Mag-log inThe air in Sterling Industries' primary boardroom was thick enough to be cut with a knife, heavy with the metallic tang of ambition and the cloying scent of fear. Jack Miller sat in an unassuming chair against the wall, far from the polished mahogany table where the fate of a billion-dollar empire was being decided. From this vantage point, he was just another assistant, a shadow behind Catherine Sterling's throne—a throne that was currently teetering on the brink of collapse.
He
The celebration in Sterling Tower lasted exactly forty-two minutes.Jack stood on the observation deck, a glass of sixty-year-old scotch in his hand, watching the city reconstruction drones swarm over Manhattan like industrious fireflies. The Devourer had retreated. The Remnant Fleet was parked in orbit, paying rent. The Old Ones were ostensibly allies.For the first time in months, the balance sheet was in the black."Enjoying the view, boss?" Marcus approached, his Shield Guardian armor retracted but his presence still radiating the heavy, kinetic hum of a tank idling in neutral."I'm enjoying the quiet," Jack said, taking a sip. "It's expensive, but worth it.""Haley's freaking out downstairs," Marcus said, leaning against the railing. "She said something about 'reflections' before she passed out again. Dr. Miller has her in the med-bay. Says her reality-anchor physiology is reacting to a localized probability distortion.""Of course it is." Jack sighed, draining the glass. "Peace
The Crucible didn’t care that Jack Sterling was running on fumes.Outside the reinforced glass of Sterling Tower’s command center, Manhattan was tearing itself apart. The Old Ones had manifested humanity’s deepest psychological terrors into physical threats. Giant, faceless shadow-beasts scaled the surrounding skyscrapers, while the East River boiled over its banks, defying gravity to form a towering wall of water poised to crush the financial district."Forty-six hours on the clock!" Alia shouted, her fingers blurring across three holographic keyboards at once. "The water wall is accelerating. Impact in four minutes!"Jack stood at the central tactical table. A day ago, he would have jumped out the window, shifted into his True Alpha form, and vaporized the tidal wave with a blast of pure void energy. Now, his muscles ached with Beta-level limitations, and the tiny spark of purification light left in his soul was a finite resource. If he burned it now, he’d be completely powerless.H
The Valkyrie prototype screamed through the atmosphere like a silver bullet, leaving a trail of ionized particles in its wake. Katherine Sterling gripped the controls with white-knuckled intensity, every muscle in her body straining against the G-forces."Hull integrity at forty-seven percent!" the AI warned. "Energy shields failing! Recommend immediate abort!""Override," Katherine commanded, her voice like forged steel. "All power to forward thrusters and the electromagnetic railgun. We're not aborting anything."Through the cockpit's reinforced glass, she could see the Harbinger in all its terrible majesty—a living mountain of darkness that made the Manhattan skyline look like children's toys. Tendrils of absolute black reached down toward the city, dissolving everything they touched.And below them, pulsing through the chaos like a beacon of pure gold, she felt Jack's power building.Katherine. Olivia's voice resonated directly in her mind. We're r
The sky above Manhattan split open like a wound in reality.Jack Miller stood on the rooftop of Sterling Tower, his golden eyes burning with primal fury as he watched the impossibility descend. The Harbinger wasn't just massive—it was conceptually wrong. A living mountain of pure darkness, pulsing with entropic energy that made his True Alpha senses scream in agony."All electromagnetic readings are going haywire!" Alia's voice crackled through the comms, fighting against the interference. "It's not just absorbing our power grid—it's eating the planet's magnetic field!"Below, Manhattan plunged into chaos. Every light winked out. Cars stopped dead in the streets. Planes began falling from the sky like dying birds."Katherine." Jack's voice was steady, despite the terror clawing at his chest. "Status on Valkyrie Fleet?""Thirty percent operational," Katherine's response came through a burst of static. She was aboard the Odyssey, orbiting at the ed
The victory over Victor bought Jack credibility, but it also bought him enemies.Three hours after the challenge, his father delivered the news no one wanted to hear."The fragment you retained is unstable." Dr. William Miller—geneticist, fugitive, and architect of the Alpha Predator System—pointed to the holographic display showing Jack's cellular structure. "When the Old Ones interrupted the power transfer, they essentially froze you mid-sacrifice. Your Origin Blood is caught between states.""What does that mean practically?" Jack asked."It means every time you use what's left of your power, you're burning through your reserves permanently. That purification blast you used on Victor?" His father's expression was grim. "You'll never be able to do that again. You've got maybe four or five more uses of any significant ability before you're completely human."The words hung in the air like a death sentence."Can you fix it?""I don't kn
Victor made his move three hours later.Jack was in the middle of reviewing the incoming data with Alia when the challenge came—not through proper pack channels, but through a public broadcast to every supernatural being in the territory."I, Victor Thornwood, challenge Jack Miller for leadership of the Urban Wolves." Victor's voice echoed through every speaker in Sterling Tower. "By the old laws, a weakened Alpha must answer or forfeit. I call you out, Miller. Tonight. The fighting pit beneath the Obsidian Club. No weapons. No allies. Just teeth and claws."Alia's fingers froze over her keyboard. "That's illegal. You can't broadcast a pack challenge publicly—""He's not just challenging for leadership," Jack said quietly. "He's trying to humiliate me. Make sure everyone knows I'm weak before I even have a chance to respond.""He's also not wrong about the old laws." Ben Carter's voice came from the doorway. The former Wall Street executive looke







