LOGINThe floor didn’t just explode. It disintegrated.Concrete crumbled beneath us. Metal screeched. We dropped through darkness. Bodies falling. Wolves yelping. The sound of impact echoed as pack members hit the ground floor.I couldn’t shift back. Couldn’t move. The silver bullets were still lodged in my wolf form. Burning. Spreading poison through my bloodstream.Lycian twisted mid fall. His body was positioned under mine. Taking the impact. We hit hard. His grunt of pain vibrated through the bond.Dust filled the air. Thick. Choking. I coughed. Tasted blood and concrete.Above us, Thornheart’s laughter echoed. “Did you really think I wouldn’t have contingencies? Backup plans? I’ve been doing this for forty years.”Footsteps on the floor above. She was leaving. Taking her wolves. Abandoning us in the collapse.Elowen, Lycian’s voice filled my head. Stay with me. Don’t you dare die on me.The silver poisoning spread. My vision darkened at the edges. My heart beat too slowly. Too weak.I
I stared at Tessa’s terrified face on my phone screen. Her eyes were red. Swollen from crying. A bruise darkened her left cheek.My best friend. The girl who’d helped me move into my dorm. Who’d listen to me panic about meeting Lycian’s family? Who’d been there for every moment of my old life.Now tied to a chair. Bleeding. Scared. Because of me.“What’s wrong?” Lycian’s voice cut through my spiral. He sat up. Eyes finding mine in the darkness. “I feel your panic through the bond. Talk to me.”I couldn’t speak. Just handed him the phone.His expression went from confusion to rage in seconds. Gold flared in his eyes. His hands clenched. “When did this come?”“Just now.”“We call the pack. Trace the location. Go in with full force.”“They said come alone. Tell no one. Or they start sending pieces.” My voice cracked. “I can’t risk her. Can’t let her die because I told someone.”“It’s a trap. Obviously. They want you isolated. Vulnerable. Easy to capture.” He stood. Started pacing. “We’re
Heat. 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
We made it back to the hospital in fifteen minutes. Lycian drove like death was chasing us.Maybe it was.The fourth floor was quieter now. Past visiting hours. Just a few nurses at their stations. They looked up when we passed but didn’t stop us.Madison’s room. Door closed. No guards. No Marcus.
The penthouse felt like a museum.I stood in the guest bedroom with my duffel bag at my feet, afraid to touch anything. The bed was massive, covered in white sheets that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. Everything gleamed. The floors, the windows, even the air smelled expensive.My refle
“You can’t wear that.”I looked down at my jeans and sweater. “What’s wrong with it?”Lycian stood in the doorway holding a garment bag, looking nervous. “Nothing’s wrong with it. But we’re going somewhere nice tonight and I want you to feel comfortable.”“I am comfortable.”“Fine. I’m not comforta
“How could I have done this?” My voice came out too high. “Lycian, I was with you all night. I didn’t do this.”He was already calling Cade. The phone rang twice before he picked up.“Where is she?” Lycian’s voice was hard. Cold. Nothing like the soft tone he’d used an hour ago over dinner.“St. Ma







