LOGINAella POVThe Academy adapted.It wasn't something I wanted to admire.Most of the students were between fifteen and twenty-two years old. They were no longer children, but they were still far too young to become accustomed to war.Yet that was exactly what was happening.The Academy had become a fortress.Not because of its walls.Because of its students.As Sol and I walked through the campus after the attack, I watched the future leaders of the shifter world doing exactly what they had been trained to do.Senior Alpha students organized defensive patrols around the damaged buildings.Older Beta students established communication stations, handing out phones so younger students could contact their families and reassure them they were alive.Gamma trainees coordinated supplies, distributing food, water, blankets and first aid equipment while directing volunteers toward the infirmary.The warrior cadets were already rebuilding barricades and repairing defensive positions.No one had o
Aella POV The attacks didn't stop. If anything, they became worse. Every morning another report arrived. Another village destroyed. Another pack asking for help. Another family displaced. Every time we thought we had identified a pattern, Elias changed it. One day the mutants attacked from the north. The next from the east. Sometimes they struck three places simultaneously. Sometimes they vanished for days before appearing somewhere completely unexpected. It was impossible to predict. Sol and I answered every call we could. The commanders from the Academy spread across the neighboring territories, reinforcing the smaller packs. The Silver Pack sent warriors wherever they were needed. The Dragon Kingdom joined the effort under Queen Samantha's command. Even the newly formed Void Guard began escorting civilians away from dangerous areas. It still wasn't enough. The mutants were relentless. They didn't retreat. They didn't surrender. They fought until every last on
Aella POVWe kept the portal a secret.As much as possible, anyway.Only a handful of people knew the truth.Me.Sol.Hunter.Chaos.Order.And the two guards assigned to monitor the location.Interestingly, the guards had no trouble remembering the tree.Neither did Hunter.Neither did Chaos or Order.The memory effect seemed specifically targeted at Sol and me.Which only reinforced our growing suspicion that Elias had designed the enchantment with us in mind.I hated how personal that felt.The tree remained quiet.Silent.Still.A massive ancient oak standing between the Silver Pack and the Academy.A tree that wasn't a tree.A doorway that led somewhere we still didn't understand.Weeks passed.Then another week.Then another.The children continued growing.The kingdoms continued rebuilding.The Academy prepared for the barrier ritual.And still the portal remained inactive.Part of me began hoping we had misunderstood.That perhaps it had been abandoned.Forgotten.Broken.The
Aella POVThe answer took two weeks to find.Two weeks of searching through ancient records.Two weeks of arguments between Chaos and Order.Two weeks of reading texts so old that some of them practically turned to dust whenever anyone touched them.And two weeks of desperately trying to understand how Elias thought.That last part was the most difficult.By the end of it, I was convinced that normal logic simply didn't apply to him.He had centuries to plan.Centuries to obsess.Centuries to search for loopholes.And unfortunately, he had found one.The realization settled over the throne room like a storm cloud.No one spoke for several moments.Order stood beside a table overflowing with books and scrolls.Chaos leaned against a pillar, unusually quiet.Sol sat next to me, rereading the same passage for what had to be the fifth time.As if the words might change if he stared long enough.They didn't.I rubbed my temples."So let me see if I understand this correctly."Order nodded.
Sol POVI was beginning to suspect my children had skipped being babies entirely.Not physically.Physically they were definitely babies.Tiny.Adorable.Capable of causing emotional devastation with a single smile.But mentally?I had questions.Many questions.Concerning questions.Questions no parent should have to ask.Like:How is my daughter assigning staff members to departments before she can properly speak?Or:How did my son create a portal into one of the most protected places in existence?Or my personal favorite:How is floating apparently easier than learning to walk?I watched Xander drift through the nursery.Again.The little boy wasn't even trying anymore.He simply floated from destination to destination like gravity was a personal inconvenience.Aella still insisted he would eventually learn how to walk.I was becoming less convinced every day.Meanwhile Riot had discovered walking.That should have been good news.Instead, it was terrifying.Because climbing had a
Aella POVThe portal was becoming a problem.Not because it was dangerous.Not because it was hidden.Not because it might lead to another dimension.Although all of those things were absolutely true.No.The real problem was that Sol and I kept forgetting it existed.Repeatedly.Constantly.Painfully.At first we thought it was simple memory manipulation.Then we realized the truth was somehow stranger.The effect had rules.Very specific rules.Rules that made no sense.Hunter had become our unofficial reminder system.Every few hours he would walk into the war room.Drop a notebook on the table.And ask us if we remembered the portal.Every time the answer was no.Every single time.At first he had been patient.That patience had vanished.Now he simply looked offended.Personally offended.As if our memories were deliberately inconveniencing him.Which, honestly, they probably were.The worst part was how specific the effect seemed to be.If someone mentioned the portal—I remembe
The walk to the first class was an exercise in power. We weren't just students moving through a hallway; we were a parade of apex predators. The King and Alpha Linus led the way, their presence so overwhelming that other students—including several Alphas from the lower towers—literally backed into
The aftermath was a blur of steel and shouting. Within seconds, a phalanx of the Royal Guard had surrounded us, their shields forming a shimmering wall of reinforced silver. Marcus didn't let me stand until we were deep within the stone corridors of the Imperial Wing, his hand a heavy, grounding we
Two months had passed since the cafeteria incident, and the hierarchy of the Imperial Tower had shifted permanently. Amelie had leaned fully into her "victim" persona, limping through the halls and wearing silk scarves to hide bruises that had long since healed. She whispered to anyone who would li
The arena was a theater of carnage. Maxwell stood on the sands, his chest heaving, his wolf pushing so hard against his skin that his eyes were a constant, unstable amber. Sol stood opposite him, calm and immovable. Before the first blow was struck, Pamela stepped onto the lower ridge of the stand







