The first thing they noticed wasn’t the light.It was the smell.The stench of decay hit them like a wall the moment they stepped out from the rusted subway doors into the open. Rot. Burnt fur. Blood soaked into the soil. A smell so unnatural that even Marcus, whose senses had dulled under enchantments, took a staggering step back and retched into the overgrown weeds.Emma's eyes welled up—not from emotion, but from the sharp, acrid smoke still hanging in the air. The buildings near the edge of the city were no longer homes. They were carcasses. Entire blocks were blackened skeletons, burned out and hollowed by fire, claw marks and the rage of something worse than war—panic.Steve stood frozen. “What happened while we were gone?”No one answered him, because no one could.The streets were not just abandoned—they were wrong. Cars stood parked with doors flung open. Blood painted windshields. One had small handprints smeared across the glass—too small to be adults. No movement. No sound
Chapter One: The BondThe moon hung blood-red over the Spring Equinox celebration, a crimson eye watching the gathered wolves below. Emma Adams smoothed her silver dress for the hundredth time, trying to calm her racing heart. At twenty-three, she'd attended enough pack ceremonies to know the routine, but tonight felt different. The air crackled with possibility, heavy with magic that made her wolf pace restlessly beneath her skin, claws scraping against her consciousness with growing urgency.Through the towering windows of the Sterling Creek Pack house, moonlight painted the marble floors in shades of ruby and garnet. Emma's fingers trembled as she tucked a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear, the familiar scents of pack and home doing nothing to calm her nerves. Her wolf was never this restless during ceremonies, yet tonight she prowled through Emma's mind like a caged thing, sensing something momentous on the horizon."Stop fidgeting," her best friend Lily whispered, nudging
Emma's hands wouldn't stop shaking. Three attempts to pack a simple suitcase, and she'd managed nothing but a mess of scattered clothes and broken sobs. The rejection bond throbbed like an open wound in her chest, each pulse a reminder of Steve's cold eyes. She stumbled to her bathroom, gripping the counter as another wave of pain ripped through her body. Her wolf clawed at her insides, desperate to run back to the pack house, to beg for what they'd lost."A healer apprentice? The Sterling Creek Pack needs someone of proper breeding..."His words echoed in her mind, each syllable a fresh cut. The mirror caught her reflection—mascara-stained cheeks, silver dress now wrinkled and stained with tears. Her green eyes, usually bright with determination, looked hollow, haunted. Emma ripped the dress off with trembling fingers, the silk tearing with a satisfying screech. She couldn't bear its touch against her skin a moment longer. It represented everything she'd lost tonight, everything she'
"Dr. Adams, we need you in Trauma One!"Emma dropped her half-finished coffee and sprinted down the Seattle Grace Hospital corridor, her sneakers squeaking against the polished floor. Friday nights in the ER were always chaos, but something in Sarah's voice set off her instincts. Not just urgency—fear. Her wolf, usually dormant during her hospital shifts, stirred uneasily beneath her skin.Five years of emergency medicine had taught her to read the signs. The way the nurses avoided her eyes. The peculiar tension in the air. The subtle shift in scents that her weakened supernatural senses could still detect. Whatever waited behind those trauma room doors wasn't a typical case.She caught the metallic scent the moment she pushed through the doors. Wolf blood. The distinctive copper-and-lightning smell hit her like a physical blow, making her wolf surge forward with recognition."Male, early thirties," Sarah rattled off, falling into step beside her. Her friend's usually steady hands sho
Emma's hands didn't shake as she snapped on fresh gloves. They couldn't. Not now. Not when every second mattered. She'd spent five years building walls around her heart, learning to be Dr. Adams instead of just Emma, the rejected mate. But all that careful distance threatened to shatter as the ambulance sirens grew louder.The trauma bay doors burst open with a bang that made her wolf flinch. Paramedics wheeled in the gurney, their voices clipped with urgency. "Male, multiple lacerations, possible chemical exposure—"The words faded to white noise the moment she saw him. Steve Kane lay unconscious, his proud features twisted in pain. Blood soaked through his torn shirt, turning the fabric from navy to black. That same wrong chemical scent clung to his wounds, stronger now, more potent. Someone had wanted to make sure the Alpha didn't survive this attack."Start two large-bore IVs," Emma ordered, her doctor's training taking over where her emotions threatened to fail. Her voice remaine
"Three dead wolves in one night." Emma stared at the toxicology reports spread across her office desk, the numbers blurring after eighteen straight hours on shift. "All with the same modified poison."Sarah locked the door behind her, carrying fresh coffee. "The labs came back on the latest victim. Blood work's identical to the others.""And getting worse." Emma pulled up the molecular analysis on her computer. "The poison's evolving. Each batch is more sophisticated than the last."Through her office window, she could see Steve's room across the hall. He'd finally fallen into a restless sleep, his fever hovering at dangerous levels despite her magical intervention. Even unconscious, he commanded attention—the Alpha in him refusing to be diminished by something as mundane as near-fatal poisoning."You should get some rest," Sarah said, studying her face. "You've been running on fumes since they brought him in.""I'm fine.""Right." Sarah's tone dripped skepticism. "That's why you've b
It was more serious and deadlier than she thought. “Put them under a lot of morphine,” Emma hastily ordered the interns as she jogged back into the intensive care unit ward. Her heart wrenched as she watched Steve shiver in pain with his eyes rolled up into his dead. For the first time in after five years, she was at loss at what to do.See this as a challenge. She told herself. You are a healer, and one of the things that comes with it is solving the problem. Now, what is the problem?She looked at the charts monitor and saw that Steve’s fever was getting higher by the minute.“What do we do?” Sarah asked as she looked at Emma pensively.“A CT scan immediately,” Emma said. “We need to see exactly how this virus works, we need to see how it multiplies, we need to see how it regenerates, from there, we will know what to do from the results.”Sarah left the room to get the interns to wheel the Alpha to the lab.“Interesting,” Emma whispered. The Viruses were actively working and attache
“What is this shinning cell?” Sarah asked, her voice tinged with awe and wonder.It was the werewolf gene and what was also responsible for making bonds between other wolves possible but Emma was not going to say that. It was not yet time for Sarah to know about her world. It was too dangerous.“Please send the result to my office right away, I need to go see one of the patients,” Emma said and left Sarah’s lab.There was a lot of questions on her mind as she walked and passed by other nurses and patients being prepped for surgeries or scans. It was a really busy night for her and like always she was spending it in the hospital. In all honesty, there was no one waiting for her at home.Her work as a healer and doctor was her life. She was a neurosurgeon at the hospital but a healer and user of wolf magic off duty. Sometimes she combined to the two which was rare.However, she knew that she was going to have to use both her medical and healing abilities to help Steve. But first she nee
The first thing they noticed wasn’t the light.It was the smell.The stench of decay hit them like a wall the moment they stepped out from the rusted subway doors into the open. Rot. Burnt fur. Blood soaked into the soil. A smell so unnatural that even Marcus, whose senses had dulled under enchantments, took a staggering step back and retched into the overgrown weeds.Emma's eyes welled up—not from emotion, but from the sharp, acrid smoke still hanging in the air. The buildings near the edge of the city were no longer homes. They were carcasses. Entire blocks were blackened skeletons, burned out and hollowed by fire, claw marks and the rage of something worse than war—panic.Steve stood frozen. “What happened while we were gone?”No one answered him, because no one could.The streets were not just abandoned—they were wrong. Cars stood parked with doors flung open. Blood painted windshields. One had small handprints smeared across the glass—too small to be adults. No movement. No sound
Emma had her father's powers so she could see through his Chaos magic. The little time she had spent with Terra had showed her how to break and see through illusions."It is all a trick Steve," Emma said in a sad tone. "That is not your brother.""What?" Steve asked as he looked away from Grimkeeper."Your brother is here but he is not in prison or chained, Grimkeeper is just using your fears and bringing it to life," Emma revealed to him.Grimkeeper's growl caught their attention. "I do not appreciate the fact that you are getting in my way, daughter. Even though I do this for your own good. Did Terra not show you your fate?"Emma shook her head in disdain. "She only showed me the things that will happen if I let fear rule my heart. I have seen enough.""Emma, I am saving you from heart break, you will outlive him, watch him die, there is immortality in your blood, daughter," Grimkeeper said."That maybe so, but it is my life and not yours, I think I understand why you are doing all
Terra’s whip-tail lashed the floor, sparks flying as its razor-sharp tip carved through stone. Her eyes glowed like twin embers, the smile gone from her lips. Now there was only cold intent."You shouldn’t have walked away, Emma," the succubus murmured, claws sliding out from her fingers with a wet snikt. “You’ve defied the Garden. Defied desire.”Emma dropped into a stance—legs shoulder-width apart, arms raised in a balanced curve. Her breathing slowed. Soma Fang. Ancient werewolf martial art. Rooted in grace, ends in devastation. Her wolf stirred under her skin—quiet, but burning with clarity.“I didn’t defy desire,” Emma said. “I chose reality.”Terra lunged first. A blur of pale limbs and tail. Her claws arced for Emma’s throat, but Emma twisted beneath them and sent a crushing elbow into Terra’s ribs. The succubus hissed, twisting her head, horns slicing through the air like obsidian blades.Emma barely ducked, somersaulted backward, and launched a lightning-fast Fang Spear—two-f
Emma’s thighs clenched involuntarily. Her reflection was screaming in pleasure, being taken by Steve driving into her from behind, his hands holding her head, breasts, waist. He was worshiping her like a goddess, filling her every hole, every need, every fantasy. “I don’t…” Emma whispered, even as heat pooled between her legs. “You want to be devoured,” Terra whispered at her ear, now behind her. “You want to be fought over. Ruined. Made holy through pleasure.” “No, I—” But the mirror pulsed, and suddenly Emma wasn't watching anymore. She was inside. Black petals brushed her skin as she landed on all fours, her body naked and arched. A strong hand grabbed her hips—Steve’s growl echoed in her ear. “She’s ready,” he said. His cock pressed against her—thick, pulsing with heat. Steve entered her first, slow and punishing, his hands gripping her waist. Emma gasped. “Open for me,” he said in a voice like temple bells. She obeyed. The rhythm was brutal and beautiful. Each thrust f
The crimson door creaked shut behind them, muffling the ragged breathing of the man who now lay unconscious on the velvet rug. Terra walked ahead, her golden tattoos glowing faintly under the infernal red light. Her heels clicked like war drums as she led Emma deeper into the heart of the Grim Floors.Emma's senses were overwhelmed—moans echoed faintly from behind darkened doors, the air was thick with incense, sex, and suffering. The healer in her reeled, but the werewolf in her… watched, hungry and curious.“Welcome to the feeding ground,” Terra said, spreading her arms wide as they emerged onto a balcony overlooking a vast arena below. The chamber stretched impossibly wide and tall—at the center, a gigantic black lotus floated above a pit of writhing bodies. Feeding platforms encircled the arena like theater boxes.“And what is this place?” Emma asked, her werewolf sight picking up glowing energies being drained from the bodies below and channeled into the black lotus.Terra licked
The silence between them was suffocating."I am not leaving, Emma for any reason and certainly not because of you," Steve growled.Steve stared angrily at the towering, pale-skinned entity before him—neither demon nor god, neither dead nor alive. Grimkeeper’s long fingers trailed the edge of a glass case containing a rusted dagger wrapped in faded red cloth."What reasons make you think that I would ever leave Emma's side?" The Sterling werewolf demanded."Sit," Grimkeeper said softly, but it was not a suggestion. It was a command that made Steve's bones tremble.He obeyed, lowering himself onto a cold obsidian bench while Grimkeeper remained standing, his shadow stretching long across the marble floor like a living thing."You asked me for the reasons," Grimkeeper said, his voice low, haunting. "Let me give you a thousand."Steve did not respond. His jaw was tight, fists clenched on his lap. Every instinct screamed at him to walk away, but something ancient in Grimkeeper’s aura held
The Father's Demand"How old are you?" Steve asked, unable to contain his curiosity despite the tension between them.Grimkeeper's laugh was unexpectedly warm, rolling through the museum of his existence. "It depends on your understanding of the perception of time. But I leave that to you.""So you don't know?" Steve shot back, sarcasm a shield against the unnerving reality he faced."No," Grimkeeper corrected, "I'm saying your mind may not be able to comprehend my age. I do not perceive time the same way you do, son of Kane."Steve absorbed this, the implications staggering. "If I understand correctly, you're saying you've been around since the beginning of time.""I don't think those are the right words. I've been around before Time even became a concept," Grimkeeper replied with casual certainty that sent a chill down Steve's spine. "I will outlive even you, son of Kane, which brings me to why you are here."Something in his tone set off warning bells in Steve's mind. "Why am I her
The air changed the moment Emma's boots crossed the threshold. Steve felt it first as a prickling along his spine, then as a heaviness that settled in his lungs with each breath. Sweet, cloying, like honeysuckle left to rot in summer heat. He gripped the edge of the table, knuckles whitening as the scent infiltrated his senses, clouding his mind with images he fought to suppress.Around him, the feast hall descended into madness.Marcus, his loyal Beta, the man who had stood by his side through countless battles and bloodshed, fell first. Steve watched in horror as his second-in-command's eyes glazed over, pupils dilating until only a thin ring of color remained. The warrior's movements became jerky, desperate, as he tore at his clothing with trembling hands. A crimson-skinned creature—no, not creature, succubus—with spiraling horns and a forked tail approached him, her hips swaying hypnotically. Marcus didn't resist. His trousers pooled around his ankles as he seized her waist, spinn
The degradation the human was going through and how Terra the succubus was feeding off it fascinated Emma. The Healer used her werewolf sight to see how Terra was getting nourished from the freaky act she performing with the poor helpless human.Emma watched closely as the veins in the anatomy of the sex creature pulsed with light. The Human began to struggle as Terra’s tail tightened around his neck as she began to hump harder on his face. “Hold still! Let my juice soak that face up!” Terra yelled as she pushed the human’s face deeper. “Yes!” The Succubus came wildly and gushed her liquid on the face of the bound helpless man.Emma was amazed by how Terra climaxed. The golden fractured star on her chest glowed brightly as her pussy nectar dripped thickly over the man’s buried face. The Succubus released the man who was coughing out liquid which Emma deduced to be Terra’s pussy juice. The man’s face was wet and dripping. He was on his back trying to catch his breath but the Succubus w