LOGINFall of the First Alpha (Vera's POV)The pull from the beast hit my chest like a hook. The moonstone jerked against my collarbone, hard enough to bruise. Zorak’s essence slammed into me down the link. I felt him reach, not just for the moonstone, but past it. For me. Vessel, he hissed in my head. Be still. The beast’s huge maw came down. Immediately I used my power to push Gabriel away. He attempted rushing over to my side again.“Don’t you dare,” I snapped down the bond.I threw a hand out, not to stop the beast, but to shove Gabriel sideways with a burst of raw aura. He staggered, boots gouging the dirt, almost falling. Anger and shock snapped back at me.“I am not watching you get eaten,” he snarled, out loud this time.“You are not doing this again,” I shouted back, my voice ripping out of my throat. “You already took one beam. You do not get to pay for me twice.”The maw rushed closer. Light and darkness spun together, a spiral that wanted to grind me down to nothing. Zorak’s
Beast of the First Moon (Gabriel's POV)The roar that followed shook the ground. Wolves dropped to their knees all along the line, hands flying to their ears. Some shifted by instinct, claws digging into the soil just to stay upright.The thing in front of us was huge.A massive wolf-shaped beast made of moonlight and shadow, half-transparent, half too solid. Its fur was smoke and silver fire.And its eyes were Zorak’s.In front of that monster, Vera looked small.But she still shone.The moonstone at her throat blazed, a harsh white light, answering the beast’s glow. Her hair whipped in the wind the roar had made. She stood firm, boots planted, shoulders squared.My chest clenched. Fear, pride, anger. All of it in one tight hit.I pushed off the ground and ran to her side.“Okay,” I said, a little breathless. “That thing is almost as scary as your mother before coffee.”Vera’s lips twitched. A tiny snort slipped out of her. “You are going to die on this field,” she muttered. “And it
Alpha’s Awakening (Vera's POV)The last time I saw Shadowfang ground, it was soaked in our enemies’ blood.Tonight, it looked worse.Charred trees reached the sky, broken stones jutted up out of the earth. Old runes still scarred the dirt, faint silver lines burned in from the last war we fought here.I stood at the front of the line, boots on torn earth. To my right, Gabriel. To my left, Gideon and Max. Behind us, a wall of wolves. Starfang banners, Nightmoor’s dark crescent, Stargazer’s pale sigil.The moonstone at my throat lay cold and cracked, but it still buzzed like something awake underneath.Across the field, the first shapes appeared.“Contact,” Jace said quietly, lifting his binoculars. “East line. And west. Shit. They’re circling.”I squinted. At first it looked like shadows rolling over the ground. Then eyes opened inside the dark. Too many. Zorak’s army stepped into the moonlight.
Mother of the Relic (Gabriel's POV)The second the circle dimmed, I moved.“Do not step—” Eleanor started.Too late. I was already over the silver line, ignoring the sting of fading wards against my skin.Vera knelt in the center, shoulders heaving, fingers dug into the moonstone at her throat. Sweat soaked her hairline, her face pale under the ash.“Vera,” I said, dropping to my knees in front of her.Her eyes fluttered open. For one heartbeat they were dazed, unfocused. Then green snapped into focus on my face, sharp and familiar.“Hey,” she rasped. “Didn’t I tell you not to cross the line?”Relief hit me so hard my hands shook. “You nearly cooked yourself,” I said. Her fingers loosened from the stone with a hiss of breath. “It’s… quiet,” she whispered.My gaze dropped. The moonstone lay against her collarbone, cracked deeper now, the white almost transparent. My wolf growled low. I ignored him and slid my arms around her, one under her knees, one behind her back.“Can you move?”
Threads of Moonfire (Vera's POV)Across from me, Rhea’s prism pulsed on its stand, storm-light trapped behind glass. Even bound, she managed to look amused. Just outside the painted ring, Gabriel stood with his hands loose at his sides, fingers flexing like he was fighting the urge to cross the line. His jaw was tight. His chest was still bandaged under his shirt; I could see the edge of the dressing near his collar.He hated this. I could feel it through the bond, low and constant, like a growl pressed against my ribs.“Vera,” Eleanor said, from her place at the north point. “Once we start, you do not step out until I say so. Not for anything. Understood?”“Got it,” I said. My voice sounded steadier than I felt.I looked at the silver line between me and Gabriel. My throat tightened.“Wait,” I said. “Before we start.”Eleanor’s brows pulled together. “Vera, we have–”“Thirty seconds,” I said. “It won’t kill us.”I turned to Gabriel. “Come here.”His eyes flashed. “Gabriel,” I said
Matriarch’s Circle (Eleanor's POV)Monitors glowed along one wall, pulling up scans of the moonstone, and energy graphs.On the center table lay sketches of Vera’s necklace. On the far wall, the glass doors looked out into the corridor. Through them, I saw Vera pacing back and forth. Gabriel moved beside her, slower, a limp in his step even though he tried to hide it. He was stubborn enough to stand with his chest wound.She snapped something at him. He replied, jaw tight. Then she stopped and pressed both palms against the glass, forehead dropping to the cool surface for a breath.I picked up the top sketch and turned to the door.“Send them in,” I told the guard outside.He nodded and opened the doors.Vera jerked up straight. Gabriel’s eyes came to me at once, sharp even in his exhausted face.“Inside,” I said. “Both of you.”“Mom, we don’t have time for—” Vera started.I raised one eyebrow. She bit the rest back but rolled her eyes as she walked in. Gabriel followed, the limp mor







