Page 155 of Wrath

“What the hell happened?” Dad asked, echoing my own thoughts.

One second, I battled a grotesque creature with husks, horns, and papery yellow skin. The next, the monster was nothing butdust at my feet. Monsters everywhere had crumbled before my very eyes.

“Z must’ve done something. She must’ve stopped Aaliyah.” I fucking knew she could do it.

My mate was capable of anything—even defeating the devil herself.

Where was she?

Where were my brothers?

Worry for them eclipsed my relief at seeing my father unharmed. I stepped away and scanned the battlefield, praying that none of the bodies I saw on the ground weren’t anyone I knew. I didn’t think I could survive that.

Father must’ve seen the fear on my face—or maybe he knew me well enough to know that I couldn’t calm down until I ensured they were okay—because he gave my shoulder a squeeze.

“Go. Find them. I’ll take care of things here.”

He didn’t need to tell me twice.

In a blink, I allowed the shadows to engulf me, carrying me away. Everywhere I looked, I saw piles and piles of dust. Confused soldiers stood above them, frowns on their faces and their bloody weapons held at the ready, as if they half believed this was a trick. I couldn’t blame them.

Amongst the dust were bodies that I knew belonged to our warriors. As soon as I found Z and the others, we would need to make arrangements for all those who had fallen. They deserved to be honored and remembered for their sacrifices. We wouldn’t be like our fathers who used people as stepping stones to get ahead. Every nightmare and human who’d fought for us had a name, a story, and people who loved them.

A heavy weight settled in my chest at seeing the destruction firsthand.

So much death…

A roar scattered my thoughts, and I immediately shifted in the direction of the familiar sound.

Lupe.

I skirted the corner of the building, still obscured by the shadows, and arrived at an immense clearing.

Dozens and dozens of shifters attacked each other.

I sucked in a sharp, startled breath, unable to believe what I saw. I half wondered if this was another one of Aaliyah’s illusions. Maybe I hit my head and was seeing things. But no. I blinked, and the scene didn’t change.

I watched, horrified, as a tiger leapt at a horse, his fangs bared. The horse shifter whinnied and attempted to run away, but he was too slow. The large cat soon brought him down. Two wolves snarled at each other in the middle of the clearing, the larger one dancing forward before stealthily rolling away, just barely avoiding the bite of the second one.

A familiar vampire stood near the outskirts, her face pale.

“Mali!” I hurried forward and materialized beside her.

She jumped but didn’t pull her gaze away from the beast I knew was Atta, fighting what appeared to be a lion.

“What the fuck is going on?”

But even as I asked that question, I knew.

It was the same thing that had happened to me in the forest with Aaliyah, when I allowed my pride to overtake common sense.

Since the shifters hadn’t yet completed their trial, wrath consumed them. I could practically taste their anger in the air, a living, breathing entity.

Fear lacerated my chest, and I studied the clearing with newfound intensity, searching until I spotted a familiar bear.

Lupe.

He roared and swatted at the nearest tree, where an unfamiliar cat shifter perched on the branch, snarling.

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