Chapter 328: Not the same
Autumn turned and then froze in the same frame.
Her body reacted before thought.A violent, instinctive recoil followed.
She tore herself out of Jasper’s grasp and pivoted.Her arms shot out behind her, shoving him backward as her other hand lifted in front of her.
Claws slid out.Long.Curved.Her wolf was finally dominantly manifesting herself.Silver in the fractured light.
The motion was so sudden it cut through the strange stillness.
"Back!"
Her voice cracked through the clearing like thunder claps.
Jasper stumbled two steps from the force of the shove."Mamma—"
"BACK!"
This time it was a full Alpha command.Raw.Feral.
Dax reacted instantly, his instincts flaring.
"You heard her!" he barked, grabbing Jasper’s arm and dragging him a step farther. "Take cover!"
The soldiers scattered almost immediately, feet crushing leaves as they pulled away from the center of the clearing.
But Autumn barely registered any of it.Because she was staring at the figure standing only a few feet away.
Keiran’s mother, Jasper’s grandmother... the evil villainess herself.
She had appeared as if the air had simply decided to shape her from shadow. She stood there, draped in black, that moved like slow water around her frame.
Her pale hair hung loose, untouched by the wind that stirred the trees.
And her eyes—looked different.Old as the first night.
Autumn’s claws trembled.Her voice came low.Controlled.Barely contained.
"You shouldn’t be here yet."
She shifted her stance slightly, placing her body squarely between the woman and Jasper.
Behind her, Jasper could see it clearly...the protective wall of his mother’s presence.
Even weakened, even half-drained—She stood like a fortress.Autumn’s lip curled.
"We had an agreement."
The wind rustled through the branches.The sea roared faintly beyond the trees.
But the woman in front of her did not move.Did not react.Did not attack.
She simply watched.And smiled.
It was a soft smile.Almost fond.Almost...amused.
Autumn’s eyes narrowed.Her claws flexed.
"I still have time," she said sharply, her voice rising with each word. "That was the bargain."
No response.
Jasper’s grandmother tilted her head slightly.
Still smiling.Still silent.
Behind Autumn, Dax felt his wolf pacing violently beneath his skin.He could tell the subject in front was a high level threat.
Everything about the situation screamed danger.
Yet the creature in front of them wasn’t behaving like a predator.
She wasn’t advancing.
She wasn’t threatening.
She wasn’t even acknowledging Autumn’s defensive posture.
She just stood there.
Watching.
Smiling.
The calmness was wrong.Very very wrong.
Autumn felt her patience crack. "I said we still have time. Why are you here?" Her claws glinted as she lifted her hand slightly higher.
Still nothing.If anything the Dark Goddess’s smile widened a fraction.
Her gaze slid briefly past Autumn’s shoulder.Toward Jasper.Just for a second.
Autumn saw it.Her body shifted instantly to block the line of sight.A low growl built in her throat. "Look at me.I am talking to you!"
The command snapped through the air.The woman did.Slowly.Gracefully.Like someone humoring a child’s demand.
That smile never left her face.And somehow that made Autumn’s temper flared hot."Say something!"
The wind tugged at her coat.Leaves spiraled across the ground.The forest seemed to lean closer to the confrontation.
That unnatural, patient quiet—was beginning to piss Autumn off far more than an attack ever could.The smile did not leave her face.It stayed there.
And the longer it remained, the more Autumn felt something cold coil inside her chest.
Fear.
This was the slow, suffocating kind. The kind that told an animal the predator wasn’t hunting yet because it didn’t need to.
That was worse.Much worse.Because Autumn knew this creature.She knew the ancient darkness behind that face.The architect of things that crawled out of nightmares.The woman who watched worlds unravel like idle entertainment.
And now she stood here—Smiling.Like a fond relative visiting a garden.
Autumn’s pulse began to hammer.Something in her snapped.
"Fine." Her shoulders lowered. "If you won’t speak,no problem.But you won’t have my son."
Energy gathered inside her again.
Recklessly.
What little strength she had regained surged forward like a river breaking a dam.
Dax felt it.."Autumn—"
The air around her warped slightly.Leaves lifted from the ground.
The soldiers backed away.
Even the sea seemed to hesitate between waves.
Autumn’s eyes burned.
Everything she had left poured into that single motion... And it would have killed her.
Two voices reacted at the exact same moment.
"NO."
One was Jasper.
The other—Soft.Autumn’s mother.
Jasper moved faster.
He shot forward and slammed himself between them just as Autumn’s claws were about to arc forward.
"MAMMA!"
His arms locked around her shoulders.Her momentum crashed into him instead.
The impact staggered them both.
Autumn snarled instantly, struggling against his grip. "Move!Jasper you don’t understand..."
Jasper held her tighter.His arms trembled but he didn’t let go.
"Have you lost your mind?!" he shouted.
Her claws thrashed inches from his face.
"Get out of my way!"
"You were about to kill yourself!" The raw panic in his voice made several soldiers flinch.
Autumn froze for half a second.
Then anger surged back even stronger.
"You don’t understand what you’re dealing with yet!" Her eyes darted past him towards the woman still standing calmly behind.
"That thing—"
Jasper tightened his grip and pulled her back another step.
"I know exactly what she is!"
"No you don’t!"
Autumn tried to shove past him again,"Move aside!"
Her body shook with the effort.
Her strength was unstable now—spiking and collapsing in waves after everything she had just done.
One real attack would finish draining her.
Jasper knew it.
So he did the only thing he could.He pulled her into a crushing hug.Locked his arms around her completely.Pinning her claws away from striking distance.
"Mamma stop!"
She thrashed.
"Let go!"
"You’re going to die!"
"I don’t care!"
Jasper’s voice cracked.
"MAMMA!"
The clearing went still.
Autumn froze again in his grip, breath ragged.
He held her tightly, his forehead pressed against the side of her head.
His voice dropped.Urgent.
"Mamma... you don’t understand."
Her jaw tightened.
"Let go of me."
"This isn’t the same woman from your time."
Autumn stilled.Just slightly.Jasper swallowed.
"This isn’t the one you’re fighting in the present timeline."
Autumn’s breathing slowed.Confusion crept into her expression.Jasper tightened his hold on his mother and whispered the truth.
"This... is my grandmother from the future."
Autumn’s eyes widened.
His voice softened.
"This is the person who raised me."
