Masuk"But what exactly is the Rhyme of Hades?" Reinhardt asked. Ludwig rested one hand on the table. "The Rhyme of Hades is one of the forbidden statements every werewolf is banned from saying. Anyone who recites it normally dies instantly. That’s why most packs call it the Rhyme of Death. In the old wars, packs used to trick their enemies into reading it aloud. No matter how strong they were, they dropped dead. It's worse than silver." He chuckled softly. Reinhardt stared at him. "So you want me to read something that kills people? Do you realize if I die, none of you would even exist? Sometimes it feels like all your suggestions are just different ways to get me killed, Elder Ludwig." Ludwig snorted. "Look at this weakling. You have the cursed mark. It won’t kill you...it will transport you. But the process will put you in a death‑like state for a short while." "Only me?" Reinhardt asked, eyes widening. "I can’t take—" Before he could finish, his phone vibrated violently on
“Elder Ludwig,” Reinhardt called out as the old man stepped into the private hall. Ludwig had arrived from Germany earlier without warning. He had been the only Elder missing from the previous meeting, and his sudden appearance only stirred more suspicion. “Will you forgive me for missing the last meeting? And for arriving unannounced?” Ludwig asked, settling himself into a chair. “ Elder Ludwig. I am not fit to take offence,” Reinhardt said honestly. “I only wonder why you came in person. We could’ve discussed this through hologram.” Ludwig let out a slow breath. “This place belonged to the first Father of the Schmidts. He fought to preserve the Athenian bloodline, even as it weakened over the years.” “Hm. And that is why half-bloods are treated badly?” Reinhardt threw a sardonic look. Ludwig gave a bitter smile. “It was never meant to be that way. The Elders twisted the idea. Their obsession with purity caused the half-bloods to revolt. And that revolt is what created monsters
Emma shifted uneasily. “Rowan… can we talk?”Rowan lifted his head. “What’s wrong?”“I’m scared,” she said bluntly.Rowan stood up immediately. “Of what?”“I heard your mother talking earlier,” Emma said. “She mentioned choosing someone as a sacrifice.”Rowan’s expression tightened. “A sacrifice for what?”“For the time-travel portal,” Emma said. “To go to the past and get the Book of Hera, someone from the same bloodline has to be offered. That’s the rule.”Rowan stared at her for a moment, then exhaled. “So you think she’ll choose me.”Emma nodded right away. “Yes. Rowan, she doesn’t value you the way she values your siblings. She thinks you’re the weakest link. You’re the easiest for her to give up.”Emma’s voice cracked a little. “You need to run. Go to the Schmidts. Tell them everything. Don’t stay here.”She clenched her fists. “I’ll help you escape. Just don’t let her use you. I don’t want you to die, Rowan.”“Calm down,” Rowan said. “Why do we even need to go to the past to ge
“Hmph… so you really don’t know what you are?” Japheth scoffed. “What I am?” Lisa repeated, the words tasting strange in her mouth. “Yes,” Japheth said, turning to finally look at her. “Why do you people keep asking what I am instead of who I am? Am I a thing to you?” Lisa snapped, her voice rising. “That question irritates the hell out of me,” she muttered, her brow tightening. “What am I, what am I… You say it like I’m some kind of object.” “Well, what you are isn’t human,” Japheth shot back. “So ‘who’ doesn’t fit.” Lisa’s eyes narrowed. “Then tell me what I am, since you seem to know.” Japheth inhaled sharply, then forced his voice calm as he explained the prophecy the way Emma told him. When he finished, he said coldly, “If what they believe is true, then they should kill you before you cause a catastrophe.” Lisa froze. Her throat tightened. Words wouldn’t come. Anxiety and confusion warped her expression. “They all misunderstand me,” she whispered to herself
Rowan moved toward his room, flanked by his four companions. Every motion was deliberate, calculated, weaving around the buildings in ways that confused the untrained eye. But they weren’t questioning; they were under his control. Somewhere in the tracking of her targets, Emma lost track of them. What? she thought. There’s the central building, the pool to the left, the grand hall to the right, and the passage in between. How did five people just vanish? A voice cut through her thoughts. “Hello, Madam.” She spun around, startled. Her body was moving, but it wasn’t her. Rowan had her. “You’re skilled,” Rowan said, calm but cold. “From now on, you’ll serve me.” Emma’s mind raced. She was the best sensor in Belltown. She had never been caught like this. Rowan is the bottom of the Schmidts and he outsmarted she, the best of all the sensors in Belltown pack........ she thought bitterly. Rowan tilted his head. “Talk. What’s your name?” “My name… is Emma,” she admitted, her
Rowan stood by the window of the room he had been given. Two male omega wolves from the Belltown pack were assigned to “attend” to him, but he knew they were really there to watch him. And if they were watching him, then his mother probably had two more watching them. That was how she thought.If that was the case, she was being funny, because Rowan knew he had the ability to control people like puppets if he wanted. His mother knew that too. That was the only reason she kept him close. When he was younger, she used to call him “mistake” and “weakling,” but when she found out about his power, her attitude changed. She trained him, pushed him, and made sure he learned to fight.Still, Rowan always preferred the times he spent with Reinhardt growing up. Reinhardt would take him into the woods and they would ride bisons, hunt small animals, and spend hours together. Rowan’s loyalty to Reinhardt was real and deep, and he knew his mother was aware of it.Rowan looked at the two omegas agai







