로그인The sky didn't just fall; it shattered.The sheer concussive force of the Iron Fleet's broadside bombardment turned the Western Harbor into an apocalyptic nightmare.Massive, two-ton iron cannonballs slammed into the beach, throwing geysers of wet sand, saltwater, and fire hundreds of feet into the air.The first blast… the shockwave caught me mid-breath, i got yanked clean off my feet and thrown hard, backwards. I hit the ground and the air just ran out of me. My shoulder, bleeding, it felt like it was on fire, that cut from Lyra’s bone-blade burning like hot coals, except it was worse. It was screaming at me, no, it was screaming at my whole body."Luna! Get up!" Liam’s voice cut through the explosions, kind of, not really. Like it barely got through the roar.Then strong hands grabbed me by the back of my tactical vest, hauling me upright. Alpha Silas. His face was smeared with soot and sand, like he’d crawled out of a furnace."The truce is broken, we have to reach the Capital wal
The sun dipped below the jagged horizon, bleeding a deep, bruised purple across the Western Ocean. The time for parley was over. The time for the Blood Rite had begun.I stood alone in the center of the wet, hard-packed sand of the harbor. Behind me, Liam, Silas, and a line of Black Summit guards watched with bated breath, forced to stay behind the designated boundary markers.Out on the dark water, a single black longboat separated from the massive Imperial flagship. It cut through the surf, grinding onto the beach.I gripped the hilt of my Moon-steel sword, bracing myself for another towering, seven-foot behemoth like General Kael.But the Lycan who stepped out of the boat wasn't a hulking brute.She was female, incredibly lean, and moved with a terrifying, liquid grace. Her bone-armor wasn't formed into thick, defensive plates; it protruded from her forearms, shins, and spine in sleek, razor-sharp blades. She looked aerodynamic, built purely for speed and lethal precision."I am Ly
The silence was infinitely worse than the cannons.With three hundred iron dreadnoughts anchored just off the coast, the Capital braced, hard, for a world-ending barrage of artillery. The Black Summit guards manned the coastal ballistas, their hands slick with sweat. In the medical wing i gripped the windowsill so tightly my knuckles ached, real painful. But the cannons didn’t fire. Not even once. The massive, city-sized flagship floating in the center of the armada just… sat there, its dark iron hull rising and falling with the ocean swells, like it was breathing. “Why arent they firing?” Liam asked, stepping up beside me, his crossbow lowered but his whole body still locked up tight. “They have us completely outgunned. They could level the cliffs in ten minutes.” “Look,” i said, and pointed toward the water. Lowering from the side of the colossal flagship was a single black-wood longboat. It hit the water with a heavy splash. Six massive Lycan warriors manned the oars, rowing i
The medical wing of the Capital Palace smelled heavily of antiseptic and burnt flesh.Dante was spread out on the reinforced steel cot, his huge battered frame just… not moving at all.Dr. Evans, and a crew of six medics, had been on him for three solid hours, slow and careful, cutting away those ruined, blackened plates of his bone-armor and laying thick soothing salves over the awful burns that covered his skin.“His healing factor is working, Luna, but it’s erratic,” Dr. Evans said quietly, moving away from the bed to talk with me. He looked cooked out, like seriously tired, wiping sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. “A wolf should heal from burns like this in a day. But the magic from the Primordial Font… it’s wrestling his normal biology. His body is caught in the middle, halfway between that fresh modern wolf body and the old ancient Lycan form. And the bone-armor… it’s not sliding back.”I glanced over at Dante. Even knocked out, his brow stayed crumpled, his jaw clen
The red emergency lights in the engine room strobed frantically, casting the descending Lycan warriors in a terrifying, bloody hue.Dante didn’t back down. He cracked his thick neck, his golden eyes locked hard onto that flashing detonator counting down behind him, like it was personal.One minute. Fifty seconds. The first Lycan hit the deck, swinging a massive iron battleaxe straight at Dante’s head, no hesitation at all.Dante didn’t even try to dodge.He lifted his left arm, letting the heavy iron blade slam uselessly against his primordial bone-armor. The axe shattered, bits scattering everywhere.Before the Lycan could even process the shock, Dante drove his right fist through the warrior’s chest plate, and the guy flew backward into the oncoming swarm, like the fight was already decided.“Is that all the Old World has?!” Dante roared, his voice a monstrous, vibrating thunderclap, that shook the steel grates under their feet like they were thin paper.They came at him all at once
The cheers in the Capital courtyard were deafening, but they were cut painfully short.Another huge BOOM rolled out from the western horizon, again. A two-ton iron cannonball crossed the air above the outer walls, sailed right over them, and smashed into the palace upper towers. Stone scattered everywhere into the courtyard, basically pulverizing the celebrating guards. General Kael was ruined—at least, emotionally broken—but his army had already yanked themselves back to their floating fortresses. The Iron Fleet wasn’t leaving. Not even a little. They were dropping anchor. “They’re shifting to long-range bombardment!” Liam shouted, trying to shield his eyes as debris rained down. “They can’t win on land, so they’re just going to level the city from the water!” Dante stood in the center of the courtyard, massive, bone-armored, chest heaving like the world was heavy. He angled his face toward the western sky, golden eyes narrowing. He couldn’t punch a cannonball out of the sky, and
The lockdown lasted for three days.Dante called it "security protocol." I called it "the honeymoon we never had."For three days, the world outside didn't exist. There were no Council investigators, no jealous ex-girlfriends, and no pack politics. There was just the penthouse, the fireplace, and u
The morning sun didn't feel warm. It felt like a spotlight waiting to expose us.I woke up alone in the massive bed. The space beside me was cold, but the scent of Dante—sandalwood and rain—was still strong on the pillows.I sat up and put my hand on my stomach. I thought of the little wolf who sho
The drive back to the castle was a blur.Dante drove the backup car himself. He drove fast, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white. He didn't speak. He didn't look at me. He just stared at the road, his jaw set in a hard line.I sat in the passenger seat, shivering.
The world above ground had turned into hell.As Dante and I raced up the crumbling stone stairs from the archives, the sound of gunfire echoed off the ruin walls.Bang! Bang!Then the growls. Deep, guttural sounds that rattled within my ribs.The moment we were out of the East Wing and into dayligh







