The Blood Bound Legacy

“You know she has to die, David.” Sophie’s voice rang out over the clamorous charity gala as her champagne glass glinted in the light. “The Council will not wait very long.”"Not here." David's jaw clenched as he glanced around the room, an expensive suit not enough to disguise the tension in his shoulders. “We do have half the city’s elite watching us.”I froze behind the marble column, my heart throbbing in my ribs. They hadn’t seen me yet — my own husband and his supposed best friend, discussing my murder over champagne. The anniversary gift nestled in my clutch weighed a ton.“She’s getting suspicious,” Sophie said, turning her red lips into a smile as she waved to a passing senator. “Yesterday she asked about where her family’s foundation’s missing money went.”“Because you got careless about the transfers.” David’s tone stayed polite, but I could hear the peril. “Two hundred million doesn’t just vanish without questions.My hands shook when I took out my phone, opening the banki

I was standing in the torn-open living room of my parents’ house, blood dripping from my bloodied hands, as unconscious wolves lay all around me. David had left — he'd bolted the moment I'd willed the ancient sigils into being, dragging a wounded Sophie with him. The look of astonishment on his face had been nearly worth all the other things.“Well,” my father said, adjusting his tie as he took in the destruction, “I guess that answers the question of whether your powers have awakened.”"James." Mom’s warning tone was sharper than I had ever heard it. She stepped carefully through the wreckage to touch my shoulder. "Sweetheart, you're shaking."I was. The energy that had coursed through me was now gone, replaced with fatigue. My legs gave way, and before I could hit the ground, I was caught by solid arms."I've got you."The voice tingled in my veins — unlike the raw power I’d just wielded. This was warmer, familiar in a way that made my heart stutter. I gazed upwards into eyes I had

The battlefield was silent. The panting of wolves, the taste of blood between her teeth, the low growls echoing off the walls of the night — was it enough to remind her the fight wasn’t over? My muscles buzzed from the change, and my skin tingled where the last remnants of power coursed through me just moments before. But now, the rush was gone, leaving in its wake something more profound, something chillier — reality.David was gone. Disappeared into the night the second he knew he was outgunned. His pack had blown apart like rats, those who survived, anyway. But his absence had not offered relief. If anything, it left an emptiness, a sickening pit in my stomach, because I knew this wasn’t over. He would return. Stronger. Angrier. More prepared.Maxwell transformed first, the black wolf vanishing into the man in front of me. His breathing was shallow, his chest rising and falling fitfully. He was bleeding — a gash along his ribs, claw marks streaking his arms — but his eyes were on m

The forest hissed with life.Figures streaked between the trees, their eyes glimmering like liquid gold in the darkness. Deep growls traveled the air, resonating, a cruel chorus of the chase. They weren’t just here to capture me — they were here to break me. To remind me that I was still their prey, no matter how much power coursed through my veins.But they had underestimated me.Maxwell rocketed forward, a streak of speed and rage, crashing into the first wolf as it leaped. Their bodies hit the ground with a resounding snap as they wrestled in a bloody tangle. Another wolf lunged for me, baring its fangs, and instinct kicked in.I ran faster than I’d ever run in my life. One moment, I was crouched next to the wreckage of the car; the next, I was twisting out of the way, my blade cleaving through muscle and fur. A tortured howl tore through the night, but there was no time to contemplate. More were coming.Maxwell fought like a force of nature, morphing between the human and wolf lik

I was lost in the dark — engulfed and gasping.I was falling — plunging into an endless abyss, my screams torn away by the vacuum. The shadows danced around me whispering in voices I nearly recognized words falling through my fingers like sand. I didn’t know how long I was falling — seconds, minutes, years? Time didn’t exist here. Only weightless descent.And, just as suddenly as it started, it ended.I wasn’t falling anymore. My feet were on solid ground, but everything around me was…off. The heavens roared above, a mass of twisting black clouds going too quickly, too wrong. The land was sparse and cracked in all directions; the air was thick with the smell of ash. There was no sun. No moon. Just the crushing pressure of nothingness crushing down on me.I swallowed hard, my throat like dust in the desert. “Where am I?”A smooth-as-silk voice replied from behind me. “Somewhere between what was and what will be.”I whipped around, my body poised for a fight.And froze.David loomed bef