Rising Storms

Heather’s POV

Steam clung to the air as I stepped out of the shower, my body clean but my soul still weighed down. Fresh clothes covered my skin, but I couldn’t shake the cold emptiness creeping inside me. Doctor Lilith stood waiting in the dim hallway outside the suite. Her voice, calm and steady, pierced the silence.

“You’re doing fine.”

“I am.” The words were a whisper, a lie I told myself more than her. My hand instinctively rested on my stomach. “How is the baby?”

“Healthy as a horse.” Her answer brought a flicker of relief, but it was fleeting. Whitney, my wolf, purred softly in my mind, momentarily easing the storm that churned inside me.

“Luna,” she continued with a warning edge in her tone, “you must be cautious. Fighting and using powerful abilities can put both you and the child at risk.”

I nodded, but guilt already gnawed at me. Caution? Could I even afford that luxury anymore?

“Heather!” Stella’s voice cut through my thoughts as she burst into the room, pulling me into a hug. Her warmth was grounding, but when we parted, I noticed the exhaustion etched into her face.

“Good to see you up and about,” she said, her voice strained but genuine.

Her expression shifted to something like admiration as she added, “Damon told me how you helped Kayden and him retrieve the key from those shadow creatures. I’m proud of you.”

I flushed at her words, though I barely remembered the details myself. The memory was a haze of screams, claws, and blood.

Damon walked in next, his commanding presence snapping me out of my thoughts. A pang of guilt hit me again—I should’ve been with Kayden.

“Hold it,” Damon barked as I reached out, ready to summon the vortex.

“Why?” I demanded, my voice sharper than I intended.

“You need to stay here,” he said, his eyes hard. “For your sake. For the child’s.”

“No!” The word tore from my throat, raw and defiant. “I have to go. Colt will kill Monica if I don’t give him the key. And Kayden… he’s fighting alone! I can’t leave him!”

Damon and Stella exchanged uneasy glances, and it was clear they didn’t fully understand the depth of what I was saying. My voice cracked as I poured out the events of the opera—the abduction, the screams, my mother’s lifeless body on the cold ground. My own brother had murdered her. My brother.

Tears stung my eyes, but I forced them back. “He wants the key,” I choked out. “He’ll unleash the Ravens. He won’t stop until we’re all dead.”

Stella reached for my hand, her grip gentle. “Heather,” she whispered, her voice thick with sympathy. “I’m so sorry. Losing your mother like that… it must be unbearable.”

I swallowed hard, refusing to let the grief consume me. There was no time for tears.

“Wait,” Damon muttered suddenly, his voice low and laced with tension. “Fuck.”

“What?” Stella and I both turned to him, dread sinking into my chest.

“Colt knows you better than we thought,” Damon said, his face darkening. “He must’ve predicted you’d tell Kayden the truth. Monica… I think she’s part of this. She’s working with him.”

“No!” My denial was immediate, desperate. “She’d never betray me! She’s just a pawn—Colt’s using her to get the upper hand!”

Damon shook his head grimly. “You don’t understand. Colt’s attack on the pack isn’t just brute force. It’s strategy. He’s been playing this game for a long time.”

Before I could respond, a blast of magic shot toward us, the air crackling with its deadly intent. Stella reacted instantly, raising a

barrier that deflected the attack. My heart raced as I turned toward the source of the spell.

Colt.

He stood where Doctor Lilith had been just moments ago, his disguise shedding like a snake’s skin.

“Clever, Alpha Damon,” Colt said with a smirk that twisted my stomach.

Damon growled, his voice a low, dangerous hiss. “Why don’t you fight me like a man, you coward?”

“Not today,” Colt sneered. “I’ve got bigger plans. And right now…” His crimson eyes locked on me, freezing me in place. “I’m here for my dear sister.”

Before I could react, a blinding light engulfed me. When it faded, I found myself standing in the heart of Night Moon Pack territory.

Colt loomed beside me, his sinister grin never faltering.

“What do you want now?” I demanded, my voice shaking with equal parts anger and fear. “I got the key for you. Isn’t that enough?”

Colt chuckled darkly. “Oh, Heather,” he said, his tone dripping with mockery. “You really think I told you the whole truth? How adorably naïve.”

My blood ran cold. “What are you talking about?”

With a snap of his fingers, Monica appeared. Her smile—once warm and full of friendship—was now a cruel, twisted mockery of the woman I thought I knew.

“Monica?” I whispered, the betrayal cutting deeper than any blade.

“You bitch!” I screamed, slapping her hard across the face. She retaliated, her hand swinging toward me, but I caught her wrist, twisting it until she winced in pain. My heart raced, fury and sorrow battling for control as I kicked her away.

Colt only laughed, the sound grating and cold. With a flick of his wrist, strings of magic shot from his hands. Suddenly, soldiers surrounded me, their grips like iron as they pinned me to the ground.

Colt leaned in, his red eyes boring into mine. “Oh, dear sister. The key is just the beginning. To open the vortex, I need Xael’s power. And once I kill your mate…”

My heart stopped. “No!” I screamed, tears spilling over despite my best efforts to stay strong. “You won’t touch him!”

Colt’s smirk widened. “Watch me.”

I thrashed against the soldiers holding me, my eyes darting frantically as Kayden’s unconscious form was dragged into view. Harris and Merina were the ones carrying him. My stomach churned as I realized Merina’s expression wasn’t vacant like Harris’s. She wasn’t under a spell. She was… happy.

“Kayden!” I screamed, my voice raw with desperation. “Please, wake up!”

Colt laughed cruelly. “He can’t hear you, Heather. But don’t worry—Merina will take your place as my Luna.”

I watched in horror as Merina walked to Colt, her smile sickeningly sweet. She kissed him, letting him mark her as his mate. My stomach turned, bile rising in my throat at the sight.

Kayden’s body was limp, lifeless. Wolfbane. I could smell it on him, feel its poison in the air. I tried to summon my powers, but nothing came. The medicine from the hotel… I hadn’t realized it was laced with wolfbane. My own carelessness was costing me everything.

Colt’s voice cut through my despair. “Say goodbye to him, Heather. Your mate dies now.”

“No!” I screamed, my voice breaking as Colt raised his hand for the killing blow.

But then, a sudden wind tore through the clearing, howling like a feral beast. From the vortex, a hand emerged, stopping Colt’s attack mid-strike.