ログインCALEB’S POVI paced the length of the alpha’s private study with boots ringing against polished oak. The room still smelled of my father, aged leather pipe tobacco and the faint sour edge of wolfsbane he thought no one noticed. Marcus sat behind the massive desk now looking smaller in the high-backed chair that used to swallow him whole. His eyes followed me back and forth but he stayed silent. Good. Silence was better than the old lectures about duty and pack loyalty.The map lay open between us. Red pins marked reported sightings, false trails dead ends, blue pins showed our patrol lines shrinking every hour. No solid location, no scent trail. Nothing. Isabella, Adrian, and Sebastian had vanished like smoke the moment they crossed into Blood Moon territory.I stopped at the window braced my palms on the sill and stared down at the training yard. Warriors drilled in tight formation breaths fogging in the pre-dawn chill. They moved sharp precise. My father’s orders. My orders now. The
ISABELLA’S POV I fell back asleep on top of the covers with the lamp still burning low on the nightstand. The bunker room felt smaller at night, walls pressing in the ceiling too close. Sebastian had kissed my forehead earlier before running to go see whatever Adrian called him to see. Although I tried to argue with him, I tried to get him to stay because we hadn’t talked properly about this war and the fear in our hearts, but duty won. My eyelids dropped heavy and the dark pulled me under fast. The dream didn’t creep in gently. It slammed into me full color, full sound, full smell.I stood on cracked white marble under a sky the color of old bruises. The wind carried ash and salt and ahead of me was a woman waiting. She was tall, she had white hair spilling past her waist. She had the same face I saw in mirrors now, only older and softer around the eyes. She wore a long silver gown that moved like liquid moonlight even though no breeze touched it.“Mom?” My voice cracked small.She
SEBASTIAN’S POV I stood at the narrow slit window that served as the only eye to the outside world in this buried bunker. The glass was triple-thick bulletproof and tinted so no light leaked out even when the interior lamps burned. Outside the moon hung fat and low brushing the tops of the pines with silver. There were no movements, no shadows shifting between trunks, and no scent of wolf on the wind that slipped through the ventilation slits. But I felt them anyway, they were out there, curling and testing. I rubbed the back of my neck hard enough the skin stung. Maximus paced inside my skull with a low continuous growl that vibrated down my spine. He hated the confinement, hated the waiting, he hated that Isabella was twenty feet away sleeping in the small bedroom while we sat here like bait.Adrian sat at the narrow metal table maps and satellite printouts spread in front of him. He hadn’t spoken in almost forty minutes, he just stared at the grid lines like they would suddenly
ISABELLA’S POV I sat on the wide window seat with my knees drawn up and the heavy quilt wrapped around my shoulders while pale morning light filtered through the tall glass. The mansion felt too big too quiet after days locked inside the shaman’s small cabin. Outside the grounds stretched manicured lawns bordered by dense evergreens but I hadn’t stepped foot past the front doors yet. Sebastian and Adrian hadn’t allowed it. Not once.They stood near the fireplace now heads bent close voices pitched so low I caught only fragments. Sebastian’s shoulders stayed rigid, one hand braced on the mantel. Adrian gestured sharp once then dropped his arm like the motion cost him. Neither had looked my way in over an hour. Their silence pressed heavier than any words could.I let my gaze drift across the room, dark wood paneling thick rugs, crystal chandeliers catching faint sun. Beautiful. Expensive. Safe. That was what Sebastian called it when we arrived last night. His home. A place no one woul
CALEB’S POV I leaned against the balcony railing with bare forearms resting on cold iron while morning mist rolled across the training fields below. My shirtless skin prickled in the damp air but I welcomed the bite. It kept my head clear. Vanessa had left my bed an hour ago, the sheets was still tangled and smelling of sweat and cheap perfume. The sex had been mechanical efficient like scratching an itch that never quite went away. She tried to stay draped across me afterward murmuring something about round two. I told her to get out and she left without argument. Smart girl.Talon paced inside me restless claws scraping at the edges of my control. He wanted blood, he wanted Isabella, and he wanted answers. I wanted the same things but I knew better than to let emotion drive the blade. Not yet.The pack house sprawled beneath me warriors drilling in neat rows their grunts and thuds carrying on the wind. They moved sharper today faster like they sensed the shift in the air. Word had
SEBASTIAN’S POV The third convulsion had stopped twenty-three minutes ago. I knew the exact count because I kept glancing at the old brass clock on the shaman’s mantel every few seconds while the second hand ticked like a heartbeat I couldn’t trust. Isabella lay still now on the low pallet furs pulled to her chin white hair fanned across the dark wool like spilled moonlight. Her breathing stayed even shallow but even. The bleeding had dried dark rust-colored streaks on her cheeks and neck. Every time I looked at those marks my stomach twisted fresh.I sat on the three-legged stool beside her knees pulled up elbows braced on them hands clasped so tight my knuckles ached white. Adrian occupied the chair across from me back straight but shoulders heavy like the weight of the last hour pressed them down. The shaman had stepped outside to speak with a scout, leaving the cabin quiet except for the low crackle of the fire and the soft rasp of Isabella’s breath.I couldn’t look away from he







