I felt the blood drain from my face. The warriors tried to shift, their faces contorted in concentration and horror, but nothing happened. No fur. No claws. No howls of transformation. Only the rogues remained in their wolf forms, a sea of snarling beasts, tearing through our defenseless warriors like paper.
I couldn't move—couldn't think. I was frozen in place, watching in helpless horror. A rogue—a monstrous wolf with yellow eyes and foam dripping from its jaws—leaped at my father. He fought bravely, with fists and steel, but it wasn't enough. I saw the blood—so much blood—as the rogue's teeth sank into his neck. He went down with a choked roar, eyes wide in shock and rage, and I felt something inside me shatter.
"Father!" My voice was a raw scream, but it was lost in the chaos. My mother, our Luna, rushed to his side, trying to pull him back, but more rogues swarmed them. She fought fiercely, her eyes blazing with determination. I saw her break a rogue's neck with a twist of her hand, but then another lunged at her from behind. She fell to her knees, clutching her bleeding side, and I could see the life draining from her eyes. She reached for Father's hand, but both were gone too soon-too fast.
"No! No!" I tried to run to them, but a warrior grabbed my arm, yanking me back. "You can't, Nadia!" he yelled. "You need to—" His words cut off as a rogue leaped upon him, ripping out his throat. His blood sprayed across my face, hot and sticky. I stumbled back, my legs trembling beneath me. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. I was going to die here.
A rogue wolf lunged at me, its teeth bared and eyes gleaming with hunger. I closed my eyes, bracing for the end, but a powerful growl pierced the chaos. I opened my eyes just in time to see a flash of white—Gloria's wolf. She collided with the rogue, knocking it off course. She was a blur of fur and fury, ripping through the rogues with a savagery that took my breath away.
"Run, Sunshine!" she shouted through the mind-link, her voice fierce and commanding. "Run, now!"
But I couldn't leave her. Not her too. "Gloria, no!" I cried, but she wasn't listening. She was fighting off three rogues at once, her beautiful white fur matted with blood—hers and theirs. She killed one, then another, but a third rogue sank its teeth into her neck. I saw the light in her eyes flicker, her body shuddering under the weight of the wound.