Seris’ POV
“What the moon-blessed madness are you doing, Lyra?” I hissed, glancing around in panic as her fingers danced over the forbidden panel tucked beneath a loose stone tile.
“Bringing chaos,” she grinned, the wild spark in her eyes only growing brighter.
Typical Lyra.
“I swear, if we end up in the Red Room because of this—” I started, voice sharp with warning.
“You really need to stop panicking before the panic even starts,” she replied smoothly, nose-deep in wires and arcane script. “Besides, I disabled the basic surveillance charms ten seconds ago.”
“That’s not comforting,” I muttered, but Zoe just rolled her eyes and leaned closer.
“Seris,” she said calmly, “you’re the only one smart enough to crack this system. We need you.”
“You need me?!” I gaped. “You mean you need me to commit the most absurd, suicidal tech-violation this school has ever seen.”
Zoe shrugged. “Semantics.”
My head dropped into my hands. They were going to get me killed.
Or worse—grounded by Headmistress Virelle’s mindwalk spell. And that… was something even death couldn’t outmatch.
“Phones, laptops, smartwatches—they said nothing electronic is allowed. I warned you about this!” I exhaled, already sweating as runes began glowing faintly beneath the panel.
Zoe’s voice dropped to a whisper. “And now we’re warning you. We’re in too deep to back off. Just help us get into the system.”
I groaned louder than morally acceptable. “You three will be the death of me.”
But... they were my sisters.
And I was the only one who could pull this off.
“I want jelly shots,” I said, dead serious.
Lyra didn’t even look up. She just reached into her satchel and tossed over a ziplock full of rainbow-colored cubes. “Five, freshly conjured. Grape-flavored too.”
Score.
I popped them like pills, moaning softly at the perfect texture. Jelly shots were my one weakness—the only addiction my foster parents ever used successfully to blackmail me into obedience.
“Okay,” I said, licking the last one off my finger. “Let’s break into hell.”
But the second my code touched the core frequency, my breath caught.
This wasn’t tech. This wasn’t even magic in the traditional sense.
It was alive.
“Uh, Zoe?” I said slowly, scanning the pulsing script across the screen. “This isn’t a digital grid. This is... mindlink-webbing. Every single student, professor, and ghost in this damn place is hooked into a living surveillance system. That’s why our mindlinks stay blocked on campus. They’re rerouted.”
Zoe’s eyes gleamed. “A hive system.”
“Exactly!” I shouted. “This place is practically sentient. It knows what we think. It listens.”
“Even better,” Zoe smirked. “We make it think we belong.”
“No, no, no! I know that look—you’re going full rogue. You want me to create fake identities inside the mindweb?! Do you know how hard it is to clear thoughts while holding a false persona? One mistake and we’re brain-bleeding for weeks!”
“We’ve held breath underwater for five minutes straight,” Lyra countered, hands on hips. “How bad can this be?”
“It’ll kill me!” I wailed. “Clearing my mind and holding a blank slate identity while inserting three pseudo-avatars into a psychic surveillance field? Do I look like a vampire oracle with nine lives?!”
Zoe crouched next to me, her voice low. “You want to go home, right?”
I paused. Jelly shot mid-chew.
She continued. “Back to your fridge full of jelly. Real internet. Real air. Real freedom.”
I sighed dramatically. “You manipulative geniuses.”
Lyra grinned smugly. “So… what names are we going with?”
I popped one last jelly cube, feeling the sugar rush power up my brain like a war drum.
“Bring it in, girls. Let’s forge some new legends.”
We linked hands.
“I hereby forge pseudo-selves under moonlight and rebellion,” Zoe declared.
“Shadow, storm, and silence,” Lyra added with a wicked grin.
I smiled. “Let the system think we’re ghosts.”
In that moment, three outlaw hearts pulsed as one in the deepest, oldest network at Asheville Academy.
And the game?
Had just begun.
* * * * *
CHARACTER SKETCH:
SHADOW GANG MEMBERS:Zoe Stone – Leader
Draven – Zoe’s Beta
Lyra – Draven’s sister
Seris – Draven and Lyra’s adopted sister
Kael – Third in command
Damon – Fourth in command
ALPHAS: Talon Green – Green Moss PackLucan Cohen – Ocean Spirit Pack
Corwin Dixon – Moon Shine Pack
Valen Anderson – Crystal Blood Pack
Zarek Rexter – Silver Bow Pack
18 years later ….Jax’s POV “I waited for 18 years for my mate. Can’t you even wait for 18 minutes for your birthday to start ?” I irately asked the twins who tried to sneak past me and claimed that they wanted to let their wolves go wild to find their mates. Liars. “Moooooom !” Zeon wailed. “Dad is bullying us again !!” he complained and then smirked at me. “It has hardly been an hour since we arrived and look what he is doing !” he complained as I picked up my two sons effortlessly by their back collars.This kid. I swear.“And is punishing us just before our birthday,” the other brat yelled.This one is no less too. Grrrrr.“I have a good mind of letting your sister “babysit” you guys the entire night,” I smirked. “You guys shall have a lot of fun under her care, I am sure,” I whispered and instantly the two sobered up from their bratty sides.“Not Bella, Dad !” the two brats pleaded together.Bella was their younger sister and she was just 2 years younger to them but unlike the
Orion’s POVAs Athena led us deeper into the forest, I could hear the gushing sound of the rapids of a river flowing somewhere near the depths of the valley.We must be nearing the pack borders.I had to admit that the run had been pretty refreshing.After staying in the hospital for so many days, this was a much needed run.It had been a long time since Jax had let me out and I guess I had to thank my mate for taking us through this breathtaking route.“Yeah you can thank me later,” Zara giggled through the mate link making me roll my eyes.However, when I saw ahead of me, I could see no one !Where the hell did she suddenly go ?I panicked.Did she fall off somewhere ?Another giggle resounded but this time it was near my ears as I felt a weight on my back.She can teleport.Of course !I forgot.Grrrrr.Zara wrapped her arms around my neck and nuzzled her cheeks in my flowing fur as I ran towards the water source.“I am sorry, baby,” she softly apologized as she scratched me by the
Zara’s POV“I will seriously kick your butts if you do anything preposterous,” Dy growled while glaring at Uncle Ryder and Jax who held one each of the naughty whelps in their arms.“Tell that to Samantha. She tied up your laces like that,” Uncle Ryder said while looking down at his fallen brother and pointing to Dy’s shoes which were connected together by shoelaces of different shoes knotted together.“That spoilt brat,” Dy murmured as he sat up and tried to untangle the mess that he was in. “I am pretty sure that she will love the “mud” pack that I will specially send to her now,” he evilly chuckled.“Why are you guys always doing that ?” I huffed. “Why don’t you men prepare for the Coronation instead and why the hell are you even here, Jax ? Who’s receiving the guests if you are here ?” I asked alarmed.“That pregnant sissy of a Beta of yours shooed me away coz the smell of the coffee that I drank ages ago made him gag while standing near me and he claimed that he could handle the
Zara’s POV“Oh, I swear to God, your kids eat like this dog here,” Dy grumbled as he glared at Jax.“Dy !” I scolded as I tried to sit on my own chair at the breakfast table but my mate caught me before that.“What ? It is true !!” He defended. “Kids are not even supposed to have teeth for a while but they have finished up almost half of the sheep population in our pack !” he exclaimed.“Shut up, Kai !” Jax said while rolling his eyes. “They are whelps. What else do you expect them to eat ? Grass ?” he sarcastically added.“They ate up that too !!” Dy whined. “Along with the worms clinging to it,” he scrunched his face and continued. “I guess they wanted to eat the worms only,” he thought out loud.“Oh fuck off ! The other day I saw you teasing my babies by throwing grapes at them from various places !! They are kids, Kai ! Why the fuck would you do that ?” Jax hollered at his brother.“Really Kai ? Did you really do that ?” Dad asked his mate in surprise while pulling up Dy’s chin to
Kai’s POV“WHY ARE THERE NO REINFORCEMENTS COMING IN ?” I hollered through the pack link. “WHY IS NO WARRIOR ABLE TO BREACH THROUGH THE FORMATION,” I asked frustratedly as I kicked away the persistent beasts in front of me. “AND WHERE THE FUCK IS THE BLOODY ROYAL ARMY ?” I bellowed.“Alpha Phil turns the dead faster than we can kill them off,” pat came the reply. “It is getting difficult for us to hold them off, Alpha !”“THEN WHY IS NO ONE ABLE TO KILL HIM OFF ? ZARA AND I CAN NOT HOLD OFF AN UTTERLY AGGRESSIVE ARMY OF THOUSANDS ON OUR OWN !! WE CAN MANAGE TILL A FEW HUNDREDS OR MAYBE A THOUSAND BETWEEN US BUT HOW DO WE TAKE CARE OF THE REST ? ANSWER ME !!” I shouted and I am sure my parents and siblings could hear me out along with Ty.My body was functioning way below capacity as I could feel myself slipping into an unconscious state due to the heat of the cliffs.It was too hot !So is my mate. Yummmm.What the fuck am I thinking ?Shit.Focus Kai. Focus.“STAY PUT, KAI. AIRA, SAM
Zara’s POVAs the song came to a perfect finish, I could not help but smooch the soul out of the cool guitarist who kept me caged between his legs.I could still feel the goosebumps on my skin everywhere and I was starting to feel giddy as his lips slotted perfectly with mine.I could hear the crowd cheer wildly for us but suddenly something felt wrong and my senses heightened making me switch into alert mode immediately.Luckily for me, Jax was one step ahead of me and had shielded us from the three pointy, life taking daggers by pushing the guitar’s broad base in front of us.“YOU ARE SO DEAD, ZHEN,” Dad shouted from behind but he was halted in his tracks as an army of possessed wolves and dragons suddenly formed a barricade between us and a fleeing Zhen !“Shit. These are the rogue wolves that had died not long back. Someone possessed them !” Rob mindlinked me. “Possessed creatures are so much more difficult to fight off,” he wailed. “I am beginning to wish that they were alive ins