A bolt of fear shot through Damon’s heart, an emotion that was very clearly relayed to me. Likewise, Blaise immediately stepped forward, using his body to shield me from any possible harm.

I stared at my mother in disbelief. While I had understood that she most likely hadn’t considered me important enough despite her claims, I hadn’t thought that she would go to the extent of killing me to achieve her cause. There were glimpses she showed that made her seem like an actual caring woman who missed her daughter, just fragments through the distorted, sadistic mess she otherwise displayed.

"You wouldn’t," I said, shaking my head as my mother’s eyes met mine.

Her gaze softened for a fraction of a second before hardening back up, replaced by a cool confidence.

"How sure are you?" my mother replied. Four words. That was all it took for my heart and whatever longing I held for this woman to completely shatter.

I was shaky in my steps, my knees suddenly wobbly, unable to even hold my weight.

"Harper?" Blaise asked, turning around to hold me but I shook my head.

"I’m fine," I said.

Burrowing the hurt I felt, I returned to my mother’s gaze. Now that the bridges were burned and everything was about to fall to dust, I might as well ask the burning question I had.

"You left me in Stormclaw to die, didn’t you?" I asked, my voice unable to help but crack. "You were never going to come for me."

My mother stared at me, her expression cold and placid as though she was nothing more than a mannequin displayed in the storefront.

"I was recovering from the damages your father caused," my mother insisted. Hatred blared through her eyes, and I could even see her hands shaking just the slightest as she burned with anger. "Do you even know what he did to me?"

Cold laughter filled the room. The hunters closest to Damon stood around him, making sure he wouldn’t edge in any closer. Even the vampires had surrounded us, watching us with their beady eyes for any movement that might be out of the norm.

My mother took a step forward, taking in a deep breath as she attempted — but failed — to calm herself down as memories poured through her.

"I don’t even know how I made it out of there alive," my mother admitted, her voice soft. "I was told that I needed five hundred stitches in total. The human doctors ruled it out as an animal attack. I was served no justice and left to recover from everything — physically, mentally, and financially — myself."

She then gestured to our surroundings.

"You think it’s easy to build an entire organization from the ground up?" She laughed coldly. "The hunters were weeded out one by one, some dying in the crossfire, others killed on missions to protect their kind. Only a few managed to retire, probably less than a hundred of our kin across the entire globe."

Once she turned her eyes back on me, she steadied her gun, pointing directly at where Blaise and I stood. However, her finger merely hovered over the trigger. Pain flashed across her eyes.

"I wanted to bring you home," my mother said. "But by the time I could, there wasn’t a need. Your wonderful mates have attacked the packs across the country, and at the same time, burned my enemies to the ground. I would’ve been thankful, had it not been for the fact that they had stolen you from me."

A savage, murderous glint flitted across her eyes, and fear quickly filled my heart. Her finger pressed down a little more on the trigger, not enough to fire, but enough to send warning bells blaring in my head.

"No daughter of mine will make the same mistakes I did," she said through gritted teeth. Red rimmed her eyes as she stared hard at Blaise, eyeing him like a predator would prey. "I refuse to allow it."

"No―!"

Before my very eyes, my mother pressed down on the trigger. Time seemed to stand still, the barrel of the gun pointed right at us as the bullet was shot free. It whizzed through the air, slicing through the distance to get to us. I could hear the sound of fighting ensuing in the background― bodies slamming, the clash of weapons, and the screams of humans, werewolves, and vampires alike as battle cries pierced through the air.

The bullet, however, was not aimed at me. It headed straight for Blaise, and I could only watch helplessly as he pushed me to the side and out of harm’s way. The frantic shove sent me spiraling out of balance, collapsing to the ground with a thud.

However, the bullet did not find its intended target. My mother had a perfect aim after having trained herself for so many years, but it did not account for the fact that someone else would willingly dive in to take the hit.

My eyes widened with horror as the bullet shattered through the ice easily, sending shards flying through the air as though they were bits of glass. Blood sprayed from the point of contact, and I could feel the same panic and surprise as Blaise did, but also the pain that shot through me when the bullet pierced through the skin of Damon’s back.

I reached for my chest, clawing at the fabric of my clothes right over my heart as an agonizing sensation flooded through me. It felt as though something was being ripped right out of my ribcage, crushed, and thrown far away from my soul. A gasp tore through my lips, air knocked right out of my lungs when Damon collapsed into Blaise’s open arms.

"Damon!" Blaise cried in horror, holding onto his brother before sinking to the ground due to the impact.

I tried to get up to my feet so that I could make my way over, but every time I tried, a piercing pain would shoot through my legs. My limbs felt heavy and my bones felt as though they were breaking apart, cracked and healed only for it to happen all over again in the span of milliseconds. There was an incessant ring that blared through my head, and my lips gaped in pain as I tried to block the sound out to no avail.

All of a sudden, the world around me seemed different― everything was clearer, the colors were more vibrant, and I could hear even every single breath that was released and taken. The room was a cacophony of variating smells and noises, and when the pain of flesh tearing and bones breaking finally subsided, I realized that I was already on my feet.

Not just that. I had already moved, claws raised and teeth snarling as I lunged straight for the woman who birthed me.