Chapter 19 Red night;
Elly's hands trembled as she carried Eva's frozen body to the fireplace. Eva's lips had turned blue, her skin was ice-cold, and her pulse was so faint that Elly could barely detect it.
"Eva, please!" she whispered, piling blankets over her friend's body. "Don't leave me. Please try to hold on."
She rushed to the kitchen, heated water, and soaked towels to wrap around Eva's hands and feet. But nothing was working. Eva's body remained ice-cold, her chest barely rising and falling.
Elly desperately ran her hands through her hair. Eva had depleted all her power to save Joe. She had risked her own life. Elly couldn't understand why the Ancient Alpha had called for her. How could she help Eva? What should she do? These thoughts tortured her soul.
Just then, the sound of tires came from outside. Looking through the window, she saw Nancy's jeep.
Elly immediately rushed outside.
Nancy jumped from the vehicle and slid across the snow, falling beside Joe. Seeing her brother's naked, wounded body, she let out a scream.
"Brother!" she cried, shaking his face with her hands. "Please answer me! Brother, please!"
Elly approached slowly. When Nancy raised her head, her eyes blazed with fury.
"What did you do to my brother!" she screamed. "What the hell did you do to him?"
Elly's face suddenly transformed into an icy mask. She buried her emotions and spoke in a cold voice.
"We should be asking what your brother did," she said in a sharp tone. "The Ancient Alpha brought him to this state. And my friend..." Her voice trembled but she continued. "My friend defied an Ancient Alpha and saved his life. She stood against her soulmate! Moreover, she exhausted all her powers to heal him. Right now, she's inside fighting for her own life!"
Nancy's gaze filled with fear. Something had occurred to her. Her eyes shadowed with deep thoughts.
Elly realized she knew something but was keeping silent. She spoke with anger.
"You're still trying to hide things. You're all disgraceful." She pointed at Joe. "Take him and get the hell out of here!"
She turned and entered the house. The moment she slammed the door, a tear slid down her cheek.
Nancy was in a panic. Despite her wolf blood, she could see her body was barely resisting. She tightly wrapped the blanket around Joe and tried to drag him to the vehicle. She fell... She groaned under his weight, then the power within her awakened and her savage claws emerged, her eyes glowed with gray halos. With the wolf strength awakening inside her, she finally managed to load her brother into the vehicle and sped away.
From the trail below, a woman had been watching all of this unfold.
Old Agnes.
She walked with difficulty through the snow, each step leaving a mark. Finally, she reached the door of Eva's mountain house.
With a cold expression, she knocked on the door.
Inside, Elly thought Nancy had returned and opened the door with a grumble. At that moment, an ominous wind whipped her red hair across her face.
When she saw Agnes, she froze.
"Ah, Grandmother!" she murmured and suddenly hugged her.
But the old woman pushed her away with a sour expression.
"Stay away from me, you irresponsible girl!" she snapped.
Elly was shocked but happy to see her. Agnes immediately went to Eva and knelt by the fireplace. She pulled back the blankets, lifted Eva's shirt, and exposed the seal.
She examined the seal with her bare hands. The purple veins were pale and weak, barely glowing at all.
"Even if you're from an ancient lineage, a life for a life, you foolish girl," she murmured to Eva.
Then she checked her pulse. It was very weak. Dangerously so.
Elly crouched beside her with concern.
"Please tell me you can do something, Grandmother!" she pleaded. "Eva is an innocent girl! Don't let her leave this life like this!"
Agnes frowned. Both anger and pain showed on her face.
"Ancient creatures caused your father's demise!" she said harshly. "He tried to keep you away from all this countless times. What did you do? The first day she came to town, you ran to this cursed Rose girl!" she shouted.
Elly bowed her head, filled with guilt.
"The reason I'm here isn't guardian loyalty," Agnes continued. "This morning... when the Ancient Alpha howled at my door, I realized I had no other choice!"
Elly raised her head. "So what do we do?" she asked.
The old woman took a deep breath.
"Find the ancient journals. It's going to be a difficult night," she said. Her eyes moved to Eva. "At midnight the seal is very weak. The powers are withdrawing. Against the Ancient Alpha..." She paused, then added in a low voice. "She opposed her mate."
Elly knew what this meant. Her eyes opened wide with shock.
"My God," she whispered. "Eva, what have you done?"
Agnes walked to the kitchen with tired steps and leaned against the counter. The pain in her knees and the fatigue of her age had creased her face.
Elly rushed to get the journals from Eva's leather bag and handed them to the old woman.
Agnes opened the journal, flipped through the pages. Then she found a section written in the ancient language and began reading aloud.
"The Alpha and his woman are one body. One soul. Until the Crimson Night is complete, the Rose daughter is mortal, the Ancient wolf is cursed. But at the end of Crimson Night, the ritual is completed and the Ancient pair-bond forms."
Elly leaned in with curiosity.
"So Eva will become immortal? And Kael will be curse-free?"
Agnes nodded. "Yes. But until that moment, the Rose daughter is weak. A mortal who can only use her bloodline's power."
Elly spoke excitedly. "Okay, then somehow we need to unite Kael and Eva!"
Agnes's face became rigid.
"Crimson Night occurs on Christmas night, on the year's last full moon. There are still days to go, child." She paused, her eyes turning to Eva. "Also, the Alpha can reject her."
Elly's heart constricted. "What happens if he rejects her?"
"She dies," Agnes said with a cold expression. "The Rose daughter dies."
Elly looked at Eva. Her friend was so pale, so weak.
Agnes knelt beside Eva again. She rubbed the seal with her hands and began murmuring prayers in the ancient language. The purple shimmer slowly glowed, then faded again. She had no choice but to try the old Rose healing rituals from the journal.
"Let's hope this poor girl manages to absorb her ancestors' power," she said. "Otherwise, she won't make it through this night."
Elly couldn't hold back her tears. She stroked Eva's hair, her voice trembling as she whispered.
"Eva, where are you, my friend? Please hold on. Please don't leave me."
Now the question remained: could Eva win this battle? And would this wounded Ancient wolf forgive her?
Meanwhile, at the Blackwood manor...
Nancy took the turn at high speed, her tires screeching as she entered the estate's grand courtyard. The gray halos in her eyes blazed with desperation.
"Help!" she roared, her voice breaking with anguish.
The manor's servants came running immediately. The head butler saw Joe's bloodied body and his face went pale.
"Call the doctor for the young master! Now!" he shouted.
Nancy couldn't stop the tears streaming down her face. Her heart trembled with deep pain as she watched them carefully lift her brother from the vehicle.
From the manor's grand balcony, hands casually in his pockets, Caleb watched the entire scene unfold below. A twisted smile curved his lips as he murmured to himself.
"You've gathered your strength, Ancient wolf!" He chuckled darkly. "Then I suppose we should gather ours as well."
The sinister grin on his face widened. He pulled out his phone and dialed.
"Boris," he said smoothly when the call connected. "The Alpha has killed your men. We need a stronger plan."
He ended the call with a sharp tap of his finger.
And as the chaos unfolded below, as his own son fought for his life, Caleb remained on that balcony, unmoved, calculating.
So the question remained: Against a demon who showed no mercy even to his own son, who was the real demon? Was it truly Kael?