Chapter 288

• Leah's POV
• I stepped out of Redwood Mansion, the heavy doors groaning shut behind me like a beast drawing its last ragged breath. The moon hung low and vicious in the sky, its bloody light spilling over the battlefield, painting the carnage in shades of rust and shadow. The air reeked of death - smoke curling thick and acrid, blood pooling in the dirt, the metallic tang clawing at my throat. Before me, the crowd shuffled through the wreckage, their faces hollowed out by exhaustion, hands stained red as they hauled bodies and hacked at the earth. Some wailed, others worked in silence, but all moved like ghosts trapped in a nightmare they couldn't wake from. My hand drifted to my swollen belly, fingers trembling against the faint kick of life inside me. It was the only thing tethering me to this fucked-up world.
• A sudden blur of motion snapped my head up, and I froze as two massive shapes lunged out of the haze. Direwolves - huge, hulking bastards with eyes like burning coals - landed in front of me, their claws gouging the blood-soaked ground. My heart slammed against my ribs, a scream catching in my throat as I stumbled back, one arm curling protectively over my stomach. For a heartbeat, I saw only teeth and menace, my pulse roaring in my ears, sweat prickling down my spine.