Caius's POVThe small vial of red liquid glowed in the flickering candlelight. I held it up, watching how the blood—Sienna's blood—seemed to pulse with life even outside her body."Perfect," I whispered.My rooms in the Vampire Court were sealed. Three black candles made a triangle on my marble floor. Ancient designs drawn in ash circled them. No one could know what I was about to do—blood magic was forbidden even among vampires.I knelt in the middle of the circle and uncorked the vial. The scent hit me instantly—sweet, powerful, and definitely Ruby Wolf. My fangs extended automatically.This single drop had cost me a lot. The spy in Kieran's pack had risked everything to take it from the medical bay after Sienna's injury. Worth every gold coin.I tipped the vial, letting a single drop fall onto the center sign."Visus sanguinis, oculi lupus," I whispered, slicing my palm with a silver dagger.My blood mixed with hers. The candles flared blue.Pain shot through my eyes as the spell t
Zeke's POVRain poured down as I stared at the abandoned building. Lightning flashed, showing the faded sign: "Midnight Pharmaceuticals." Another lie. This was no drug factory—it was a Syndicate lab. The place where they might have made me into... whatever I am.My boots splashed through water as I approached the fence. The tip I'd gotten from the dying Syndicate agent better be worth the price I paid. Three days tracking through mud and memories I couldn't trust."Records in the basement," he'd gasped before the light left his eyes. "About the twins. About you."I cut through the fence with my claws—another "gift" from the Syndicate's trials. Normal dogs couldn't do this. Normal wolves couldn't smell a guard half a mile away either, but I already knew two were inside, probably bored and not expecting company.The lock on the back door was no match for me. Inside, the air smelled like dust and old chemicals. My night vision picked up details in the darkness—broken furniture, smashed c
The Midnight Queen's POVThe moon hung like a silver eye in the night sky, watching as I placed twelve crystal vials in a perfect circle. Each held the fresh blood of a werewolf—Alpha blood, Beta blood, Omega blood. Power in every drop.But not Ruby Wolf blood. Not yet."Is everything prepared?" I asked, not turning to look at the masked figures standing quietly behind me."Yes, my Queen," Isolde, my Black Moon Witch, answered. "The stars are aligned. The boundary between places thins."I smiled, feeling the weight of ages in the curve of my lips. How long had I waited for this moment? How many failures and false starts?The chamber deep beneath the Syndicate offices hummed with ancient energy. Black candles cast dancing shadows on walls covered in patterns older than human language. At the middle stood an archway made of stone that seemed to drink in light rather than reflect it—the Echo Gate, a small replica of the Celestial Gate I sought to open.I removed my hood, letting my white
Sienna's POVI woke with a scream dying in my throat, my skin burning as if on fire from the inside. Scrambling from the bed, I stumbled to the mirror and froze in fear.Ruby-red markings had spread across my body overnight, swirling designs that pulsed with light beneath my skin. They weren't just on my arms anymore—they covered my shoulders, crept up my neck, and traced tiny lines across my face."What's happening to me?" I whispered, touching the marks with shaky fingers.The moment my emotions spiked, flames erupted from my fingers, catching the curtains. Fire licked up the cloth with hungry tongues."No!" I shouted, fear making the flames grow higher.The door burst open. Kieran charged in, eyes wild with fear. Without pause, he yanked down the burning curtains and stomped out the flames.When the danger passed, he turned to me, his expression shifting from worry to awe as he took in my transformed appeara
Darius's POV My phone buzzed with a message that made my stomach twist into knots. Tonight. Kill the Alpha before the Queen comes. No excuses. I deleted it quickly, looking around the packhouse hallway to make sure no one had seen. After ten years of spying for the Midnight Syndicate, I should have felt nothing. Just another job. But my hands shook as I shoved the phone into my pocket. Kill Kieran Draven Wolfe. The Alpha who trusted me. Who made me his Beta. The packhouse buzzed with activity, everyone planning for the coming attack after Sienna's warning. Warriors sharpened weapons while others strengthened walls with silver-resistant barriers. They all moved with purpose, united by loyalty. A devotion I had faked for a decade. "Darius!" Maya, one of our youngest fighters, rushed up to me. "Alpha wants all defense chiefs in the war room. The spies spotted movement in the eastern woods." I nodded, forcing myself to look calm. "I'll be right there." But instead of he
Kieran's POV The moon wasn't even visible yet, but I could already feel her pull in my blood. I paced the reinforced chamber like a caged animal, my skin burning with the need to change. To tear. To destroy. Each full moon was bad, but this one felt worse – like my blood had been replaced with liquid fire. "Three hours until moonrise," I growled to myself, looking at the heavy silver-reinforced door. I'd locked myself in early tonight. The Midnight Queen was coming, and my pack needed their Alpha, not a dumb beast. But the rage was rising faster than normal, clawing at my insides with razor-sharp talons. Sweat soaked through my shirt as I fought the change. My bones cracked and reset themselves, wanting to shift but meeting my stubborn reluctance. I wouldn't give in. Not yet. The protective runes carved into the walls glowed faintly blue, intended to contain werewolf magic. But as another wave of pain crashed through me, one of the runes flickered and went dark. That had
Caius's POV I arrived at the Shadowfang area with perfect timing. The moon was rising, chaos was brewing, and alliances were about to change. Just as I'd planned. Twenty of my best vampire warriors flanked me as we approached the main gates. I'd dressed for the event in formal Vampire Court attire - midnight blue robes with silver trim that marked me as royalty. "Remember," I told my soldiers, "we're here under the diplomatic banner. No killing unless I command it." The wolves at the gate bared their teeth when they caught our smell. Vampires on werewolf land during a full moon? Unheard of. Yet they couldn't deny entry to a royal foreign envoy. Those were the old laws. "Prince Caius Blackthorne requests audience with Alpha Kieran," I announced, letting my voice carry the weight of centuries. The guards traded nervous glances. "The Alpha is... indisposed." I smiled, showing just a hint of fang. "Then I'll speak with whoever is in charge." Before they could answer, a howl r
Ronan's POV While everyone rushed to fight against the Midnight Queen's attack, I slipped through the shadows of the packhouse. My footsteps quiet, my heart thundering. The chaos was my best cover. Kieran's wolves were scattered, fighting alongside Caius's vampire fighters at the perimeter. I'd caught a glimpse of Caius earlier - the smug vampire prince with his polite smile. He wanted Sienna too. They all did. But she was mine first. Before they took her memories. Before they stole what we had. The bits of memory that had been returning to me weren't just dreams. They were real. Sienna and I had been linked once, our lives intertwined, until someone tore us apart. Tonight, I would find proof. The lower levels of the packhouse were eerily quiet compared to the fight raging outside. I followed the smell of old magic - dust and herbs and something like dried blood. A locked door at the end of a narrow hallway caught my eye. Not just any lock - one inscribed with old symbols
Kieran's POVThe beast clawed at my insides, trying to break free. I dug my nails into my hands until blood dripped between my fingers. Pain helped me focus, kept the monster at bay."Alpha, we're approaching the burned cabin," said Maya, my most trusted warrior. Her silver-streaked hair gleamed in the moonlight as she ran beside me.Behind us, sixty of my best fighters moved through the trees like shadows. We had abandoned our wolf forms when we picked up the smell of vampires ahead. Better to approach with hands that could hold guns."She was here," I growled, the bond in my chest pulling me forward like a hook buried in my heart. "Recently."After weeks of nothingness, the bond had roared back to life last night, shattering the fog in my thoughts. Memories flooded back Sienna's face, her touch, her smell. And with those memories came rage at whoever had tried to make me forget her."Are you sure it's her?" asked Liam, my Second. He had never
Caius's POVThe smell of fire and magic hung in the night air. I stood on the ridge overlooking the burning cabin, my five special vampire guards spread out behind me like shadows."Looks like we missed the party," I said, studying the scene below. Syndicate troops looked through the rubble, their black uniforms blending with the darkness.Viktor, my oldest guard, pointed to fresh tracks in the mud. "They fled less than an hour ago."I closed my eyes, focusing on the weak pulse that had been getting stronger in my chest for weeks. Sienna. Each beat of her heart called to me like a light."She's alive," I whispered, relief washing over me. Then anger replaced it. "The Queen nearly had her."My fangs lengthened at the thought. Four centuries of vampire royalty ran through my blood, but I'd never felt this protective urge for anyone before. It was... unsettling."Your Highness," Elena said, touching my arm. "Movement in the trees."I sniff
Darius's POVI closed my eyes, feeling the pack ties stretch like unseen threads across the forest. One particular thread burned brighter than the rest Sienna. The Ruby Wolf might have escaped us before, but not this time."Sir, we've secured the perimeter," said Ellis, my most trusted assassin. Five other Syndicate killers crouched behind him, their faces drawn with dark symbols that gleamed in the moonlight."Good." I rolled the silver knife between my fingers. "Remember, we need the twins alive."The pull of Sienna's energy got stronger. After years of pretending to be Kieran's loyal Beta, I was finally close to my real prize. The Queen would reward me beyond imagination for bringing her the Ruby Wolf twins."There," I hissed, pointing to a thin column of smoke rising above the trees. "The cabin."I reached into my coat pocket and pulled six small glass orbs filled with swirling black mist tracking hexes made by the Black Moon Witch herself.
Sienna's POV"He's out here somewhere!" I yelled, pushing through the thick underbrush. Dawn light streamed through the trees, painting the forest in gold. My heart raced as I followed the path of disturbed leaves and broken twigs.Ronan kept pace beside me, his face tight with worry. "Sienna, we don't know if it's really him. It could be a trap."I clutched the wooden wolf carving tighter. "It's him, Ronan. I feel it."Ever since finding the carving on our porch last night, I'd been looking. My twin brother alive, not dead as I'd believed my whole life. The notebook page he'd left proved it. The writing matched the letters in my locket, the one thing I had from my mother.A flash of something dark caught my eye. I froze, then rushed forward, falling to my knees beside a folded form half-hidden among fallen leaves."Zeke!" I gasped.My brother lay motionless, his skin covered in strange black veins that looked like spider webs under his pal
Isolde's POVMoonlight streamed through the cracked window of my secret workroom as I stirred the bubbling pot. The potion glowed blue-green, sending strange shadows across the stone walls. My hands moved with practiced skill, adding pinches of rare herbs and drops of crystal water."Almost there," I whispered.This wasn't just any potion. This was memory magic – dangerous and illegal. But Sienna needed it if she was going to survive what was coming.I dropped crushed moonstone into the mixture, watching it fizz and spark. The final part waited beside me – a small vial of ruby-red liquid. Blood from the Nightrose family. My own blood.Yes, the secret I'd kept for ages. I wasn't just any witch serving the Midnight Syndicate. I was a distant cousin of the Ruby Wolves, with just enough of their old power to make this spell work.As the mixture simmered, my mind went to the past. To better days.I remembered little Sienna, just five years old,
Zeke's POVBlood dripped from my fingers as I crouched on the rocky outcrop above the small cabin. My enhanced eyes pierced the darkness, focused on the two figures moving inside. One was a tall man with silver-streaked black hair – Ronan Voss, the Phantom Wolf. The other was a woman with bright red hair that seemed to glow in the lamplight.Sienna. My younger sister.My chest tightened with a strange ache. For forty years, they told me she was the enemy. The Midnight Queen – our grandma – had raised me to hate her, to hunt her. But now, watching her through the cabin window, something felt wrong."You look just like Mom," I whispered.The words surprised me. I had no memories of our mother. Or at least, I thought I didn't. But seeing Sienna's face, something sparked inside me – flashes of a woman with the same fiery hair, the same determined jaw.I touched the metal plates beneath my skin. The Midnight Syndicate's "improvements" to make me the
Caius's POV The old library beneath the Vampire High Court was silent except for the rustle of pages. Dust motes floated in the dim lighting as I hunched over texts so old they crumbled at my touch. "Careful with that one, Your Highness," my elderly librarian warned. "That manuscript predates even your grandfather." I ignored him, my fingers tracing the faded drawings of ruby-colored wolves with glowing eyes. Three days had passed since I'd last seen Sienna, and the image of her fire wings haunted me. Not just for their beauty, but for what they meant. "Leave me," I ordered without looking up. When the door closed, I relaxed my perfect stance. Five centuries of being the perfect prince got tiresome. I rubbed my temples and pulled the oldest book closer – its black cover made from some unidentified skin, its pages yellow with age. The text was written in Ancient Vampiric, a language only royal clans still learned.
Kieran's POVThe great hall of the Shadowfang Pack territory hummed with anxiety. Ten Alpha werewolves sat around the huge oak table, their eyes fixed on me. Each led their own pack, but all recognized the Shadowfang's authority. For now.I paced at the head of the table, my wolf scratching beneath my skin. The silver poison still burned in my veins from the last fight, weakening me when I needed strength most."You've called us here at a dangerous time, Kieran," growled Arlo, the gray-bearded Alpha of the Northern Claw Pack. "With the Blood Moon approaching, we should be securing our territories, not attending meetings."I stopped pacing and put my palms on the table, letting my eyes shift to their wolf form – golden with red flecks."I called you here because of the danger," I said, my voice cutting through the murmurs. "The Midnight Syndicate has made their move. The Blood Moon won't just bring my curse this time – it brings war."Darius sto
Ronan's POVThe trees blurred past us as I carried Sienna through the darkness. Her golden fire wings had faded, leaving her tired in my arms. The Midnight Queen's revelation still echoed in my mind – the queen was Sienna's grandma. Another piece of the puzzle I hadn't seen coming."Almost there," I whispered, feeling her stir against my chest.The cabin emerged through the trees – small, weathered, but secure. My safe harbor for the past five years. No one knew about this place, not even my old handlers at the Syndicate."Where are we?" Sienna mumbled, her ruby-red eyes fluttering open."Somewhere safe." I kicked open the door, carrying her inside.The cabin was sparse but practical – a bed, a fireplace, basic supplies. I gently laid Sienna down and lit the fire with practiced moves."You've been here before," she noticed, pushing herself up on her elbows."It's mine." I gave her water from my pack. "Built it myself after I escaped. Th