The freezing river swallowed me whole.
The wound left by the silver dagger tore open again, my blood spreading rapidly through the water.
Cold. Pain. Suffocation. They crashed over me all at once, threatening to tear me apart.
Water flooded into my nose and mouth, my chest felt crushed under a massive weight, and my consciousness sank deeper and deeper into darkness.
But before I slipped completely into the dark, only one thought remained.
My child was still in their hands. I couldn't die.
But my body had clearly reached its limit. I could feel my life slipping away, little by little.
Just as my consciousness was about to fade completely, a low, fragile voice suddenly echoed from the depths of my soul.
"What happened?"
My lashes trembled, and a surge of uncontrollable joy filled my eyes.
"Nyra…"
The next second, my chest jolted violently as a powerful force burst out from within me.
A freezing force surged from the riverbed, ice forming inch by inch, spreading rapidly outward from beneath my feet.
My fading aura pulled back together into my body.
On the riverbank, the werewolves who had been about to leave suddenly stopped.
Someone spun around, fear trembling in his voice.
"Wait—what's going on?"
Frost had already spread across the river, white mist curling in the air as the entire surface froze at a visible speed.
"The river… it's freezing over?"
Before they could react, a deafening blast exploded.
The ice shattered, chunks blasting into the air.
The next moment, I was lifted by the force within me, rising slowly from the center of the frozen river.
In a nearby shed, the infant who had been fussing softly in the hay suddenly fell silent. The silver-white mark on his forehead glowed faintly under the moonlight, tightly linked to my power.
The werewolves who hadn't gone far turned deathly ashen, their knees buckling as they dropped to the ground.
Others instinctively backed away, cold sweat pouring down their foreheads.
"What kind of power is this?"
"What the hell is happening?"
The freezing mist obscured most of their vision, leaving them unable to see me clearly at the center.
The less they could see, the deeper their fear grew. They turned and ran, sprinting toward Kieran.
In the next instant, an even more terrifying presence descended.
At the edge of the darkness, pairs of silver beast eyes slowly lit up.
In moments, dozens of massive white wolves emerged from the night.
They didn't howl. They advanced in silence, perfectly in sync.
The Silvermoon Pack held their breath almost in unison. They could feel it clearly—these white wolves existed on an entirely different level.
The leading wolf stopped and slowly shifted back into human form.
He wore silver-patterned armor, his posture straight, his features sharp and unyielding.
He stood at the front, his gaze cutting past everyone to land directly on me. His voice was low, yet clear enough for all to hear.
"Audra…"
I stared at him, my breath catching for a moment.
It was Edmund. My brother.
He reached out to me, his voice softening.
"Come here."
Those two simple words nearly broke me.
When Kieran misunderstood me, when the entire Silvermoon Pack humiliated me, when I was treated like a slave—I never cried.
But now, just that two words from him brought everything crashing back.
I parted my lips, and after a long moment, finally forced out a hoarse sound.
"Edmund…"
The moment the word left my mouth, I nearly collapsed.
Edmund moved in a blur and caught me before I could fall. The moment his eyes fell on me, his grip tightened.
Only then did he truly see the state I was in.
Silver wounds still bled, whip marks layered across my body, my soaked clothes clinging tightly to my skin.
His expression darkened, little by little.
The last trace of warmth vanished from his ice-blue eyes, replaced by naked killing intent.
"Who did this?"
I didn't answer. I simply glanced toward the shed.
Edmund followed my gaze and understood instantly. He raised a hand. Two guards behind him shot forward instantly, heading straight for the shed.
Only then did the Silvermoon Pack snap back to reality.
Someone spoke with a trembling voice, "Who are you? This is Silvermoon Pack territory—"
Before he could finish, a single look from the White Wolf guard silenced him completely.
Edmund slowly turned, finally looking at the werewolves gathered by the river.
His expression was calm—almost cruel.
"Silvermoon Pack," he repeated quietly.
By then, the guards had already brought my child out of the shed. The tiny body was wrapped in a soft cloak, the silver-white mark on his forehead clearly visible under the moonlight.
Edmund's gaze lingered on the child for a moment, his eyes turning even colder.
The moonlight above suddenly intensified, and a higher-tier aura pressed down from afar, blanketing the entire Silvermoon Pack in an instant.
Every werewolf froze.
The moment the pressure descended, they understood—this was not something they could possibly stand against.
"Good."
Holding my weakened body, Edmund slowly swept his gaze across every face in the Silvermoon Pack.
"I'll remember every single one of you. And the Silvermoon Pack… it's time for it to disappear."
