Chapter 11: Blood and Silver

Emma's POV

"Get away from her!" Kai growled, jumping in front of me as the undead Aldric stepped closer.

But Zara moved even faster, her red wolf form striking into Kai and knocking him sideways.

"Don't be an idiot, Kai!" she yelled as she shifted back to human. "That thing will tear you apart!"

"Since when do you care what happens to me?" Kai shot back, silver light blazing from his eyes.

The tension between them hit me like a slap. This wasn't just about saving me from the undead army surrounding us. There was history here, and it hurt to watch.

"I've always cared, you stubborn fool!" Zara yelled back. "Even after your pack threw you away like garbage!"

"My pack?" Kai laughed bitterly. "You mean the pack that your father helped exile me from?"

My heart twisted. Zara's father had been involved in Kai's banishment? But the way she was looking at him now, like she was in real pain, made me think there was more to the story.

"That's enough," Aldric's voice cut through their debate like a knife. "You can settle your lovers' quarrel after I collect what's mine."

"We're not lovers!" Zara and Kai said at the same time, which somehow made me feel even worse.

"Interesting," Aldric said with that terrible smile. "Then perhaps the Moon Daughter is available for a better match."

"Over my dead body," Kai growled.

"That can be arranged," Aldric replied.

The zombie werewolves started closing in, their red eyes glowing in the darkness. But before anyone could attack, Zara did something surprising.

She grabbed Kai's hand.

"Remember the silver moonlight ritual," she said earnestly. "The one we practiced as kids."

Kai's angry expression changed to confusion, then understanding. "You still remember that?"

"I remember everything," Zara said softly.

Suddenly, silver light burst from Kai's skin, but this time it was different. Instead of the wild, uncontrollable power I'd seen before, it was calm and focused. Zara's own power - a warm red glow like firelight - joined with his.

The combined silver and red energy formed a barrier around all of us, holding back the undead wolves.

"How are you doing that?" I asked, amazed and maybe a little jealous of how wonderfully their powers worked together.

"We used to practice magic together when we were children," Zara explained, not letting go of Kai's hand. "Before our packs decided we were enemies."

"Enemies?" Magnus looked between them with interest. "Your families have been allies for generations."

"Not anymore," Kai said angrily. "Not since Zara's father decided I was too dangerous to live."

The jealousy in my chest got worse. They had a shared youth, shared magic, shared pain. I was just the girl who'd fallen into Kai's life a few days ago.

"It wasn't like that," Zara argued. "My father didn't want to remove you. He was forced to by the Council of Alphas."

"Forced how?" Sarah demanded.

Zara's face went pale. "They threatened to launch war on our pack if we protected Kai. My father had to choose between saving one wolf or saving hundreds."

"And he chose the hundreds," Kai said quietly. "I don't blame him for that."

"But I do," Zara said, her voice breaking. "You were my best friend. We were supposed to look out for each other forever."

The way she said it made my stomach clench. Best friends forever. The kind of bond I'd never had with anyone.

"Touching," Aldric interrupted. "But I'm growing bored with this reunion."

He gestured to his undead army, and they began pushing against the silver-red barrier. Cracks emerged in the light.

"The barrier won't hold much longer," Kai said through gritted teeth.

"Then we fight," Jake stated, shifting into his wolf form.

"With what?" Elena asked desperately. "They're already dead. How do you kill something that's already dead?"

"You don't kill them," Magnus said grimly. "You send them back to the void. But that needs power none of us have."

"What about Emma?" Zara asked. "Her healing power might be able to fix whatever's wrong with them."

All eyes turned to me, and I felt the familiar weight of impossible demands.

"I don't know how to heal death," I said honestly.

"But you could try," Kai said hopefully.

"If it doesn't work, we're all dead," I pointed out.

"If we don't try, we're dead anyway," Zara added.

She was right. The barrier was failing fast, and soon we'd be surrounded by an army of undead werewolves led by a madman who claimed to be my grandpa.

I took a deep breath and stepped toward the edge of the barrier.

"Emma, no!" Kai started to reach for me, but Zara held him back.

"Let her try," she said. "She's stronger than you think."

The confidence in her voice surprised me. We'd just met, but somehow Zara believed in me more than I believed in myself.

I pressed my hands against the barrier and reached out with my healing power toward the nearest undead wolf. Instead of the golden light, I tried to use the pure healing energy I'd found with Zara's wound.

At first, nothing happened. Then slowly, I felt something responding. Not the wolf's body, but something deeper. Something that was stuck and in pain.

"The souls," I gasped. "They're still in there, but they're trapped by void magic."

"Can you free them?" Sarah asked.

"Maybe, but—"

The barrier broke.

Undead bears poured toward us from every direction. Kai and Zara's united power flared as they fought side by side, their magic working together like they'd never been apart.

Watching them fight together, moving in perfect sync, protecting each other without even thinking about it, made my chest ache in a way that had nothing to do with magical tiredness.

They belonged together. Anyone could see that.

I was so distracted by my own thoughts that I almost missed the undead wolf lunging at me from behind.

Almost.

At the last second, I spun around and grabbed the creature's face with both hands. My healing power poured into it, but this time it felt different. Instead of fixing something broken, I was cutting something free.

The undead wolf's red eyes flickered, then cleared to brown. For just a moment, I saw the real werewolf underneath - confused, thankful, and very much alive.

Then he crumbled to dust.

"The souls are moving on," Magnus breathed. "You're not healing them - you're setting them free."

"Good," Aldric said from across the clearing. "That will make collecting them much easier."

Before I could ask what he meant, Aldric raised his hands and all the freed souls suddenly stopped their trip to whatever came next. Instead, they whirled around him like a tornado made of silver light.

"Thank you, granddaughter," he said as the souls merged with his body, making him stronger and more solid. "You've just given me exactly what I needed."

"What did you need them for?" I asked, though I was afraid of the answer.

Aldric's smile got wider as his borrowed power made the air around him crackle with energy.

"To become strong enough to open a permanent gateway between dimensions," he said. "Soon, the Void Walkers won't need to hunt one person at a time. They'll be able to eat entire worlds."

He gestured to the dark patches in the sky, which were getting larger.

"Starting with this one."