MasukZara’s POV The bruising grip of Isaac’s fingers wrapped around my arm felt like a physical extension of the suffocating chaos closing in around me. Every nerve in my body was already frayed to a breaking point, between Kali missing, the horrific charred corpse waiting outside, and Kora’s venomous threats, so having Isaac trap me in the hallway right now was more than I could handle. I didn't hesitate. With a hard, furious twist of my body, I wrenched my arm backward, yanking my limb free from his hold with enough force to make him stumble half a step. I rubbed my forearm where his fingers had dug in, glaring up at him with a look that should have set him on fire… if I were the shadow wolf. "You have a hell of a nerve touching me, Isaac," I hissed, my voice vibrating with a dangerous, razor-sharp edge. Isaac’s frown deepened as he straightened his posture, his expression dark and unyielding as he blocked the narrow corridor. Then let out a low, heavy sigh, running a hand over his
Zara’s POV The heavy silence of my room felt suffocating the moment Emmett left. His words still echoed in my ears. I tried not to think about it. Kali couldn’t be missing. Kora would back off for now and that guy… he was dead. Burnt to a crisp.The memory of what had happened in the woods rushed back to me with sickening clarity. I could still see the blinding white-hot flames erupting from Kali’s fingertips. I could still hear the agonizing, inhuman shrieks of the man as he burned to a crisp, before our eyes. Kali was the Shadow Wolf. She was the one wielding that devastating, terrifying power. And the absolute worst part of it all, the thought that made my stomach churn and cold sweat break out across my skin, was Emmett. If Emmett ever found out what Kali truly was, if he discovered that she possessed the very power our kind feared above all else, he wouldn’t hesitate to turn her into his army. And I would not get a chance to save Ike.I couldn’t just sit there and wait. The an
Emmett’s POV The lingering heat of the night before still seemed to cling to the sheets, but the space beside me was chillingly vacant. I rolled over blindly, my arm reaching out across the mattress, expecting to find the smooth curve of Kali’s shoulder, the soft tangle of her hair against the pillows. My fingers met only cold, crumpled linen. I frowned, blinking against the dim gray light filtering through the heavy drapes. Pushing myself up onto one elbow, I rubbed my tired eyes, the heavy exhaustion of the previous hours still humming faintly through my veins. The room was deathly quiet. I looked around the empty room, catching the faint, lingering scent of her wildflowers and rain in the air, but there was no sign of her. "Kali?" I called out, my voice rough with the remnants of sleep. No answer. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, pulling on a pair of dark trousers. A quiet, insidious spike of panic began to coil in my chest. I checked the adjoining bathr
Emmett’s POV Her fingers were relentless against the leather of my belt, fumbling for a second before the metal prong slid free with a sharp, metallic snap. The sound echoed in the damp, steam-filled quiet of the bathroom, a tiny punctuation mark to the sudden, almost drastic change in the atmosphere.My breath caught in my throat, hot and ragged. Just a moment ago, I had been the one holding the line, the one preaching patience and restraint. I had looked at the pale, haunted hollows of her face and sworn to myself that I wouldn’t touch her like this, not while she was drowning in whatever terror had chased her out of the woods, not while she looked like a stiff breeze could shatter her into a million pieces.I had told her I wanted to wait. I had told her she needed to feel safe first.But my noble intentions dissolved into ash the second her gaze locked onto mine. There was no hesitation in her eyes now, no timid submission. Instead, there was a dark, burning hunger, a desperate,
Emmett’s POVThe single word hung suspended in the quiet air of the hallway, raw and loaded with a sudden, suffocating weight.“Kali?”I stood frozen in the threshold of my room, my chest tightening as my eyes swept over her. Up close, the sight of her sent a cold, jarring shock straight through my veins. She looked entirely ghostly, her skin practically translucent, drained of any natural color, and her eyes wide with a deep, haunted terror that she was frantically trying to swallow down. The vibrant, warm energy that usually seemed to surround her had vanished, replaced by a chilling fragility that made my beast claw restlessly beneath my skin.I reached out slowly, my fingers brushing against her icy cheek. “Where have you been? What happened to you?” I asked, my voice dropping to a low, rough murmur of concern.Kali flinched slightly at my touch, leaning into it for a fraction of a second before pulling back. She avoided my gaze, staring down at the floorboards as a hollow, trembl
Emmett’s POV The heavy oak desk in the center of the study cast long shadows across the floorboards as the cool morning light filtered through the leaded glass windows. I stood up from the chair, rolling my shoulders to work out the lingering stiffness of the past few days, and extended my hand across the wood toward Isaac. Isaac took it, his grip firm despite the underlying pallor of his skin and the exhausted slump of his posture. "You’ve been a gratuitous host, Isaac," I said, my voice carrying the steady, resonant authority of an Alpha who had spent far too long away from his own pack lands. "Truly, your hospitality has been deeply appreciated. But my pack requires my presence back home. We will be heading back soon." Isaac gave a slow, understanding nod, letting go of my hand as he offered a weary smile. "I understand, Emmett. Pack duties always come first. There’s no fault in returning to where you’re needed." I lingered for a moment, the pending union between our packs
Kora's PoV The sapphire flared to life in my hands, a sudden burst of silver-white that flooded the room like moonlight breaking through storm clouds. For one frozen heartbeat, panic clawed up my throat. I had been so sure that I was the silver wolf but what if I had misheard? What if the words m
Emmett's POV. I felt like a volcano that was about to erupt. Hot, angry, seething. Like something wanted to explode in me and I wanted to see someone hurt. That person being Maduro. Ever since I was fifteen that had been my wish, to make him suffer like how he made me and my sister. I w
Kali’s POV My heart hadn’t stopped pounding since Zara left my room. Every thump echoed in my ears like a war drum, each beat a reminder that I was living on borrowed time. I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the faint shimmer of light bleeding in through the curtains, my hands trembling in m
Zara's POV “What the hell is going on, Isaac?” My voice came out sharper than I intended, when he didn't answer right away.Isaac didn’t answer immediately. He was definitely stalling or maybe trying to cook up something to tell me He just… looked at me.Or rather, through me and for a split seco







