ANDREA'S POVBy the time we reached home, my body ached in places I didn’t even know existed. The house wasn’t empty, but it felt quieter than I’d ever known it.Not the calm that accompanied peace. The hush after the carnage.The door creaked open as we stepped inside, our group trailing behind me with the weight of what we’d just survived still pressing on our shoulders.I barely had time to register the warmth of home before Bella appeared in the hallway, her eyes rimmed red.My eyes widened. I’d almost forgotten that we’d left Bella and Natasha at home.“Bella, are you ok—”She rushed forward without a word and threw her arms around me, a small sob escaping her lips.I tightened my arms around her instinctively, one hand stroking her hair as she held on to me for dear life. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “We didn’t catch him.”She shook her head fiercely against my shoulder. “No. Thank you. You exposed him; now the world knows the truth, and I know you did your best.”She pulled back s
ANDREA’S POVPanting, I shifted back, my body aching. Blood soaked my tattered clothes and skin, but I was still standing.The stench of smoke, blood, and something unnatural clung to the air. My ears rang with the phantom echoes of screams.All around us, the plaza was a mirror of hell: torn banners, shattered glass, overturned barriers, and bodies—too many of them. Some human. Some not.My hands trembled as I wiped gore from my eyes. A long gash throbbed along my thigh, sluggish blood seeping out. I didn't even feel the pain anymore—just the weight.Kade was by my side in the blink of an eye, crossing through the chaos to pull me against his chest.“You okay?” he asked, voice rough with concern.I didn’t answer immediately. I closed my eyes and inhaled, taking in his scent mixed in with the tainted blood of those…things.“Andrea.” He sounded like he was being strangled. “I need to hear you say you’re okay.”I nodded, pressing a close-lipped kiss to his bare chest. “I’m okay,” I whis
MASON’S POVThe tires screeched against the pavement as I veered the car left, narrowly avoiding a pile of debris—rubble, glass, maybe bodies—I didn’t check.The engine roared beneath me, the stench of burning rubber mingling with blood and smoke as I sped away from the war zone that had once been a pristine city plaza.I glanced at the rearview mirror and snorted. Mayor Blackstone was slumped against the leather seat, panting like a wet dog. His once-pristine suit was smeared with blood and ash, one sleeve torn, his hands shaking.“Seatbelt,” I said dryly, just to needle him.He didn’t respond. Just glared ahead with those wild eyes, like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to scream or cry.I didn’t blame him. His plan had failed. Colossally. Epically. Disastrously.“Tell me again,” I said after a long moment, when we’d left the chaos behind and all we had to worry about was the slow-moving traffic, “how exactly you thought framing Andrea Carter was a good idea?”“Shut up, Holland.” His
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