LOGINBy the time Elena finished calling every name on the list, nine families had answered, but eight had not. That number sat heavily with everyone gathered in the library. Some of the missing families lived hours apart. A few belonged to different packs, and two had no formal pack affiliation at all. The only obvious connection between them was the one Elena couldn’t ignore: Every one of them had come to Eldermoon looking for someone Peter had taken.Micah remained on speakerphone from his position near Blackwater while Roland assigned guards to verify the homes of the eight families who hadn’t answered. No one was willing to assume the worst yet. Phones died. People slept. Some of the families had driven considerable distances to reach the manor and might still be traveling.Elena knew all of that. She didn’t believe any of it.“Rebecca’s van proves at least one of them is connected to Blackwater,” she said. “We can’t wait until morning.”“We aren’t,” Roland assured her. “But we’re also
By morning, Roland had gathered more information about Blackwater than Elena expected. Unfortunately, it was considerably less than she wanted.The shipyard sat nearly three hours from the manor on a narrow coastal channel surrounded by marshland. Blackwater Coastal Holdings had purchased the property six years earlier for an amount low enough to suggest someone had simply wanted to unload it. The company had paid the taxes faithfully for two years, then dissolved without explanation and apparently abandoned the property. No utilities were currently registered to the address, no business licenses had been issued since the sale, and according to every public record Micah could find, no one had set foot there in years.Elena didn’t believe that for a second. Neither did Roland.“We watch it first,” he said when the council gathered after breakfast. “No one enters the property.”Elena folded her arms. “I feel like you’re looking directly at me when you say that.”“I am.”Ryan laughed fro
Roland immediately turned toward Micah. “Find out whether any unusual commercial properties along the coast have changed ownership in the last several years. I want warehouses, marinas, abandoned processing facilities, private docks, anything large enough to hide activity.”Micah nodded and left the room with two of the guards. Elena felt the first real spark of excitement she’d experienced in days. They weren’t waiting for Peter to make another move. They were following him.Ryan seemed to feel it too. He leaned over the map again and began eliminating areas that wouldn’t meet Peter’s needs. “He’d want distance from major roads, but not too much. Supplies still have to get in. Deep water would be useful if he’s moving anything by boat, and he’d need enough land surrounding the property to detect anyone approaching.”Gail looked toward him. “You sound like you’
For several seconds, no one seemed to know what to do with Elena’s revelation. Damien still had one hand wrapped around her arm to steady her, while Gail remained focused on evaluating the wards. Roland was the first to recover and immediately shifted his attention from the manor to the dark woods surrounding the estate.“How certain are you?” he asked.Elena closed her eyes and tried to remember the brief connection without reaching for it again. The sensation of Peter’s presence had overwhelmed almost everything else, but beneath the corruption there had been something unmistakable. She had spent enough time near the ocean to recognize the damp heaviness of salt air.“I’m certain I smelled salt water. It wasn’t just the ocean, though. There was something else mixed with it.” Elena struggled to find the right words as the memory began to fade. “Rotting wood, maybe? Something old and wet.”Ryan’s expression immediately sharpened. “Marshland.”Elena looked toward him. “Maybe.”“If Pete
Elena looked back toward the manor. The windows continued vibrating with every pulse of conflicting magic. “Then how do we disconnect it?”Gail didn’t answer. Elena already knew what that meant. “You don’t know.”“I need time.”Another powerful vibration rolled through the ground. This time, the exterior lights flickered, and several went dark.“We don’t have much of that,” Damien said.Elena focused on the anchor again. Now that she knew where the foreign magic originated, she could feel the connection far more clearly. Peter’s power radiated outward from the tiny object in dozens of thin strands, each one attached to a different section of the manor’s protection.It reminded her of roots or veins. She remembered what happened in the cellar when the corruption tried to take shape. Fighting it had only given it something to push against. The moment she stopped thinking about destroying it and focused instead on removing the conditions allowing it to exist, everything changed.“What if
“Everywhere.”The word barely left Micah’s mouth before another violent tremor moved through the manor. This one was powerful enough to rattle the paintings against the walls and send a decorative vase crashing to the floor somewhere nearby. Elena instinctively reached for Damien, but her attention immediately turned inward as she tried to feel what was happening beyond the walls.Something was wrong with the wards, but it wasn’t the same sensation she had experienced during Peter’s earlier attacks. She didn’t feel corruption pushing against the manor or searching for a way inside. Instead, the magic surrounding them seemed confused. The individual layers were still there, but they were vibrating against one another instead of working together.“Gail!” Elena shouted.“I’m here.”Her aunt appeared at the end of the hallway, running toward them with Esther close behind. Gail’s normally composed expression was gone. Her hair had fallen loose around her face, and she was already whisperin
Roland gathered everyone in the War Room. This time, Elena and Gail were included. The Alpha King looked somber as he said, "It's time you all know the story of why Ryan Mercer was expelled from the Crimson Moon Pack."Elena and Gail squeezed each other's hands for comfort. This would surely not be
Elena was tired of being trapped in Damien's room. She didn't know why she was crumbling like a two-year-old who scraped her knee. She turned away from Damien, intent on going to train off some aggression. The second her hand hit the doorknob, a shiver raced down her spine, making her stop in her t
The rest of that night was uneventful. Elena stayed with Damien, and thankfully, nothing happened. The next morning, every action felt like simply going through the motions. She took a shower, brushed her hair, brushed her teeth, and got dressed. Every action was the same as every other day, but it
Roland’s response was immediate. Lockdown orders were issued. Wolves moved in a sort of orchestrated chaos Elena had never witnessed before. Before the Alpha King was locked away in the War Room with his advisors, she was desperate to make one request.“My King! Please, I have a request.”“My dear







