Chapter 101: Betrayal on the Skyscraper Roof

In the Hale estate, the evening still felt normal.

Warm light filled the kitchen. The smell of spices and slow-cooked meat drifted through the open doorway. Victoria stood at the counter with her sleeves rolled up, while Kassia worked beside her with quiet determination.

"You don’t have to do anything tonight," Victoria said. "Just rest."

Kassia shook her head.

"No. I want to cook Daemon’s favorite food."

Victoria looked at her for a second.

"You just recovered."

"I’m fine," Kassia said, already reaching for the ingredients. "He likes this. I remember. Let me do it."

Victoria did not argue further. She simply moved closer and helped without taking over. The two of them worked side by side, one careful, the other stubborn, and for a short while the kitchen felt peaceful.

In the main hall, Calista sat in front of the large television with wide eyes.

It was her first time seeing something like this. At first she stared so hard that Sana almost laughed.

"There are people inside that box," Calista whispered.

Sana shook her head.

"No. It’s not real people trapped inside. It’s a screen. Images and sound. Like a moving picture."

Calista blinked, still suspicious, then leaned forward when a music video started. Bright lights. Fast beat. Dancers moving across the frame. After a few seconds her expression changed from confusion to interest.

"I like this."

Sana smirked and sat beside her.

"Of course you do."

They stayed there watching trendy songs together. Calista clapped once when the beat dropped. Sana teased her, then joined in anyway. Evelyn sat at the corner of the sofa and watched them quietly.

A few days ago this house had felt empty. No noise. No laughter. Only staff and silence. Now it looked completely different. For the first time in a long while, it felt like a proper home.

Evelyn rested her chin on her hand and smiled faintly.

Then Victoria’s phone rang in the kitchen.

She wiped her hands, picked it up, and answered.

"Hello?"

Roxanna’s voice came through.

"Victoria—"

Victoria’s brows lifted.

"Roxanna? Why are you using a phone? We can talk through the communication skill Daemon gave us."

Before Roxanna could answer, the call cut off.

The line went dead.

Victoria stared at the screen, then tried calling back. No connection. Her expression tightened. She immediately used the communication skill Daemon had given them.

Nothing.

She tried again.

Still nothing.

Not with Roxanna.

Not with Daemon.

Not with anyone.

A cold feeling slid down her spine.

Something was wrong.

She stepped out of the kitchen.

"Sana."

Sana looked up from the television.

"What happened?"

Victoria did not waste time.

"Roxanna called me. The line cut instantly. Communication skill is not working. Not with her. Not with Daemon. Not with anyone."

Sana’s playful look vanished.

Evelyn sat up straighter. Kassia appeared in the kitchen doorway with worry already on her face.

Victoria continued, voice firm.

"Go check them. You’re the fastest. Use your shadow tracking if you need to."

Sana stood at once.

"I’m going."

Victoria caught her wrist.

"First go to Roxanna’s location. I feel something bad. The way that call cut doesn’t feel right."

Sana tried to reassure her.

"Don’t worry too much. She’s an SS-Rank awakener."

Victoria’s eyes stayed sharp.

"She’s not a combat type."

That was enough.

Sana’s face hardened.

"I’ll check Roxanna first. Then I’ll find Daemon."

She vanished into shadow before anyone could say more.

Far across Ashford, on the rooftop of a skyscraper, the night wind cut cold and hard.

Roxanna stood near the edge with Garrick at her side. City lights stretched below them like a sea of glass and steel. Around them, eight werewolves spread out in a rough circle, claws out, eyes glowing under the dark sky.

One of them snarled.

"Garrick, what are you doing? Boss ordered us to bring her, not protect her. If you keep this up, he won’t show you mercy."

Garrick’s werewolf form towered over them. Fur bristled along his shoulders. His voice came out rough and low.

"I know what I’m doing."

He stepped forward once.

"If you want to touch her, you go through me first."

Roxanna’s grip tightened, then light gathered in her hands.

"Garrick," she said calmly, "don’t think I can’t fight them."

He looked at her for a second, then nodded.

"Alright."

They turned back to back.

Garrick’s claws lengthened. Roxanna summoned the shaft gifted by Queen Morwenna. The staff formed with a soft pulse of life energy, warm against her palms, steady under the night wind.

The eight werewolves launched at once.

They came in hard — teeth bared, claws flashing, bodies low and fast across the concrete.

Garrick met the first two head-on.

His claws tore across one werewolf’s chest, ripping fur and flesh open. The second slammed into him from the side, jaws snapping for his throat. Garrick twisted, caught the attacker by the shoulder, and slammed it into the rooftop hard enough to crack the surface. Bones broke.

The werewolf howled and tried to rise, but Garrick drove a knee into its spine and ended the struggle.

Roxanna moved at the same time.

She swept the shaft in a clean arc. Life energy burst outward in a controlled wave — not as healing this time, but as force. The blast shoved two werewolves back toward the edge. One recovered fast and lunged again.

Roxanna stepped aside, drove the end of the shaft into its ribs, then twisted and struck upward under its jaw. The impact snapped its head back. It staggered, dazed.

Another came from her left.

She spun, blocked with the shaft, and pushed life energy through the weapon. The contact point flared. The werewolf screamed as its muscles locked for a split second — long enough for Roxanna to kick it away and create space.

The shaft hummed in her hands, reacting to every movement as if it understood what she needed.

Garrick tore into the next pair.

He was brutal up close. One werewolf tried to pin him down. Garrick bit into its shoulder and ripped sideways. Blood sprayed across the rooftop.

The second tried to slash his back, but Garrick turned and drove both claws through its stomach. The body dropped hard and did not get up.

Three left.

They adapted quickly.

Two circled Roxanna while one kept pressure on Garrick. The rooftop became a mess of movement, growls, and hard impacts. Wind whipped across the height of the building. Neon light from nearby towers flashed over blood and fur.

A claw scraped the edge of Roxanna’s shoulder, tearing cloth and skin. She hissed, forced life energy into the wound just enough to stop the bleeding, and kept moving.

One werewolf leapt high and came down on her from above.

She raised the shaft and met the strike. The force drove her back two steps, boots scraping over concrete. Pain shot through her arms, but she held. Life energy surged again, reinforcing her body just enough to keep her standing.

She shoved upward, twisted, and smashed the shaft into the side of the creature’s knee. Something cracked. It fell with a broken cry.

Garrick finished another with a savage swipe across the throat.

Only two remained.

They hesitated for half a second, then charged together, desperate and furious.

Roxanna and Garrick moved as one.

Garrick intercepted the larger one, claws locking with claws. The struggle was raw and violent. Roxanna struck the smaller one across the face, swept its legs, and drove the shaft down hard into its chest. The werewolf convulsed once and went still.

The last one tried to break free from Garrick.

It failed.

Garrick slammed it into the rooftop wall, then tore through its neck with one final strike. The body slumped. Silence fell for a moment, broken only by heavy breathing and the distant noise of the city below.

Eight werewolves were down. Some dead. Some broken beyond recovery.

Roxanna lowered her shaft slightly, chest rising and falling.

"We need to leave," she said. "Now."

Before Garrick could answer, a hard punch landed on his werewolf form.

The impact was sudden and brutal.

Garrick’s massive body was thrown across the rooftop. He crashed hard against the far wall, concrete cracking under the force. Dust and broken debris scattered around him.

A man stood where the punch had come from.

Kaine.

He was still in human form. No fur. No claws. Just a cold expression and raw physical strength that should not have been possible without transformation.

He glared at Garrick.

"You disobeyed me."

Kaine walked forward slowly.

"We gave you power. We even cured your impotence. No one helped you. Not even her. She left you. And this is how you repay us? With betrayal?"

He reached down, grabbed Garrick by the throat, and lifted him off the ground with one hand. Even in werewolf form, Garrick struggled under the pressure. Kaine’s strength was unnatural.

"Roxanna," Garrick forced out, voice rough. "Go. Escape. This is your chance. Go to the safest place you can. More of them will come soon."

Roxanna shook her head hard.

"I can’t leave you here."

"You can’t save everyone," Garrick said. "You have to leave me. I don’t deserve your kindness."

Roxanna’s grip tightened on the shaft.

"It’s not because of you," she said. "Even if someone else was here, I still wouldn’t leave them. So just let me do my job."

Green light began gathering around her staff.

A large surge of life energy built at the tip, brighter and denser with every second. The air around her shifted. The rooftop wind seemed to pull toward the growing force in her hands.

Kaine’s eyes narrowed.

He looked at her properly now — not as a target to collect, but as a real threat.

The green energy continued to rise.