Chapter 77: When the Creed Came

The alarms shrieked before Ethan even finished speaking. Red lights pulsed across the estate walls, bathing the foggy night in a sickly glow. The hybrids outside stiffened, their golden eyes flickering in unison as though some invisible cord pulled at them.

And then the first shot rang out.

It cracked through the silence like thunder, striking the gravel not ten feet from the front line of kneeling hybrids. The Creed wasn’t hiding anymore.

From the tree line, shadows poured forward—dozens of figures in matte-black armor, their faces hidden behind masks, weapons gleaming in the moonlight. No ordinary hunters. These weren’t men with old silver bullets and family grudges. This was a military unit. Disciplined. Precise. Ruthless.

“Elena, cover the east wall!” Aidan barked instantly, his Alpha voice cutting through the chaos.

“I’m on it!” she shouted, already sprinting toward the battlements with her crossbow slung across her back.

“Ethan, shut down their comms if you can!”

Ethan cursed under his breath, fingers flying over his laptop. “Working on it! But they’re running military-grade encryption. Who even funds these psychos?!”

“Probably your mom,” Elena shouted from above, loosing her first arrow with deadly precision. It struck one of the Creed soldiers in the thigh, sending him sprawling. “Happy early birthday, tech boy!”

“This is not how I wanted to celebrate!” Ethan yelled back, ducking as a bullet ricocheted off the wall beside him.

Through it all, the sister—R—just watched. Calm. Serene. Her hybrids hadn’t moved yet, still kneeling as though waiting for my word.

I spun toward her. “Call them off!”

Her golden eyes glowed in the smoke and light. “They are not mine to command, Roxanne. They are yours.”

Aidan grabbed my arm, pulling me back just as another bullet shattered stone where I’d been standing. “Roxanne, we don’t have time for this! Decide now!”

“I don’t—” My voice cracked.

“Then they’ll die,” R said, almost gently. “And their blood will be on your hands.”

My chest heaved.

The Creed was advancing. The hybrids were still kneeling. And my pack—my people—were already in the fight. Elena fired bolt after bolt from the wall, Ethan scrambled with his tech, Echo had unsheathed her blades and was moving like a phantom through the fog. Even Callum had taken up position at the gate, firing silver rounds into the night with deadly accuracy.

And still the hybrids looked only at me.

“Say it,” R whispered. “One word. One command. And they’ll rise.”

Aidan’s eyes locked with mine. “Rox, we need them. You need them.”

The world felt like it cracked. My blood roared in my ears.

Finally, I lifted my voice.

“Rise.”

The ground seemed to tremble.

One by one, the hybrids stood. Their movements were eerie in their precision—silent, smooth, fluid. And then, like a wave breaking, they surged forward.

The Creed never saw it coming.

Golden-eyed shadows slammed into black-armored soldiers. Claws met steel. Teeth met guns. The field exploded into chaos.

\---

“Stay behind me!” Aidan growled as he shoved me toward cover. His wolf was already clawing under his skin, his eyes flashing bright silver.

“I’m not hiding!” I snapped, drawing my blades. “Not anymore!”

“You’re not trained for—”

“I’ve been trained my whole damn life!”

He cursed but didn’t argue as we dove into the fray.

One Creed soldier lunged at me with a blade—silver, gleaming, sharp. I blocked with my knife, the impact jarring my arm to the bone. He snarled behind his mask, swinging again. I ducked, kicked his legs out, and slammed my blade into the gap in his armor. He dropped, gasping, and didn’t get up.

Another came at me. Then another.

Through the blur of motion, Elena’s voice carried over the chaos. “Roxanne! Behind you!”

I spun, just in time to see a soldier raise his rifle. Before I could move, an arrow split the air and drove straight into his chest. He collapsed with a grunt. Elena waved at me from the wall. “You’re welcome, Luna!”

“Don’t miss!” I yelled back.

“I never miss!”

Ethan was still glued to his laptop behind cover, muttering curses. Sparks flickered as his system clashed with theirs. “Almost… almost… come on, baby, don’t fail me now…”

“Ethan!” I shouted. “Do you even know what you’re doing?”

“Absolutely not!” he yelled. “But it looks cool!”

Elena groaned. “If we survive this, I’m cutting his Wi-Fi for a week.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Watch me!”

Even in the middle of war, somehow, their bickering made me breathe easier.

\---

The hybrids fought like nothing I’d ever seen. Brutal. Efficient. Relentless. They didn’t need orders. They didn’t need weapons. They were weapons. And yet—none of them touched me. In the middle of all the chaos, a circle formed around me, like some invisible shield.

“They’re protecting you,” R said softly from behind me, her cloak untouched by the fight. “Even without your command.”

I spun toward her, my blades dripping. “Why me?!”

“Because you are what we built for,” she said simply.

I didn’t have time to answer. A Creed soldier lunged at me again, this one faster, stronger. I barely blocked, but his blade grazed my arm, sending a searing burn up my skin. Silver.

Pain flared.

“Roxanne!” Aidan’s roar split the night. He tore through two soldiers like paper, his wolf form ripping free mid-stride. Massive, silver-furred, fangs bared—he was beautiful and terrifying. He slammed into the soldier, tearing him apart before he could strike me again.

He turned, muzzle dripping, silver eyes burning. Mine. The word wasn’t spoken, but I felt it.

I staggered back, clutching my arm, breathing hard.

The battle raged. Screams. Gunfire. Claws. Steel.

And through it all, R watched.

Calm.

Silent.

Waiting.

Like she already knew how it would end.

\---

By the time the last Creed soldier fell, the field was littered with bodies. Smoke rose from shattered rifles. The hybrids stood in eerie silence, their golden eyes fixed on me once more.

Elena climbed down from the wall, wiping sweat and blood from her forehead. “Well,” she panted, “that sucked.”

“Understatement,” Ethan muttered, clutching his laptop like it was a life raft. “Also, my firewall survived, so I consider this a win.”

“You nearly got shot five times!” Elena snapped.

“Six, actually,” Ethan corrected, wincing. “But who’s counting?”

“I am,” she said. “Because if you die, I don’t get to yell at you anymore.”

Even covered in blood and exhaustion, Ethan actually smiled at that.

But I didn’t smile. I couldn’t.

Because as the fog settled and the silence returned, I realized something.

This wasn’t the battle.

This was the prologue.

The Creed had tested us.

And next time, they wouldn’t come with dozens.