POV: Riley Chen The cake burst right in my face. I sputtered, wiping chocolate frosting from my eyes as laughter exploded around me. So much for being the perfect pack member at the most important party in our history. "Riley!" My best friend Jake rushed over with napkins. "Are you okay?" "Just my pride," I mumbled, trying to clean frosting out of my hair. "Leave it to me to mess up the unity ceremony." Today was going to be perfect. The official joining of the Blood Moon and Artemis Packs, with Amara Kings and Elias Beaumont as our new Alpha Pair. After months of chaos, war, and near-disasters, we finally had something to enjoy. And I'd managed to walk face-first into the party cake. "Don't worry about it," Jake said, helping me clean up. "Nobody noticed." "Riley!" Alpha Amara's voice made me freeze. She was walking toward us, and even though she was smiling, I wanted to sink into the ground.
POV: Amara KingsThe vampire's scream cut through the air as my blue fire accidentally touched him."Stop!" I yanked my power back, but it was too late. Lord Castellane, one of the Council of Shadows' members, was on his knees, clutching his chest like someone had stabbed him."What did you do to me?" he gasped, his red eyes wide with fear.I stared at my hands in horror. The blue sparks were still dancing around my fingers, but now they looked different. Darker. More dangerous."I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—""The bond," he whispered, looking at Lady Morgana. "I can't feel our sire bond anymore."My blood went cold. I'd accidentally severed the link between a vampire and his maker. Something that should have been impossible."How?" Lady Morgana commanded, her fangs extending. "That bond has existed for eight hundred years!""I don't know!" I backed away from the group of supernatural experts who had been helping me understand my power. "I was
POV: Elias Beaumont The scream came from inside the abandoned building, and it definitely wasn't human. I pressed my back against the brick wall, signaling for my watch team to stay quiet. We'd been tracking strange reports for weeks - animals found drained of blood, witnesses claiming they saw people with glowing eyes, and worst of all, three missing hikers who vanished without a trace. "Alpha," Marcus whispered beside me. "That sounded like—" Another scream cut him off. This one was definitely human. I made my choice. "We go in. But stay together and stay alert." The warehouse door hung open, creaking in the wind. Inside, everything was dark except for a strange blue glow coming from the back corner. As we crept closer, I could smell something that made my wolf flinch in fear. Death. But not the normal kind. We rounded a stack of old boxes and found something that shouldn't exist.
POV: Viktor BeaumontThe explosion shattered every window in my house.I dove behind my desk as glass rained down, my old bones protesting the quick movement. At seventy-three, I was too old for this kind of energy. But when you're holding the first multi-species council in three hundred years, explosions come with the territory."Viktor!" My helper, Helena, rushed into my study. "The wards are failing! Something's trying to break through!"I struggled to my feet, cussing my arthritic joints. "Which direction?""All of them!"Through the broken windows, I could see dark shapes moving in the forest surrounding my land. Too many shapes. Whatever was attacking us had brought an army."Get to the safe room," I told Helena. "Send the emergency signal to all council members.""What about you?""Someone has to buy us time."I hadn't shifted into my wolf form in over a decade, but desperate times called for desperate means. The change was agony -
POV: Luna Seraphina WintersThe vision hit me like a truck.I dropped to my knees, clutching my head as pictures flooded my mind. Orion fighting Jacob in the ring. Both of them screaming. Blood everywhere. And something dark and terrible rising from their shared pain."No, no, no," I whispered, pushing myself to stand. "This can't happen. Not again."I ran toward the Blood Circle Arena, my heart pounding with fear. After eighteen years of hiding, eighteen years of letting everyone think I was dead, I was about to break every promise I'd made.But if I didn't act now, both my children would die.The venue came into view just as I heard the crowd gasp. Through the old stone archway, I could see Orion facing Jacob. My son looked so much like his father at that age - brave and stubborn and totally unaware of the danger he was in."Help... me..." The dual voices coming from Jacob made my blood freeze.I knew that sound. I'd heard it before, eighteen y
POV: Orion KingsMy fist crashed through the punching bag, sending sand blasting everywhere."Again!" I snarled at myself, grabbing another bag. This one lasted three hits before it burst open too.I couldn't get the picture out of my head. Jacob Shadowfang standing there like some nightmare come to life. His dead eyes. Those teeth that belonged on a vampire, not a werewolf.And he was going to fight my sister."Orion!" Amara's voice made me spin around. She stood in the doorway of the training room, her face pale with fear. "We need to talk.""There's nothing to talk about," I said, wrapping my bloody fingers. "That thing isn't fighting you. I won't let it.""You can't stop the Ancient Council's dare. If I don't fight—""Then I'll fight instead." The words came out before I could stop them.Amara stared at me. "What?""The old laws allow for a champion," I explained, surprised I remembered that detail. "A family member can take your plac