LOGIN[CONRAD]"F**k you."I cut—shallow, deliberate—the line burning across his skin as silver poisoned the wound.His scream echoed off stone walls."Poor answer." I moved the knife to his other shoulder. "Let's see if you improve. What are Crescent Moon's defensive positions for tonight's ceremony?""I don't—I don't know anything about—"Another cut. Deeper this time.More screaming.This continued for an hour.I asked about patrol rotations, defensive strategies, warrior placements, and internal security. Every question met with either defiant silence or claims of ignorance.The scout never broke.Never gave me anything useful beyond confirmation that Crescent Moon was indeed preparing for attack, that Kael had called in magical support, and that the pack was on high alert.Information I already possessed.'Useless,' my wolf snarled. 'Just kill him and move on.'The scout hung limp in his chains now, barely conscious, blood pooling beneath him. Silver poisoning would kill him eventually
[CONRAD]~At 7 a.m. on the morning of the Blue Moon Ceremony.~The drill was brutal by design.Three hundred rogues moved through formations I'd spent months perfecting—strike patterns meant to overwhelm defensive positions and coordinated attacks designed to exploit every weakness in Crescent Moon's security. Sweat and blood mixed in the dirt. Bones cracked when someone moved too slow.I stood watching from elevated ground, satisfaction curling through my chest.'Almost there,' my wolf growled. 'Almost time to take back what's ours.'Almost.The word tasted like vindication and rage combined. Twenty years of planning, hiding, and gathering strength while Bastian played at being Alpha and his whelp inherited stolen power.Tonight, under the Blue Moon, I'd correct every injustice.My phone buzzed. Freya's name appeared on screen.I answered without looking away from the training grounds. "Yes?""We have a problem." Her voice was clipped, urgent. "One of the dens has been compromised. T
[EMRYS]An hour later, I was deep in the forest with Sienna, following magical readings from her detection device while ten warriors maintained perimeter security.Did I mention I was regretting every decision that had led to this moment?"Left." She adjusted the device's calibration. "About forty yards, near that cluster of birch trees."I adjusted course, leading my group of ten warriors through dense forest. Sienna walked beside me, some kind of magical detection device in her hands that pulsed with soft blue light whenever we got close to a sigil.The other witch teams were spread across the territory doing similar sweeps. We'd found eight sigils so far. Sienna estimated there were at least twenty more."There." She pointed to a rocky outcropping. "It's underneath, carved into the underside of that overhang."I signaled the warriors to fan out, securing the area before Sienna and I approached the rocks.She was right. A complex symbol glowed faintly on the underside of a rocky out
[EMRYS]Kael was waiting in his office when I arrived to escort him to the war room."So." He didn't look up from the maps spread across his desk. "The witch is here.""With six others from her coven. They're settling into the packhouse now.""And the kiss at the gates?" Now he looked up, one eyebrow raised. "That happen before or after you remembered we're trying to save the pack from annihilation?"Heat flooded my face. "That was—she just—I didn't—""Relax." Kael's expression softened into something almost amused. "I know about Western Coven. You told me yourself four years ago when you came back looking like someone had rearranged your entire worldview in a week."I had told him. Drunk, confused, and still smelling like cinnamon and magic. Kael had listened without judgment, offered advice I'd mostly ignored, and never mentioned it again.Until now."That was a mistake," I said firmly."Was it?" Kael stood, gathering the maps. "Because from what you told me then, it sounded like th
[EMRYS]~Two days before the Blue Moon ceremony.~The mind-link hit me mid-stride across the training grounds.'Beta, we have a situation at the gates.'I stopped walking, already knowing exactly what this was about. 'Let me guess. Witch with silver-streaked dark hair, an attitude problem, and zero sense of professional boundaries?'A pause. 'How did you—''Send her through. I'll meet her at the main path.'I'd sent word two days ago requesting Sienna's expertise on the sigils. We were forty-eight hours from the Blue Moon ceremony and running out of time to neutralize whatever these sigils would unleash. The photographs I'd sent should've given her enough information to prepare, but knowing Sienna, she'd show up with questions, demands, and chaos.Always chaos with her."Problem?" One of the warriors nearby caught my expression."Nothing I can't handle." The lie tasted familiar. "Continue drills. I'll be back."I was already moving, boots eating ground toward the main path that led fr
[RHIANNON]The blackened edges began to fade. Flesh knitting together beneath my touch with visible progress—muscle reforming, skin closing over injuries that should've taken weeks of careful treatment.Around me, conversations stopped.I didn't look up. Couldn't afford to break concentration when the healing had just started gaining momentum.But the light kept growing. Brighter. Warmer. Spreading beyond the single warrior beneath my hands like it had developed consciousness and purpose separate from my control.Reaching toward every injured person in the infirmary.Simultaneously.'Moon Goddess,' someone breathed.I became the center—standing motionless while power flowed through me in waves, touching wounds I couldn't see, mending damage I hadn't directly assessed. Operating on instinct older than conscious thought.This wasn't effort. This was surrender.Letting the gift do what it was designed for without questioning or doubting or second-guessing every movement.The infirmary fi







