LOGINWhat RisesFor one endless second, nobody moved.The thing climbing out of the earth didn't have a shape so much as a suggestion of one, limbs too long, joints bending in directions no living body should bend, and the smear of red light where its face should have been pulsed in time with the ropes binding Elara to the stake, like the two were connected by the same slow, terrible heartbeat."Rory, RUN!" Elara screamed.I didn't run. I couldn't. My feet had gone as dead and rooted as the cracked earth beneath them, and all I could do was stare as the creature dragged itself fully out of the ground, taller than Kieran, taller than anything I'd ever seen wearing something close to a body."Get behind me." Kieran's voice cut through my paralysis, and I felt his hand close hard around my arm, yanking me back a step. "Akira, the girl, now!"Akira was already moving, sprinting wide around the edge of the stone circle toward Elara, but the creature's head, if it was a head, snapped toward her
We ran.I don't remember deciding to run. One second I was standing frozen at the boundary, and the next my legs were carrying me through the trees faster than I'd ever moved in my life, branches tearing at my sleeves, my heart slamming against my ribs so hard it hurt to breathe."Elara!" I screamed her name into the dark. "Elara, where are you!"Kieran reached the clearing before I did. I heard him stop short, heard the low, dangerous growl building in his chest, and when I broke through the trees behind him, I understood why.Elara's shawl lay torn on the ground. A single shoe. And drag marks in the dirt leading toward the tree line, deep enough that I knew, with a sick certainty, that whoever had taken her hadn't been gentle about it."No." The word came out of me broken, barely a whisper. "No, no, no.""Rory." Akira caught up behind me, breathing hard. "This isn't a coincidence.""Of course it isn't," Kieran said, crouching to examine the drag marks, his jaw tight with fury. "He s
Blood on the BoundaryThe eastern boundary marked the edge of pack land, a line of ancient stone pillars half-swallowed by moss, and it took us less than ten minutes at a dead run to reach it. I could smell the smoke before I saw it.Something was burning. Not wood. Something with a sweeter, sicklier smell underneath it.Kieran reached the boundary first, and I watched his shoulders lock the instant he saw whatever was waiting for us there. By the time I caught up, Akira's hand had closed hard around my wrist, holding me back."Don't," she said. "Not yet."I looked past Kieran's shoulder anyway.A figure stood just beyond the boundary stones, cloaked in black that seemed to drink in the moonlight rather than reflect it. Behind him, three pillars had been scorched black, symbols burned into the stone that made my stomach turn just looking at them, jagged and wrong, like the language they were written in had never been meant for a mouth to speak."You're trespassing," Kieran said, his v
The knock on my door came before sunrise.I hadn't slept. I'd spent the hours since the clearing sitting on the edge of my bed, staring at the stone Akira had given me, watching the last traces of light drain out of it like it was breathing itself to sleep."Rory." My mother's voice, tight and strange. "The Alpha has summoned you."My stomach dropped straight through the floor."Now?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer."Now."I dressed slowly, buying myself time I didn't have. Every version of this morning I could imagine ended badly. The only question was how badly, and whether I'd be walking out of the meeting hall on my own feet.Elara was waiting for me outside, arms crossed over her chest, her face pale under the gray morning light."They know," she said, before I could even ask. "Or they suspect. Marcus told me the council's been in session since before dawn.""Suspect what, exactly?""That's the thing, Rory. Nobody's saying it out loud. But everyone's saying it wit
The figures didn't run. They walked.That was the part that scared me most. Whatever they wanted from us, they weren't in any hurry to get it."Behind me," Akira said, low and even, like she'd done this a hundred times before. Maybe she had.Kaiden had already shifted his stance, weight forward on the balls of his feet, arms loose at his sides in the way I'd come to recognize meant he was seconds from becoming something else entirely.I counted five of them stepping into the moonlight. Their eyes didn't glow like ordinary wolves'. They glowed wrong, a flat yellow with no life behind it, like lanterns instead of eyes."Akira Mount Blackwood," the tallest one said, drawing her name out like he was tasting it. "The council sent us to bring the girl. You, they didn't mention. Lucky for you, I don't need luck to enjoy my work."My palm burned. I looked down and the stone Akira had given me was pulsing, a slow heartbeat of white light leaking out between my fingers."Rory." Akira's voice dr
CHAPTER 22.Secret Truth Following the incident of the past day, I've now learned to be more careful while expecting the worst to happen.As I walked through the dark atmosphere, I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Akira, as a result of yesterday's drama.However, I was going to meet her, and I believed that I'd get answers to my inquisitiveness.As I walked along the lonely paths, I couldn't help but notice the shivers and cold sensation that pierced through my skin. Indeed, the entire atmosphere was cold, and I could feel it in my soul.That was it. It was the moment that I'd been waiting for.After walking for what seemed like an eternity, I could finally see the abandoned oak tree, the venue for our meeting.Standing there and waiting for me was Akira. Immediately when I walked out of the darkness, to the warehouse, I finally heard the voice of Akira, speaking to me. At that moment, the color of her hair illuminated the entire atmosphere, as I took my time to proces
CHAPTER 15.The Warning.The tension that filled us at that moment was utterly unbelievable. As Kaiden and I stood behind the abandoned warehouse, we couldn't help but wonder about what had gone wrong.Even though the moonlight shone upon us, I was still worried that it wasn't enough to illuminate
CHAPTER 13.The pack's judgement.The tension in the atmosphere as I approached the venue where the pack had assembled was really intimidating. Now, I knew that I had to stand up for myself, or face eternal doom.The light from the old lanterns created a long array of dark shadows.Recently, I hav
CHAPTER 11.Ritual Of Deliverance.The dim light from the kitchen further intensified the fear in us. We were so scared because we had obviously heard a strange noise from the entrance of the kitchen area.What could that be?I sat at the dining table in fear, as I tried to figure out what might've
CHAPTER 8.He pushed me to the bed as he pulled out his phallus to violently take advantage of me. I was still a virgin, and I didn’t want to lose my virginity in this manner. I screamed and cried, but it all seemed like music to his ears. “Please, don’t do this to me” I pleaded. Just before he co







