MasukAella POVThe announcement had barely ended when I felt it.A pulse.Not through the ground.Through the bond I shared with Sol.It wasn't pain.It wasn't fear.It was...Wrong.As if the world itself had taken a breath and forgotten how to exhale.Before I could understand it, a tiny portal opened directly in front of me.Xander floated through first.His little arms were spread wide as if he had hurried here.Behind him came a maid carrying Althea with all the dignity of a queen arriving at court.Riot followed last, happily crawling through the portal before standing and taking several determined steps toward us.He had become frighteningly fast."Xander?"He didn't answer.Instead, he looked upward.His tiny face became unusually serious.A chill ran down my spine.The floor beneath my feet trembled.Not violently.Just enough for everyone in the Academy square to notice.People stopped talking.Students turned toward the horizon.Teachers exchanged uneasy looks."What..."One of
Aella POVIt took another two weeks to coordinate the evacuation plans.Two weeks of meetings.Two weeks of arguments.Two weeks of convincing proud Alphas that retreating was not the same as surrendering.I had expected fear.Instead...I found ambition.Too many Alpha leaders arrived at every meeting asking the same question."When will my family gain access to the Bloodlines Academy?""When can our gifts be awakened?""How soon can we begin training?"Very few asked the questions that truly mattered."How do we move our elders?""How do we protect our children?""Where will our healers be stationed?"By the end of the second week, even Sol had lost his patience.He stood before the assembled Alphas, his golden eyes colder than I had seen them in a long time."Enough."The room immediately fell silent."You are asking the wrong questions."One Alpha frowned."We are thinking about the future of our packs.""No."Sol answered firmly."You're thinking about yourselves."He walked slow
Aella POV The hall remained silent after Order and Chaos revealed the truth about the bloodlines. No one moved. No one dared interrupt. Then, from the back of the crowd, an elderly wolf shifter slowly rose to his feet. His silver hair framed a weathered face marked by countless years. He leaned heavily on a carved wooden cane. "My family," he began quietly, "has passed down stories for generations." Everyone turned toward him. "My grandfather always said that, once upon a time, every shifter could choose the animal they wished to become." He looked directly at Order. "Was that only a legend?" Order smiled sadly. "No." "It was history." A murmur spread through the assembled shifters. Order stepped forward, his calm voice carrying effortlessly across the hall. "Long ago, before kingdoms existed, every shifter was born with a core affinity." He waved his hand, and shimmering images appeared above the crowd. "They were free to choose the form that best suited that affi
Aella POVHunter was the first to wake.Queen Silveira had barely finished checking his pulse when his eyes opened, immediately searching the room."Molly.""I'm here."Molly's voice came from the bed beside him.She looked pale, exhausted, but awake.The relief that spread through the infirmary was almost tangible.Sol let out a breath beside me.Hunter slowly sat up, wincing."How long?""Twenty days," I answered gently.His eyes widened."...Twenty?"I nodded."You've been gone twenty days."He looked toward Molly.She simply sighed."I told you we'd worried everyone."Hunter rubbed his face before looking back at us."We did it."The room became silent."What happened?" Sol asked.Hunter took a deep breath."The portal.""We found it.""It wasn't connected to the tree itself.""It was anchored from inside the ley lines."He explained everything.The endless tunnels.The countless portals leading to other worlds.The trials.The crystals surrounding Elias's laboratory.The anchor.
Aella POVHunter and Molly slept peacefully in the Sanctuary's infirmary.Queen Silveira assured us they would recover. They were exhausted, malnourished, and their bodies had clearly endured far more than twenty days should have allowed. Whatever had happened to them had taken its toll.For now...All we could do was wait.I gently pulled the blanket higher over Molly's shoulders before stepping into the hallway with Sol.He was unusually quiet.Finally, he looked at me."When did you give Molly access to the Sanctuary?"I frowned."I didn't."Sol stopped walking."What?"I leaned against the stone wall, thinking back."I was going to.""I even arranged to meet with her after the Academy expansion plans were finished."I smiled sadly."The timing was never right.""Then she disappeared."Silence stretched between us.Neither of us had granted Molly permission to enter the Sanctuary.Neither had Chaos.Nor Order.Yet she had arrived safely through Xander's portal.Slowly...A realizat
Hunter POVElias snapped.For the first time since I had met him, the man who always seemed to have ten plans prepared completely lost control."No!"He slammed the binding book shut and stretched both hands toward the laboratory's portal."Open!"Nothing happened.Again."OPEN!"The laboratory trembled.His magic surged wildly through the room.Still...No portal appeared.The silver cracks spreading across the gateway only widened.The connection to the ley lines had been severed.The anchor was gone.Molly had done it.Elias staggered backward, breathing heavily.His expression twisted from disbelief into pure rage."You..."He looked directly at us."...what have you done?"I smiled despite the shadows still binding my arms."What you never thought possible."His eyes became bloodshot."You ruined everything!"He threw both hands forward.Shadows exploded across the laboratory.They rushed toward us like a tidal wave.Only...They weren't obeying him completely anymore.The severe







