Chapter 191 Magda's Still Out There
Fennigan didn't look up at first. He was a statue of grief and rage, his large hands still hovering over Leela’s motionless form. But the twins—sensing the jagged, raw spike of Sarah’s emotion—began to squirm.
Caspian and Briar had spent time in Sarah’s care. To them, she wasn't just a nanny; she was a source of safety. As Fennigan’s own internal turmoil radiated off him in cold, sharp waves of Alpha energy, the toddlers reached out for the person who always smelled like lullabies and soft blankets.
"Sah-wah!" Briar wailed, her little face turning red as she reached toward the sobbing girl.
Fennigan’s head snapped toward Sarah. For a terrifying heartbeat, his silver-tipped eyes were predatory, reflecting the monster he had become in the woods. But as he looked at her—broken, bruised from trying to force the door, and genuinely devastated—the ice in his gaze thawed into a grim understanding.
He slid across the porch and placed the twins directly into Sarah’s lap.
"Stop," Fennigan commanded, his voice a low rumble. "You didn't fail them, Sarah. You survived an Alpha and a High Council witch. You're the reason they’re calm enough to hold right now."
The twins scrambled into her arms, burying their faces in her neck. Their small, warm bodies acted like a beacon, pulling Sarah back from the brink of her panic attack. But as she held them, she looked over at Leela and Ginny, noticing a faint, shimmering frost beginning to form on the edges of their hair.
"Fenn," Sarah whispered, her eyes widening. "Magda... when she was in the hall, she wasn't just chanting to make them sleep."
Sarah pulled the twins closer, her heart hammering against their small backs. She looked up at Fennigan and Jax, her eyes wide with the memory of Magda’s venomous voice.
"Fenn, she was trying to get them," Sarah whispered, her voice shaking. "She was pacing the hallway like a caged animal. She was screaming into the air at the Council. She said they were 'stupid, impatient bastards' for sending those men in now."
Jax stopped his pacing, his eyes narrowing. "Why now? What changed?"
"The pregnancy," Sarah said, looking toward Ginny and then back to Leela. "Magda was furious. She said everything was supposed to stay hidden until they knew for sure. She kept muttering that the Council couldn't wait—they saw the twins hadn't shown any power yet, and they panicked when they found out Leela was pregnant again. They didn't want to wait another three years to see if the new baby was the key."
Fennigan’s hands fisted at his sides. The twins were barely toddlers. The Council had been watching them, waiting for a spark, a flame, a sign that the Elemental Lineage was truly back. When Caspian and Briar remained "just" wolves, the Council grew restless.
"She said they were ruining decades of work," Sarah continued, her voice dropping to a terrified mimicry of the old woman. "She said, 'They couldn't even wait to find out if Leela was bringing the whole elemental line back or if she was just a biological fluke.' They wanted to harvest the source before the bloodline diluted again, and they didn't care if they tore this pack apart to do it."
"So the bunker wasn't just for the twins," Jax realized, his voice like ice. "It was a processing center. They were going to take Leela and the new baby too. They were tired of the 'slow play' father and Magda were running."
The frost on Leela’s skin thickened, a physical manifestation of Magda’s spite. If she couldn't have her perfect, controlled experiment, she was going to let the "flukes" wither away in the cold.
Fennigan turned toward the woods, his Alpha aura flaring so bright it pushed back the encroaching mist. "They treated my family like a crop," he growled, the ground beneath the porch vibrating with his fury. "Magda isn't just a traitor. She’s the gardener. And I’m about to pull her out by the roots."
Fennigan’s gaze traveled slowly over the three women, their skin shimmering with that unnatural, deathly frost. The sight of his mother, his brother's wife, and his own mate lying there like ice statues was a jagged blade to his chest. He turned his eyes to Sarah—the girl was shaking, her tears blurring her vision, but she held his children with a fierce, maternal grip that even the "veil" couldn't loosen.
Behind her, Toby stood like a ghost. The young wolf’s face was a mask of agony; he was still vibrating from the adrenaline of the shot he'd given the order for at the bunker, and the sight of Sarah’s distress was breaking him. He looked like he wanted to fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness for not being at the house when the betrayal happened.
The silence of the porch was broken by a small, soft sound.
Briar shifted in Sarah’s arms. She reached out one chubby, dimpled hand toward Toby, her fingers wiggling in the air. "Ok... Bo-by?" she asked, her voice small and trembling with a little shudder that wracked her tiny frame.
Beside her, Caspian looked up at Toby as well. He didn't speak, but his dark, serious eyes held the same heavy question. They weren't just asking if he was okay; they were looking for the boy who usually played games with them.
The weight of their gaze hit Toby like a physical blow. The shame that had been threatening to drown him was suddenly met by the innocent, unwavering trust of the twins. He swallowed hard, his throat working as he stepped forward, his hand trembling as he reached out to gently brush Briar’s hair back from her forehead.
"Yeah, little bird," Toby whispered, his voice thick with unshed tears. "I'm okay. We're all going to be okay."
Fennigan watched the interaction, and for a moment, the terrifying Alpha glow in his eyes softened. He looked at Toby—not as a subordinate who had missed a beat, but as a man who had just saved his children’s lives.
"She’s right, Toby," Fennigan said, his voice a low, gravelly anchor. "They’re asking for you because they know you're the one who helped bring them home."
Fennigan turned back to the frozen women, his face hardening once more. "Magda is still out there, and she’s the only one with the key to this lock. Jax, stay here. If even a leaf twitches on the edge of the lawn, rip it out. Toby, get Sarah and the twins inside to the safe room. Seal the vents. If she used herbs once, she’ll try it again."
Fennigan stepped off the porch, his boots crunching on the frost-covered grass. He didn't need to track a scent; he could feel the pulse of the mountain, and it was screaming at him from the north.