“My leg!!”
Uncle David had a massive male wolf clamped onto his calf. He let out a scream and passed out.
Aunt Helen’s ski suit was shredded by claws. Terrified, she sobbed uncontrollably.
I shielded Margaret behind me, flailing a dead branch, but I was hopelessly outmatched.
No—if this kept up, everyone would die.
In desperation, my fingers brushed the lighter I’d just used to light a senior’s cigarette. I hurled it to Lily with the last of my strength.
“Lily Parker, light the branches—fire will scare the wolves!”
Lily was quick-witted. Hands shaking, she set a bundle of twigs alight. The feeble flames pushed back several wolves that were closing in.
I stripped off my already-torn ski jacket and wrapped Margaret, who was shivering violently.
“Mom, I’ll draw them away. You find a place to hide!”
Margaret grabbed me, yanked off the necklace she never took off, and shoved it into my hand.
“Be careful—on that clearing over there, press the gemstone to summon the Thunder Squad!”
I understood. Margaret would never use this necklace unless we had no other choice.
I clenched the pendant, tore open my wound, and used the smell of blood to lure the wolves as I ran deeper into the resort.
The people in the helicopter noticed where I was going.
“Ethan, Rachel ran off and left them! Knew she was ungrateful!”
“Ethan, don’t let her escape, or we won’t be able to clean this up!”
Only Sophie coiled around Ethan like a viper.
“What are you all worried about? Ethan already has a plan.”
Ethan took a drag on his cigarette and checked his watch.
“Just about time to finish the game.”
I’d nearly burned through every ounce of strength when I staggered into the clearing.
I slammed my thumb onto the cold gem on the necklace.
“Boom!”
A blinding red flare soared into the sky and burst into a shower of brilliant sparks.
Everyone in the helicopter froze.
“W-what is that?”
The smile on Ethan’s face went rigid.
“A Thunder flare?! How does she have that? That’s my mom’s—”
A horrifying thought shot through his mind.
If he remembered right, his mother always wore that necklace.
Could the woman in the snow calling him “son” actually be…
A chill raced down his spine. He fumbled for his phone and dialed his mother.
No one picked up.
Sophie immediately pressed close.
“Don’t scare yourself. Margaret can’t be here—doesn’t she have snow blindness?”
“Rachel must have stolen her necklace to spook us!”
“Right—Mom has snow blindness.”
Relieved, he exhaled.
“Rachel almost had me again. I nearly fell for it.”
Meanwhile, on the top floor of a Corporate Headquarters in Manhattan, William Parker was reviewing documents when a violent jolt of dread hit him. His custom pen slipped from his fingers and landed with a soft thud on the expensive carpet.
At that exact moment, his assistant burst in, face drained of color, voice shaking.
“Mr. Parker! Bad news—M-Madam just activated the Thunder Order!”
“What?”
William shot to his feet, his face turning paper-white.
As New York City’s wealthiest family, the Parker Family had a century-old pact with an elite private security force—the Thunder Squad.
Each Head of the Family could invoke the Squad’s protection only once in a lifetime.
Unless it was an existential threat to the family, the Order must never be used.
It was the life-saving trump card he had given his wife years ago.
