C4

"The transport has docked at Ravenfall International, Ebu. Wake up. Your wolf is sluggish."

"I’m awake, Ifu. I was just... lost for a moment. Where did you go? The seat next to me was cold when the engines cut."

"I had to check in with the Northern Dominion guards. Protocol. You look flushed. Is the change in altitude hitting your blood?"

"Maybe. Or maybe it’s the fact that I just let a stranger knot me in a mid-air transition chamber. My head is spinning."

"It wasn't a dream, Little Wolf. I can still smell myself on your skin from across the aisle. But don't look for a permanent bond just yet. Valemont is a city of illusions."

"You're leaving? Just like that? No contact, no pack-link?"

"For now. You have ghosts to hunt in the Valemont Blood Archives. I have territory to secure. If the moon wills it, our paths will cross at Shadowfang Manor. Until then, keep your scent masked. There are scavengers in this city who would kill for a taste of an Adeyemi."

The hum of the Great Beast’s arcane engines faded into a low thrum as the massive creature settled onto the landing spires of Ravenfall International Terminal. I sat up, the heavy fur blanket sliding off my chest. The cabin was dim, the air thick with the scent of damp stone and ancient magic.

Ifu was gone.

I sat there for a heartbeat, my body feeling heavy and foreign. There was a dull, thrumming ache between my thighs—a visceral reminder of the Alpha who had claimed me mid-flight. I pressed my knees together, my face heating up as the memory of his rough tongue and crushing grip flashed behind my eyes.

"Sir? We are beginning the disembarkation process."

I looked up. The attendant was watching me with a look that was far too perceptive. She was a beta, but her nose was sharp. She knew.

"Thank you. I just need a moment."

I gathered my gear—my leather pack and the encrypted data-slate Helena had given me. My movements felt clumsy. I felt marked, even though there was no physical brand on my skin. I stepped out of the transport and into the biting chill of Valemont.

Valemont. The City of Veils.

The rain here didn't smell like water; it smelled like ozone and old blood. I caught a carriage—a sleek, black-lacquered vehicle pulled by silent, silver-eyed constructs—and headed toward the Shadowclaw District.

"To the Silvermoon Heights," I told the driver.

The ride was a blur of gothic spires and neon-lit runes. I tried to focus, but my mind kept drifting back to Ifu. Who was he? An Okoye? The Okoyes ran the Moon Dominion Tower. They were the apex predators of the Northern Dominion. If he was one of them, I was in way over my head.

"Snap out of it, Ebu," I hissed to myself. "You're here for Xavier and Celeste. Not for some Alpha’s knot."

My lodgings at Ashbourne Ridge were modest—a reinforced stone flat with silver-lined shutters. I dropped my pack and locked the door, the click of the heavy bolt echoing in the silence. I peeled off my travel-worn tunic, the scent of cedar and cold forest still clinging to the fabric.

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at my hands. They were shaking.

Two Days Later: The Valemont Blood Archives

"I’m looking for the Adeyemi scrolls. Specifically the 2004 transition records."

"The Adeyemi line is extinct, young master. Those records are restricted by the Silver Crescent Foundation."

"I have the clearance. My name is Ebu Whitlock. I’m a registered researcher from the Moonveil Medical Fortress."

"Whitlock... very well. Follow the lanterns. Section nine, Row four."

The archives were a labyrinth of towering shelves carved directly into the mountain rock. The air was dry, smelling of parchment and decay. It took me hours, my eyes straining against the flickering mag-lights, but I found the ledger.

Xavier Adeyemi. Celeste Adeyemi. My parents.

The official record stated they died in a rogue shift—a tragic accident where their wolves turned on each other during a lunar eclipse. But as I peeled back a hidden layer of the parchment, I saw a crimson seal.

Investigation noted: Silver-laced toxins found in the bedding. Case suppressed by Obsidian Claw Holdings.

My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.

"Obsidian Claw..." I whispered.

That was the parent firm of the Okoye Moon Dominion. The Ivanovs of this world. The very people Ifu represented.

I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the mountain air. My parents hadn't just died; they had been purged. And the people who had taken me in—Gideon and Helena Whitlock—had been hiding me from the very predators I had just invited into my bed.

It was pitch black by the time I stepped out of the Archives. The cobblestones of Valemont glistened like dragon scales under the streetlamps. Every shadow seemed to stretch toward me.

I ducked into a small tavern, The Howling Moon, just to get off the street. I sat at a corner table, clutching a mug of spiced ale, my notebook open in front of me. I scribbled the names: Xavier. Celeste. Obsidian Claw. Ifu.

I underlined Ifu until the ink bled through the page.

"Is the ale to your liking, traveler?"

I looked up. A man in a high-collared obsidian coat was standing near the hearth. He wasn't looking at me, but his posture was rigid, his scent masked by heavy musk. He was a sentinel.

I didn't wait to see if he’d turn around. I downed the ale, threw a few silver coins on the table, and bolted.

The walk back to Ashbourne Ridge felt like a gauntlet. Every snap of a twig, every distant howl made my skin prickle. I burst into my room and slammed the door, my breath coming in ragged gasps.

I opened my data-slate and began to type, my fingers flying over the runes.

SUBJECT: THE ADEYEMI PURGE.

PRIMARY SUSPECT: OKOYE DOMINION.

I stopped. I thought of Ifu's hands. The way he had held me when the transport jolted. The way he had whispered 'I’ve got you' while his wolf claimed mine.

Was it a setup? Had he scented the Adeyemi blood on me the moment I stepped into the terminal?

I crawled into bed, pulling the furs up to my chin. I couldn't sleep. The silence of the room was too loud. I kept seeing that wicked, silver-eyed smirk in the darkness.

"I'm in danger," I whispered to the empty room.

And the terrifying part wasn't the threat of death. It was the fact that my wolf was still whining for the man who might be my family's executioner. I fell into a fitful sleep, the scent of cedar haunting my dreams, wondering if the next time I saw Ifu Okoye, it would be over the edge of a blade.