Chapter 33 Family on the Run

Chapter 33 Family on the Run
Sienna's POV

The poison burned through my veins.

Dr. Helena worked fast, cutting away fur and exposing wounds.

"Stay with me," she muttered.

I wanted to, but my body had other plans.

My wolf heart stuttered.

Lily knelt beside my head with her small hands touching my nose.

"Don't leave," she whispered.

I tried to comfort her.

My tongue wouldn't move.

"She's crashing!" Dr. Helena shouted. "I need the antitoxin!"

"We don't have it," Orion said. "Only the Assembly has the cure."

"Then she's dead."

Kael dropped beside me. "There has to be something."

"There isn't." Dr. Helena's voice cracked.

"Then we get it from them."

"They'll kill us on sight."

My vision faded.

Then Lily pressed her forehead against mine.

"No," she said firmly. "You're not dying."

Heat flooded through me.

Power, her power, pouring into me.

"Lily, stop!" Dr. Helena grabbed her. "You'll kill yourself!"

"I'm saving my mom!"

The heat grew stronger, hitting the poison.

My heart beat stronger.

Lily screamed and convulsed.

The power stopped.

She collapsed.

Kael caught her. "She's unconscious but alive."

I tried to stand. My legs shook but held.

The poison was gone.

"We need to move," Daemon said. "The Assembly knows where we jumped."

"How long?" Orion asked.

"Maybe an hour."

I still couldn't shift back to human.

"Can you walk?" Kael asked me.

I nodded.

"Then we move. Now." Daemon looked at his pack. "Standard formation."

We started walking through strange wilderness.

Kael carried Lily.

I walked beside them.

"Try to shift," Dr. Helena said. "Focus on your human form."

I tried.

Nothing happened.

"The transformation locked because of trauma," she said. "You need to calm down."

I tried anyway.

My bones cracked.

Then stopped.

Still wolf.

"Almost," Dr. Helena said.

"She needs to rest," Kael said.

"If she doesn't learn to shift back, she's stuck forever."

They argued.

Hours passed.

Kael started stumbling.

"You okay?" Daemon asked.

"Fine."

"You're exhausted."

"I can keep going."

"You're slowing us down."

"Then leave me behind."

I growled in warning.

Both men looked at me.

I moved between them.

Daemon backed off.

"We need to rest," Claire said. "There's a cave system two miles north."

"How long can we stay?" Orion asked.

"A few hours."

We reached the caves as the sky darkened.

I collapsed near a fire.

Lily woke up. "Mom? You're still big."

I nodded.

"That's okay. I like you big."

She curled against my fur.

Kael sat beside me. "Thank you for not letting us fight."

I watched the fire.

"I know this is hard," he said. "But we'll figure it out. Together."

Dr. Helena appeared with her scanner. "I need to check Lily."

Kael moved Lily gently.

She scanned, then frowned.

"What?" Kael asked.

"Her power levels aren't just low. They're completely gone."

My wolf heart stopped.

"Will it come back?" Kael demanded.

"I don't know." Dr. Helena's hands shook. "She has no magic left."

"But she gave it all to save Sienna."

"Yes, and now she's powerless."

Nobody spoke.

Lily had saved my life but destroyed her own future.

A whistle cut through the silence.

Claire ran in. "Scouts just reported. The Assembly found us."

"How?" Daemon demanded.

"I don't know, but they're mobilizing. Hundreds coming from three directions."

"How long?"

"Two hours."

"We can't outrun them," Orion said.

"Then we fight," Daemon said.

"Against hundreds?" Kael shook his head.

I looked at Lily and stood.

"Wait." Daemon's voice was strange.

Everyone turned.

"There's something I need to tell you," he said. "Something I did."

"What?" Kael asked.

"I made a deal with the Assembly a week ago."

My wolf stomach dropped.

"What kind of deal?" Orion asked.

"I told them where to find Vera. Gave them her location."

"Why?" Kael's voice was deadly.

"Because they promised to leave Sienna alone. Said if I helped them catch Vera, they'd call off the hunt."

"And you believed them?"

"I wanted to protect her!"

"You gave them Vera to save Sienna?"

"Yes!"

"And they lied," I realized.

"They lied," Daemon confirmed. "They wanted both of you. I led them to Vera and she led them to us."

Kael moved fast.

His fist connected with Daemon's jaw.