Chapter 49 Surprise Attack From Lila
Aurelia
I waited like the perfect, pretty mate Zhayad wanted me to be. The obedient one.
The one who sits back and lets her Alpha handle the war with her father while she stays safe behind stone walls.
I was supposed to be useful in the only way the pack ever expected from a Luna: quiet, decorative, and fertile.
But I couldn’t even manage that much lately.
I sat on the edge of the bed, my legs pressed tight together, my hands twisting in my lap, trying to ignore how empty the room felt without him.
I was supposed to be the calm center while he fought.
Instead I was useless, pacing inside my own head, uselessly replaying every word Mace had spat, every lie Irina had spun, every time Ravina looked at me like I was the reason her daughter came back scratched and bleeding.
Then the mate bond yawned open, like someone had driven a blade straight through my sternum.
I gasped, doubling over, one hand flying to my chest as pain ripped through me.
Zhayad.
He was in real danger. The bond screamed it.
I hissed through clenched teeth, struggling to stay upright on the bed, my vision blurring at the edges.
My legs shook so badly I almost slid to the floor.
A loud bang on the door jolted me upright.
I staggered toward it, one hand braced on the wall, the other still clutching my chest like I could hold the pain inside.
“Who’s there?” I called, my voice thinner than I wanted.
No answer. I turned away from the door, my heart still racing from the bond's sharp flare, but the bang came again. It was harder this time, more insistent.
I sighed, my shoulders dropping. Not now. I really didn’t need this right now.
“Who’s there?” I hissed out the question impatiently. Who could be trying my patience in this chaotic hour now?
Another bang. I yanked the door open, and a shifter-maid rushed in. She was taller than the others, her posture too straight, her gait too proud for a servant.
She smelled familiar in a way that crawled under my skin, like a memory I couldn’t place.
I shut the door behind her, frowning.
“I’ve never seen you before.”
Time seemed to stretch slowly, and just when I opened my mouth to ask her why she was here, she cracked her neck once, then her body began to shift.
Her bones, joints and features shifted, and suddenly it was Lila standing there.
Mace’s younger sister.
The girl who’d once been my friend. The one who’d laughed with me under the stars until my body changed and hers didn’t.
The one who’d turned bitter, joined the taunts about my “fat” curves, and then, worst of all, told Mace my deepest secret.
My stomach plummeted to the floor. I never imagined she would go to this length, allowing herself to be used by my father.
“How did you…?” My voice cracked. “What are you doing in the pack-house?”
Lila threw her head back and laughed, the sound scraping my ears, nothing like the girl I used to know.
Her chocolate-brown hair fell across her face.
She looked fiercer now, sharper, more hateful.
Her blue eyes glowed with pure malice.
“You got yourself a powerful Alpha,” she said, stepping closer, “and forgot you’re still just a hybrid witch who can’t give birth.”
.
I stepped back instinctively, pain clawing up my chest, not just from the bond, but from the old wound she’d just ripped open.
“How did you get in, Lila?” I repeated, ignoring the constant tug of the mate bond as it flared with pain.
I didn't want to risk communicating with Zhayad through the bond while Lila was here. I didn't know how strong her abilities were.
She tilted her head, her smile widening.
“Did Mace not tell you about the spies your father snuck into the pack?”
My blood ran cold, curdling in my veins.
“How did you disguise yourself as one of the shifter-maids?” I asked, stalling, buying time while my mind raced for an escape, a weapon, anything.
Lila laughed again. “Magic, sweetheart. Your father’s best warlocks wove the illusion. I smell like one of them, move like one of them… and no one looks twice at a maid.”
She took another step closer, her eyes glittering with that same old malice I remembered from years ago.
“You can come with me peacefully,” Lila said, her voice soft and mocking, “or I’ll just do it the hard way.” She shrugged.
“Bold of you to assume I’ll come with you peacefully.”
I kept my tone light, almost bored, but my eyes were already darting to the door, calculating angles, escape routes, anything.
“Then brace yourself.” She barely finished the word before I moved.
I lunged sideways, grabbing the nearest thing I could reach, the heavy brass table lamp on the nightstand.
It was solid, awkward, but it would hurt.
“What are you going to do with a table lamp?” she taunted, stepping forward. “Light me up?”
“No,” I said, swinging it like a bat, “but I can do this.”
The base cracked against her forearm with a dull thud.
She hissed, staggering back, surprise flashing across her face for the first time.
I didn’t wait. I swung again, aiming for her head this time, but she ducked, faster than I expected, and grabbed my wrist, twisting hard.
The lamp clattered to the floor.
We crashed together, tangled, snarling, her nails digging into my arms, my knee driving upward toward her stomach.
She grunted, shoving me back against the wall.
My head hit stone with a dull crack that made stars burst behind my eyes.
“You always were a stubborn little bitch,” she spat, pressing her forearm across my throat. “But this time you’re not running.”
I clawed at her arm, my nails raking skin, but she only pressed harder.
‘Aurelia!’ Zhayad roared through our bond.
‘Zhayad, are you alright?’ I asked him.
‘I need…. I need you. I need to recharge. I'm losing…’ He gasped, and I just knew I had to get to him.
The pain, the desperation in his voice, it was too much.
“He's trying to reach you, isn't he? Your father promised me so much money if I delivered you safely.” She snarled, pinning my hand to the wall when I smacked her face with it.
“I tried not to hurt you, Lila, I really tried.” I choked out before I tugged on the power inside me and drew it.
Lila levitated in the air, her arms and legs stretching out stiffly.
“What…. What are you doing to me?” She croaked out.
“Defending my pack.” I bit out before yanking on my magic and hurling her across the wall.
She fell like a sack of oats and didn't stir after that.
‘I’m coming for you,’ I whispered down the bond, heading for the door and for my mate.