LOGIN"I learned a few things about your 'Ghost Network,'" Jax said, his voice shaking with pure, unadulterated rage.Jax slammed the scrambler against the floor, and the bridge went dark. The gravity plating died, and the emergency lights turned a deep, blood-red.In that split second of chaos, I shifted.The White Wolf didn't hold back. I didn't care about the dampeners or the safety of the ship. I roared, a sound that shook the very foundation of the ship, and hit Vinnie with the force of a freight train.His metal arm tore off his shoulder in a spray of hydraulic fluid and sparks. He shrieked, stumbling back into the wall.Gideon scrambled, his hand reaching for his pulse-carbine, but I was faster. I was on him, my claws hovering inches from his throat. I wasn't looking at a human anymore. I was looking at the man who had brought death to my pack."You had a choice," I growled, my voice vibrating with the Alpha’s resonance."You had a home. You had us.""I... I have a debt," Gideon gasp
The success of the Spiderweb Plan had made us cocky. We had supplies, we had a growing network of displaced wolves, and for the first time in years, we weren't running. We were building.But Gideon was a man who calculated risks, and I had foolishly assumed he was calculating the same risks as me.It started with a routine drop. We were hovering over a series of abandoned chemical silos in the outskirts of the Ruhr, a perfect "Ghost Network" transfer point. Gideon had insisted on piloting this one himself, citing the need to "keep the Syndicate’s hands clean" of our pack operations.Cane was uneasy. I could feel the tension in his shoulders every time he looked at the bridge, but I told myself it was just old habits. We had shared drinks, shared plans, and Gideon had even stood beside us when the Apex descended. I thought we were a team.I was in the cargo hold, checking the latest shipment of dampen-rounds, when the ship’s internal comms crackled to life."Eloise, Cane," Gideon’s voi
"You’re sure about this?" Gideon asked, stepping onto the platform."These aren't exactly 'people you can reason with,' Eloise. These are strays. They’ve been living on rat meat for months. You try to pet a stray, you usually lose a finger.""I'm not trying to pet them," I said, my voice echoing off the vaulted ceiling."I'm offering them a path."I walked forward. I could smell them. They were huddled in the maintenance tunnels.Behind me, Gideon and Vinnie followed. Gideon was playing with a small, glowing beacon, his fingers dancing over the controls."Stay back," I signaled to them.I walked into the center of the platform and stopped. I didn't reach for my blade. I didn't shift. I simply stood in the light of the emergency flares we’d set up. I communicated;You are not alone.Slowly, they emerged. I motioned for Vinnie."The rations," I said.Vinnie stepped up, looking genuinely nervous as he cracked open a crate. The smell of real food hit the tunnel. The effect was immediate.
It was still the same night, the night we had been nearly carved apart by the Apex, the night the Syndicate had forced our hand, and the night Cane and I had finally stopped fighting for control and started fighting for each other.We stepped into the galley, the atmosphere shifting the moment we entered. Gideon’s men didn't just look at us with wariness anymore; they looked at us with a grudging, wary respect.Vinnie was hunched over the table, his prosthetic arm clicking as he tightened a screw with a tiny, specialized screwdriver. He didn't look up, his metal fingers whirring with surgical precision."Boss-lady," Vinnie chirped, his tone far too upbeat for someone who had nearly been skewered by a mantis-man an hour ago."I’ve recalibrated the espresso setting. It no longer tastes like burning tires. It now tastes like slightly scorched tires. It’s an improvement. Call it a win for morale."Gideon was sprawled in a crate, his boots up, swirling a glass of amber liquid that definite
The air in the cabin was thick with the sharp tang of Vane’s accusations. My heart was a frantic bird against my ribs, and the distance between Cane and me felt like a physical weight, cold and suffocating."I trust you," he repeated, his voice low, dropping the facade of command.He didn't just step into my space; he invaded it, his presence radiating a heat that made the hair on my arms stand up."And I’ll prove it. You think I don't see you as an Alpha? You think I’m just waiting for you to shatter? Look at me, Eloise."He didn't wait for my permission. He stepped forward until his chest was pressed against mine, his golden eyes burning with an intensity that stripped away my defenses."You want me to prove I trust your command?" he whispered, his breath hot against my throat."Then take it. You want to lead, to control, to dictate the terms of our survival? Start here."He stepped back, his hands retreating to his sides, leaving his chest bared and his posture deliberately unguard
In the galley, the Rust Runners were already back to their usual organized chaos, but my mind was in the brig. I needed to bring Torin and Vane into the fold, and I knew that it was going to be a difficult conversation.I walked to the containment sector, Gideon’s men watching me with a mix of wariness and amusement. I punched the release code, the heavy bolts retracting with a groan.Torin and Vane were on their feet instantly. Vane’s eyes locked onto me, but they didn't linger. They drifted past me to the corridor where Gideon and his crew were currently arguing over how to patch a plasma-welder with duct tape.Vane’s nostrils flared, his lip curling in a snarl."Why is this human filth still on our ship, Eloise? They are scavengers and thieves. Throw them overboard and be done with it!"He made to push past me, his shoulders tensed to collide with Gideon, but I stepped in his path, slamming my palm against his chest.I didn't budge."Stop," I said, my voice quiet but laced with the
Behind us lay the construction site, but ahead, the Southern District’s main drainage stretched out like the throat of a beast, wet and echoing.Cane didn't move immediately. He stood by the Wraith, his hand resting on the handlebars, his amber eyes cutting through the gloom. The scars on his chest
For forty-eight hours, the bunker had been a battlefield for Cane. I had watched Cane’s body seize, his muscles rippling in spasms as his natural healing factor fought the serum my father had engineered.By the second night, the sweating struggle subsided. The swelling in Cane’s chest receded, and
The sun hadn't even thought about rising when the roar of an engine shattered the silence of the shipyard. I was already awake, sitting by Cane’s side, watching the slow, rhythmic pulse of the blue toxin beneath his skin. It was fading, but the cost was visible; he looked thinner, his power dormant
I sat on the edge of my bed, the clock on the nightstand ticking toward eight o’clock. Just a few more hours before the grid would go dark in the Rust Belt."You’re a freak, Eloise! You hear me? A delusional, violent freak!"The voice came through the thick door, muffled but sharp with hate. Isabel







