The Rogues circle the Stronghold like death itself. I watch the last child die—his intestines torn from his belly while he's still screaming. The warriors around me collapse. These are grown wolves. Battle-hardened males who've ripped throats and survived pack wars. Now they weep like cubs. "Alpha Kade!" Jakob grabs my shoulder, his claws digging into my flesh. His two-month-old daughter is somewhere in that carnage. "You told us Luna Selene was lying! You said she was jealous, that we should guard you and Lola at Starfall Ridge!" His voice cracks like breaking bone. "Why is my baby missing her face?" Kade stands frozen. His golden Alpha eyes are empty. Hollow. I stare at the carnage and my heart shatters. I've lived this moment before. --- In my Previous life, the Rogues attacked during Lola's birthday. My husband—the Pack Alpha—took every warrior to the ridge so his "true love" could watch the Starfall Ceremony. He said I was paranoid. Jealous. A bitter Luna who couldn't accept that he loved someone else. I begged them to return. I screamed through the Mind-Link until my throat bled. They came back to corpses. But Lola wandered into the woods—sulking because Kade kept checking the Mind-Link during "her special night." The Rogues found her. Dragged her screaming into the darkness. By the time we arrived, nothing remained but her left femur. Kade held that bone for six hours. Didn't speak. Didn't shift. Didn't breathe. Then, the day I gave birth to our son, he severed my hands with silver. My feet next. He threw me into a Rogue feeding pit and healed me. Over and over. Letting them tear chunks from my flesh while the mate bond forced me to feel his hatred burning like acid through my chest. "You killed her," he whispered while I screamed. "So You must be suffering more than she was. " I died on day seven. I woke On the day when the Rogues launched the attack. --- The howling hits me first. Not through the Mind-Link—that's filtered, controlled. This is raw. A thousand feral throats shrieking hunger across the mountains. I'm out of bed before conscious thought. My bare feet slap stone as I sprint toward the control room. The Stronghold is three stories of timber and reinforced steel, built to withstand siege. I take the stairs three at a time. The broadcast panel glows blue. I grab the mic, hands shaking. "All pack members, this is Luna Selene." My voice doesn't waver. It can't. "Massive Rogue surge from the northern pass. Get to the Panic Room. Now!" I slam the alarm. Red lights flood the corridors. Doors bang. Footsteps thunder. Outside, someone screams. I grab the emergency rifle—silver bullets, blessed by our Shaman—and run. The courtyard is chaos. Mothers clutching cubs. Elders stumbling. The air reeks of fear-sweat and the rot-stench of Rogues. Three crash through the east fence. They used to be wolves. Now they're things. Fur matted with dried blood and filth. Eyes milky white. Jaws unhinged, hanging at grotesque angles. They don't hunt for territory. The madness ate everything else. I fire. Silver tears through the first one's skull. It drops, convulsing. "MOVE!" I scream at a frozen teenager. I shove him toward the Panic Room—a reinforced bunker built into the ground. "Get inside!" More Rogues pour through. I shoot until the clip runs dry, then shift. Bones crack. Fur erupts. My wolf is smaller than the males' but faster. I slam into a Rogue mid-leap, jaws closing around its rotten throat. The taste is rancid decay. I rip and spit and move. Someone yanks a child from snapping teeth. Someone else seals the hatch. The heavy locks clang shut. Silence. I shift back, naked and trembling. Blood—mine, theirs—drips down my ribs. We're in the Panic Room. Concrete walls. Air filtration. Supplies for two weeks. But the Wards are failing. I feel it. The electric hum that usually surrounds the Stronghold is stuttering. Dying. Mary—an Omega whose son is four—grabs my wrist. Her hands shake. "Luna, you have to Mind-Link the Alpha. Tell him to come back. Tell him to activate the Wards!" I close my eyes. The cruel truth breaks my heart, yet I cannot lie. "He can't," I say quietly. "Alpha Kade took every warrior to Starfall Ridge. He's protecting Lola during the Ceremony." The room erupts. "The Ceremony? Are you serious?" "He left us to die for some lights?" "She's not even his real mate!" BANG—— The steel door buckles. Metal shrieks. A dent craters the center. BANG—— Another hit. These Rogues are stronger. Evolved. We have minutes. I look at Elder Martha—Kade's mother. Former Luna. Seventy-three with silver hair and a wolf that can still kill. She meets my eyes. "The Silver Wards," I say. "If we activate the backup grid, it'll fry everything within a hundred yards." Hope flickers across faces. Martha pulls out the Alpha emergency comm—satellite link that bypasses Mind-Link. She dials. The line clicks. "Mom?" Kade's voice is annoyed. Distracted. In the background: music. Laughter. Lola's giggle. "Kind of busy." Martha's jaw clenches. "Kade. The Stronghold is under siege. Rogue surge. We're in the Panic Room, Wards are failing. Activate the Silver Grid. Now！" Everyone holds their breath. Kade laughs. "Mom, seriously? The Grid pulls power from the Starfall lights. We're thirty minutes from peak display. I can't shut it down." His tone shifts. Suspicious. "Is Selene there? Did she put you up to this?" Martha's hand shakes. "Your Luna just saved twenty—" "My Luna is jealous," Kade cuts her off. "She's been pulling this for months. 'Lola's dangerous.' 'Rogues are coming.' It's pathetic." He scoffs. "Tell Selene if she keeps trying to ruin Lola's night, there'll be consequences. I'm not falling for fake emergency bullshit." The line goes dead. Mary's face drains white. "He thinks we're lying?" Samuel—former Beta—slumps against the wall. "We're going to die. For a light show." Martha stares at the comm in her hand. Then she looks at me. Her eyes burn. "Service tunnel," she says slowly. "Runs from here to the old mining roads. Six miles through Rogue territory to Silverpine Base. They have warriors. " She grips my shoulder. "You and I go. We shift and run." The door splits. A rotting paw shoves through. Claws scrape metal. A pup was frightened and she started crying. Martha doesn't flinch. "We leave in sixty seconds. Barricade after we're gone." She doesn't finish the sentence. She doesn't have to. I nod. Because if we don't make it, everyone here dies.

Hope flickers in my chest as Martha speaks. "Wait for me," she says, slipping through the side door. One hour later, the Panic Room door tears open. A rotting arm reaches through, grabbing for the baby in Mary's arms. The infant's cry cuts off mid-scream. The mother collapses. Her eyes go empty. Despair floods the room—then a figure rushes through the side entrance. Martha! "Did you bring the warriors back?" voices cry out. She's covered in blood. "Barricade that gap!" I rush to steady her. Martha's voice shakes. "That bastard." She's trembling with rage. "Kade set up blockades on every path. Every single one. All to make sure no one could interrupt Lola's precious birthday fireworks." Her eyes are bloodshot. The room goes silent. Cold dread creeps up my spine. I stumble backward. He blocked even his own mother. "We can't just sit here and die!" I force myself upright. "If we can't reach the warriors, we call for backup!" I frantically adjust the radio frequency, cycling through nearby pack channels. I explain our situation. Beg for emergency aid. Silence on the other end. Then: "We're sorry. We can't help." My blood runs cold. "An hour ago, Alpha Kade personally warned us that someone in your pack might file false distress calls. He ordered us to ignore all requests for aid tonight." He planned this. All of it. He cut off every possible escape route to ensure Lola's birthday wouldn't be interrupted. He calculated every path, blocked every exit. Martha's face goes white. "I'm Kade's mother, I'm begging—" "Elder Martha," the voice interrupts, cold as ice. "Alpha Kade specifically mentioned you." "Unless you come in person to request aid, we will not respond." The line cuts. In person? Through miles of Rogue-infested territory? It's suicide. The gap in the door holds—barely. But we all know it won't last. I steady Martha. "Mom, I'm coming with you." I turn to face the blood pooling on the floor. My voice hardens. "Everyone's counting on us. If we break through, there's still a chance!" Martha looks at me for a long moment. Finally, she nods. Two hours later,I half-carry Martha through the darkness. Her left arm was torn off by a Rogue—fresh blood still streams from the wound. "Over this mountain... we're almost there..." From halfway up the slope, we see the outline of Silverpine Base. Hope sparks in our chests. Then— A firework shell explodes directly in front of us. The blast wave throws us backward like ragdolls. Martha’s blood was splattered on my face.

I look up, dazed. Through the smoke, I see Kade with his arm around Lola. Then his voice booms through the ridge's speaker system, dripping with mockery. "Selene, I knew it. You realized your lies wouldn't make me cancel the party, so now you're trying to force your way through?" His voice turns ice-cold. "I knew you'd try to sabotage Lola's birthday. I won't let you succeed!" The bombardment intensifies. "Mom, tell him it's you!" I scream. Martha uses every ounce of strength to roar toward the peak: "KADE!" The ridge falls silent for a heartbeat. Then Kade's laughter echoes—crueler, louder. We're too far. He can only see a silhouette. "Selene, you're really committed to this act! First you had my mom lie over the comm, now you hired an actress?" "My mother has two arms, but the actress has only one! Stop trying to fool me!" Martha trembles with rage. "I am your mother! Can't you even recognize my voice?!" Kade hesitates. Lola immediately tugs his sleeve, her voice dripping false hurt. "Kade... I know Selene hates me. Maybe we should just cancel tonight. Go back." "It's okay. I'm used to being treated like this..." Kade's face hardens. He pulls her close. "Continue!" More shells rain down. Our path is sealed. The moon rises higher. "There's no time." Martha grabs my shoulders. "I'll distract them. You run. Get that rescue back here!" "Everyone's counting on you!" She shoves me away and limps toward the peak. I try to grab her. "Mom, they don't recognize you—you'll die!" Kade's voice cuts through the air again. "Selene, if you're willing to throw your life away to ruin Lola's party, I'll grant your wish!" He hoists a rocket launcher onto his shoulder. Aims directly at me. The massive shell screams through the air. "SELENE, DOWN!" Martha throws herself on top of me. Her broken body shields mine. BOOM— The explosion tears through my eardrums. Hot blood sprays my face. Martha's body collapses onto mine. Her back has been obliterated—a gaping hole where her spine should be. Blood pours like a river. My hands shake as I touch her. Warmth. Sticky warmth everywhere. I shake her gently. No response. I scream. "MOM!" Lola's saccharine voice floats through the speakers. "Selene, you should throw that corpse off the cliff. The Rogues will smell the blood and come for you too."

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