Sienna's POVI pulled back my sleeve, showing the intricate ruby lines that now covered most of my right arm. "It started after we did the twin-fire yesterday. It's like they're waking up."Zeke's eyes narrowed. "Kieran's proposal—was that your choice or his?"The question stung. "Mine," I said firmly, though doubt flickered through me. "We need friends, Zeke. You know what we're facing.""The Midnight Queen," he whispered. "Our mother."The word sounded wrong. She might have given birth to us, but she was no mother. She was the monster who'd ordered my death, who'd taught my own brother to hunt me. Who had tried to take me away through my dreams."We leave for the Black Peaks tomorrow," I said, changing the topic. "Kieran thinks we can ambush her forces before they expect us."Zeke's face darkened. "Kieran thinks a lot of things. Like how bonding with you will break his curse."I stood quickly. "I need some air."Outside, the morning was crisp, mountain air filling my lungs. I walked
Darius's POVThe moon hung low in the sky as I slipped through the forest, careful to take the route I'd swept for Syndicate tracking devices earlier. The coded message had arrived via a dead drop—urgent meeting at the old hunting camp.My stomach churned with each step. Double spy. Traitor. Spy. The labels stuck to me like burrs, but none caught the whole truth.The cabin emerged between the trees, a shadow against shadows. No lights burned inside, but I knew she was waiting."You're late," Mara said as I entered. My Syndicate contact sat in the only chair, her silver hair gleaming in the darkness. "The Queen is displeased.""The Queen can wait," I answered, crossing my arms. "Kieran's doubled the guards. Getting away wasn't easy."Mara's ice-blue eyes narrowed. "Did you bring it?"I pulled a folded plan from my jacket—marked with false patrol routes and security blind spots that would lead any invading force straight into an ambush."Kieran's planning to move the pack south," I lied
Kieran's POV"We have a traitor in our midst."I watched my pack's faces shift from shock to anger as I slammed the crumpled note onto the table. The early morning meeting had been called without warning, putting everyone on edge."Tomas?" Elena gasped, looking at the empty chair where our gamma wolf should have been. "But he's been with us for years."I nodded grimly. "And feeding information to the Syndicate the entire time."Darius stood silently beside me, his face unreadable. He'd brought me the note last night after finding it in my office. Yet something in Ronan's watchful gaze told me there was more to this story."Where is Tomas now?" Jax asked, his hand already reaching for his weapon."Gone," I answered. "Slipped away during the night guard change. Which means we need to assume everything—our defenses, our routes, our plans—is exposed."The room erupted in angry voices until I slammed my hand down, silencing them all."We adapt," I growled. "We survive. We fight."Through t
Sienna's POVFire raced through my blood as Kieran carried me inside. Each breath burned my lungs, my skin hot to the touch. The Ruby Wolf inside me clawed to break free while the ominous clouds gathered strangely fast outside."Put me down," I gasped, fighting against Kieran's grip. "I need to—""You need to rest," he growled, kicking open the door to his rooms and laying me on his bed. The smell of pine and earth surrounded me – his scent.Elena rushed in with herbs and water, her face pale with fear. "The Blood Moon shouldn't be rising yet. It's too soon."Pain shot through my chest, making me cry out. Through the window, I could see the sky dimming, taking on an eerie reddish glow."It's not just coming early," I whispered, wiping blood from my nose. "It's coming for me."Kieran dismissed Elena with a sharp nod, then knelt beside me. The black veins across his skin pulsed as if answering to my power."The Midnight Queen did this," he said, his voice tight with anger. "She's forcin
Ronan's POVI moved through the shadows, following Darius as he slipped away from the pack's defensive line. The Blood Moon cast everything in a red glow, making the forest seem like it was drenched in blood. Fitting, given what was about to happen."Going somewhere?" I stepped out from behind a huge oak, blocking his path.Darius froze, his hand dropping to the knife at his belt. "Ronan. Shouldn't you be at the north border with the others?""Funny thing about being a phantom wolf," I said, circling him slowly. "People forget I'm there. Like when you met with that Syndicate messenger yesterday."His eyes widened just enough to confirm my suspicions. I'd spent years as an assassinI knew what deception looked like."You don't understand what's happening," Darius said, his voice calm despite the fear I could smell on him."Then explain it to me," I growled, letting my claws expand. "Explain why the Beta wolf is sneaking away while his Alpha prepares for battle."In the distance, I heard
Ronan's POVI watched in fear as Zeke raised his hands. The broken mask lifted from the ground, its pieces melting and rebuilding around his face like liquid silver."Sister," he called to Sienna, his voice different nowlayered with power that wasn't his own. "Join me. It's what we were born for."Kieran pushed Sienna behind him protectively, but I could see her faceconfused, hopeful, afraidall at once. The bond between twins was strong, almost as powerful as a mate-bond.I stepped forward, ready to help, when another memory slammed into me so powerfully I staggered:Sienna and I hiding in a cave, her hands cupping my face. "If they separate us," she whispered, "find me by the crescent lake when the Blood Moon rises. Our bond can never truly breakI'll hide part of my soul in yours."The circular lake. It was less than a mile north of here.I watched as Kieran and Sienna backed away from Zeke, whose body now glowed with the same red light as hers. The twins were already starting to res
Caius POV"I come as an ally, not an enemy," I said, raising my hands. "I have information that could save your Alpha and his Ruby Wolf."Elena's eyes narrowed. "Last I checked, vampires don't offer help without a steep price.""Let's just say I have a vested interest in preventing the Syndicate from succeeding," I replied smoothly. "The balance of power affects us all."A deafening howl cut through our standoff as Kieran partly shifted, placing himself between the twins. Sienna looked torn, her power flaring wildly as Zeke stretched a hand toward her."We don't have time for this," I hissed. "Look at their power signature. Ruby meeting ruby. Do you know what happens when twin Ruby Wolves reunite under a Blood Moon?"Elena paused. "Tell me.""The Celestial Gate opens," I said grimly. "And what comes through won't be kind to wolves or vampires."After a tense moment, she dropped her weapon. "Follow me."We circled around the clearing, coming from behind Kieran and Sienna. The air crack
The Midnight Queen's POVI seethed with rage as Zeke stormed into my underground room, ripping the silver mask from his face. The twin link I'd spent decades crafting had been severed by that arrogant vampire prince."She chose them over me," he growled, hurling the mask against the wall. "My own sister!""Your sister doesn't know what she wants," I said, circling the old stone altar at the center of the room. Blue flames danced in each corner, sending eerie shadows across the cave walls. "She's being manipulated, just as I once was."My fingers traced the carved symbols on the altarsymbols I'd learned over eight hundred years ago when I too had been a naive Ruby Wolf."Sit," I ordered, pointing to the obsidian throne beside me.Zeke obeyed, still shaking with fury. He had his sister's eyesthose same forest green eyes that burned ruby when power rushed through them. Eyes I'd once owned before darkness changed me."Did you know I was once like Sienna?" I asked softly, pouring dark drin
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