Chapter 22 · Rogue Attack

The attack came on a Wednesday.

Zaia was leaving Z Design's office—Leo and Milo in the back seat, Priya driving, Ethan in a follow car—when the first bullet struck the windshield.

Glass shattered. Priya screamed. Zaia's wolf surged.

"Down!" Ethan was already moving, his car screeching to a halt, his weapon drawn. "Get the boys—"

A second shot. A figure on the rooftop—Raven, Zaia knew instinctively, Celeste's fixer, the ghost who'd planted evidence and fled.

Rogues. Three of them, emerging from alleys, wolves in human skin, moving with the coordinated violence of hired killers.

Zaia's priority was the boys.

"Mama!" Milo shrieked. Leo was silent—terrified, frozen, the way Leo got when fear overrode everything.

Zaia unbuckled. She pulled both boys into her arms, her wolf rising, her body shifting—not full transformation, not yet, but enough that her senses sharpened, her strength multiplied.

"Priya, drive!" Ethan shouted. "I've got Ms. Ashford—"

Another rogue lunged. Ethan met him, wolf-form, a blur of violence. Priya floored the accelerator. The car jerked forward.

Zaia tumbled into the street, the boys clutched against her chest, her knee scraping pavement.

A rogue came for her.

She shifted.

Full wolf.