Chapter 29 Vera's Alliance

Chapter 29 Vera's Alliance
Sienna's POV

Hunters came out from the trees.

Not ten. Not twenty. Hundreds.

They wore black armor that swallowed light. They carried weapons that hummed with anti-magic. They moved like a single creature with one purpose.

Kill me.

"Get Lily inside!" I shouted at Kael.

He ran. Daemon followed. Creating a barrier with his body between my daughter and the hunters.

"Sienna, we need to go!" Luna grabbed my arm.

"No." I pulled free. "I'm done running."

"You'll die!"

"Then I die protecting my daughter instead of hiding from cowards."

Luna's face twisted. But she didn't run. She stood beside me.

The hunters stopped fifty feet away. Formed a perfect circle around us.

A woman stepped forward. Not Vera. Someone else. Tall. Silver hair. Eyes like chips of ice.

"Sienna Voss," she said. "I am Commander Thrace of the Assembly Hunter Division. You are under arrest for murder, destruction of property, and violation of supernatural law."

"I was defending myself."

"You killed seventeen Assembly guards. Destroyed two buildings. Injured dozens more." Thrace's voice was flat. Emotionless. "Those are capital crimes."

"They attacked me first!"

"That's not what our witness says."

Vera stepped from behind the line of hunters.

She looked different. Cleaner. Like she'd bathed and changed. Like she hadn't just escaped custody.

Because she hadn't escaped. She'd been released.

"Hello, Sienna." Vera's smile was poison. "I told them everything. How you attacked the pack. How you threatened my son. How you've been hiding your dangerous powers for years."

"That's a lie!"

"Is it? Then explain the bodies. The destruction. The evidence." Vera gestured at the hunters. "These good people are just doing their jobs. Protecting society from rogues like you."

My power surged. Silver light crackled around my hands.

"Don't," Luna whispered. "That's what they want. You attack, you prove her right."

She was correct. This was a trap. They wanted me to fight. To look dangerous. To justify killing me.

I forced my power down. Let it settle.

"I'll go with you," I said. "Just leave my daughter alone."

"Your daughter is evidence," Thrace said. "She comes too."

"No."

"It wasn't a request."

"She's five years old!"

"She's also a moon witch. Unregistered. Untrained. Dangerous." Thrace nodded at two hunters. "Secure the child."

They moved toward the building where Kael had taken Lily.

Daemon stepped out. Blocked the door. "You're not touching her."

"Stand down or be arrested for obstruction."

"Arrest me then."

The hunters raised their weapons. Anti-magic rifles that could kill supernaturals instantly.

"Stop!" I stepped forward. "I'll cooperate. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't hurt them."

"Sienna, no," Luna said.

"I don't have a choice."

Thrace smiled. "Smart decision. Hunters, restrain her."

Two hunters approached. They carried chains that glowed with binding magic.

The same magic that nearly killed Orion.

My body tensed. Every instinct screamed to fight. To run. To protect myself.

But if I did, they'd kill everyone I loved.

The hunters reached for me.

Orion appeared from nowhere. He slammed into them. Purple magic exploded from his hands.

"Run!" he screamed at me.

"Orion, don't!"

Too late. He was already fighting. Taking on ten hunters at once.

They swarmed him. Beat him down. He didn't stop.

"Restrain the warlock!" Thrace ordered.

More hunters joined the fight. Orion disappeared beneath them.

"No!" I started forward.

Luna grabbed me. "You can't help him. You'll just get yourself killed."

"I can't let them hurt him!"

"He made his choice. Don't waste it."

Thrace raised her hand. The hunters stopped beating Orion. Dragged him up. He was bloody. Broken. But alive.

"Anyone else want to resist?" Thrace asked.

Silence.

"Good." She looked at me. "Now. The easy way or the hard way. Your choice."

Before I could answer, Daemon's phone rang.

He looked at it. His face went pale.

"What?" I asked.

"It's my beta. From the pack house." His hand shook. "Vera didn't just make a deal with the Assembly."

"What do you mean?"

"She made a deal with the pack too. Promised them protection. Power. Territory." Daemon looked at Vera. "In exchange for helping hunt you."

Vera laughed. "Did you really think I'd work with just the Assembly? I needed insurance. So I gave the pack what they wanted. A common enemy. Someone to blame for all their problems."

"Me," I whispered.

"You." Vera stepped closer. "The wolfless girl who became too powerful. Too dangerous. Too much of a threat to our way of life."

"Your way of life is broken."

"Maybe. But it's ours. And you're trying to destroy it." Vera looked at Thrace. "She's all yours. Do what you want with her. Just make sure she never threatens my pack again."

Thrace nodded. "We'll take her to trial. Execute her publicly. Make an example."

"Perfect."

My stomach dropped. This wasn't just about arresting me. It was about killing me. Slowly. Publicly. Making sure every supernatural being knew what happened to moon witches who didn't obey.

"The trial is rigged," I said.

"Of course it is." Thrace smiled. "Did you think we'd give you a fair chance? You're a moon witch. You don't deserve chances."

"Then I won't make this easy."

"You don't have a choice." Thrace nodded at the hunters with chains. "Take her."

They moved forward again.

I let my power rise. Not all of it. Just enough.

Silver light pulsed around me. The ground beneath my feet cracked.

"I said I'd cooperate," I told Thrace. "I didn't say I'd go quietly."

"You're outnumbered. Outmatched. You can't win."

"Maybe not. But I can make you work for it."

The hunters with chains reached for me.

I grabbed their wrists. Sent power through them. Not enough to kill. Just enough to hurt.

They screamed. Dropped the chains. Fell back.

"Restrain her!" Thrace shouted.

More hunters rushed forward. Twenty. Thirty. Too many to count.

I fought them all.

Used just enough power to defend. Not enough to kill. Luna's rules echoing in my head even now.

Don't kill. Don't prove them right. Don't become the monster they claim.

But fighting with restraint meant fighting with weakness.

A hunter's weapon hit my shoulder. Pain exploded. I stumbled.

Another weapon struck my leg. I fell.

They swarmed me. Pressed me down. Chains wrapped around my wrists. My ankles. My throat.

Binding magic burned into my skin.

I screamed.

"Mommy!"

Lily's voice cut through everything.

I looked up. Saw her running from the building. Kael chased after her but couldn't catch her.

"Lily, no! Go back!"

She didn't listen. She ran straight toward me.

A hunter stepped in front of her. Grabbed her by the arm.

Lifted her off the ground.

Lily screamed. Not in fear. In fury.

Her eyes glowed silver.

Power exploded from her small body.

The hunter holding her flew backward. Hit a tree so hard it splintered.

Every hunter in the clearing stumbled. The binding chains on me cracked.

Lily stood in the center of it all. Five years old. Glowing like a star.

"Let my mommy go," she said.

Her voice echoed with power that didn't belong to a child.

Thrace stared. "Impossible. She's too young to have that much power."

"She's my daughter," I said through the pain. "She's exactly as powerful as she needs to be."

Lily took a step toward me. The hunters backed away from her.

Another step. The ground shook.

She was going to destroy them all. And herself in the process.

"Lily, stop!" I shouted. "You'll burn out!"

She didn't hear me. Didn't stop. Just kept walking. Kept glowing brighter.

A hunter behind her raised his weapon.

Aimed at the back of her head.