LOGINThe first soldier through the door didn’t see me move. Just felt my fist connect with his jaw. Heard the crack. Dropped before his brain registered what happened.The second was smarter. Raised his gun. Aimed center mass. Finger on the trigger.I shifted. My silver wolf is faster than bullets. Faster than thought. His shot went wide. Embedded in the wall where I’d been standing.My jaw found his arm. Clenched. Bone snapped. He screamed. Dropped the gun. I released him. Moved past. Didn’t kill. Didn’t need to. Just needed them down. Out of my way.Where is he? I thought about the bond. Reaching for Lycian. Tell me where you are.Basement level. Cell block C. His voice was weak. Strained. Don’t come. It’s too dangerous. They’re waiting for you.Let them wait.I ran through the corridors. Following the bond. Following the pull that led me to my mate. My other half. My everything.More soldiers appeared. I didn’t slow down. Just tore through them. Claws and teeth. Pure wolf instinct is ta
I woke to white walls. White ceiling. White everything. Clinical. Cold. Empty.My wrists were strapped to a bed. Leather restraints. Tight enough to hurt. My ankles too. Completely immobilized.A monitor beeped beside me. Steady rhythm. My heartbeat. Proving I was alive even when I didn’t feel like it.The door opened. Thornheart entered. She looked different in person. Older than her voice suggested. Tired. Like carrying the weight of the Collective for decades had worn her down.“You’re awake. Good. We have much to discuss.” She pulled a chair beside the bed. Sat. Relaxed. Like we were friends having coffee. “How do you feel?”“Where’s Lycian? Where’s Elena?” My voice came out hoarse. Scratchy.“Alive. Barely. We’re treating their silver poisoning. Keeping them stable.” She checked the monitor. “You care about them. Even without your memories. Interesting.”“Let me see them.”“Soon. After we talk. After you understand your new reality.” She folded her hands. Professional. Calm. “You
“No.” Lycian’s voice was flat. Final. “You’re not going. Not after what just happened. Not while you can’t even remember who you are.”“Dr. Rivera knows what drug they used. How to reverse it?” I stared at the video. The woman is bleeding. Terrified. “If Thornheart kills her, I lose my only chance at getting my memories back.”“There are other ways. Other doctors. Other solutions.” He tried to take the phone. I pulled it away. “Elowen. Please. Listen to reason.”“Reason says we need her alive. Need her knowledge.” I stood. My legs are shaky but holding. “I’m going.”“Then I’m going with you.” He moved to block the door. “No arguments. No negotiations. We go together or not at all.”Through the bond, I felt his determination. His absolute refusal to let me walk into danger alone. Again. It should have annoyed me. Should have felt controlling.Instead, it felt safe. Like having someone who cared enough to fight for me. Even when I couldn’t remember why that mattered.“Fine. Together.” I
Pain wasn’t the right word. The pain was too small. Too human. This was something else. Something that reached into my mind and tore pieces away.The chemical burned through my bloodstream. Found my brain. Started reshaping. Rewriting. Erasing.Fight it, my wolf snarled. Don’t let them take us.I tried. Pushed back against the invasion. But the drug was designed for this. Designed to break Moonsilver wolves. To override our natural resistance.Memories started flickering. Fading. My childhood with Clara. Meeting Lycian. Our wedding. Everything that made me who I was. Disappearing like smoke.No. Not smoke. Being locked away. Buried deep where I couldn’t reach. Couldn’t access. I couldn't remember who I was.Dr. Rivera’s face swam above me. Blurry. Distant. “Don’t fight it. Fighting makes it hurt more. Just let go. Let us remake you into something better. Something perfect.”Better. The word echoed. Twisted. Became something else. Obedient. Controlled. Theirs.Through the pain, through
“Drive faster.” My voice was tight. Controlled. But inside, panic screamed. Clara was awake. Being experimented on. Suffering. Because I wasn’t there yet.Lycian pressed the accelerator. The SUV flew down the mountain road. Trees blurring past. Gravel spraying. “We’re still twenty minutes out. Going any faster and we crash.”“Then we crash closer to the facility.” I pulled out weapons. Checked ammunition. Silver bullets. Regular bullets. Knives. Everything we might need. “She’s awake. Scared. Alone.”“I know.” His hand found mine. Squeezed. “We’ll get her. I promise.”Through the bond, I felt his determination. His refusal to fail. It steadied me. Reminded me I wasn’t alone.The facility appeared as full dark hit. Massive concrete structure built into the mountainside. No windows. No obvious doors. Smooth gray walls and a single entrance guarded by four wolves in tactical gear.“That’s more security than the blueprints showed,” Elena said from the back seat. “They’re expecting us.”“G
“That’s impossible.” My voice came out strangled. Wrong. “Clara is dead. We buried her. I saw her body.”Lycian took my phone. Watched the video. His expression darkened. “It looks real. Recent. She’s breathing. Alive.”“It’s a trick. Manipulation. They’re using old footage. Editing. Something.” But my hands were shaking. Because deep down, I knew. The Collective didn’t bluff. Didn’t fake. Every psychological weapon they used was real.Elena leaned over. Watched the video loop. “The time stamp is from yesterday. And that facility. I recognize it. That’s the main research center. Where they keep their most valuable assets.”“She died from poison. In the hospital. We all saw it.” I grabbed the phone back. Stared at Clara’s face on the screen. Pale. Peaceful. Tubes running into her arms. “How could she be alive?”“Induced death.” Dr. Rivera appeared in the doorway, her expression grim. “It’s a technique the Collective developed. Slows the heart to almost nothing. Stops brain activity to
“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
I called Dr. Martinez back immediately.My hands shook so bad I could barely hold the phone. Cade stood next to me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him. Wolf body temperature ran higher than human.“Dr. Martinez’s office.”“This is Elowen Hale. I got a message about my aunt’s
“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
“What kind of problem?” Lycian asked.“Marcus Blackthorn just left my office. He’s not happy about your little declaration this morning.”“That’s not my concern.”“It is when he’s threatening to pull Blackthorn Industries’ funding from three of our pack businesses.” Thaddeus’s voice was sharp. Cold







