LOGINMore boots came through the damaged doorway, making the floor shake under their weight. Every officer in the room stopped and turned toward the entrance, including the captain, who froze halfway through a step with a confused look on his face.The man who walked through the doorway was none other than the Royal Chief Beta, Visev. He strode into the room with complete confidence, barely seeming to notice the broken glass crunching beneath his boots. His eyes moved across the room, taking in the blood, the broken furniture, and everything else that had happened without missing a thing.Another man walked beside him. He was middle-aged with a stern face, dressed in the uniform of a high-ranking officer, with thick gold bars lining his collar. His name tag read Gamma Sam, the man who held the highest position in the entire police jurisdiction.The captain went pale as soon as he recognized the uniforms. His confidence disappeared, and he hurried across the bloodstained marble toward them,
Huston stood in the middle of the ruined boardroom, his broken wrist hanging at an awkward angle. Blood dripped from his split knuckles onto the carpet, but he didn't seem bothered by it. He looked at Valkira with a wide grin.“I was starting to wonder if you had the guts to show up, Valkira.”Behind him, the remaining Ruby Syndicate men exchanged uneasy looks and started whispering among themselves. They all knew about the huge bounty Lucas had placed on Valkira's head.Lucas had put a hundred million dollars on Valkira's head.The number was enough to make men do stupid things. It had already drawn killers and bounty hunters from across the continent, and now the person behind that bounty was standing right in front of them.The soldiers looked at Valkira, then at each other. One quietly reached inside his vest and gripped the handle of his knife. Another rested his hand on the pistol at his waist.Nobody needed to say what they were thinking. A hundred million dollars was standing
Huston stepped through the damaged doorway, his boots crunching over broken wood on the marble floor. The dozen men behind him came in right after him, rifles raised as they moved into the boardroom. A few spread out along the left side while the others moved toward the windows and exits, cutting off the room.The crimson Ruby Syndicate insignia was clearly visible on their black vests. Within seconds, the men had taken control of the room and surrounded the executives.Huston looked younger than anyone expected. His dark hair was slicked back, and somehow his tailored suit was still clean despite the dust covering the room. He adjusted his cuffs, the gold watch on his wrist catching the light.Then he looked around the table, taking in each of the executives. A few of the older men pulled themselves deeper into their chairs, their eyes flicking toward the armed men surrounding them.Brian was on his feet immediately. He hurried toward the doorway, nearly stumbling as he went, then dr
The executive boardroom was on the top floor of the building, far enough above the streets that the noise below barely reached it. A large mahogany table took up most of the center of the room. The windows stretched from floor to ceiling, but the heavy blinds were pulled shut, keeping out the noon sunlight and leaving the room dim.The air conditioner hummed from the ceiling vents, but it did little to cool the room. The heat seemed to build with the tension in the room, leaving sweat on people's foreheads and collars as they sat in silence. Nobody said a word. Even the ticking of the wall clock sounded unusually loud.Bruce sat at the head of the table, staring straight ahead without saying a word. His face had gone pale under the yellow lights, and his hands rested flat on the polished wood, his knuckles tense.The other board members shifted in their leather chairs, some wiping their damp palms on their trousers. They kept looking at Bruce, waiting for him to say something or tell
By noon that day, the bounty notice had spread across the werewolf continent. It moved through the dark market alleys first, then reached the underground fight pits before making its way into safe houses and across the border posts. Every contract killer with a working phone soon heard about the bounty, and the same message reached the rogue mercenaries scattered across the continent. Fifty million dollars for the medical center's leadership was already an enormous amount of money, but the hundred-million-dollar bounty on Valkira was enough to get almost anyone's attention. Both were life-changing amounts of money, and either one was enough to make someone take a dangerous chance. The news spread quickly through the dark markets. Shifters gathered in small groups, talking about the bounty and what they could do with that kind of money. Some were already making plans, convinced they could be the ones to collect it.“I heard some big names are already after Valkira.”“For a hundred
An hour after the Shatter Ash system came online, the top floor executive suite at Skyline Center no longer felt like an office. It felt more like a tomb.The air was thick and hot, making the room feel uncomfortable the moment you stepped inside. Lucas had dimmed the lights to a dull yellow, and the main monitors were filled with red failure codes that kept flashing across the screens. Down on the main floor, the panic was spreading fast. Executives paced around their offices, shouting assistants hurried back and forth carrying paper messages. Some were so nervous that their hands shook as they tried to pass information around.Nobody could get through to anyone outside the building. The phones were dead, the systems weren't responding, and no one could reach the traders on the floor. They were completely cut off, with no clear idea of what was happening or how bad things had become.The counterattack came much faster than they expected. It was coming through an encrypted connection







