One Night
One Night 236

Chapter 236

Edwin

I watched in horror as the silver arrow tore through the air. Time slowed, and those moments felt like an eternity.

My body froze, every muscle locked in place by the icy grip of impending death. There was no escape. This was it. This was how I would die.

But in the blink of an eye, a blur of black and silver darted in front of me.

Audrey.

“No!” The scream tore from my throat, raw and broken, but I was too late.

The arrow struck her with a sickening thud, driving deep into her chest. The force of the blow sent her flying backwards, her body crumpling into a heap on the snowy forest floor.

The world around me dissolved into chaos, but it was distant, m***d, drowned out by the frantic beating of my heart.

No. Not again. I can’t lose her again.

“Audrey!” I roared as I leaped to my feet and stumbled to her side. My knees hit the ground hard, pain barking through my body, but I barely noticed. All I noticed was my mate’s limp body, curled up in the snow.

You idiot!” Axel snarled, whirling on Fiona. “You weren’t supposed to hit her!”

“Me?” Fiona’s shrill voice cut through the air. “It was your idea to shoot him to begin with! We had her, we-we could have just left!”

I blocked them out, my world shrinking to the figure laying in front of me. My hands shook uncontrollably as I reached for her and gently rolled her onto her back, terrified that her light had already gone out.

“Audrey,” I whispered, barely able to get her name past the tightness in my throat. “Audrey…”

Her eyes fluttered open, just a fraction, and for a split second, hope surged through me, a wild, desperate thing. But then my

gaze

fell to the arrow embedded in her chest, its gleaming shaft a cruel reminder of reality.

“No, no, no…” I muttered, panic setting in as I fumbled with her shirt, trying to see the extent of the damage.

I yanked the fabric aside, bracing myself for the sight of torn flesh, of blood staining her skin.

But what I saw… I never expected it.

There was nothing.

No blood, no wound.

Her skin was smooth, unmarked, as if the arrow had never pierced her at all. I blinked, my brain struggling to comprehend what I was seeing.

The arrowhead was shattered, the silver fragments scattered, broken against her as if they had struck steel instead of flesh. Audrey’s eyes met mine, and to my astonishment, a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She winked up at me. Alive. She was alive. And lucid enough to wink.

“How…?” I breathed, my fingers running over where her wound should have been.

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08.25 Sat,

Chapter 236

But she shook her head, just a tiny movement, her eyes flicking toward Axel and Fiona as a silent warning rippled through

the bond.

They didn’t know. We had an advantage.

1 bit back my surprise, forcing my expression instead into one of anguish.

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“Charles!” I shouted, letting the raw terror that had gripped me moments before flood my voice once again. “She’s dead! Kill them!!”

Within seconds, Charles was at my side again in his wolf form, his teeth bared in a snarl. I saw his eyes momentarily widen as he saw Audrey alive and breathing. It didn’t take him long to realize what was happening.

A low growl erupted from my chest then, vibrating through my entire body. In an instant, I was on my feet, muscles coiled as I turned to face my brother.

“You killed my mate,” I lied, forcing every bit of fury I could muster into my voice. “You killed the Silver Star. You’re going to pay.”

Axel’s and Fiona’s eyes widened in tandem. Around us, the rogues who had been closing in began to back away, murmuring amongst themselves.

Before Axel could utter a word, I lunged, my body shifting mid-leap.

I crashed into Axel, knocking him off his feet with the force of a freight train. But he shifted beneath me, his own wolf form taking over his body before I could injure him.

The battle erupted around us, the clearing descending into chaos as Charles engaged Fiona, their bodies a blur of fangs and claws. Some of the more daring rogues surged forward, but Charles and I fought the first wave off easily, causing the rest to cower in terror near the treeline, unsure of what to do.

No. This was between us-me, Charles, Axel, and Fiona. Not them. Not yet, anyway.

Axel fought dirty, as always. But I was fueled by something far more potent than his desire for power. My need to protect Audrey. My mate.

I dodged my brother’s claws, ducking low and ramming my shoulder into his chest with enough force to send him staggering backwards. While he was stunned, I lunged again, this time sinking my teeth into his throat.

His blood filled my mouth, bitter and metallic.

I could end it. Right now. One quick twist and it would all be over. Axel would never threaten us again.

But a memory stopped me in my tracks. A memory of us as pups, rolling in the grass, his laughter ringing out as I pinned him down. Back when things were still good, before it all went wrong. Before our parents ripped us all apart and sowed the seeds of hatred and jealousy.

For just a moment, I hesitated. That hesitation cost me.

Axel wrenched free, scrambling back with a snarl.

Across the clearing, I saw Charles holding Fiona down, her eyes wide with terror. But like me, he also hadn’t delivered the killing blow just yet. Our eyes met, and in that silent moment, we understood each other.

We couldn’t do it. We wouldn’t become like them.

“Enough!” I roared, shifting back into my human form. “Stand down!”

Axel laughed as he shifted too, but it was a bitter, hollow sound. Weak, Edwin. So weak. Whatever happened to the young

Chapter 236

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fighter who shattered that kid’s eye socket?”

I clenched my teeth. “He’s always here, waiting,” I snarled. “Stand down now, and I’ll show you mercy. But if you don’t, then maybe I’ll let him loose one last time.”

Axel shook his head and chuckled again, cracking his knuckles. “I think I’d like to see that.”

“No,” a new voice suddenly rang out. “I don’t think you would.”

Audrey rose to her feet, her hair glowing entirely silver as her power surged. The broken arrow fell from her chest, clattering to the ground in a pile of shattered pieces.

Gasps rippled through the clearing. The rogues moved backwards, terrified as the realization washed over them.

The Silver Wolf had emerged.

“Impossible,” Axel breathed, taking a step back. “She… How…?”

Audrey’s lips curled into a cold smile. “Did you really think your silver could harm me?” she asked. “I am silver. It is my essence, my power. It cannot touch me.”

Axel just stared at her, frozen in shock.

“She… She shouldn’t be able to shift,” Fiona whimpered, still held down by my Beta’s powerful paws. “She hasn’t undergone the bonfire ritual…”

“F***k your rituals,” Audrey hissed, snapping her head toward Fiona. “All I ever needed was my mate. You’re a fool if you think that my powers lay in Coldclaw. I’m not like you.”

Without hesitation, Audrey shifted then-just as she had this morning. Her body erupted into a blinding silver light, so bright I had to shield my eyes from the glow. And then, a moment later, her wolf form stood before me.

Her fur gleamed like liquid moonlight, her eyes blazing with an inner fire that burned brighter than the stars. She threw back her head and howled, the ear-splitting sound reverberating through the clearing with a force that shook the ground beneath my feet.

At that moment, the air seemed to go silent. I’d heard rumors that, once shifted, the Silver Star would let loose a howl that would announce her presence to the entire world.

I knew that now to be true.

And the rogues, knowing that they had lost, whimpered in terror and took off into the woods. Their screams faded into the distance, and then they were gone.

I turned to Axel and Fiona. “Looks like it’s just us now,” I said.

Charles shifted back, rolling a whimpering Fiona onto her belly and binding her wrists behind her back, Axel didn’t put up a fight when I advanced on him; he simply dropped to his knees, still shocked, eyes fixed on Audrey’s gleaming silver fur.

“Guess you were too late, huh?” I asked as I tied his wrists behind his back. “You and Fiona thought you’d be able to steal

the Silver Star before she shifted. That some fancy ‘ritual’ of yours would be the only thing that could help her shift.”

away

Axel snorted in response. “There are others, you know,” he growled. “Priests, chieftains who will raise hell if they don’t get

the Silver Wolf.”

Ishook my head and let out a bitter laugh. “Even Coldclaw priests and chieftains aren’t s***id enough to go after a shifted Silver Star. It’s over, Axel.”

“Is it?” Axel retorted, glancing at me over his shoulder with a malicious smirk.

08:25 Sat, Oct 19

Chapter 236

Suddenly, I heard a weak groan. Peter.

Goddess, my brother. I’d gotten so caught up in everything else that I’d forgotten. Leaving Axel with Charles, I rushed to Peter’s side, Audrey at my heels. He was pale, his breathing labored.

“The silver…” he gasped, his voice thick. “It’s spreading…”

I turned to Audrey, my heart clenched in desperation. “Can you heal him?” I asked.

Audrey’s eyes were wide. “I… I don’t know how,” she admitted.

No. It couldn’t end like this. I took her hand, squeezing it tightly.

“Yes, you do,” I whispered. “Come on. I’ll help you.”

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