The first scream split the night like a blade. It was sharp, raw, and cut through the stillness of the pack lands before the alarm horn could even be raised.
Diana was already moving.
She didn’t wait for orders.
She never did.
Her boots pounded against the stone stairs of the northern wall as the cold night air sliced into her lungs. The world sharpened instantly, every sound magnified, every scent screaming danger. The wind carried blood. Rot. Rage.
Rogues.
Not one or two.
Dozens.
They poured from the tree line like shadows given flesh, bodies lean and desperate, eyes glowing with feral madness. Their movements were erratic, untrained, but vicious. These weren’t lost wolves seeking refuge.
These were killers.
Diana skidded to a stop at the wall, eyes scanning the battlefield in a single sweeping glance. Warriors were scrambling into position, some still fastening armor, others gripping weapons with hands that trembled just enough to betray fear.
“Orders?” one warrior shouted over the rising chaos. “Where is the Alpha?”
Diana didn’t hesitate.
“What are the orders?” She demanded, already calculating distances, numbers, weaknesses. “Where is Alpha Asher?”
Even though everyone here knew the truth, she was the strongest warrior among them, and Asher had never promoted her. Never named her delta. Never allowed her a title that matched her capability.
She remained a standard warrior.
Diana never complained.
Rank didn’t matter.
Protecting the pack did.
Protecting her parents did.
“We’re the first defense,” the warrior answered, breathless. “Deltas are second. Alpha, Beta, and Gamma are final defense. The Luna took everyone to the bunker.”
The words slammed into her chest.
“Everyone?” Diana demanded. “That includes my mom and dad?”
A familiar presence surged gently against her mind.
'They’re safe,' Artemis said, firm and reassuring. 'They’re in the bunker.'
Diana exhaled sharply, grounding herself.
'Good.'
She severed every unnecessary mind link without hesitation, closing herself off from panic, fear—everything except the voices of the pack’s leaders and her wolf.
Total focus.
'But Artemis, ' Diana murmured internally as her eyes locked onto the advancing rogues, 'we still need to hide you, right?'
'Yes,' Artemis replied. 'But I will help where I can. And if it comes to it… nothing matters more than Mom, Dad, and the pack.'
Diana’s jaw clenched.
'Here they come,' Artemis warned.
The first rogues hit the clearing, snarls ripping from their throats as they charged.
“HOLD THE LINE!” Diana roared. Her voice cracked through the night like thunder. The Warriors snapped into formation instantly. No one questioned her authority—not anymore. Among the warriors, it was understood: when Diana spoke, you listened.
Steel rang as blades were drawn. Claws unsheathed. The night exploded into chaos.
The first rogue leapt for the wall. Diana met him head-on. She didn’t shift. She never did in front of others, but Artemis surged beneath her skin, lending her speed, precision, and power. Diana ducked beneath snapping jaws, drove her elbow into the rogue’s throat, and twisted sharply.
Cartilage gave way.
The body crumpled without a sound.
More came.
She moved like moonlight given form—cold, relentless, unstoppable. Her blade flashed silver-blue, slicing through flesh and bone with ruthless efficiency. She didn’t waste movement. Didn’t hesitate. Every strike was deliberate.
A group broke toward the eastern gate.
Diana saw it instantly.
“East gate—fall back!” she shouted. “On me!”
She vaulted the wall without hesitation, landing hard, rolling once before rising into motion. The ground trembled beneath her as she cut through the attackers, every breath measured, every strike lethal.
A rogue raked claws across her shoulder.
Pain flared white-hot. Diana snarled—not in fear, but fury.
'Enough,' Artemis growled.
For a heartbeat, the moonlight intensified—just enough.
Not enough for others to notice.
Not enough to expose them.
But enough.
Power surged through Diana’s limbs. She disarmed one rogue with a brutal twist, shattered another’s knee with a kick that echoed like breaking wood, and sent a third flying backward into the trees with a single devastating strike.
The pack rallied around her.
They always did.
Warriors fought harder when Diana was near. Younger wolves mirrored her movements instinctively, trusting her judgment without question.
'This is what a true protector looks like,' Artemis murmured.
The battle raged until dawn bled into the sky, painting it in bruised violets and gold. Rogue bodies littered the forest floor. The survivors fled, howling their rage into the distance.
Silence followed.
Broken only by labored breathing.
Diana stood at the front line, blade lowered, chest rising steadily. Blood—hers and theirs—darkened her armor. Her shoulder burned, but she didn’t falter.
Then—
'Diana!'
Her parents’ voices brushed her mind—and vanished.
The tether snapped.
Her breath hitched.
'Mom?' she called desperately. 'Dad?'
Nothing.
Panic surged violently.
'Mom! Dad!' Diana tried again, pushing harder, but the bond was gone. Empty. Silent.
She turned and ran.
Diana tore through the forest toward the pack house, heart hammering, lungs burning. Fear drowned out everything else.
Please. Please be wrong.
She broke into the clearing and stopped.
Alpha. Beta. Gamma.
They stood surrounding several bodies.
When they saw her, pity filled their eyes.
“No,” Diana whispered.
'I can smell them,' Artemis said, her voice breaking into a howl of grief.
“No!” Diana shouted. “How are they here? They were in the bunker! HOW ARE THEY HERE?”
No one answered.
Diana dropped to her knees beside her parents, pulling her mother’s body into her arms, pressing her forehead against her chest as a sound tore from her throat—raw, broken, animal. “Mom! Dad!”
Her howl echoed across the pack lands, filled with pain so deep it made wolves freeze mid-step.
“How did this happen?” She sobbed, looking up at the three leaders. “They were supposed to be safe. Inside the bunker. HOW?”
They had no answers.
Warriors arrived behind her, stunned into silence.
Diana’s parents are dead.
Slaughtered by a rogue who had somehow slipped past every line of defense.
How? How could a rogue pass the warriors… the deltas… the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma?
How could this happen when everyone was supposed to be safe with the Luna?
No one spoke.
The irony crushed them all.
Diana—the strongest protector of the pack—had stood at the front lines, fighting with everything she had.
And still… she had lost everything.
Aksara