Where The Ice Gives Way Chapter 132

**Charlotte**

I couldn’t stay there. I couldn’t stand in that hall with children running between tables and humans laughing under fairy lights while rogues came straight for us, for me. I couldn’t be the reason blood was spilled in a place that was meant to feel safe. Charlie understood before I even said anything. It’s a twin thing. A look, a shift, something that passes between us without needing words, and the second the warning hit the pack link, his eyes found mine across the stall, and everything in him went still in the exact same way I felt it happen inside me. Then he looked toward the back door, and we ran.

Now Shanti runs for me, her body sure and fast as she tears through the snow with Titan at my side, my brother’s black wolf keeping pace beside me, large and solid. His head is constantly turning as he scans the trees while we push farther and farther away from the hall. *Keep going, Lotty,* Charlie says through the link, his voice calm even as his wolf’s breath comes harder with the run.

Branches whip past us and snow sprays under my paws, the cold air cutting into my lungs in sharp pulls, but Shanti doesn’t falter and neither do I. If this is happening, if they are coming for me, then I will not let them reach the humans. I won’t. A sour, rotting scent thickens the air, rolling in from the trees on both sides, and I know before I see them that they are close. I can smell them. I can feel them. Everywhere. On both sides of us, behind us, moving fast.

One bursts from the treeline to my left, all matted fur and wild eyes, launching straight for me, and I barely have time to turn before Titan slams into it mid-air, his body hitting with enough force to send both of them crashing into the snow. They snarl and snap, teeth flashing, and Titan clamps down on the rogue’s neck with brutal precision, shaking once before the body goes slack beneath him. Then he’s up and moving again before the snow settles, falling back into stride beside me as if nothing had happened. *Keep going.*

I push harder. The trees begin to thin ahead, the dark giving way to open light, and I see the lake coming into view. We break from the treeline together, the world opening wide in front of us, the frozen surface stretching pale and still beneath the sky, snow drifting across parts of it while the centre gleams smooth and solid. My paws hit the ice and slide, the surface stealing traction for a split second before Shanti digs her claws in, her body adjusting, correcting, pushing forward again in a half-run, half-skid toward the middle.

Titan struggles for grip beside me, his weight making it harder, but he forces his way forward, his body angling to stay close to me as we move. We don’t stop until we’re far enough out that we have enough distance from the trees. Only then do we turn. We circle immediately, sides pressing together, our bodies forming a single point in the open space, Titan’s warmth solid against me as we face outward.

The first rogue steps from the trees. Then another. Then more. They spill out, gathering along the edge of the lake in broken shapes, their bodies ragged and wrong, their movements uneven as they pace along the bank, some crouching low, some pacing, some whining under their breath with something inside them is trying to claw its way out. Their eyes stay on me.

Shanti growls, the sound low and rolling through my chest. I feel them react to it, not stepping back, but their attention tightening, narrowing to the thing they want to erase. I can feel them all too. Something in me reaches toward them, brushing against the broken edges inside them, feeling the wolf and the human twisted together, battling for space inside the soul. They are lost and hurting, but they’re still dangerous. *We’re going to be okay, Lotty. I won’t let anything happen to you.* Charlie says quietly.

I keep my eyes forward as the first of them tests the ice, stepping out cautiously, claws slipping before catching, their bodies lowering as they try to figure out the surface. It’s going to slow them down, but it won’t stop them forever. *I love you, Charlie*, I send, the words tight in my chest. Titan’s body stiffens slightly against mine before his answer comes back. *Tell me once this is over.*

I don’t answer. I can’t. One of them has found its footing and is moving toward us now, its body low, its eyes locked. Then another follows. Then another. They’re learning. They’re coming. My paws scratch against the ice as I adjust my stance, staying pressed to Titan’s side as we turn together, keeping them in front of us, tracking every movement, every angle. The bond in my chest pulls suddenly, sharp and urgent. Blake. He’s close. I can feel him moving through the trees, fast, powerful, furious in a way that makes all of me ache. The rogues feel it too. I can see a few of them hesitate, their heads turning slightly toward the forest behind us, distracted for just a second. It’s enough. Shanti rises inside me. My head lifts and the sound tears out of me, a howl that breaks across the lake, rolling over the ice and into the wolves gathered at the edge.

The effect is instant. Several of them freeze. One drops low, whining, its body trembling as it fights whatever the sound is doing to it. Another shakes its head violently, backing a step before catching itself again. The sound burns in my chest, but I push through it, pouring everything I have into it, every memory, every feeling, every piece of myself that knows what it is to be found, to be safe, to belong. Come back. Come back. Come back. The closest rogue stumbles, its eyes flickering, something clearer breaking through for just a second—

—and then he’s slammed into it from behind, knocked forward by a larger rogue that breaks through the line, charging straight across the ice toward me. Titan moves quickly, his body tensing against mine as he prepares to meet it. I try to move, but my paws slip for half a second, the ice stealing my balance at the worst possible moment. The rogue closes the distance. Its jaws open…

And then Lex comes barreling in. I can feel the power radiating off him. His growl vibrates the ice as he hits it from the side so hard that it sends both of them skidding across the ice. That is all it takes. The hesitation shatters. The rogues surge forward all at once, slipping and snarling as they flood onto the ice, bodies colliding, claws scraping, teeth snapping as they fight for footing and space. They don’t stop. They don’t think. They just come. The lake fills with chaos. There is no holding this back now. The war has begun.