Alex, closer to safety, but his goal had become the tree. He had to touch the bark, connect to the spirit that had guided him, and with that thought in mind, he found the strength to move beyond his father.
He felt the roots beneath his feet and drew the energy into his body. Reached out and touched the rough bark and the Mother answered his call. Her power rushed back into him, filling him with energy so pure, so powerful that his body glowed.
Brighter, as more power flowed into him. He felt the Mother, and the goddess Eve, and as Aldo’s wards began to fail, the energy from the Chanku pack flew into him, and all of it was tempered by his love for Lily. He pressed himself against the trunk, drawing even more into himself. Wolves burst out of the surrounding forest, more than he’d realized were even nearby. The six massive rogue wolves leapt into battle, and the others still in human form drew guns. One grabbed Sebastian around the neck and pressed the barrel of a handgun to his temple.
“Don’t kill him. Not this way.” Aldo rushed the rogue and shoved the gun away. “He’s mine. His energy is mine. His immortal spirit is mine.”
He shoved Sebastian against the tree and strengthened the spell that was barely holding him, but that was exactly what Sebastian needed. The Mother was there, strong and giving, her energy passing through the bark, through the life-giving roots, filling Sebastian, drawing power from the rocks and the nearby stream, pulling it from the moon overhead, and sucking it out of Aldo Xenakis.
Sebastian felt his father’s spell slough away like so much dead skin.
A fierce battle raged all around. All twelve of the rogue wolves had shifted, so that their numbers were almost evenly matched, but in size and strength the rogues had the edge.
Lily went down, a huge wolf at her throat, while Alex and his father fought off a pair who’d gone after Annie. Sebastian shoved Aldo, and the man stumbled, but then he pulled a long silver blade from the sleeve of his robe and rushed Sebastian.
Sebastian had barely a second to call on the Mother, to raise his hand to the nighttime sky and pull down the lightning. A single bolt of immense power and energy flashed out of the clear, moonlit sky.
A single bolt that struck Aldo Xenakis dead center in the middle of his chest. He’d not even fallen before the massive burst of energy grounded itself in Sebastian, standing his hair on end and sparking off his skin in crackling sparks of blue and gold.
Then it flashed from one rogue to another, too fast for the eye to follow so that only the afterimage burned into sensitive eyes told the story. Xenakis was dead before his body fell, a look of absolute disbelief on his face, that his son should have such power.
Before he hit the ground, lightning had speared each of the rogues. They died where they stood, falling so fast they made no sound. Unlike a dying Chanku shapeshifter who would return to human form, these creatures died as wolves, proof they were closer to their feral roots than the human side. Their bodies lay scattered across the ridge. Smoke drifted lazily from each, and the stench of ozone and burning hair and flesh polluted the air.
It was a small victory at a terrible cost. Sebastian didn’t even glance at his father. Instead he leapt over the man’s body, ran directly to Lily, and knelt beside her.
She lay in the torn dirt, still in her wolven form; her attacker sprawled beside her, dead. Lily’s throat was torn and bleeding, but her eyes were open. As he knelt there, feeling helpless and afraid, Lily shifted, but she didn’t try to speak. He carefully lifted her in his arms and held her against his chest.
Anton? We need help. Healers, now. Xenakis and the rogues are dead, but Lily’s badly injured. I don’t know how many others are hurt. Help us.
He felt a warm hand clasp his shoulder and glanced up. Anton stood beside him, covered in sweat and blood. “We’re here. Adam, Logan, and Liana are working on the most seriously injured. Liana will be here to help Lily in just a few minutes.”
He knelt beside Sebastian and took his daughter’s hand. “Hell of a fight, sweetheart. I know it hurts, but the bastard missed the artery. Just hang on and think about this man you