LOGINJULIUS ~The packhouse felt like a war zone.Wolves sprawled across the courtyard where they'd fallen, some groaning, others still unconscious. The pack doctors moved between them, checking vitals, administering water."What is the status report?" I barked at Axel."Fifty-three wolves were affected," he said, consulting his tablet. "No physical injuries, but they're all disoriented. Some of them can't remember the last hour at all.""And the ones who stayed conscious?""They are panicking." He glanced at the growing crowd of worried pack members. "They watched their families freeze like statues. Watched them speak with Killian's voice. Alpha, morale is in freefall."I surveyed the damage, my wolf snarling inside me. This was exactly what Killian wanted. Fear. Chaos. Proof that nowhere was safe."Get them inside," I ordered. "Take anyone who is still weak to the medical bay. Everyone else should move to the great hall. I need to address the pack.""What are you going to tell them?""Th
LUCIA ~I couldn't sleep after leaving Julius in the council chamber. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Killian's cruel smile, felt his cold fingers on my cheek.As real as you want me to be.The words echoed in my mind like a curse.I paced my room until dawn crept through the windows, painting everything in shades of gray. My mark pulsed steadily, a constant reminder that something inside me had fundamentally changed.A soft knock interrupted my thoughts."Come in," I called, expecting Jenny.Instead, Seraphine entered, carrying a leather satchel."I hope I'm not intruding," she said. "But I thought we should begin immediately.""Begin what?""Your shielding training." She set the satchel on my desk. "Unless you'd prefer to keep broadcasting your every emotion to the supernatural world?"I wanted to refuse. To tell her I didn't need help from a Shadowfang healer. But the memory of those frozen guards stopped me."How long will it take?" I asked."That depends on you." Seraphine pul
JULIUS ~The council chamber erupted into chaos the moment Killian vanished."Impossible!" Elder Mira shrieked. "He walked through our wards like they were paper!""Calm down," I ordered, but my own heart hammered against my ribs. My wolf clawed at my insides, torn between protecting Lucia and hunting Killian down."Calm?" Mira whirled on me. "The enemy Alpha just materialized in our packhouse, touched your mate, and then vanished! How exactly should I be calm?""Seraphine," I said, ignoring Mira's hysteria. "Explain what just happened."The healer's face had gone pale. "I've never seen anything like it. He wasn't fully physical, more like a projection given temporary substance. But the power required..." She looked at Lucia. "He used your broadcast as an anchor point.""So every time I lose control," Lucia said quietly, "I'm giving him a doorway.""Not just him." Seraphine's expression darkened. "Anyone with enough psychic ability could potentially use your signature to find you. You
LUCIA ~"Because," Seraphine said softly, "the vision wasn't just yours. It rippled through the supernatural network like a stone dropped in still water."My stomach twisted. "That's impossible.""Is it?" She tilted her head. "You shattered every mirror in the east wing without touching them. You projected a shared vision to your mate. What exactly do you think is impossible anymore?"Julius's hand tightened on my shoulder. "Get to the point.""The point is that your Luna is broadcasting." Seraphine set down her tablet. "Whatever power is awakening in her isn't contained anymore. It's reaching out, touching everything sensitive enough to feel it."Elder Mira cleared her throat. "Then she is dangerous.""I didn't say dangerous," Seraphine corrected her quickly. "I said she was broadcasting. There's a difference.""Not to this pack," Mira snapped. "If she can't control her power, she puts every one of us at risk.""I'm sitting right here," I said coldly.Mira's gaze slid to me. "Then pe
LUCIA ~I woke up with a gasp, my body jerking off the bed so violently I almost fell off the bed.The sheets were tangled around my legs, damp with sweat. My heart hammered against my ribs like it was trying to escape. The room was dark, like completely dark, and for a terrifying moment I couldn't remember where I was.Killian.The name burned through my mind. He'd been here. In this room. Standing by the window with that cruel smile, offering me truths I desperately wanted.I scrambled for the bedside lamp, my hands shaking so badly it took three tries to find the switch.Light flooded the room.Empty. Completely empty.The window was closed and the curtains were drawn. No shadows moved in the corners. No trace of smoke or that suffocating presence."It was a dream," I whispered, pressing my hands to my face. "Just a dream."But my palm burned where the mark lay, hot and insistent.I looked down at it. The golden lines glowed faintly, pulsing in rhythm with my racing heart. That was
JULIUS ~I continued to watch her, her beautiful form bathed in the golden sunlight like some of kind of vision I didn’t deserve to see.My mind continued to race. Different questions forming in it.Did he already get to her first? What exactly did he tell when they were together?The thought tore at my insides, vicious and insistent. I pressed my palm against the window, the cool glass doing nothing to calm the fire burning through my veins.My phone buzzed again. Another message.She remembers more than you think. Ask her about the mirrors. I almost crushed the phone in my hand as I pressed it so tight. The screen cracked a bit under the pressure. Killian’s games were getting bolder and even more taunting. The bastard was doing everything to provoke me and it seems to be working. But I was done playing the defense.“Axel!” I barked into the mind link. “Come to my office. Now!”He showed up within minutes, looking confused but at alert. “What happened, Alpha?”I tossed my phone unto
JULIUS ~I barely slept all through the night.Everytime I tried to sleep, all I heard was her voice saying, “I am sorry, Killian.” My body ached like I'd run border patrols all night, and it was all I could think of.The words looped until dawn and I kept asking myself which part hurt more. The fac
LUCIA ~By the time I came down in the morning, Julius was already downstairs. The smell of coffee filled the air, sharp and grounding. He looked up when I entered and stopped scrolling through the reports.“Morning”, I said.“You’re awake early”, he answered.“So are you.”“I couldn’t sleep.”I po
JULIUS~It was already morning before I was ready for it. The packhouse was silent, the kind of silence that came with mornings.I stood at the window, hand flexing inside my glove. The burn still ached beneath it, faint but insistent. Every time I tried to ignore it, the pain throbbed harder.Axel
LUCIA~By the time we got to the packhouse, the light of dawn was now slowly spreading across the sky. The drive the valley was quiet. None of us said anything. Thankfully, when the storm eased, one of the scouts’ who had been trying to locate me found us on the border, and they came with an SUV.J







