登入Third Person POVXavier Redmoon had never liked waiting. As a young Alpha, he had solved problems with violence. As an older Alpha, he solved them with larger violence. Patience had always belonged to other people.His office overlooked the Redmoon Pack's sprawling estate, but he wasn't looking at the view. He was looking at the photograph of Alejandro's family of three, again. Three smiling faces. Three reasons his blood boiled.The office door burst open. His chief scout entered, breathing hard. "They failed." Xavier didn't turn around. "I assumed they would.""They never even reached the gates." Now he turned. "What do you mean?""The wards." Xavier's eyes narrowed. "What about them?" The scout swallowed. "They're... different."A few hours later...The surviving infiltrators stood in the center of the conference room. The leader's right forearm remained marked with faint golden symbols that refused to disappear. Dark witches had tried removing them. Nothing worked.Pack healers
Third Person POVThe first thing the intruders noticed was the silence. It wasn't the ordinary silence of a mountain forest. Lake Tahoe still glittered beneath the afternoon sun. Wind whispered through towering pines. Somewhere in the distance, an eagle circled lazily above the ridgeline. Everything looked... normal. That was what unsettled them. Five figures stood among the trees nearly two kilometers from the Haven. They wore dark tactical clothing beneath enchanted cloaks woven by rogue witches, charms hanging from leather cords around their necks. Every one of them had survived battles against supernatural creatures.Every one of them believed they had come prepared. Their leader slowly lowered a pair of military binoculars. "There." Through the lenses, the Haven looked almost disappointingly peaceful.The modern mountain villa stood proudly against the slope, sunlight glinting from floor-to-ceiling windows. Luxury SUVs rested in the circular driveway. The gardens were immaculate
AlejandroThe three chimes echoed through the sanctuary one final time before fading into silence. No one spoke. The Keeper's last words lingered in the air. "The people your world has been searching for."I looked at her, trying to reconcile what she had just said with every missing-person report Nathan had ever placed on my desk. "They're alive.""They have always been alive.""How many?"She regarded me thoughtfully. "The sanctuary beneath this mountain shelters forty-three." Eamon inhaled sharply. "Forty-three..." Kael was already opening Nathan's database on his laptop."The Sierra Nevada disappearances over the last four years..." His fingers flew across the keyboard. "...Forty-three." The room fell silent. Not approximately. Not almost. Exactly forty-three.The Keeper turned toward one of the crystal-lined walls. With a gentle movement of her hand, the stone began to ripple. It didn't crumble or slide aside. It simply... remembered that it was once a doorway. A wide corridor ap
AlejandroI didn't reach for the staff. It hovered between us, suspended in the quiet glow of the chamber, waiting with a patience that belonged to another age. "I think," I said carefully, "you've mistaken me for someone else." A soft chuckle rippled through the luminous figure.Behind me, Koa would have laughed at that sentence. Lucien would have pinched the bridge of his nose. Zenith would have given me that look that said, There he goes again, trying to avoid responsibility.The Keeper smiled knowingly. "No, Alejandro Bloodfang." Her voice was warm rather than imposing. "We have been waiting specifically for you."I shook my head. "I'm an Alpha.""You are.""I'm Inferno's contractor.""You are.""I have a family waiting for me at home."Her smile widened. "And that is precisely why you are worthy." I frowned. "I don't understand.""You will."The staff drifted back toward the stone table, settling gently onto its surface. Relief escaped me before I could stop it.Lucien coughed di
AlejandroFor several heartbeats, no one moved. The luminous figure standing above the circular stone table did not command us to kneel. She did not radiate overwhelming power or demand reverence. She simply waited, her patient smile carrying the quiet confidence of someone who had spent millennia believing this day would eventually come.The First Hollowed was the first to find his voice. "It really is you..." His words broke, not from weakness, but from disbelief. The woman inclined her head. "It has been a long journey, my old friend." The staff resting beneath her translucent hand shimmered softly. "You endured longer than any of us ever wished."The old warrior's shoulders trembled. "I failed.""No.""I became Hollowed.""You survived.""I could not save them."Her expression remained impossibly gentle."Neither could we." Silence settled over the chamber once more.I had witnessed warriors break under wounds. I had seen witches collapse after exhausting every ounce of their magi
AlejandroNo one volunteered to go first. Not because we were afraid. Because every instinct told us this moment deserved respect.The circular passage remained open before us, its white stone staircase descending into the mountain in a slow spiral. The crystal veins woven through the walls glowed with a gentle, living light that was neither magical flame nor electricity. It simply... was. Like sunlight that had forgotten how to fade.Kael looked at the opening, then at the dead drone on his tablet. "I still think sacrificing expensive equipment should count as emotional damage."Lucien adjusted his jacket. "You may submit a reimbursement request to a civilization that's been gone for thirteen thousand years."Kael considered it carefully, then shrugged. "I somehow doubt they have an accounting department."Eamon smiled. "Never underestimate historians." Even Ragnar's beard twitched.The First Hollowed placed a hand over his heart. "I should enter first." I looked at him."You've earn
Zenith’s POVIt has been three days since we have both officially been home, together, every minute of every hour, breathing the same air, moving around each other like orbiting stars. And yet... Alejandro still feels distant sometimes. Like he is holding something back. Like there is a wall I cann
Alejandro's POVThe mornings have become my favorite part of the day. Not because of the quiet or the freshly brewed coffee, but because I wake up to her. Zenith.There she is, curled under the blanket, her head barely visible, a splash of soft golden hair fanning across the pillow like sunlight it
Koa’s POV Brooklyn Heights, New York. Brooklyn Heights, New York. The world does not stop for debt. It does not care about oaths made in the shadows or blood spilled on moss-covered stones. But I do and that is why I am here. The wind in this city tastes like rust. Too many horns. Too many lies.
Zenith’s POV I’m just rinsing the brushes when I hear the knock. Three soft taps. Then a pause. Then two more. I glance at Alejandro. He stills, head tilting slightly, eyes narrowing. Wolf-mode activates. “No one should be visiting,” he murmurs. “Not here.” My stomach tightens.He reaches the door







