LOGINThe crowd shifted, necks craning toward the source of the shout. A man pushed his way to the front—broad-shouldered, middle-aged, with a scar cutting through his left eyebrow. I recognized him. Duncan. He ran the grain mill on the south edge of territory."That's bullshit!" he barked again, his face flushed red. "Pretty words don't bring Steven back. Pretty words don't explain why a damn dart hit our Luna inside her own mansion." He jabbed a finger toward me. "You want us to believe this is some ancient revenge plot? Fine. Then tell us who. Give us a name. Give us something to fight instead of standing around waiting for the next head to show up in a box."The murmurs swelled again, louder this time. Greta didn't silence them. She just watched me, arms still crossed, waiting.Malcolm stepped forward before I could answer. His voice was low, controlled, but it cut through the noise like a blade. "You want a name? So do I. And when I have one, I will tear them apart with my own hands. B
I woke to the sharp sting of ammonia in my nose. Hospital smell. That clean, burning scent that meant something had gone wrong."Ouch." I winced, my fingers brushing my right shoulder. Pain shot down my arm, hot and immediate. I pulled my hand back and blinked against the harsh overhead lights.White ceiling and walls. The steady beep of a monitor somewhere to my left.I was alive. That was the first thing. The second thing hit me harder."The baby." My voice came out hoarse, barely a whisper. I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. My shoulder screamed in protest, and the room tilted sideways.A warm hand pressed gently against my good shoulder. "Easy." Malcolm. He was there, leaning over me, his face drawn and tired but his eyes were clear. Focused. He wasn't panicking anymore. "Lie still. You're okay. The baby's okay."I collapsed back against the pillows, my breath leaving me in a rush. "You're sure?""Dr. Liana checked you herself. Both of you." He pulled a chair close
"Fuck, fuck, who did this," Malcolm muttered as he touched the cardboard box, his voice rough.I froze, my breath catching in my throat. Slowly I stepped back, but my eyes couldn't look away. Several guards crowded around, their faces pale as sheets.It was Steven Howard's head. Our war general. The man who had earned the highest ranking for five consecutive years in every evaluation. The man who had never lost a strategic battle, who trained every soldier with an iron hand but fair judgment. Who always stood at Malcolm's right side in every council meeting.His neck had been severed brutally, flesh and muscle exposed in a cut that was clean yet cruel. His usually neat hair was now matted with dried blood. His eyes were still wide open, staring blankly at the garage ceiling, as if he still couldn't believe this was how it ended.My hands trembled. My knees went weak. I collapsed onto the cold concrete floor, but I didn't feel it. All I could see was Steven's head, staring at me from i
Malcolm didn't answer. Both hands were white-knuckled on the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on something ahead of us through the windshield.I followed his gaze, still struggling to catch my breath. The road stretched out before us, quiet and ordinary, the late afternoon sun slanting gold across the asphalt. For a heartbeat, I didn't see anything. Then the shape moved—something low and dark, darting across the road and vanishing into the brush on the other side.A deer. No, smaller than that. Whatever it was, it had come out of nowhere."Everyone okay?" Malcolm's voice was clipped, his Alpha composure slamming back into place even as I watched his pulse jump in his throat."I'm fine," Lira said shakily, one hand splayed protectively over her belly. Allison had a firm grip on her shoulder, his body angled in front of hers like a shield. "Just startled.""Okay here," I managed, rubbing my chest where the seatbelt had bitten in. I twisted around to look at Allison. "You?"Allison nodded
The doors swung open a second time, and Dr. Liana stepped out. Her scrub top was damp now across the chest and under both arms, and there was a stain on her sleeve I didn't want to look at too closely. She pulled her mask down and it left a red line across her cheeks.For a long moment she just stood there, breathing hard, like she'd been running. The alarms were still going off behind her, muffled now as someone closed an inner door.Hazel took a step toward her. "What happened? Is she—""She's alive," Dr. Liana said, holding up a hand to stop him before he could barrel through the doors. "But her heart stopped for just under a minute. We got her back, but only just." She wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist. "The condition is more aggressive than I initially thought. Her rib fractures are more extensive, and now there's fluid building around her heart. She's fighting, but her little body is working far too hard.""Then do something," Hazel said, his voice cracking. "Fix i
They didn’t let us into the main infirmary right away. Hazel and I stood in the narrow corridor just outside, shoulder to shoulder, breathing the sharp scent of antiseptic and something else I couldn’t name. The walls were a pale, tired green, the kind of color that’s seen too many anxious faces.Hazel hadn’t spoken since they took Hagar through those swinging doors. He just stood there, arms crossed tight over his chest, jaw working on nothing. Every time a nurse hurried past, he flinched.After what felt like a very long time, Dr. Liana came out. Her scrub top had a fresh damp patch near the collar, and the little lines around her eyes looked deeper than they had an hour ago. She pulled off her gloves one finger at a time, and that small, deliberate motion told me more than I wanted to know.“She’s stable for now,” Dr. Liana said, before either of us could ask. “But we’ve found the source of the problem, and it’s serious.”Hazel’s whole body went still. “What kind of serious?”“Haga
“Down here.”“Huh?” I looked down and realized that just a few steps from where I stood was a sunken pile of leaves.I approached it cautiously, only to be shocked when I realized Malcolm had fallen in. “How did you even get down there?” I asked. “Wait a second, I'll find a branch to help you u
Shannon breathed, her voice low and rough, like she was biting down on the phone.“Yes. We’re heading to her location now. Hopefully she cooperates.”“Yeah. I just hope that bastard is willing to negotiate and hand over the antidote.”“This is going to take a long time… we’ll have to go deep into t
“You didn’t mean to disrespect your Luna? You didn’t mean to forget who dragged this pack from starving, broken, bleeding out of the dirt with my own hands?”My voice stayed low, almost velvet, but every word cut like glass. I tilted my head, letting the silence stretch just long enough for the wei
It was Shannon, the Guardian commander. Her sharp eyes took in the chaotic scene in an instant the unnatural corruption spreading across Jennifer’s skin.“Shannon you still here?” I widened my eyes shocked with her arrival since Lira and Allison said they’d just walked away from our territory.“I a







