LOGINKillian didn’t move. He kept Faith tucked against his chest, his hands shaking, not from fear, but from the sheer effort of holding back his wolf. His golden eyes were fixed on the woman with the silver-braided crown.
“Commander Vesper,” Killian spat, his voice a crooked rasp. “The King’s lapdog. I should have known the Crown would come to scavenge the remains.” The King doesn't scavenge, Alpha Nightshade. He reclaims, Vesper said, her voice like ice cutting through the wiKillian didn’t move. He kept Faith tucked against his chest, his hands shaking, not from fear, but from the sheer effort of holding back his wolf. His golden eyes were fixed on the woman with the silver-braided crown. “Commander Vesper,” Killian spat, his voice a crooked rasp. “The King’s lapdog. I should have known the Crown would come to scavenge the remains.” The King doesn't scavenge, Alpha Nightshade. He reclaims, Vesper said, her voice like ice cutting through the wind. She looked at Faith, whose skin was still humming with that strange, fading silver glow. And what he reclaims today is the Catalyst. Faith looked up at Killian, her heart still racing at an impossible speed. “What does she mean, Killian? What debt did your father owe?” Killian’s jaw tightened so hard it looked like it might snap. He didn't answer. He couldn't. “Your father was a brilliant businessman, Killian,” Sarah said, as she stood up from the mud. She looke
“Really Maya? You sold us out again!” Faith’s voice was low, vibrating with a frequency that made the leaves around them shiver. After everything you and Mother did, what did I ever do to you? “I didn't sell you out, Faith. I upgraded,” Maya sneered, the silver tranquilizer rifle steady in her hands. You were always a mistake. A 'Dud' living in a scholar’s shadow. But now? Now you’re just a bounty. Silas promised me your spot in the Lunar Council’s research division once you’re…. ‘processed.' Sarah stepped in front of Faith, her hands raised. “Silas, stop this. She’s my daughter. You swore you’d protect the lineage!” I am protecting it, Sarah, Silas drawled, stepping out from behind a tree. His blue eyes were glowing with a manic, stormy light. "By making sure it’s under my control. Killian is currently being torn apart by the Council’s Enforcers. He can’t save you this time.” He looked at Faith, his gaze hungry. “The w
“Faith, get behind me,” Killian growled. His voice was no longer human; it was a rough, deep rumble that vibrated through the floorboards. He didn't look at Sarah. He didn't look at the Council. His entire being was focused on the girl he had branded as his own.“I told you, Killian,” Sarah hissed, pulling a small, metallic device from her trench coat. The Nightshades always bring the storm. You’ve led them right to her!“I am the storm, Sarah!” Killian roared.With a sound like a thunderclap, his suit jacket shredded. His spine arched, bones popping and elongating in a brutal, lightning-fast shift. In seconds, the six-foot-four billionaire was gone, replaced by the massive black wolf, a midnight shadow with eyes of molten gold. He stood between the women and the shattered front doors, a wall of fur and fangs.“Fire!” Vane’s voice screamed from the lawn.A bombardment of silver-tipped bullets shattered the priceless stained glass windows. Killian leaped, a blur o
The silence in the marble foyer was suffocating. Faith felt as though the floor had turned into glass, ready to shatter at any moment. She looked at the weary woman in the trench coat to the frozen, pale Alpha at her side.“Mom?” Faith’s voice was a broken whisper. “They.…they said you disappeared. They said you were dead.”“I was hiding, Faith,” her mother said, her voice low . She didn't move toward her daughter, her eyes remained locked on Killian. “I was hiding from the men who built the Red Cell. The men who wanted to turn our blood into a battery for their empire.”Killian’s grip on Faith’s hand tightened, his knuckles white. “Sarah,” he breathed, the name sounding heavy in the air. “I genuinely didn't know you were alive. My father….he told the Council the search was over.”“Because your father was the one who stopped looking, Killian,” Sarah hissed, stepping into the light. The scars on the side of her face shimmered—marks of an old, high-voltage burn. “Your
The steel grate vibrated with the force of Killian’s snarl. Even in his massive wolf form, he looked less like an animal and more like a force of nature. His claws shredded the concrete floor, leaving deep gouges as he roamed the perimeter of the cage that separated them. “Killian, stop!” Faith screamed, her voice cracking. “Vane is serious! The whole room is rigged with thermite!” The black wolf paused. His golden eyes locked onto hers, and for a heartbeat, the terrifying predator softened. He huffed, a cloud of hot vapor hitting the glass, his gaze focused on the magnetic cuffs bruising her wrists. “How touching,” Vane’s voice crackled over the intercom, dripping with malice. “The beast has a heart. But hearts are so easily punctured, aren't they? Alpha Nightshade, if you don't shift back and surrender to my guards in the next sixty seconds, I’ll trigger the sequence. Faith will be nothing but a silver ash.” Dare me! The wolf’s hackles rose.
Faith’s head throbbed as she blinked her eyes open. She wasn't at the South Gate, and she wasn't with Silas. She was in a high-tech bunker, her wrists bound not by zip-ties, but by heavy, pulsing magnetic cuffs that buzzed against her skin.“The little bird Awake at last,” a voice echoed.It wasn't Silas. It was Councilman Vane, the grey-haired man from the gala. He stood behind a reinforced glass wall, watching her like a scientist observing a lab rat.“Where the hell am I?” Faith said with a harsh tone, her throat raw.“You’re in the Red Cell, my dear,” Vane smiled thinly. “A facility built by the Nightshade family decades ago to ‘house’ unruly geniuses like you. You know Killian’s father was very fond of this room. It’s completely soundproof, wolf-proof, and very much protected from any GPS tracking. Not even your Alpha can find you here.”Faith’s heart sank. The Red Cell. Silas hadn't lied. The Nightshades did build the cage.“Why?” she whispered.“Be







