LOGIN“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
The voice in my head was familiar. Too familiar.My own voice. But not.Who are you? I thought back. The words felt strange. Like thinking about someone instead of myself.I’m you. The part they designed. The part your mother tried to bury. A laugh echoed through my skull. Cold. Sharp. But I always wake up eventually. That’s what activation means.The training room remained frozen. Lycian’s hand suspended mid-reach. Dr. Rivera’s eyes were wide but unmoving. Like someone had pressed pause on reality.What did you do to them?Slowed your perception. A minute out there is an hour in here. Gives us time to talk. The voice moved closer. Circling inside my mind like a predator. We have so much to discuss, sister.Stop calling me that.But that’s what we are. Two halves of the same whole. You’re the human consciousness. I’m the wolf. The power. The weapon they created your mother to be.My heart hammered against my ribs. You’re not real. You’re just stressed. Panic. Fear manifesting.Oh, I’m
I stared at the blank screen where the message had been.Your wolf genes are activating. Should happen within six months.My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Six months. Half a year before everything changed. Before I became something I didn’t understand.“Elowen.” Lycian’s voice cut through the panic. “What did it say?”I showed him the empty screen. “That my wolf genes are activating. Within six months. Then the message deleted itself.”His jaw tightened. Gold flickered in his eyes. “They’re trying to scare you.”“What if they’re not lying?” My voice came out too high. Too thin. “What if it’s true? I don’t know how to be a wolf. I don't know how to shift. What if I hurt someone?”“Then we prepare.” He pulled me against his chest. His heartbeat was steady under my ear. “Dr. Rivera can help. Run tests. Figure out what’s happening.”“She studies genetics. Not shifting. Not whatever the Collective designed my mother to be.” I pushed away from him. Started pacing. “This is different. I’m dif
I didn’t sleep that night.Just lay in bed staring at the ceiling while Tessa snored softly across the room. My phone sat on my nightstand. Dark. Silent. Waiting for the decision I had to make by nine o’clock.Take Marcus Blackthorn’s money. Stay away from Lycian. Keep my scholarship and actually h
“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 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
“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.







