LOGINHeat. Pressure. The sound was so loud it stopped being sound and became a force. The world turned white. Then red. Then nothing.I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Just existed in a moment of pure destruction.Then arms wrapped around me. Lycian. His body covers mine. Shielding me from debris raining down like hail. Sharp. Heavy. Deadly.The explosion vented upward. Just like Elena planned. The roof tore away. Support beams groaning. Twisting. But the walls held. Barely.Dust filled the air. Thick. Choking. I coughed. Tasted blood and concrete. My ears rang. High-pitched whine drowning out everything else.Lycian moved. Shifted off me. His hands are checking. Searching for injuries. His mouth was moving but I couldn’t hear the words. Just that awful ringing.I sat up. The world spun. Nausea rolled through me. I swallowed it down. Focused on breathing. On staying conscious.The platform was gone. Just a crater where it had been. The thing wearing Thaddeus’s face was gone too. Vaporize
Twelve enhanced wolves. All programmed to kill me. All moving in perfect sync like they shared one mind.The pack scattered. Chairs overturned. People screaming. Pushing toward exits that suddenly wouldn’t open. Locked from the outside.A trap. Just like Elena had warned.Shift, my wolf urged. Now. Or we’re dead.I shifted. Bones breaking. Reforming. The pain is distant now. Familiar. My silver wolf stood ready.The enhanced wolves attacked as one. Coordinated. Efficient. No wasted movement.Lycian met the first three. His gray wolf is massive. Powerful. But they were enhanced. Stronger. Faster. They dragged him down. Teeth find flesh.Through the bond, I felt his pain. Sharp. Overwhelming. He was losing.Help him, I thought at my wolf. Please.Can’t fight and protect. Choose.I chose both.Silver light exploded from my body. Brighter than before. Hotter. It slammed into the enhanced wolves on Lycian. They yelped. Stumbled back. The light burned away their programming like acid on met
“No.” Lycian’s voice was flat. Cold. “You’re wrong. My father isn’t Collective.”Elena’s hands shook. “I know what I heard. His voice. Giving orders. Approving experiments.”“You said your memories were wiped. Erased. How can you trust them now?” He stood. Fists clenched. “The failsafe could be planting false memories. Making you doubt us.”“It’s not false. I remember the room. The smell of cigars. His laugh.” Elena’s eyes were distant. Seeing something we couldn’t. “He was talking about you. About raising the perfect Alpha. About controlling the pack through bloodline.”“Stop.” Lycian’s voice cracked. “Just stop.”I touched his arm. Felt him trembling through the bond. Rage. Fear. Denial. All tangled together. “We need to investigate. Carefully. Before we accuse anyone.”“There’s nothing to investigate. My father has dedicated his life to this pack. To protect wolves. He wouldn’t…”He couldn’t finish. Because doubt had crept in. I felt it through the bond. Small. Poisonous. Growing.
Elena’s black wolf lunged before I could react.Lycian shifted mid-step. His gray wolf slammed into her, deflecting the attack. They hit the wall hard enough to crack the reinforced padding. Claws scrabbling. Teeth snapping.“Run,” Lycian’s voice filled my head through the bond. “Get out. I’ll hold her off.”I’m not leaving you.“She’s programmed to kill you. I can’t fight her and protect you.” He dodged Elena’s jaws by inches. “Please. Run.”Elena was faster than any wolf I’d seen. Stronger. The Collective had enhanced her just like they’d enhanced the students we’d rescued. But this was permanent. Built into her genetics.She threw Lycian aside like he weighed nothing. Turned those blank silver eyes back to me.Shift, my wolf urged. Fight or die. Choose.I shifted. Bones are breaking and reforming in seconds. The pain barely registered. My silver wolf stood where Elowen had been.Elena charged.I dodged. Barely. Her teeth grazed my shoulder. Hot pain lanced through me.She’s trained
The hospital smelled like bleach and dying flowers. My legs still felt weak from the shift, but I forced myself to run through the sterile corridors. Damien led the way, his sneakers squeaking on linoleum.“Room 304,” he said. Breathing hard. “ICU. They wouldn’t tell me what happened. Just that she collapsed.”Aunt Clara looked small in the hospital bed. Smaller than I’d ever seen her. Tubes ran from her arms. Monitors beeped steady rhythms. Her skin was gray. Papery. Like she’d aged twenty years overnight.“Baby.” Her voice came out scratchy. Weak. “You came.”“Of course I came.” I took her hand. Cold. Too cold. “What happened? Are you okay?”“No. Not okay.” She coughed. Wet. Painful. “They’re killing me. The Collective. Poisoned me when I gave you those files.”My stomach dropped. “When? How?”“The documents. They were coated with something. Absorbed through skin contact.” Another cough. Blood flecked her lips. “Slow-acting. Meant to look like natural causes. Heart attack. Stroke. S
The pack of wolves stared. Silent. Frozen in the doorway.I’d never felt so exposed. So vulnerable. Standing on four legs with fur where skin should be. Silver coat catching the fluorescent lights. Every eye was locked on me.They’re afraid, the wolf whispered inside. Good. Fear means respect.I don’t want them to fear me. I want them to trust me.You’re naive if you think you can have both.Thaddeus took a step forward. Slow. Measured. His gaze swept over me, taking in every detail. The silver fur. The smaller frame is built for speed instead of power. The way my eyes probably glowed with something other than normal wolf gold.“How is this possible?” His voice was quiet. Careful. “Moonsilver wolves were extinct. We all believed that.”Dr. Rivera moved between us. Professional. Protective. “Her genetics are unique. The dormant wolf DNA activated during the first shift. This is the result.”“Moonsilver,” someone whispered from the doorway. The word spread through the gathered wolves li
“That was intense,” Elena said once the dining hall started to empty. She squeezed my shoulder. “But you handled it perfectly.”“I feel like I’m going to be sick.”“Normal response to confronting an entire pack.” She smiled. Warm. Motherly. “You did well, honey. Really good.”Garrett was grinning.
“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” I said for the third time as Lycian drove toward the pack house.“You’ll be fine. It’s just training.”“Just training where everyone watches me fail at wolf stuff I can’t even do because I’m wolfless.”“You’re observing. Not participating.” He glanced at me. “And
I didn’t tell Lycian about the second threat.He was already overprotective. Another anonymous text would send him into full Alpha mode. And I needed normal. Just for a little while longer.Besides, I had bigger problems. Like the pack dinner Elena had invited me to.“It’s casual,” she’d said on th
I couldn’t sleep.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that text. Nobody will help you when the vote comes.At two AM, I gave up. Got out of bed. Pulled on a sweatshirt over my tank top and pajama shorts. Padded barefoot to the kitchen.The penthouse was dark. Silent. Just the hum of the refrigerator







