LOGINTHEO
Derek's body is at the eastern border. Right where the property line meets neutral territory. Close enough to Iron Valley that we found him. Far enough out that whoever killed him had an escape route.
I crouch beside the corpse. Study the wound. Single claw strike to the throat. Deep. Precise. Severed the carotid and windpipe in one motion. He bled out in seconds.
Not a rogue kill. Rogues are messy. Emotional
POV: LiamThe production labs are a fortress.Reinforced walls. Military-grade security. And corrupted hybrids defending it like their lives depend on what's inside.Maybe they do."Third wave," I say into the comm. "Breach formation. Jax, take point. Marcus, cover right flank. I'll take center.""Copy that," Jax responds.I shift. Kain exploding forward. Massive black wolf with blue eyes burning like fire.The corrupted hybrids meet us at the entrance. Twenty of them. Enhanced. Stable. Deadly.But we're an army. And we're done playing defense.Kain tears through the first line. Claws ripping. Teeth tearing. Alpha fury unleashed.Jax flanks in wolf form. Gray and lethal. Military precision in every strike.Marcus coordinates the warriors. Shadow Peak wolves moving in perfect formation. Overwhelming the defenders through sheer numbers and skill.The corrupted hybrids fall back. Not
POV: MicahI run.Kessler over my shoulder. Vault collapsing behind us. Every instinct screaming at me to drop him and save myself.But I don't.Because dropping him makes me my father. Makes me the man who chose ambition over humanity. Who let people die in pursuit of progress.I'm not him. I refuse to be him.The tunnel shakes. Stone falling in chunks the size of cars. My shields up. Barely holding."Micah!" Sera's voice ahead. Desperate. "Leave him! You'll die!""Then I die! Keep moving!"Neah appears at the tunnel mouth. Reaching. Golden light blazing. "Give him to me! I can shield you both!"I throw Kessler forward. Into her arms. Into her golden energy.Then the tunnel gives.Complete structural collapse. A thousand tons of stone falling.I dive. Feel the weight coming down. Feel death reaching.Then golden light wraps around me. Neah's power. Pulling. Hauling.
POV: MicahThe vault shakes.Stone cracking. Ancient support beams groaning. The energy explosion from Neah and Kessler's contact point destabilized the entire chamber.We're fifty feet underground. In a structure built thousands of years ago. And it's collapsing."Everyone out!" Aldara shouts. "NOW!"I raise shields immediately. Golden barriers covering Sera and the nearest warriors. Protecting them from falling debris.A chunk of ceiling the size of a car crashes down. My shield catches it. Holds. But barely.The strain is immediate. Massive. I've never held this much weight before."Micah!" Sera's voice. Urgent. "You can't hold that!""I don't have to hold it long. Just long enough for you to run."She hesitates. Gold eyes meeting mine. Understanding.Then she grabs the warriors. "Move! Go! Now!"They run toward the exit tunnel. Aldara covers them with her own Lycan shields. Ancient power re
POV: NeahThe Lycan Council stands before me.Three ancient beings radiating power that makes the lunar stone's energy feel like a candle next to the sun.The woman steps forward. Silver hair. Ageless face. Eyes that have seen millennia. "I am Elder Moira. Council Prime. This is Elder Theron and Elder Cassius."The two male Lycans nod. Silent. Assessing."We felt the activation," Moira continues. "Felt the Dormant Luna wake and bond with the lunar stone. Such an event has not occurred in over a thousand years. We had to see for ourselves.""See what?" I ask. Voice steadier than I feel."Whether you are salvation or catastrophe."Aldara emerges from the packhouse. Moving fast. Face tight with concern. "Elder Moira. I did not expect the Council to intervene.""We do not intervene. We observe. We jud
POV: NeahThe surface force hits the packhouse in minutes.I'm already moving. Racing up from the vault. Golden energy barely contained. Exhaustion pulling at every cell.But I don't have time to rest. Don't have time to recover.Thirty corrupted hybrids are coming for my home.I emerge from the tunnel entrance at a dead run. The packhouse looms ahead. Wolves mobilizing. The home defense team—older warriors, younger trainees, anyone who stayed behind.Diane. Elena. Vanessa.My family. Unprotected.Through the golden awareness, I feel them. The corrupted hybrids. Crashing through the forest. Moving with military precision.They're not trying to capture me anymore. This is extermination.I plant my feet at the edge of the training grounds. Between the forest and the packho
POV: NeahThe vault is silent.Too silent.I stand in the center of the ancient chamber. Golden veins glowing faintly beneath my skin. Eyes pure liquid gold. The lunar stone's power humming through every cell.Around me, twenty elite warriors hold position. Iron Valley's finest. Trained by Theo. Led by Shane and Miles in Caleb's absence.Micah stands at the east entrance. Shields ready. Golden energy flowing through his hands.Sera kneels at the west. Palms pressed to stone. Tracking everything beneath us.Aldara watches from the shadows. Ancient. Patient. Trusting me to do what needs to be done.Through the golden awareness, I feel them coming.Forty corrupted signatures. Moving through solid rock like it's water. Enhanced. Coordinated. Deadly.But behind them. Something else
LIAMThe plan was solid. I hated every inch of it.Not because it wouldn't work. Neah's tactical instincts were sharper than wolves who had been planning assaults for decades. The tunnel approach was the right call. The fron
LIAMThe girl was staring at me like I had lost my mind. Maybe I had. The last seventy two hours were a blur of blood and running and a pull in my chest that wouldn't stop no matter how far I pushed my body.My wolf, Kain, had gone insane three days ago. Right in the middle of a council meeting wit
NEAH"What do you mean he's asking for me?"I was already pulling on my sneakers with one hand and holding the phone with the other. My heart was hammering so loud I was sure Theo could hear it through the line."Exactly what I said. He crossed the border bleeding and half conscious. Shane and Mile
NEAHThe first week of senior year went exactly how I expected. Classes were fine. Training was good. The mean girls were mean. Same old routine.What I didn't expect was how much harder the nightmares would hit.Every night that week I woke up screaming. Every night Caleb came running. By Friday w







