Roland's POV~I lead the assault, my wolf form sloughing miles behind me—a feeling of rage, fury, and hatred. Gray, scarred, and unyielding, the reflection of my mind and body—and the mentality coursing through it. I ripped a Vellex guard with my claws, and blood exploded across the frost-crusted earth. Julian’s role, his indictment, the wardens’ manipulation of my pack into this war – the Phase Shift that gambled my heir – all fueled a fire hotter than any blade. Silver Veil’s promises, their lies, to Julian’s face, promising freedom even as they bled him dry. He’d be free, and they’d all die—a tattoo I’d ink into the marrow of their bones. My target, my vengeance – the ritual lab, gleamed a beacon in the distance as I loomed upon it. Elara and Julian, rituals damned souls and puppets, were tools I’d pry from their hands. Bloodhound’s loyalty was my whirlwind, eight hundred strong, but desperation clawed at my heel – lose him, and our legacy was ash. “Forward!” I bellowed, shifting b
Jasmine's POV~The Silver Veil ritual lab was glowing, its silver vats thrumming like a beast’s pulse, their eerie light casting jagged shadows across the altar where I stood, unbound but trapped, my heart pounding. Elara and Lyra, her twin—a mirror of her hazel eyes and fierce jaw—faced guards beside me, the twins revealed a shock that still rattled my bones.Rosa’s sacrifice, her blood pooling in the lab’s corner, was a raw wound, her death for me a guilt I couldn’t shake. Bloodhound howls shook the walls, Roland’s war raging outside, chaos drowned by the ritual’s deafening hum, its runes flaring red across the floor. “ Your role as “Vessel Secondary,” a chain, my blood a key to the Phase Shift. But my love for Elara— my sister in all but blood— Elara and our mate bond with Cassie were my strength, a fire burning through fear. Silver suppressants dulled my wolf, but I felt her stir, a spark of power, and I vowed to shield Elara and Lyra to honor Rosa, to fight until my last breath.
Savire's POV~I was in the dark command room, dim light from the monitors displaying the progress of the Phase Shift ritual reflecting off of my silver head, my hands firm even as my insides were in knots. My part as a magician of the ritual was exposed—vessels sacrificed that would be awakened with us, and that was nothing compared to the wound Caspian had torn open at the packhouse that ran deeper than I’d ever admit. His theft of the ritual key and his eyes aglow with my son’s righteous fury, Julian’s escape from Vellex’s cells were slips in my master's plans, and Roland’s war for his son had the capacity to undo everything. I’d created this ritual to protect Vellex, to claim its power for my pack, but Caspian’s charge of treachery had weakened my resolve, the confidence I so proudly displayed now cracking in the face of his accusation. Bloodhound’s long howls resonated beyond the walls, their raid a pathetic diversion I had arranged to help cover my tracks, but loyalty to my pack
Elara's POV~I was strapped down next to Jasmine, her sweat-filled auburn hair and the sweat wetting her brown eyes, the fierce look in them diluted by exhaustion and the hum of the Phase Shift ritual of change around us, the tanks mounted in the wall throbbing like an organic heart. Tyler’s runework was living, its carvings on the floor glowing red, a power that pushed into my ribs, stealing my breath. The sight of my twin vessel, Rosa’s death — her body still limp in the corner of the lab, a pool of blood gathering beneath her sacrifice — destroyed me, a wall of disbelief so great it swept my fight out to sea. Bloodhound howls tore through the steel walls of the lab, Roland’s madness a storm in the distance, but in the lab, it was a crucible, and my world ceased to exist beyond the altar, beyond survival. My wolf had been muted by silver and suppressants, a low growl where her fire should have burned, but the flame of my renewed determination, reforged in this second life and kindle
Damien's POV~I stumbled on through Vellex’s battle-torn woods, with Caspian loping at my side, his tawny wolf shape a tethered shadow, his brown eyes bright with the same urgency. Bloodhound raids ravaged the earth, Roland’s sacrifice, a tempest bearing down upon Vellex. Sabrina’s GPS coordinates — ones she spit out in a bloody jangle of desperation at the packhouse — were crumpled in my pocket, directing me to where the Silver Veil performed their ritual torture on Elara and Jasmine. My bond with Caspian had won in danger and trust, as we tracked, our breath frost curling in the bitter cold, our footfalls noiseless but fleet.“Caspian, the lab,” I barked, voice hoarse, tears in my shredded shirt, the gunshot still pulsing. “Sabrina’s intel is good — Tyler’s there, and Elara’s alive. We don’t stop until they’re free.”He drew back, his chest heaving, his expression grim, the ritual key he’d wrestled from Savire glinting in his fist like a talisman. “ Jasmine’s in there, too, Damien.
Julian's POV~I hid behind a decaying log, my body a wreck from the state of how I escaped from Vellex’s cells. My blood dried in the layers between my ribs where Damien had sliced me open, my stolen coat torn to tatters, the burn of silver cuffs still on my wrists locking down the wolf, leaving me only a weak snarl when my strength could have howled. Savire’s encoded message—“ritual needs a sacrifice”—ate at my thoughts, the promise of some vessel’s death, whether Elara or her mystery twin, a grim mystery I could not seem to shake. There were the howls of bloodhounds that sounded close enough to lift my hackles, the war that my pack was waging for my freedom like a wildfire that I had sparked but could no longer control. I was a fugitive being pursued by Vellex, distanced by Roland, my father, his attacks hitting at Vellex and me cowering, weak and chased. The bitterness that washed through my veins, my dream of ruling Bloodhound crumbling beneath a wave of regret—for making Elara in