Alaric shoved them through a hidden door behind the groundskeeper's shed.
They stumbled into the rose garden proper. The night air hit Selene's face like a slap. Thick with smoke. Choking.
The manor's east wing was fully engulfed now. Flames reached toward the sky like grasping fingers. Orange light turned everything hellish. Shadows danced across the familiar paths where Selene had played just hours ago.
A lifetime ago.
Her beautiful home was dying. Burning. Becoming a funeral pyre.
"Keep moving!" Alaric's voice was ragged. Blood soaked his shirt from the wound in his side.
Selene clutched Isolde's hand. Both of them sobbing. Tears mixing with soot on their faces.
Her little sister's fingers were ice cold despite the heat from the fires.
"I want Mama," Isolde whimpered. "I want Papa."
Selene couldn't answer. Her throat was too tight. The words wouldn't come.
Both dead. Both gone. The knowledge sat in her chest like a stone.
"We need to reach the forest." Alaric looked around, but something in his movements seemed strange. Almost like he was searching for something. Someone. "I can get you to safety. I know people. People who can hide you."
"What about you?" Selene's voice came out broken.
"I'll find you later. I promise. But right now we just need to run."
He grabbed their hands and pulled them forward.
They ran through the garden. Past the marble fountain where Isolde loved to play. Past the rose trellises their mother had tended every morning. Past the stone bench where their father read them stories.
Everything familiar. Everything now lit by firelight and painted with destruction.
Isolde stumbled.
She went down hard, her dress catching on a thorny rose bush.
"Ow!" She tried to stand but the fabric held her.
"I've got you." Selene pulled at the dress, tearing it free. Thorns scratched her hands. She didn't care.
She hauled Isolde to her feet.
Behind them, growls erupted from the darkness.
Not human voices. Wolf voices.
Selene spun. Her heart hammered against her ribs.
Soldiers poured into the garden. But not in human form anymore.
They'd shifted. Five massive wolves. Battle-scarred. Armored collars around their necks. Eyes reflecting the firelight like demons.
They spread out, surrounding the garden exits.
Hunting.
"The wall!" Alaric pulled them toward the outer wall. Ten feet of stone. Meant to keep intruders out.
Now it trapped them in.
But maybe they could climb it. Maybe if they were fast enough...
A wolf leaped into their path. Snarling. Blocking the way.
Alaric shifted without hesitation. His clothes shredded. His brown wolf form emerged, smaller than the soldiers but fierce.
He threw himself at the blocking wolf.
They collided in a tangle of fur and fangs. Snapping. Clawing.
But the soldier wolf barely fought back. Its attacks were half-hearted. Like it was... stalling.
Waiting for something.
"Run!" Alaric's mental voice hit Selene's mind. "Get to the wall!"
She pulled Isolde forward. They scrambled toward the stone wall.
Selene's fingers found handholds. She started to climb. "Come on, Isolde! Climb!"
Her sister grabbed the wall but her hands were too small. Too weak. She couldn't get purchase.
"I can't! Selene, I can't do it!"
Behind them, the fight between Alaric and the soldier suddenly stopped.
Both wolves separated. Circled. But didn't attack.
Selene dropped back down. Grabbed Isolde. "I'll boost you. On three. One... two..."
Shapes emerged from the shadows.
Not the armored soldiers.
Something else.
Figures in dark cloaks. Wolves in human form, but their faces were hidden behind masks. Blank. Expressionless.
They moved with eerie purpose. Silent. Coordinated.
The soldier wolves backed away. Making space. Like they'd been expecting this.
The masked figures didn't join the fight.
They came straight for the girls.
Alaric shifted back to human. "No. Not yet. I need more time..."
His words were barely a whisper. Selene almost didn't hear them.
More time for what?
One of the masked wolves turned to look at Alaric. Gave a slight nod.
Alaric's face twisted with something that looked like pain. Or guilt. But he didn't move to help.
"Alaric!" Selene screamed.
He stood frozen. Watching.
The masked wolves surrounded Selene and Isolde. A perfect circle. No escape.
One stepped forward. Taller than the others. His cloak was darkest black.
When he spoke, his voice was cold. Empty of all emotion.
"The marked one. Show me."
Another masked wolf grabbed Selene's chin. Tilted her head roughly toward the firelight.
The crimson crescent moon brand glowed on her forehead.
"This one," the man confirmed.
The leader nodded. "Good. The orders were clear. Kill all Eltharions. No witnesses. No survivors."
He looked at Isolde. Then back at Selene.
"Both of them."
"No!" Selene's wolf surged inside her. Desperate. Terrified. Trying to emerge.
Her bones began to crack. The shift starting.
But she was too young. Ten years old. The transformation wouldn't complete.
Her body seized between forms. Human and wolf fighting for dominance.
Pain ripped through her. She screamed.
The masked leader watched with cold interest. "So the prophecy is real. The mark strengthens her wolf even this young."
He turned to his companions.
"Change of plans. Take the marked one. She may be useful. Kill the other."
"NO!" Selene tried to stand. Her legs wouldn't hold her.
Rough hands grabbed Isolde.
Her little sister screamed. "SELENE! SELENE HELP ME!"
Isolde fought. Kicked. Clawed. But she was seven years old against full-grown wolves.
They lifted her like she weighed nothing.
"Let her go!" Selene crawled forward. Her whole body shook from the failed shift. "Please! She's just a child! She hasn't done anything!"
"Alaric, help us!" Isolde's voice was pure terror. "Please!"
Selene looked at her brother.
He stood at the edge of the garden. Blood on his skin. Face twisted with emotion.
But he didn't move.
Didn't shift.
Didn't fight.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. So quiet Selene barely heard. "I'm so sorry. But this is the only way."
The only way for what?
"SELENE!" Isolde's scream tore through the night. "SELENE PLEASE!"
They dragged her toward the darkness beyond the garden. Toward the forest.
Selene tried to stand. Tried to run after them.
Her legs gave out. She hit the ground hard.
"ISOLDE!"
Her sister's screams echoed. Getting farther away. Fading into the burning night.
The masked leader turned back to Selene. "You're coming with us. There are those who want to meet the marked one. To decide what to do with you."
"No no no no..." Selene clawed at the ground. Trying to crawl toward where they'd taken Isolde.
Alaric was suddenly there. Grabbing her. Pulling her toward the groundskeeper's shed.
"What are you doing?" she sobbed. "They have Isolde! We have to save her!"
"You can't save her." His voice was hollow. Dead. "It's too late."
"You didn't even try to help! You just stood there!"
He shoved her into the shed. It was tiny. Dark. Smelling of soil and old tools.
"I couldn't help. There were too many of them."
"You're lying!" Selene's voice broke. "You knew them! I saw you! That one nodded at you!"
Alaric's face was in shadow. She couldn't read his expression.
"Hide here. Don't move. Don't make a sound."
"Isolde..."
"Your sister is gone, Selene. I'm sorry. But you're still alive. And I'm going to keep you that way."
He pressed something into her hand. Cold metal. A knife.
"If the soldiers find you before I get back, use this. Aim for the throat."
"Where are you going?"
"To make sure those masked ones leave. To convince them you escaped into the forest so they stop searching."
Then he was gone. Slipping back out into the burning night.
Selene huddled in the darkness. The knife clutched in her shaking hands.
Outside, she heard voices. Alaric speaking to someone.
"The marked girl got away. Ran into the forest. You'll never track her in the dark."
A cold voice answered. The masked leader. "She's ten years old and terrified. She won't get far."
"Then search the forest. I'll stay here. Make sure she doesn't circle back."
Footsteps. Moving away. Heading toward the trees.
Where they'd taken Isolde.
Selene pressed her hand over her mouth. Holding back sobs.
Something was wrong. Something beyond the massacre. Beyond the horror.
Alaric knew those masked wolves.
He'd said he needed more time.
He'd apologized before they took Isolde.
And now he was sending them away. Protecting Selene.
Why?
Outside, soldiers searched the grounds. Their voices carried through the thin walls.
"Any sign of the Eltharion children?"
"The masked ones took care of it. Both dead."
"You're sure?"
"I saw the bodies myself."
Lies. Selene was alive. But they were telling the soldiers she was dead.
The mark on her forehead burned. A constant reminder.
This was her fault.
All of it.
Her parents dead.
Isolde taken.
Because of a mark she didn't ask for.
She pressed her forehead against the rough wood of the shed wall.
And prayed to the Moon Goddess that somehow, impossibly, Alaric would find Isolde alive.
But deep in her heart, where her wolf whimpered and cowered, Selene already knew the truth.
Isolde's screams had stopped.
And the silence that followed told her everything.