Chapter 328: A Morvaine Witch Attacked The Estate

Lucian reached her first.

"Lilith...."

"I hurt them," she whispered. "I hurt her. I used magic I don’t even understand and I...." Her voice broke. "What if I had hit you instead? What if my power had gone toward you and Callum and..."

"You didn’t," Lucian said firmly. He grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him.

"You protected us. Your power knew the difference between threat and pack. You didn’t hurt us."

"But I could have," Lilith said. "I’m getting stronger and I don’t know how to control it and what if next time..."

The bond between her and Nicholas suddenly flared with alarm so intense it made her gasp.

He felt the attack. Even hours away, he felt it through the connection.

And he was coming back.

Callum moved to the broken doors and looked out at the grounds. Bodies of dark creatures lay scattered across the lawn....some killed by the Betas, some killed by Lilith’s power.

"We need to secure the perimeter," Callum said. "Make sure they’re really gone. Finn, Eli...with me. We sweep the territory."

"What about the Alphas?" Finn asked.

"They’re already on their way back," Lucian said. "I can feel Kael and Rhen in the bond. They’re running. They’ll be here within a few hours."

The three Betas headed outside, leaving Lucian and Lilith alone in the destroyed hall.

Lilith looked down at her hands. They had stopped glowing but she could still feel the power humming just beneath her skin. Stronger than it had been this morning. Stronger than it had been yesterday.

Growing.

"The curse is feeding my magic," she said quietly. "Isn’t it? The more the curse grows inside me, the more powerful I become."

"I don’t know," Lucian admitted.

"That woman....Thalia, she called me cousin. She’s family." Lilith looked up at him with tears burning in her eyes. "How many more of them are out there? How many more Morvaines survived the attack that I don’t know about?"

"Victoria will know," Lucian said. "When she gets here, we’ll ask her."

"If she gets here before Thalia comes back." Lilith wrapped her arms around herself. "That witch wants to use me. Wants to use my bond manipulation powers to ’reshape the world.’ What does that even mean?"

"Nothing good," Lucian said grimly.

Through the bonds, Lilith could feel Nicholas and Sebastian getting closer. Could feel their panic and rage and absolute determination to get back to her as fast as physically possible.

They would be here soon.

And then she would have to tell them about Thalia. About another threat. About the fact that she was not just caught between the Alphas and Victoria anymore.

There was a third player in this game.

And unlike Victoria who wanted to save her, Thalia wanted to use her.

***

Lilith looked at the destruction around them....the broken doors, the scorched floor, the bodies outside and felt the weight of everything crushing down on her.

The curse inside her growing stronger.

Her power exploding beyond her control.

Her aunt’s deadline expiring in hours.

And now a corrupted Morvaine witch who wanted to turn her into a weapon.

How much more could she survive before something broke?

She didn’t know.

But she was terrified she was about to find out.

***

Nicholas’s POV

Kael ran faster than he had ever run in his life.

The bond with Lilith had exploded with terror and power and pain all at once.....a surge so violent it had nearly knocked Nicholas out of his shift mid-stride. He had felt her fear. Felt her magic erupt. Felt the echo of an attack that should not have been possible with the estate’s wards intact.

Someone had broken through.

Someone had attacked while he and Sebastian were gone.

And Lilith had been forced to defend herself.

"Faster,"Nicholas pushed through the mindlink to Sebastian.

"I’m trying," Rhen responded. "We’re still two hours out."

Too long. Two hours was too long when Lilith was in danger.

Through the bond Nicholas could feel her now...alive, terrified, overwhelmed but unharmed. Lucian was with her. The Betas were securing the perimeter. The immediate threat had passed.

But something had changed. Something in Lilith felt different through the connection. Sharper. Brighter. Like her power had grown exponentially in the hours since they left.

"What happened back there?" Sebastian asked.

"I don’t know. But we’re about to find out."Nicholas replied.

They ran.

***

*One hour and forty-seven minutes later*

Kael burst through the tree line at the eastern edge of the estate and stopped cold.

The grounds were destroyed.

Bodies of dark creatures lay scattered across the lawn....twisted things that looked like corrupted wolves, their corpses already dissolving into black smoke. Scorch marks scarred the grass in patterns that suggested massive magical explosions. And the front doors of the estate were completely gone, just empty frames leading into darkness.

"What the fuck,"Rhen said beside him.

Nicholas shifted back to human form and ran for the house, not bothering with clothes. Sebastian was right behind him, both of them moving on pure instinct and desperation.

They found Lucian in the main hall.

Their youngest brother was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, his hands bloody and his face exhausted. When he saw them, something like relief flashed across his expression.

"You’re back," Lucian said.

"What happened?" Nicholas demanded. "Who attacked? Where’s Lilith?"

"Upstairs. In her room with Agnes and Sera. She’s safe." Lucian pushed himself to his feet with visible effort. "But we have a problem."

"Tell me."

"A Morvaine witch attacked the estate. Not Victoria. Someone else. She called herself Thalia Morvaine and claimed to be Lilith’s cousin."

Nicholas felt ice slide down his spine. "Victoria said the coven was destroyed. Everyone dead except her and Cassandra."

"Apparently not," Lucian said grimly. "This witch....Thalia....she survived the attack fifteen years ago. She’s been in hiding. Tracking Lilith. Waiting for her powers to awaken."

"Why?" Sebastian asked.

"Because she wants to use Lilith’s bond manipulation abilities for something." Lucian’s jaw tightened. "She said she’s going to ’reshape the world’ with Lilith’s power. Turn her into a weapon."

Nicholas felt Kael surge forward with rage. "And you let her escape?"