LOGINAURELIAN POV:I stopped the car at the foot of the mountain.The road ended here. Only rocks and a narrow path went up from this point. The air was cold and thin. I turned off the engine, picked up the small bag from the passenger seat, and stepped out.The wind hit me immediately. It was sharp, like knives on my skin. I looked up at the mountain. It looked endless, covered in mist and shadow. The old Lycan was supposed to be somewhere up there.I started walking.The path was steep and rocky. My boots crunched on loose stones. Every step took effort. The cold bit into my bones, but I kept going. I needed this. I needed to bind my wolf before it completely took over.‘What do you think you are doing?’ my wolf growled.“I am doing what needs to be done,” I said.‘Everything I have done was to keep us alive, Aurelian.’“You call that keeping us alive?” I asked. “You took control without warning. You attacked Iris. You made me look weak.”‘Weak?’ my wolf scoffed. ‘You would have hesitate
IRIS POV:I couldn’t sleep at all that night.I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling for hours. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the two men torn apart on the road, the deleted footage, and Aurelian’s red eyes glowing in the library. My mind wouldn’t stop turning.By the time the sun started rising, I gave up trying to sleep. I got out of bed, washed my face with cold water, and stared at myself in the mirror for a long time.I put on a simple robe and walked out of my room.The mansion was a bit quiet.When I reached the stairs, I saw Serah already awake in the living room. She was sitting on the couch, looking worried. Rowe was standing near her, talking in a low voice.I came down the stairs.“What happened?” I asked.Serah looked up at me, her eyes wide.Rowe turned and nodded at me.“Madam Iris,” he said. “There’s something you need to see.”He picked up the remote, turned on the TV, and replayed the news.The broadcaster’s voice was serious.“…there was an attack on the Alpha
SERAH POV:I ran out of my room, my robe barely tied, my heart pounding in my chest.What was happening?The scream still echoed in my ears. It sounded like Iris.Stephen was right behind me, pulling on his shirt as we ran down the hallway.“What the hell is going on?” he asked, breathing hard.“I don’t know,” I said, my voice shaking. “But that was Iris screaming.”We turned the corner and almost crashed into Rowe. He was running toward us, his face pale.“You heard it too?” he asked.“Yes,” I said. “It came from the library direction.”Rowe didn’t waste time. He started running down the stairs, and we followed him.The mansion felt too quiet now. Every footstep echoed. My bare feet were cold on the marble floor.We reached the bottom of the stairs when I saw her.Iris came running out of the dark hallway that led to the library. Her hair was messy, her clothes looked thrown on in a hurry. She stumbled on the last step and fell hard onto the floor.“Iris!” I shouted.Rowe reached her
IRIS POV:“What’s wrong?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.“Your eyes.”“What… about them?”“They are glowing red,” I said.“Red?”Aurelian frowned, clearly confused. He stood up from the table and walked over to the large mirror on the wall of the library. He stared at his own reflection for a few seconds.His eyes widened.He stepped closer to the mirror, touching his face with his fingers.“What the fuck…” he whispered.Suddenly, his eyes intensified. The red glow became brighter, almost burning.He growled and grabbed his head with both hands, like something loud was screaming inside his head and only he could hear it.He staggered back, knocking over a chair.“Aurelian!” I shouted.I quickly picked my clothes from the ground and put them on as fast as I could.“Aurelian, speak to me!” I said, moving toward him.But when I saw his face, I froze.His fangs were elongated, sharp, and visible. His face was starting to grow hair, dark fur spreading across his cheeks and jaw. His eyes wer
IRIS POV:I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling.Sleep wasn’t coming. My mind kept replaying everything, the men on the road, the torn bodies, the deleted footage, and the way Aurelian had looked at me when he saw the mark on my neck.I couldn’t take it anymore.I stood up, wore my robe, and walked out of the room. The mansion was quiet. Only the soft lights in the hallway were on.I moved toward the living room, but then I heard a sound coming from the library.I stopped.Slowly, I walked toward the library door. It was slightly open. I pushed it gently and looked inside.Aurelian was sitting at the big table, reading a book. He looked calm and focused.I stepped inside but didn’t go fully in. I stayed near the door, my hand still holding the handle, ready to run if I needed to.“I can’t take it anymore,” I said.Aurelian looked up from the book. He closed it slowly and stood up.“What’s wrong?” he asked.“Ever since your family came and left, it’s like you changed overnight,” I sa
IRIS POV:Serah and I reached the mansion together.The moment we stepped inside, I saw Aurelian standing near the living room. He looked calm, like nothing had happened.I walked closer to him.“You've been a bit sneaky lately,” I said.He laughed. “Sneaky in what way, Iris?”“I saw you come through the back door earlier,” I said. “Was there anything that made you go that way? The front door was right here.”Aurelian turned to me and smiled a little.“It was the garden,” he said. “I wanted to check something there. Is there any problem?”I shook my head. “No.”He nodded and moved on without saying anything else.He's different in a way, the way he talks, the sneaky behavior. Something was surely wrong with Aurelian.After some time, while Serah was still with us, I couldn’t hold it anymore.“Are you aware of what happened by the road this morning?” I asked him.Aurelian looked at me calmly. “No. What happened?”I stared at him.Serah was sitting beside me, quiet, but I could feel her
IRIS POV:Caius looked down the table."The first matter," he said. "Edran."Edran straightened in his seat. He was three chairs down from Caius on the left side, and when he spoke, his voice sounded a bit furious, but he hid it."The northern coastal boundary," he said. "The Virex holdings have be
IRIS POV:We walked through the door.The weight of the room hit me before I saw the faces.It wasn't like before in the corridor. That had been one Lycan from a distance. This was a room full of them, closed in.The air was thick with something that pressed against my skin from every direction at
IRIS POV:From afar I spotted a young man near the entrance of the room.He had his back to us so I couldn't see his face, but the moment he turned to respond to someone beside him, my whole body started shaking.I hadn't even seen his face clearly and yet something inside me collapsed.My wolf wen
IRIS POV:A man came forward to meet him.He was tall and dark-skinned with short grey hair at his temples. He moved slowly and calmly.He looked at Aurelian first.Then he looked at me.My wolf went completely silent inside me."Aurelian," the man said."Caius," Aurelian said.Caius looked at me a







