Free Web NovelChapter 44: Warning Signs
The demon activity started three days after the ceremony which was approximately two weeks earlier than anyone had predicted and also deeply inconvenient timing given we were still figuring out how to coordinate five different faction fighting styles into something resembling a unified defense.
Marcus brought the news during what was supposed to be a routine strategy meeting, which meant I was mid-bite of a sandwich I didn’t want when he dropped "Eastern border scouts detected movement" and suddenly eating was the last thing on my mind.
"How much movement?" Kael was already standing, already shifting into Alpha King mode where his voice went flat and dangerous.
"Enough." Marcus pulled up images on the screen and okay yeah that was definitely demon-spawn, at least six of them, moving in patterns that looked coordinated. "They’re not attacking yet. Just watching. Testing defenses."
"How is it recovering this fast?" Because three days ago Morgana had told me weeks or months and now we were looking at organized scouting parties less than a week later. "She said—you said it would take longer."
"It’s feeding." Draven’s voice was clinical but I caught his concern through the bond. "Consuming smaller supernatural creatures to accelerate healing. Standard demon recovery strategy."
Oh good. Standard. Great. Love that the demon had a whole recovery playbook and we were just figuring this out now.
"What’s it consuming?" The question came out sharper than I meant because if the demon was killing things to heal itself that meant more deaths I couldn’t prevent.
"Feral wolves. Rogue vampires. Unaligned witches." Marcus scrolled through reports. "Nothing we can stop without declaring war on every supernatural creature in a hundred-mile radius."
So we just had to watch it get stronger and hope we could prepare fast enough to matter when it finally attacked.
Fantastic plan. Very sustainable.
Through the alliance bond I felt the collective unease of two hundred people responding to my anxiety and tried to push calm I didn’t remotely feel.
"How long until it’s ready to attack again?" Riven’s voice stayed level, patient, but I caught his worry bleeding through.
"Days." Morgana appeared in the doorway with her tablet. "A week at most. It’s healing faster than the previous Hybrid Queen’s records indicated."
Previous Hybrid Queen. Right. The one who failed to unite the factions and died three hundred years ago. Great precedent.
"Then we accelerate training." Kael’s voice left no room for argument. "Selene, you’re working with Morgana on hybrid magic control. The visiting packs drill with ours on coordinated attacks. Vampires and witches run defense scenarios."
More training. More preparation. More trying to cram weeks of practice into days because the demon didn’t care about our timeline.
My thumbnail found my finger and I was notching through skin before I registered what I was doing, and when Draven caught my hand I couldn’t even be embarrassed because everyone in this room had watched me nearly die a week ago so clearly coping mechanisms were irrelevant.
"Meeting adjourned." Kael’s voice cut through whatever else people were about to say. "We reconvene in six hours with updated defensive positions."
Everyone filed out and I just sat there staring at the images of demon-spawn circling our borders and trying to figure out how I was supposed to get stronger fast enough to matter.
"You’re catastrophizing again." Thorne’s rough voice pulled me back.
"I’m being realistic." The distinction was getting blurrier. "The demon’s healing faster than expected. We have days to prepare for a fight we barely survived last time. That’s not catastrophizing, that’s just math."
"Math doesn’t account for you being stronger now than you were a week ago." Riven sat beside me. "You’ve been training with Morgana every day. Your hybrid magic is more controlled."
"Controlled enough to not accidentally kill our own people." The bar was so low it was underground. "That’s not the same as being strong enough to actually kill the demon."
"Then we make you strong enough." Kael’s voice was firm. Certain. "Starting now."
Now turned out to mean the training yard where Morgana had set up a whole new array of crystals that pulsed with light I could see even in afternoon sun, and when I stepped into the circle the alliance bond flared so bright I actually gasped.
"The binding amplifies your power." Morgana gestured to the crystals. "Now you’re not just pulling from four bonds. You’re pulling from two hundred."
Two hundred. Two hundred people’s strength feeding into my hybrid magic.
The thought was terrifying and also kind of incredible.
"How do I—" I didn’t know how to finish the question because pulling from four bonds was already overwhelming and adding two hundred seemed impossible.
"Same principle as before." She handed me the black crystal. "Channel emotion. Aim intent. The alliance bond will regulate how much power you draw so you don’t burn out."
Right. Simple. Just channel emotion while tapping into two hundred supernatural connections and hope I didn’t accidentally set something on fire.
I closed my eyes and reached for the rage that was always easiest to access—rage at the demon for killing people, at myself for not being stronger faster, at the prophecy for existing—and pushed it into the crystal.
The explosion was bigger than anything I’d managed before.
The crystal didn’t just shatter, it vaporized, and the wave of power that rolled outward knocked over three of the surrounding crystals and sent cracks spider-webbing through the training yard ground.
"Good." Morgana sounded satisfied. "Again. But this time control the spread. Aim it at one target instead of everything around you."
We trained for three hours and by the end I could channel alliance-amplified hybrid magic without destroying everything in a ten-foot radius, which felt like progress until I remembered the demon would absolutely be within ten feet when we fought and collateral damage wasn’t an option.
Through the bonds I felt all four alphas responding to my exhaustion—Kael’s concern, Riven’s patience, Draven’s clinical assessment, Thorne’s feral approval that I was still standing.
"Tomorrow we practice combat application." Morgana made notes on her tablet. "You need to be able to use this while moving and defending and bleeding."
Tomorrow. Another day of training. Another day closer to the demon being ready to attack.
Another day to try becoming strong enough to keep everyone alive.
I made it back to our room—because apparently Kael’s room was just "our room" now—and collapsed on the bed without bothering to take off my boots. freewebnovёl.ƈom
Through Thorne’s bond I felt him coming before he knocked, and when he entered I didn’t have the energy to sit up, just lay there trying to remember how to breathe normally.
"You’re pushing too hard." He sat on the edge of the bed.
"I’m pushing exactly as hard as I need to." The words came out muffled against the pillow. "The demon’s coming in days. I need to be ready."
"You’ll burn out before it gets here." Simple. Direct. Probably true.
"Then I’ll burn out fighting." I rolled over to look at him. "At least that way I tried."
His hand found my ankle—grounding, possessive—and through the bond I felt his frustration that I wouldn’t slow down mixing with pride that I was trying at all.
"Rest tonight." Not a suggestion. "Fight tomorrow."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to point out that resting meant wasting time we didn’t have.
But my body was already shutting down and arguing seemed exhausting so I just nodded and let him pull me against his chest while exhaustion dragged me under.
Tomorrow we’d prepare more.
Tomorrow we’d train harder.
Tomorrow we’d hope it was enough.
