Silence. The incessant wailing of the alarm had mercifully stopped. Derik had disabled the system at last.“They will still come,” Anderson sounded positive. “They have too much invested in this project not to investigate.”“We’ll be long gone by then, Anderson.” I shoved him towards the control panel to unlock the containment area. Behind us, the team waited to take the pups to safety.“You’ve kept them like fucking prisoners!” Cedric slammed his fist against the glass separating us from the cells on the other side. “They’re children, and you treated them like lab rats.” “We had to take precautions.” Anderson tried to justify his reasoning. “And we’ve never hurt them. You don’t understand…”I nudged him. “Save it! Just get them out.” The longer he talked, the more I wanted to crush him.The tense excitement of the wolves was a physical presence as we waited while Anderson punched in a code on the control panel, and the glass doors hissed open.The wolves rushed in to take the child
MagnusThe thumping, whirring sound of the approaching helicopter grew louder. I peered at the black speck against the gray, cloudy sky for a second before I joined Alpha Cedric in the car. We sped, tires squealing towards the main gate of the facility.The delivery van was inside, blood-spattered doors flung open wide. Screams and snarls rose over the blaring alarms. No time to waste. I scaled the high wall in my Lycan form. The team followed. “To the main building!” I shouted commands.Armed guards peeled out of the entrance, weapons raised. The wolves attacked with vicious intent. There would be no mercy. We ripped through them, biting, tearing. Their weapons were useless against a pack of enraged wolves.Inside the main entrance, we split up, killing those who dared to stop us. The corridors rang with death cries. A flash of light. Burning pain exploded in my left shoulder. Snarling, I turned to find my attacker. His eyes grew saucer-like when I faced him. Discarding the weapon
HeinTwo armed guards escorted Erik and me into Anderson’s office on the top floor. He was a man in his late fifties, as far as I could tell. Of average height and slightly balding. He came to greet us, looking friendly, but I noticed the wary look in his eyes.“You must be Erik? You are the spitting image of your father. Where is he? Is everything alright?” he looked at me. “Professor John Anderson,” he held out a hand for me to shake.“Hein,” I said. “Erik’s brother-in-law.” Erik and I had agreed on this explanation previously.“My father, unfortunately, has taken ill,” Erik said. He was a smooth liar. His heart rate didn’t give him away. He spoke with confidence, which impressed me. “He told me about your research, and I am impressed. Are you making any progress at all, Prof. Anderson?”“Yes, well…” he couldn’t stop staring at me. “You are an enormous fellow. My goodness.”“Good genes, I guess,” I said, trying to give him a disarming smile.Erik cleared his throat to get the older
ErinaThe insistent, sharp knocking against my door jolted me awake, tearing me from a lingering nightmare. My heart hammered against my ribs, the dream's terror still fresh in my mind.“Hurry, little mouse,” Gisela's commanding voice called through the door. “Get ready. I’ll wait outside. The truck is waiting.”An icy wave of dread washed over me. This felt like a chilling echo of the past. But this time, the ending would be different. No hunters would ambush us, spilling the blood of my friends. I dressed in frantic haste. Snatching one of Magnus’ coats and I pulled it over my dress. The coat swamped me, but it cocooned me with his familiar scent and comforting warmth. I tugged on the fur boots he'd gifted me, the soft fur a gentle caress against my ankles, then my fingers nervously traced the sapphire stones of the choker around my neck. I couldn't bear to part with it.Drawn to his essence, I found his wolf pelt in the depths of his closet. It was something to give my child, a re
MagnusI left while she was sleeping. It was before dawn when the castle and mountains lay covered in a white blanket of mist. I passed by the remains of Ignatius Saul hanging from the wooden structure in the courtyard. The sweet sickening smell of death had brought a treachery of ravens to the feast.My presence disturbed them as I passed, squawking and cawing to warn me off. Some flew up from their feast only to return speedily to peck and tear at the hunter’s flesh. A raven, in its haste to escape with his prize, an eyeball pulled from the corpse’s face, flew over my head and dropped it as another bird swooped in, greedy for the prize.My men waited for me outside the castle gates; the six alphas with their strongest warriors and thirty of my soldiers. We were a formidable group. I stood in front of them, looking at their eager faces. Hein and Erik were with me.“We’re ready, Excellence.” Alpha Cedric spoke. “The helicopter should arrive soon. I’ve arranged with the Alpha of Silve
ErinaWhen the guards brought him into the square, I almost didn’t recognize that poor wretched man as my father, the man who raised me – the man who sacrificed me for his cause. His eyes found mine as they dragged him to the structure, the same structure Hanna had been bound and whipped, but there was nothing in those blank stare. No recognition, no love.“You are no longer my daughter.” Those words are forever imprinted in my mind.Magnus’ words, my father’s agonizing screams and the roar of the crowd; all of it merged into one sound. A meaningless cacophony of noise. But when Magnus ripped open his chest and held my father’s pulsating heart above his head to crush it, I couldn’t bear it. Everything faded to gray.When I came to my senses, I was in Erik’s arms. Daphne sneered at me, with an ugly scowl.“You always need to be the center of attention, don’t you, Erina!” she scoffed.Hein pulled her back. “Quiet!” he growled. “Don’t be so callous!”She hit his arm. “Of course you will