Chapter 74 Lisa's Stand
The word "violence" hung in the air for three seconds and then hell broke loose around me like a dam bursting. Marcus Krane's warriors charged from the south side of the building with teeth bared and claws extended. Rogues poured in from the north like a wave of fury and desperation.
Ryan, Daniel, and Nathan came from the west with our pack warriors behind them. Three forces colliding in a human city street in broad daylight because everyone thought they could own Lisa Marcus and decide my future for me. Fuck that noise.
I shifted from the gallery doorway and my silver wolf form landed between Ryan and Marcus Krane's lead warrior with enough force to crack the pavement. I was not fighting for anyone's claim or anyone's prophecy or anyone's political agenda. I was fighting to make space, to create chaos, to show all of them I was not a prize to be claimed or a pawn to be moved across their political chessboard. My wolf was fast and fueled by months of rage I had been swallowing down and holding inside until it poisoned me.
I took down Marcus Krane's warrior using the method Ryan taught me during our years together when we still trusted each other. I dodged a rogue's attack using Daniel's dirty tactics that had saved my life more than once growing up. The pregnancy had not slowed me yet because it was too early and my wolf was too strong and too angry to care about limitations. But I felt it there inside me. A small life that depended on me surviving this. It made me both more protective and more ruthless than I had ever been before in my entire life.
Ryan shifted and his massive black wolf moved to my side instinctively like we were still bonded mates who belonged together. I snarled at him because I did not need his protection or his interference or his guilt-driven heroics. But he did not retreat or back down or give me space. We fought back to back anyway because years of training made us synchronize despite everything broken between us. Despite the rejection and the lies and the betrayal that still burned in my chest like acid.
Daniel tore through rogues and created a perimeter around me that kept the worst of them at bay. Nathan coordinated Moonstone warriors with hand signals and his tactical genius showed as he positioned them to minimize casualties and control the flow of battle like pieces on a chessboard. And Dante? He was filming everything from the gallery doorway and documenting the chaos with professional detachment like he was shooting a documentary instead of watching people die in front of him.
Marcus Krane himself entered the fray and I saw him shift from human to wolf in one fluid motion that showed decades of practice. Older but powerful and his wolf was twice Ryan's size with scars that told stories of decades of battles won and enemies defeated. He went straight for me like I was the only target that mattered in this entire fight. Ryan intercepted him and they collided with earth-shaking force that cracked the pavement beneath them and sent smaller wolves scrambling away from the impact.
I tried to help Ryan but the rogue leader cut me off with claws that gleamed in the afternoon sun. "You are coming with us, prophet. Dead or alive." His voice was gravelly and ancient power and absolute conviction that made my skin crawl.
I fought him with everything I had but he was ancient and skilled and faster than I expected for someone his age. He got me pinned against a car with his jaws at my throat and I could feel his breath hot against my fur. Then Nathan's wolf crashed into him from the side with no regard for his own safety. Smaller but fearless and buying me seconds to escape. Seconds that cost Nathan everything.
The rogue leader's claws tore across Nathan's side in retaliation. Deep, arterial, the kind of wound that killed wolves if they did not get help fast enough. Nathan went down hard and blood pooled beneath him and spread across the concrete in a growing circle that looked black in the shadows.
I screamed and the sound was half-human even in wolf form. I shifted back to human without thinking about my nakedness and dropped beside Nathan's wolf form. "No, no, no. Stay with me." I pressed my hands against the wound but blood poured between my fingers hot and thick and endless.
Ryan saw it happen and disengaged from Marcus Krane to run to us with panic in his golden eyes. But Marcus Krane did not let him go easily. He pursued and demanded the fight continue and slammed into Ryan's side hard enough to send him sprawling across the pavement.
Daniel fought his way over to us and was trying to reach his sister through the chaos of bodies. Wolves everywhere tearing at each other and the smell of blood thick in the air and making it hard to breathe.
Dante lowered his camera with slow deliberate movements. He walked calmly into the chaos like he was strolling through a park on a Sunday afternoon and pulled out a syringe from his jacket pocket. "This is getting out of hand. Everyone STOP or I inject the silver wolf with something that kills her baby."
Dead silence fell across the street like someone had cut the sound. Every wolf froze mid attack with claws still raised and teeth still bared. Marcus Krane stopped pursuing Ryan and turned to stare. The rogues stopped circling and backed away from Dante. Everyone stared at Dante standing there in his expensive suit holding a syringe filled with something dark and viscous.
I looked up from Nathan's bleeding form with my hands still pressed against his wound and saw Dante standing five feet away with the syringe held casually between two fingers. "This is wolfsbane concentrate mixed with silver nitrate. It will not kill you, Lisa. But it will absolutely terminate your pregnancy within seconds." His voice was conversational like he was discussing the weather or art prices. "Now. Everyone backs off, or I dose her and we see what happens."