"What the hell is that?"

Malia had asked that question more to herself than anyone else. Although, she was loud enough for Peter and the two others to hear her.

"What do you mean?" asked Peter, his gaze ahead.

The looks that Braeden and Theo gave her did nothing to ease her worries either, but she couldn't even ponder the thought that she was losing her mind. Looking back at the road in front of her, at the... thing standing in their way, she began to discern more and more details about the creature; details that she had already been able to see thanks to her elevated sense of sight, but were clouded by the dread over the sheer idea, the awful prospect of seeing her again... The number one person on the list of people Malia never wanted to see, ever again.

Was the desert wolf truly back? If yes, then why was she the only one able to see her? Was it another illusion? The enemy had managed to make Peter see his late sister and niece through an illusion before; was it the case right there?

"Malia?"

"What do you see?"

Every voice, every sound around her was drowned by the ravaging force of the flood that carried her contemplations through the crevices of her mind. She'd sank so very deep into them that when she finally focused back on the desert wolf's figure, Malia realized that she had her guns out and up, aimed at their car. She only had a fraction of a second to react and she did... She veered to her left as fast as she was able to, which made the vehicle completely swerve in that direction. But it didn't stop, it kept on moving forward until it left the road, landing in the nearest ditch shortly after that, flipped on its side.

Utterly shaken by the hits she'd taken to the head, even the voices in Malia's mind went mute. The very first thing her brain was able to translate after the fact, was the sharp pain emanating from her abdomen. She began to register the informations around her, very little by little after that. The second thing she was capable of distinguishing was the creaking and squeaking of the wrecked car around her. Upon reopening them, her eyes immediately landed on her abdomen wound, seeing the sizable shard of glass that had caused it. Every other injury she'd sustained, had already healed by then, taking the aches they'd brought with them away as they vanished. She shakily reached and then carefully pulled the shard out of her guts, as slowly as possible, fearing pieces of the glass would break and remain lodged in her body, before allowing it to drop wherever.

She breathed a long sigh of relief that hitched in her throat when a realization hit her. It had completely slipped her mind that she hadn't been alone in the car before the accident. It was like somebody had slapped her across the face when that fact came running back towards her; her head spun in a brash twist that almost caused her neck to break. Her eyeballs combed the entire space around herself, yet she could find no other sign of life than hers. It was like Peter, Braeden and Theo were never with her in the first place. They'd vanished without leaving the slightest trace. Throughout her best attempts at choking the wave of pure, unbridled panic that threatened her senses at that moment, she'd managed to push the door to her side open and pull her weight up outside of the car.

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"Peter? Braeden? Theo?"

She called for the three passengers that were with her as soon as her feet touched the ground. But all in vain, no matter how many times she'd called their names, none of them gave an answer. Although, she had no time to consider the reasons for that. Malia was abruptly yanked out of that state when the first gunshot was fired. It hit the metal of the car she'd left behind her. It wasn't until after the second and third shots that she was finally able to lift her gaze up towards the shooter.

She barely had a second to look at the figure before the desert wolf pulled the trigger again and then she did so again and again, leaving no other choice to Malia but to run behind the car for some cover. She crouched down and held her knees to her chest. She hadn't even realized how much she was shaking until her hands came to rest on her legs. She sat there as shell casings kept on raining out of her "mother's" weapons. The deafening bangs dragged the most heart wrenching memories out of Malia's depths; memories she dug as deep as she could within herself just so she could forever keep them hidden; memories of the night she lost a beautiful life she could have had.

"Hiding again, Malia?" Corine's voice sore through space to reach her ears, "it's been so long. Don't you want to see your mother?" the desert wolf had ceased fire by then, "Come out. C'mon! Come out and face me like you couldn't, thirteen years ago, on that night,"

Corine had done it. She'd said the words that riled up Malia's insides far above containment level. The young coyote threw every bit of good sense she had away. Her eyes flashed blue, the purest, most intense blue they had in a while. She let out a soul shuddering, guttural growl as her canines protruded through her gums. She simply saw red. Malia jumped out of her hiding spot, dashing towards the desert wolf against the winds that hit her face. Completely blinded by rage, only seeing images of her adoptive family as they played back in her mind over and over.

She didn't stop, even after her body collided against Corine's at full force. She heard the sound of bones breaking in keen cracks, but she didn't care who's they were. She felt no pain at that moment, only a dire need to tear her biological mother to shreds. She was kicking and clawing at will, unsure of if her hits were landing or not. Although, she did feel the warmth of skin under her claws. A gratifying sense of delight coursed through her vains as she dug her claws deeper and deeper with every attack.

She kept at it for a good while before she felt a strong set of hands wrapping around her wrists in order to hold her still. She did her best to fight against it, but she halted all efforts when she heard a vaguely familiar and commanding voice scream her name. As soon as the voice went quiet, Malia felt like her insides were squirming and bending out of shape, sending a terribly sharp pain all through her body, the kind of pain only an alpha can cause with their calls.

"Satomi?" murmured Malia.

Satomi's face was the first thing she saw when she came back to her senses. Upon looking around herself, nowhere could she find Corine. Instead, her eyes landed on Nolan and Mason as they were helping Braeden back to her feet. Peter Stood near Theo behind Satomi, both of them completely out of breath, riddled with claw marks that had already began to heal. they seemed to be shielding Cori who bore similar injuries to them but took longer to heal.

"What... What happened?"

Her mind was pulling a fair idea of what had happened there together, an idea of what she had done to her friends and father; of what she could have done to them. A terrifying reality that left her astonished where she stood.