LOGINKane’s POV
The forest wrapped around me, hiding me from view, but it couldn’t quiet the battle raging inside my chest. Just twenty yards from the cabin, my legs buckled, and I crashed down to my knees in the wet earth that smelled of decay and the approaching winter. Every fiber of my being was screaming as the wolf inside me fought to break free, demanding to be with her.
“Mate”—it was a word that felt like a sentence I couldn’t escape.
“Shut up,” I growled at the voice that didn’t feel like my own, pressing my palm against my forehead hard enough to hurt. “She’s not— we can’t—”
Suddenly, vivid memories flooded my mind: Calla pressed against the wall of the cabin, her breathing uneven, her lips slightly parted as if inviting me closer. Her scent—shampoo, sweat, and a hint of something metallic—threatened to pull the wolf right out of me. Just one more mo
Calla’s POV The Tribunal chamber stole my breath with its incredible size and ancient grandeur. We stood at the edge of a vast cavern that soared at least a hundred feet high, carved from solid rock and illuminated by eternal flames flickering in sconces placed neatly around the room. The ceiling was lost in darkness, but I could make out the faint shimmer of what looked like carved constellations in the firelight. At the far end of the chamber, seven thrones commanded attention, arranged in a semicircle on a raised platform that required climbing twenty stone steps to reach. The thrones appeared to be carved from single pieces of obsidian, polished to a reflective shine and inscribed with glowing golden symbols. And there, seated in those thrones, were the Seven Elders. They were not what I had expected. Rather than decrepit old werewolves, they appeared ageless—faces that could be thirty or three hundred years old, with eyes that
Calla’s POVThe journey to the Tribunal's location began as the sun set. We left our cabin in three vehicles—Kane, Luna, and I were in the lead car, followed by Jake and a few pack members in two SUVs behind us for support and as witnesses.“The entrance is in the downtown area,” Kane explained as we drove through more crowded streets. “It’s hidden beneath an old subway station that hasn’t been used for years.”“Of course it is,” I said with a hint of sarcasm. “Why would supernatural judges meet somewhere easy to find when they can choose creepy spots underground?”Luna chuckled from the front seat. “The place was there long before the subway was built. They actually built the station around the Tribunal chamber, not the other way around.”That made sense in a twisted way. Ancient supernatural courts wouldn’t change to fit human development—humans would end up building around them without realizing it.We parked in a space next to what looked like run-down buildings, in an area where
Calla’s POV The bonfire had faded to glowing embers, and one by one, the group began to head to their rooms, exchanging soft goodnights and knowing glances. Luna was the last to leave, stopping at the door to give me a look that seemed to say, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do”—which, coming from her, left a lot to guess at. Kane and I found ourselves alone in the clearing, the night air cool against my skin and the stars shining brightly above, much more vividly than they did in the city. “We should probably get some sleep,” I said, even though neither of us moved toward the cabin. “We have a big day coming up, well, in two days. The day before the day I might die.” “You’re not going to die,” Kane insisted, but there was a hint of desperation in his voice, as if he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince me. “You can’t really know that,” I replied. “I know you,” he said, stepping closer. Suddenly, the air between us felt charged with an ene
Calla’s POV Luna decided we needed a break before we all went mad from stress and legal worries. "Just one night," she insisted. "One night to remember we’re pack, not just soldiers preparing for war.” So, there I was, standing next to a bonfire behind our cabin, surrounded by members of the Iron Fang club, who were starting to feel more like family than the intimidating strangers I had first met. Jake was sharing funny stories about our pack's mishaps. There was the time Torch had accidentally transformed into a werewolf during a bar fight and ended up wrecking three pool tables, or when Rico got stuck halfway through changing and spent hours looking like a bizarre mix of a werewolf and a human. “And then,” Jake continued, trying to hold back his laughter, “Diesel showed up with a camera, claiming it was for his ‘cryptid documentation project’—” Suddenly, the laughter faded as we collectively remembered Diesel, who wasn't with us that night. He had died saving me from a dan
Calla’s POVWe transformed the dining table into a war room within the hour, covering every available surface with documents, legal precedents, hand-drawn diagrams, and notes that Jake had somehow procured from sources I probably didn’t want to know about.“Court proceedings here have a specific format,” Jake explained, unfolding a document that looked ancient and was so filled with fancy writing that it strained my eyes. “First, the Chief Elder reads the charges against someone, then the accused can either accept or deny them. After that, witnesses testify in an order based on their status, evidence is shown and verified, and then a group of Seven Elders discusses everything in private before making their decision.”“That sounds a lot like a regular trial,” I replied, flipping through the old text and trying to grasp the complicated legal terms that felt decades old. “Opening statements, witness testimonies, presentation of evidence, discussions, and a final decision.”“But in their c
Calla’s POVThe package arrived just as the sun was rising, brought by a courier who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. There was no return address, no delivery confirmation—just a small wooden box wrapped in black silk that seemed to scream “bad news.”I was still groggy, wearing one of Kane’s oversized shirts and enjoying my first cup of coffee when the knock on the door shattered the morning silence. Kane opened the door, and his entire stance shifted to alert as soon as he glimpsed what the courier was carrying.“For Calla Reyes,” the courier said, nearly pushing the box into Kane’s hands before hurrying back to his vehicle, as if he understood exactly what he was delivering.We all gathered in the living room—me, Kane, Luna, and Jake—staring at the box as if it were a ticking time bomb.“Well,” Luna finally broke the silence. “Are we going to open this mysterious package or just keep staring at it?”“It could be a bomb,” Jake chimed in helpfully. “Marcus seems like the ty







