LOGINThe hallway beyond was long and gray, lined with doors. Through small windows in each door, I could see other prisoners. Wolves, vampires, witches, all wearing the same collars, all with the same hollow expressions. How many people were trapped down here? They threw me into a larger cell, maybe twenty by twenty feet. Three other men were already inside, all wearing collars. The door slammed shut behind me with a metallic clang. "Fresh meat," one of them said, a lean man with scars covering his arms. "I'm Dante. Eclipse pack. Former Alpha. Been here eight years." "Rook," said a younger guy, maybe twenty years old, with haunted eyes. "Shadow Creek pack. I don't remember how long I've been here. Maybe five years? Maybe ten?" The third man didn't introduce himself, just watched me with predatory intensity. Kieran, the True Alpha I'd met earlier. "Four Alphas in one cell," I observed. "That's either really stupid or really calculated." "Oh, it's calculated," Dante said bitterly
POV: Xavier Pain woke me. Sharp, throbbing pain in my temples that felt like someone was drilling into my skull. I groaned, trying to lift my hand to my head, but my arm wouldn't move. My eyes snapped open to harsh fluorescent lighting and the cold realization that I was restrained to a metal chair. The collar around my neck hummed with a frequency that made my teeth ache. I tested the restraints once, twice. Solid steel, bolted to the floor. The room was smaller than I expected, maybe ten by ten feet, with concrete walls painted sterile white. A single camera mounted in the corner tracked my every movement. "Subject Alpha-Seven is conscious," a mechanical voice announced from a hidden speaker. Alpha-Seven. Not Xavier. Not even a name. Just a number. Rage built in my chest, hot and fierce. I pulled against the restraints hard enough that the metal groaned, but the collar immediately sent a shock through my system that left me gasping. Every nerve in my body screamed. "I wo
POV: Thelma Cold. That was the first thing I registered. Cold metal against my bare arms, cold air circulating through unseen vents, cold terror settling into my bones like ice. My eyes snapped open to blinding white light. I tried to move, to shift, to call on my Alpha power, but nothing happened. Panic clawed at my throat as I realized I was straining against restraints that wouldn't budge. Thick metal bands circled my wrists, ankles, and waist, bolting me to what felt like an examination table. And around my neck, I felt it. A collar. Smooth, cold, humming with energy that felt wrong against my skin. The moment my consciousness brushed against it, trying to access my wolf, pain lanced through my skull so sharp I gasped. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," a calm voice said from somewhere beyond the lights. "The neural inhibitor collar responds to attempts at supernatural ability usage with increasingly severe pain. The third attempt usually causes temporary paralysis. The fift
POV: Celeste I had lived for twelve hundred years. I had survived wars between packs, witch hunts, vampire invasions, and the collapse of entire civilizations. But I had never seen anything like this. Dr. Cassandra Vex stood in the ruins of our arena, surrounded by soldiers armed with weapons that hummed with unnatural energy. Her blue glowing eyes swept across us with clinical detachment, like we were specimens in a lab rather than living beings. "Stand down," I commanded my wolves, raising my hand to stop them from attacking. "Everyone hold position." "Wise decision," Dr. Vex said. "Though I should clarify, standing down won't save you. It will simply make the capture process less painful." One of the younger pack warriors, a hot headed male named Derek, ignored my command. He shifted into wolf form and charged at the nearest soldier. Dr. Vex didn't even flinch. She pressed a button on a device at her wrist. A high pitched sonic pulse erupted from the soldier's weapon. The so
POV: Xavier Pain radiated through my entire body as I struggled to stand. Ravencrest's single strike had felt like being hit by a freight train. My ribs were cracked, maybe broken. Blood filled my mouth. But I forced myself up anyway, because Thelma was facing an eight hundred year old vampire lord alone. She circled Ravencrest in her massive Alpha wolf form, golden fur blazing with power. They moved around each other like predators, each looking for an opening. "You have your ancestor's fire," Ravencrest said, with genuine admiration in his voice. "The hybrid would be proud. Shadowfang burned with that same intensity before I killed him." "You killed our ancestor?" Thelma growled. "Five hundred years ago. He was magnificent, just like you. But magnificence doesn't guarantee survival." Ravencrest attacked first, moving faster than I could track. His claws raked across Thelma's shoulder, drawing blood. She countered immediately, her jaws snapping at his throat. He dodged, but b
POV: Theo The mate bond with Luna burned through me like fire, connecting us in ways I'd never imagined possible. Every hit she took, I felt. Every surge of her Alpha power, I shared. We were separate bodies but somehow one being, fighting together despite the distance between us. I clutched the arena barrier, my hands pressed against the invisible wall that kept me from reaching her. Through our bond, I could feel her exhaustion, her pain, her absolute determination not to surrender. "Come on, Luna," I whispered. "You can do this." In the arena, Luna circled the three vampire champions in her massive Alpha wolf form. Silver fur gleamed with both sweat and blood. She'd broken Malakai's neck minutes ago, a sickening crack that echoed across the arena. He lay twitching on the ground, regenerating but temporarily out of the fight. Seraphine hissed, her dhampir features fully revealed now. Her eyes glowed red, fangs extended, and dark magic swirled around her hands like living shado







