KADE'S POV‘What. The. Fuck?’ Jaxon growled as we beheld the abomination happening right before my eyes.The guard beside Blackstone—one of many I’d noticed that stood a little too still, a little too poised, whose scents were…off—dropped to all fours with a sickening crunch of bone and tore through his uniform as his limbs elongated and snapped. His skin peeled, shredding down his back like wet paper as coarse fur exploded outward.I took a befuddled step back, unable to keep the horror and disgust off my face. The experiments—they’d gone farther than we initially thought and this…It wasn’t a werewolf. It was something entirely different.A fucking grotesque aberration.The crowd screamed. A ripple of pure horror tore through the plaza as two more of Blackstone’s “security” followed suit, transforming in perfect synchronization. No pain. No hesitation.Their faces didn’t contort in the usual anguish of Shifting—they grinned. Grinned as their jaws split open to accommodate rows of se
BLACKSTONE’S POVI had planned every second of this day.From the polished lapel of my suit to the exact moment the cameras would cut to my rehearsed smile, this was meant to be the final nail in Andrea Carter’s coffin. A public shaming. A demonstration of power. A declaration that order had returned to New York City under my watch.The stage was set. The screens were up. My security detail stood poised at every corner like silent sentinels.I could feel the electric buzz of anticipation as thousands gathered—citizens, reporters, council members, foreign dignitaries, even. All here to witness the spectacle of justice I’d created for them.Nothing could have prepared me for the reality of becoming the spectacle myself.“You wanted transparency, Blackstone?” The look in Andrea Carter’s eyes sent a stab of ice through my spine. “Enjoy being fucking see-through.”When the screen flickered, at first, I thought it was a minor technical issue. Perhaps a wire had come loose. My tech team had
ANDREA’S POVThe crowd stretched for blocks.Reporters pressed against the barriers, their lenses glinting like sniper scopes. Protesters packed the sidewalk, some screaming my name, others spitting it.Drones hovered like metallic vultures above the open-air stage in the city’s central plaza.Tension hummed in the air, tightened my skin, shallowed my breath.And beside me—right where I wanted him—stood Mayor Blackstone.He wore a modest navy suit and a rehearsed look of concern. His mouth was pinched in a faux grimace of sympathy, but his eyes…That was fucking triumph gleaming in them.“I appreciate you doing the right thing,” he murmured, just loud enough for me to hear.My lip twitched. I turned toward him slowly. “You mean cooperating?”“I mean, not dragging this out. Facing the consequences with dignity.”He smiled, bright and white and false. “It speaks well of you, Alpha Andrea. Of your leadership.”“I promised you a formal public statement,” I ground out. “I’m a woman of my w
ANDREA’S POVI heard the front door open just as I was pouring my third cup of coffee—though I’d stopped tasting it after the first.My heart jumped, unreasonably hopeful, and then settled the moment I heard the steady weight of his footsteps.Kade.He entered the kitchen first, covered in a thin layer of dust and soot, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up and streaked with grime.His eyes landed on me immediately, and relief flooded through me like a bath. His presence alone made things bearable.He didn’t say anything at first. Just walked across the space, cupped the side of my face, and pressed a kiss to my forehead.“I missed you so much,” I murmured.He pulled back, his eyes glinting with affection that warmed me down to my toes as he searched my face, and then my body.“Are you okay?”I laughed softly, leaning up to peck his lips. “You should look in a mirror before you ask me that question.”He chuckled, and I yelped when he pulled me to him, and I got a mouthful of dust. I melt
KIERAN’S POVThe stench of antiseptic clung to the air, as if trying to mask something darker. Fouler.But no amount of bleach or sterile scrub could cover the stink of what had happened here.I stepped further into the gutted lab, boots crunching on broken glass. The overhead fluorescents had been smashed out, but daylight slashed through the boarded windows, harsh and revealing, baring everything.“Anything?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.David, tall and sharp-eyed, stood before an overturned surgical table. His face was grim as he shook his head.“They stripped the place clean, Alpha. If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was a regular warehouse.”It was a lie, of course. Everything about this space reeked of cruelty, even with the equipment gone. The walls were still stained in spots—brown smears and darker splotches they hadn’t quite managed to scrub out. The outlines of chains remained etched into the concrete floor like ghostly shadows.And beneath it all, the si
ANDREA’S POVAs full as the house was, it was quiet. Somber.Gina and Julia offered me gentle smiles as I walked into the kitchen.“Morning, amore,” Julia said as she moved around the island to hug me. “Sleep well?”I shrugged, feeling a little guilty that with Kade’s arms around me, I had, in fact, slept well.I perched on a stool and smiled gratefully when Gina pushed a coffee mug my way.“Where’s the Velcro Alpha?” Julia asked. “Odd for him not to be by your side.”I snorted. “Back at the lab site.”We’d left abruptly with Natasha the day before, without a chance to see if there was anything we could salvage, any clue that might have been left behind.Kade had gone back with a team, promising that if there were any clues to uncover, he would find them. He’d been gone less than an hour, and I was already feeling his absence.I took a sip of coffee and sighed as warmth spread through my body. “Where’s everyone else?”“Fabio is checking in on Natasha,” Gina answered. “Bella and Nico—”