(Audrey’s POV)

    The world exploded around me in a cacophony of splintering wood and shattering ss.

    Both entrances to the lodge burst open simultaneously, and suddenly Florian and Arthur were there, moving like avenging angels through the chaos. Their coordinated assault caught Nathan’s pack memberspletely off-guard.

    “Get down!” Florian’s voice cut through the air like a de.

    I threw myself to the floor, rolling behind an overturned wooden table just as the first silver bullets began whistling through the air above my head. The acrid smell of gunpowder filled the lodge, mixing with the scent of fear and rage.

    Nathan’s expression transformed in an instant. The smug confidence that had twisted his features moments before crumbled away, reced by desperate fury and disbelief.

    “Audrey, I underestimated your charms.” He growled, turning to me with wild eyes.” I can’t believe you managed to get them to join forces, they’reing for you!”

    His hand disappeared into his jacket, holding a silver weapon that gleamed in the dim light with an imposing presence. This man I once trusted, this man who imed to love me, was staring menacingly at my partner and ex-partner with nothing but murder in his eyes.

    “I’m the only one who can have you,” Nathan hissed, his finger finding the trigger “I’m the only one who’s entitled to you, no one else can have you but me, and I’m going to kill them all today!” He pushed down on me, trying to get a hold of me.

    A roar of pure protective fury erupted from across the room. Florian’s wolf was trying to break free, his human form rippling with barely contained transformation as he fought his way toward me.

    Nathan’s remaining pack members immediately recognized the greater threat. They turned their weapons on Florian, silver bullets spraying in his direction. But Arthur’s devastating assault from the opposite entrance prevented them from concentrating their fire effectively.

    “Audrey, get down!” Florian shouted over the chaos.

    I pressed myself lower behind the table, splinters of wood raining down as bullets chewed through my makeshift shelter. The silver restraints on my wrists burned like fire, weakening my wolf and making every movement agony.

    Through gaps in the overturned furniture, I watched in terror as Florian engaged Nathan’s guards in brutal close-quartersbat. His movements were fluid and deadly, each strike calcted to eliminate threats as quickly as possible. But there were too many of them.

    Nathan himself had partially shifted, his human form elongated and predatory. His blue eyes now glowed with an inhuman light as he stalked through the chaos, never taking his weapon off its target.

    Me.

    “Two years of nning!” Nathan screamed over the gunfire. “Two years of patient work, and you destroy it all for him!” Arthur appeared at the main entrance like a force of nature. His massive frame filled the doorway as he tore through Nathan’s guards with methodical precision. Each movement was deliberate, devastating.

    “You should have stayed dead, Moonstone!” one of Nathan’s pack members snarled, raising his weapon.

    Arthur’s response was swift and final. The guard hit the wall with bone-breaking force and didn’t get back up.

    But the distraction cost precious seconds. Nathan seized the opportunity, pressing closer to where I cowered behind the rapidly disintegrating table. His partially shifted form moved with predatory grace, weapon steady despite the chaos around us.

    “Look at them fighting over you,” Nathan’s voice had taken on an otherworldly quality, distorted by his partial transformation. “Like dogs over a bone. Is this what you wanted, Audrey? Violence and death?”

    “I wanted truth,” I gasped, trying to shift further away from him. “Something you never gave me.”

    “Truth?” Nathanughed, the sound harsh and bitter. “The truth is that I’m the only one who ever truly understood you. The only one who saw your potential.”

    Florian had knocked down two more guards, but the effort left him momentarily exposed. Nathan’s eyes gleamed with triumph as he finally had a clear shot. His finger began to tighten on the trigger, weapon aimed directly at Florian’s back.

    Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

    I saw Nathan’s finger move. Saw the deadly intent in his glowing eyes. Saw Florian,pletely focused on the remaining guards, unaware of the threat behind him.

    Without thinking, Iunched myself from behind the table.

    The silver restraints sent waves of agony through my system, but I ignored the pain. Nothing mattered except reaching Florian before that bullet found its mark.

    “No!” I screamed, throwing myself between them.

    My body collided with Florian’s back just as the weapon fired. We both went down in a tangle of limbs, the bullet whistling harmlessly over our heads to embed itself in the stone wall.

    Nathan’s weapon ttered to the floor as shock registered on his face.

    “Do you love him that much, Audrey?” His voice cracked with anguish and rage. “Is he really worth dying for?”

    I struggled to my feet, positioning myself protectively in front of Florian. My wrists throbbed where the silver had burned deeper during my desperate leap, but I ignored the pain.

    “He’s my mate, Nathan,” I said, my voice steady despite my racing heart. “But you know what? I always thought you were my best friend. If you had been in danger when I didn’t know any of this, I would have been just as likely to have risen to the asion to stand behind you.”

    The words hit Nathan like physical blows. His partially shifted features crumpled with pain and realization.

    “Friends don’t manipte each other,” I continued softly. “They don’t orchestrate suffering to create dependence. They don’t try to murder innocent people out of jealousy.”

    Nathan’s weapon fell from nerveless fingers, ttering on the stone floor. Around us, the fighting had stopped. Arthur stood among the fallen guards, his dark eyes fixed on our confrontation.

    “I loved you,” Nathan whispered, his voice breaking. “Everything I did was for love.”

    “No,” I said firmly. “Everything you did was for possession. There’s a difference.”

    For a moment, silence filled the lodge except for the sound of heavy breathing and settling debris. I thought it was over. Thought Nathan had finally understood the futility of his obsession.

    Then a cold voice cut through the quiet like a de.

    “Stupid Alpha.”

    Every head turned toward the corner where Lyra had been sitting forgotten throughout the battle. At some point during the chaos, she had acquired a silver bullet gun. The weapon gleamed in her hands as she stood with predatory grace.

    “Let me relieve you three of your pain,” she continued, her voice devoid of any warmth or sanity. “None of you will suffer when this bitch dies.”

    The barrel of her weapon was pointed directly at my heart.

    Time slowed again as I saw her finger tighten on the trigger. Her eyes held the same fanatical gleam that had consumed Nathan, but colder. More calcted.

    She pulled the trigger.

    Six silver bullets erupted from her weapon in rapid session. Each one aimed with deadly precision at my center mass.

    But Arthur was already moving.

    His massive formunched across the space between us with impossible speed. His powerful frame interposed itself between the bullets and my body just as Florian turned to press me down.

    The bullets meant for me found their mark in Arthur instead.

    One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

    Each impact drove him back a step, but he never wavered. Never fell. His Alpha powershed out in the same instant, mming Lyra against the stone wall with bone-crushing force.

    She crumpled to the ground and didn’t move.

    Arthur stood swaying for a moment, six bleeding holes in his chest and torso. His dark eyes found mine across the ruined lodge.

    “Audrey,” he whispered, and then his knees buckled.

    He hit the floor hard, blood pooling beneath his still form.

    “Arthur!” I screamed, struggling against Florian’s protective grip. “Arthur, no!”

    But he wasn’t moving.