We fought on as the sun dropped lower. The enemy numbers had thinned noticeably. Their attacks grew more ragged, more furious. I moved to the weakest section again when horns sounded from the north. Another push. This one felt different. Heavier.

The witch-blood heir rode forward with her remaining elite guard, power gathering around her like a storm. She aimed straight for the damaged gate. I gathered fighters around me and prepared to meet her there.

Arrows flew. Oil poured. Men died on both sides. I stood at the center of it, sword red to the hilt, voice hoarse from shouting orders. When her power slammed into us again I took the brunt of it, knees buckling but refusing to fall. Darius caught me, holding me upright as the bond roared between us.

The gate shuddered but did not break.

Night fell across the battlefield while the fighting continued in pockets of torchlight and moonlight. We had held. The approach lay littered with their dead. Our losses hurt, but the keep still stood and the children remained untouched behind layers of stone and steel.

I stood on the wall as the enemy pulled back to regroup, their fires smaller now, their numbers fewer. Darius leaned heavily beside me, breathing hard. The bond reached toward Kane and Rylan somewhere in the darkness, still alive, still fighting.

One more day until the alignment.

The witch-blood heir had thrown her best at us and failed to break through. She would try again tomorrow with everything she had left.

I looked out over the carnage and felt no triumph, only a cold, clear resolve. My children slept safely inside. My mates fought for them across blood-soaked ground. My pack stood with me on these walls.

She could bring every ounce of her stolen power and ancient hatred.

We would still be here.

Waiting.

******************

The night stretched long and raw after the enemy pulled back. I stayed on the wall until the torches burned low, watching their distant campfires flicker like dying eyes.

Darius remained at my side, his bandaged arm pressed against mine, sharing warmth and silence. Every so often a scout’s report arrived—Kane and Rylan still alive, still carving pieces from the northern rear. Small mercies in a war that had already taken too much.

When the sky finally lightened to gray, I descended into the keep with heavy legs. The children woke as I entered the inner chamber. Lila sat up first, rubbing her eyes, then scrambled over to wrap herself around my waist. Thorne and Elara followed, their small bodies still warm from sleep, smelling of wool and safety. I held them until my arms ached, letting their chatter about dreams and breakfast fill the quiet spaces inside me.

"You stayed on the wall all night," Lila said, pulling back to study my face. "Did the bad ones try to climb again?"

"They tried," I answered. "And they failed. Because of people like you who keep this place strong even when you’re small."

Thorne patted the leather cord on my wrist, the one Lila had given me. Elara simply leaned her head on my shoulder and hummed a tuneless song. These moments felt stolen, fragile, and more precious than any victory. I committed every detail to memory before handing them back to the nurses with extra guards.

Outside, the pack moved with grim purpose. We repaired what the night’s fighting had damaged, strengthened weak sections, and distributed the last reserves of arrows and oil. I worked alongside them, hands blistering again as I helped haul timber. No one spoke of surrender. No one needed to. The air itself carried the understanding that this day would decide everything.

Darius found me near the main gate as the sun climbed higher. His face had regained some color, though pain still tightened the corners of his eyes. "Rylan sent a bird. They took out the last of the heavy wagons. The enemy is marching light now. Hungry and angry."

"Then they’ll make mistakes," I said. "We stay ready."

The hours passed in tense preparation. I visited every station once more, offering quiet words to those whose hands shook and steady nods to those who stood firm. The keep felt like a single living creature now, breathing with one purpose. My purpose.

By early afternoon the horns sounded again. They were coming.

This time the approach felt different. No wild charges. The witch-blood heir led them in a tight, deliberate column, her remaining force moving with the desperation of people who knew their time had run out. She stopped just beyond the outer traps and looked up at the walls where I stood waiting.

Her voice carried across the distance, amplified by whatever dark power she still commanded. "Open your gates and deliver the children. Do this and I will spare most of your pack. Refuse, and I will tear these stones down around you and take what I need from their broken bodies."

The threat landed heavy. I stepped to the edge of the parapet so she could see me clearly. "You’ve marched far for something you will never touch. These walls have held worse than you. My children stay behind them. And you will die in front of them."

She screamed in fury and unleashed her power. The invisible wave slammed into the gate harder than before. Wood cracked. Stone shifted. Several defenders fell back, dazed.

I braced against the impact, drawing on the bond that still connected me to Darius beside me and to Kane and Rylan somewhere beyond the battlefield. The pressure eased but did not vanish.

Then the real assault began.

They came in disciplined groups this time, using shields and captured ladders, trying to overwhelm specific sections. I moved to the most threatened point near the eastern postern, sword ready. The fighting turned savage and close. A northerner crested the wall and swung at my head. I ducked and drove my blade up under his ribs, twisting as I pulled free. Another took his place. I fought them off, breath burning, muscles screaming.

Darius stayed near, covering my blind spots despite his injured arm. Together we held the line while archers above us poured death onto the climbers. The enemy kept coming, wave after wave, their leader’s power cracking against our defenses like thunder.

A section of wall near the main gate shuddered violently. I ran toward it with a squad, arriving just as a breach opened. Northern warriors poured through the gap. I met the first with a slash across his face, the second with a thrust through the throat. Blood sprayed hot across my chest. The bond surged as Darius joined me, his good arm swinging with deadly force.

We sealed the breach with bodies and sheer will. The fighting spilled into the outer bailey before we pushed them back. I took a shallow cut across my ribs in the chaos but kept moving, voice hoarse as I called orders and rallied those around me.

As the sun began to sink, their attacks finally slowed. The witch-blood heir stood on her rise, visibly weakened, her power flickering. She had thrown nearly everything at us and still the keep held. Our losses were painful, but hers had been devastating.

I stood among the dead and wounded on the wall, chest heaving, and met her eyes across the distance one last time. She knew now. This was no longer a siege she could win with force alone. The alignment was tomorrow, and her window was closing.

Darius gripped my shoulder, steadying me as blood trickled down my side. The bond reached out toward Kane and Rylan, pulling their distant strength into us. They were still out there, still fighting.

We had survived the day.

Tomorrow would bring the final alignment and whatever desperate move she had left.

I looked down at the carnage below our walls and felt no triumph, only a cold, unbreakable certainty. My children remained safe behind layers of stone and loyal hearts. My mates fought for them with everything they had.

The witch-blood heir still lived.

But her time was almost over.

********************

I spent the night moving through the keep like a shadow, checking every defense twice. The wounded rested where they could. The able sharpened blades until sparks flew.

I stopped at the nursery long enough to watch the children sleep, their small chests rising and falling in the dim lantern light.

Lila had one hand curled around Thorne’s tunic. Elara clutched her cloth doll like a shield. I didn’t wake them. Just stood there until the ache in my chest forced me to move again.

Darius found me on the southern tower as the stars began to fade. His arm hung stiff at his side, but his eyes were clear. "Kane and Rylan crossed the outer plain an hour ago. They’ll hit her flank at first light."

"Good," I said. "We make the final stand here. No more ground given."

We didn’t speak much after that. Words felt used up. Instead we stood shoulder to shoulder while the sky lightened, the bond carrying the weight between us. When the first horns sounded from the north, we were already moving.

The enemy came with the rising sun. Fewer than before, but what remained looked feral. The witch-blood heir rode at their center, her braids wild, silver wire glinting like broken promises. She no longer tried grand displays of power. She simply pointed forward and let desperation do the rest.