Chapter 6: The Other Side

We crossed the border an hour ago.

It should have brought relief.

It didn’t.

The land looks no different at first — the same road, the same scrub, the same low hills stretching into the distance — but something has changed. There is no authority behind us now. No walls. No soldiers. No one to intervene if things go wrong.

Alix knows it too. She drives without speaking, her grip tight on the wheel, her eyes flicking constantly to the mirrors. Lucy’s pod rests between us, hidden beneath a blanket that suddenly feels far too thin.

Every minute stretches.

I keep waiting for it — for the sound, the pull, the moment where everything breaks. It doesn’t come. And that somehow feels worse.

We are exposed now.

Like animals at the edge of a river, knowing what waits beneath the surface, knowing that turning back isn’t an option. The only way through is forward — even if it means stepping into something unseen.

I can feel him.

Not close. Not yet.

But moving.

And I know, with a certainty that settles deep in my bones, that when Alexandre comes, there will be no one left to stand between us.

I’m trying my best to contain the panic within me. I can only imagine how Alix must feel.

I can feel the individual drops of sweat on my face trickle down as my senses are on full alert.

Every small sound has me on edge as the wind howls, rocks bounce against the underside of the bakkie, and the trees sway violently. As the wind carries different scents I don’t pick up anything suspicious.

Lucy hasn’t reacted either.

There’s a deafening silence in the bakkie.

The wind shifts.

Not sharply.
Not suddenly.

It rolls around us, pressing against the side of the bakkie instead of our faces.

Downwind.

My breath catches.

That’s wrong.

I lean forward instinctively, every sense straining — but there’s nothing. No scent. No pressure. Just empty air where something should be.

Too clean.

Too quiet.

“Alix—” I start.

The world explodes behind us.

Metal shrieks as something slams into the back of the bakkie. The vehicle jerks forward violently, tires screaming as Alix fights the wheel.

I’m thrown sideways, my shoulder slamming into the door. Lucy’s pod rattles between us.

A shadow clears the road in a single bound.

Alexandre.

He doesn’t roar.
He doesn’t announce himself.

I catch a glimpse of him in the side mirror — too fast, too close.

I grab Lucy’s pod instinctively, dragging it toward me as the bakkie fishtails.

Another impact.

Harder.

The rear of the vehicle lifts.

For a split second, we’re weightless.

Then everything flips.

Glass shatters. Metal screams. The world turns over itself as the bakkie rolls.

I clamp Lucy against my chest and shut my eyes.

The rolling stops with a brutal crash.

Silence.

Dust fills the air.

We’re upside down.

My ears are ringing.

“Alix,” I manage, my voice rough. “Are you hurt?”

She groans. “I’m fine. We need to move.”

We release our seatbelts and drop onto the roof. The smell of fuel hangs heavy in the air.

Lucy’s pod looks intact.

That’s all that matters.

We crawl out through the shattered window.

The bakkie is mangled — metal twisted, wheels still spinning uselessly.

If we were human, we wouldn’t be standing.

I straighten—

—and see him.

Alexandre walks toward us slowly.

Unhurried.

Certain.

I look at Alix. My throat feels tight.

“What do we do?” I manage.

Dust settles around us. The world goes still.

She doesn’t look at me.

“It’s time, Lucian. No more running.”

I turn back to Alexandre.

She’s right.

Running was never going to save us.

My body still can’t help but keep shaking.

Alexandre stops in front of us. We’re probably about thirty meters apart from each other.

His lycan form is intimidating as he stands on his hind legs as we stare each other down.

“Brother…” Alix lets out. I can feel the hurt in her voice. “We don’t have to do this.”

Alexandre is silent.

“If you kill her, everything we’ve suffered will be for nothing.”

Again, silence from Alexandre.

“Is Ella still alive brother?” I interject.

“Enough,” Alexandre snarls.

“Fight.”

Alix steps forward. “Lucian stay back.”

“You can’t fight on your own.” I say.

“Lucian, I know how you feel about being a lycan. I can’t let you fight alongside me if you’re going to hesitate.”

I don’t respond because she is right. I feel guilty and frustrated that I can’t fight beside her confidently. And I still hesitate.

“This has been a long-time coming brother.” Alix says to Alexandre. “I am not that same girl who’s afraid of you.”

Alix looks determined and ready. I want to believe in you sister. I don’t want to think about what’s going to happen if you were to lose.

A deafening silence hangs between them as they stare each other down.

Alexandre lets out a low, rumbling roar.

Alix answers — and in the same breath, she transforms.

Bone shifts. Muscle tightens.

She’s embraced the curse.

They move at the same time.

Alexandre swings.

Alix slips underneath it.

Her fist drives into his ribs — once, twice — then a sharp strike to his jaw. She pivots, a kick snapping into his side before he can recover.

Alexandre staggers half a step back.

For the first time — he’s reacting.

Alix doesn’t stop.

She’s already moving again.

A blur of motion — in, out, circling — her strikes landing with precision, each one placed to wear him down.

Alexandre tries to answer, but she’s gone before his blows connect.

Too fast.

Too controlled.

But he isn’t panicking.

He’s watching.

Learning.

Waiting.

Alix shifts her footing, adjusting her angle. She’s reading him now — staying just outside his reach, forcing him to react.

He moves—

She’s already there.

She slips past his arm, pivots sharply, and drives forward.

Her heel crashes into his jaw.

A sharp crack splits the air.

Alexandre’s head snaps to the side.

For a heartbeat—

He gives.

My breath catches.

That’s it.

Alix presses in to finish it—

And then—

He moves.

Not back.

Forward.

His hand shoots out, closing around her leg mid-motion.

Everything stops.

Her momentum dies in his grip.

A sickening snap.

Alix cries out.

Before she can react—

He slams her into the ground.

Hard.

The impact echoes through the air.

She tries to push herself up—

He’s already there.

He drags her forward and drives her into the boulder beside them.

The sound is dull.

Final.

Her body goes limp.

He releases her.

Alix crumples to the ground like dead weight.

For a moment—

Nothing moves.

The dust settles slowly around them.

Alexandre straightens.

Unbothered.

Unhurried.

Like nothing just happened.

Alix doesn’t move.

The world narrows around her.

Everything else fades.

I can’t breathe.

Alexandre steps past her body.

Toward me.

Toward Lucy.

My body locks.

Move.

I don’t.

I can’t.

Not like this.

Not again.

The pull rises — familiar, violent.

The urge to transform.

To lose myself completely.

I fight it.

I won’t become that.

I won’t—

Something presses into my mind.

Not forceful.

Not violent.

Steady.

Lucy.

The connection burns along my arm — sharp, alive.

For a moment, I’m somewhere else.

Endless storm.

Lightning tearing across the sky.

Power without shape.

Without restraint.

Then—

It’s gone.

But something remains.

Inside me.

The pull changes.

Not outward.

Inward.

My muscles tighten — not shifting fully, but straining under something new. Veins rise beneath my skin. My teeth sharpen. My hands tremble as something claws its way through them—

Not transformation.

Something else.

Unstable.

My vision sharpens.

My body hums.

I can feel it building—

Too much.

Too fast.

Alexandre is closer now.

Unhurried.

Certain.

My chest tightens.

Then something snaps.

I move.

Not clean.

Not controlled.

Explosive.

I close the distance in an instant.

My fist drives forward—

The moment it connects—

Light.

A violent crack of energy bursts from the impact.

Alexandre’s head snaps back as the force sends him off his feet, his body thrown backward across the ground.

The air trembles.

Silence follows.

I stand there, breathing hard.

My arm shakes violently.

The energy fades — not gone, but unstable.

For the first time—

Alexandre doesn’t look bored.

He looks at me—

Like he’s seeing me properly.

Alexandre doesn’t move at first.

Dust settles around him.

Then—

He rises.

Slowly.

The side of his face is scorched, skin darkened where the energy struck. A faint trail of smoke lifts into the air.

But he’s standing.

His eyes lock onto mine.

Not bored anymore.

Not dismissive.

Something else.

He takes a step forward—

Then stops.

His head tilts slightly.

He’s listening.

I feel it too.

Engines.

Distant.

Getting closer.

Alexandre’s gaze flicks past me, toward the horizon.

Then back to me.

Measuring.

Reconsidering.

For a moment, it feels like he might still come.

Finish it.

Then—

He exhales sharply.

Not defeat.

Decision.

“We’ll finish this,” he says quietly.

And then he’s gone.

A blur of movement into the distance.

The silence that follows feels heavier than the fight.

The wind returns slowly, brushing against the wreck.

I don’t move at first.

My body is still shaking.

Then—

Alix.

I drop to my knees beside her.

“Alix…?”

No response.

My hands hover for a second before I touch her, afraid of what I’ll feel.

She’s breathing.

Shallow.

Relief hits me—but it doesn’t last.

Her face is bruised, blood smeared across her skin. One side already swelling. Her leg—

I stop myself from looking.

My chest tightens.

“This is my fault,” I whisper.

My voice barely holds.

I should’ve stepped in sooner.

I should’ve—

I swallow it down.

There’s no time for that.

I force myself to move.

I run back to the bakkie, the metal still creaking faintly as I climb over the wreckage. Lucy’s pod is where I left it.

Untouched.

I lift it carefully.

“You’re okay…” I murmur.

The faint hum beneath my hands answers me.

I grab the blanket and hurry back.

Alix hasn’t moved.

I kneel beside her again and drape the blanket over her, trying to cover the worst of it.

My hands won’t stop shaking.

I don’t know what I just did.

I don’t know what that power was.

But none of it matters right now.

I look at her—

Really look at her.

And something in me breaks.

Tears blur my vision before I can stop them.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“I’m so sorry.”

The sound reaches us first.

Engines.

Loud. Closing in fast.

Dust rises along the road as multiple bakkies approach.

I tense instinctively.

Not him.

Different.

The bakkies slow, then stop around us.

Doors slam open.

Soldiers.

Weapons raised.

“Don’t move!” one of them shouts.

I lift my hands slowly.

“I’m not a threat,” I say, my voice rough.

A man steps forward — older, composed, eyes sharp.

He takes everything in.

The wreck.

Alix.

Me.

Then his gaze settles on the pod beside me.

It lingers there.

“What is that?” he asks.

My grip tightens slightly around it.

“A child,” I answer.

His expression doesn’t change.

“That’s not what I meant.”

I hold his gaze.

“She’s under my protection.”

A pause.

“Whatever attacked us—it came for her.”

That lands.

The man studies me carefully now.

Then—

“What happened here?” he asks.

“We were attacked,” I say. “A beast. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“And it did this?”

“Yes.”

Silence.

“My name is Lucian Durand,” I say. “Son of Apollinare Durand.”

That gets a reaction.

Subtle—but there.

The man looks at Alix again. Then back to me.

“You’ll come with us,” he says.

“That’s not a request.”

Relief tries to rise in my chest.

I don’t let it.

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