Sabrina's POV~I ducked behind a supply crate, my heart pounding against my ribcage, the sweat making my black hair stick to my face, my green eyes darting around the periphery of the patrol, looking forâan opening. I was the Phase Catalyst, a secret Silver Veil that had burned into my skinâover years of manipulation, a chain I loathed, a truth that would unlock the Alphaâs true power if they pushed me too far, a weapon â a weapon I would never let them wield. Iâd betrayed Caspian, a decision that followed me, a blemish I could not cleanse. But Elara and Damienâs burgeoning faith in each other, chiseled out in the silences of the Vellex safehouse â their fingertips grazing, their eyes forging unspoken promises â ignited such a fierce yearning for redemption inâmy chest that it burned its way through my shame. Their love, a constant in the maelstrom that brewed in the Alphaâsârise, was a beacon I grasped, the hope I might find redemption, that I might save Elara, the vessel that I had
Jasmine's POV~I was on a thin, worn-out coat, my side wrapped tightly, deep gash from Silver Veilâs madness pulsingâwith each breath; the pain felt duller now, my body piecing itself back together with its stubborn determination. My sweat-dampened auburn hair was matted with dust, my brown eyes searching the smallâroom, absorbing the fragile peace weâd managed to carve out. Elara wasâacross from me, next to Damien, their sweet glancesâher gentle smile, the brief touch of his hand to hersâlending warmth to the cool, shadowy room, their mate bond a murmured strength that trembled within my chest, something shining in the dark. Lyra lay on another cot, her shoulder bound in clean bandages, her hazel eyes wary, but fierce, her fresh injury from the Bloodhound scout an emblem of her selflessness, aâspecter I felt but could not identify. The Alphaâs prints, fresh and clawed, circled closer and closer to our camp, its feral scentâwild, acrid, primalâlacing through the thin walls,âa beast of
Roland's POV-Kneeling next to him, my son, Julian, his thin face barely visible in the wavering light from a nearby fire, his chest rising in painful, shallow breaths, I saw blood soaking through the bandagesâthat I'd bound around the silver blade wound that wouldn't close in his inner thigh. The burning-out of Silver Veilâs ritual lab had emptied my pack, fifty wolves gone in a flash of fire and steel, their absence an open wound in my soul, but Julianâmy heir, my bloodâwas the deepest scar, a grief toâcut sharper than any claw. He had betrayed us, taking the runed dagger and ruining the ritual, otherwise, he wouldâve beenâa traitor in my eyes, and still, he lay broken, barely alive, and if need be... I gave up my heartbeat to have him alive. The Alphaâs primal stench, a power orchestrated by Elara and Lyraâs shared blood, clung to Vellexâs frost-encrusted woods, a menace that clenched my hand around myâbelt knife, its chill steel tethering me. Elara and Damien's hushed unity, smoot
Damien's POV~My black wolf circled restlessly inside, scratching just below the creaks, but I stood next to the door, dark eyes onâElara in tattered red on the tattered cot, hair catching the soft yellow lantern glow as she watched me with her long hazel eyes in which burned a quiet fire that stirred my gut like nothing ever had. Her fingers were inches from mine on the cot, we were close enough to touch,âand we did, a wordless vow that cemented our mate bond, the one that began in blood and flame in the lab, and now burned on as a single, unwavering flame in the encroaching dark. The Giantâs beastly entity had beenâa lingering specter in Vellexâs snow-laden woods, its overwhelming wild, bitter, and predatory odor leaking between the walls to remind us that it was a monster our twin bloodâmine and Elara and Lyraâs monstrous, the one weâd unleashed in this fever dream of a nightmareâhad spawned. Lyraâs fresh cut from the Bloodhound scoutâs sword,âbandaged but still oozing, and Jasmine
Lyras POV-The Vellex safehouse was a hollow shelter, its weathered timber walls complaining against the press of one more frost-ridden night, the air heavy with the sharp bite of pine and the copper scent of blood that marked itself on each ofâus. Raw and stinging from the Silver Veilâs raw cuffs, theâsilver cuffs had burned my wrists, reminding me cruelly of the horrors of the ritual lab. My hazel eyes glinted with that restless glowâof my awakened wolf, the power humming in perfect synchrony with Elaraâs, the power of my twin, my mirror, the sister Iâd only just found but would slay anyone who looked at her wrong until the day I died. She lay on the opposite end of theâclaustrophobic chamber, her tangled auburn hair covering her pretty face, relaxed in slumber, chest rising and falling, in a silence I was desperately craving. Jasmineâlay on another cot not far away, her side bound up tight and her breathing shallow, even and courageous, her action to give us a chance by dragging us
Elara's POV~I was at the center of the storm, my wrists bloody and raw from broken silver cuffs, my hazel eyes as bright as the primal force I had become, a power that rose in perfect counterpoint with Lyraâs,âthe other half of my soul, the twin sister who stood beside me, a sister I had only just found but knew in every fiber of my being. Lyra and Jasmine were injured, blood running from tears on their sides and their arms, their faces white but defiant, their spirits unbowedâeven in pain. Around us, Damien, Caspian, and Roland bled, battling with a blood-drenched vengeance, their shapes a final defense against the tide of Silver Veil guards,âblades and claws shining in the vatsâ waning light. The conflict between Bloodhound and Vellex continued beyond the trembling walls of the lab:âthe howls of dogs, the ring of metal, a discordant symphony that trembled the concrete here, the hum of the ritual a fading pulse that nonetheless bore into my ribs like living things. I loved like a wi