

The rogue’s dying words echoed again in my head.

“The child must be delivered… to the Alpha.”

There was a new smell as a rush of wind blew through the broken window.

One I didn’t recognize.

Kai stood abruptly. “Aura. Get ready. Something else is coming.”