MasukThe ventilation shaft overlooking the sub-basement of the Sterling Tower ruins was a corridor of rusted metal and stale air. Jack Sterling crouched in the darkness, his new obsidian arm humming with a low, menacing vibration that only he could feel. It was a sensation of raw potential, a coiled spring waiting to be released.
"Target confirmed," Marcus whispered through the comms. The big man was positioned on the opposite side of the massive excavation chamber, hidden in the skeletal remThe 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
Jack woke to the smell of antiseptic and Katherine's perfume.His eyes opened slowly, fighting against exhaustion that seemed to reach down into his bones. The medical bay's white ceiling swam into focus, replaced moments later by Katherine's face hovering above him."You're awake." Her voice cracked on the second word. "You absolute idiot. You promised you'd come back.""I'm here, aren't I?" Jack tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. Pain lanced through every nerve ending. "How long was I out?""Eighteen hours." Katherine's hand found his, squeezing hard enough to hurt. "The Arbiter brought you back personally. She said—" Katherine stopped, her jaw tightening."Said what?""That you'd need time to adjust to your new condition."Jack's blood ran cold. He reached for his Origin Blood, the power that had become as natural as breathing over the past months.Nothing.He reached deeper, searching for that golden







