Chapter 1

Rain hammered against the ruined train cars hard enough to make the metal groan.


Nova Reyes tightened her grip on the rusted crowbar in her hand as she climbed through the narrow opening between two collapsed seats.

Water dripped from the ceiling onto the back of her neck.
The flashlight strapped to her wrist flickered.


“Seriously?” she muttered, smacking it against the side of the train.The beam steadied again.
Barely.
The overturned subway car smelled like mildew and old blood. Nature had started reclaiming it years ago. Thick vines curled through shattered windows while moss crawled along the walls like rot spreading through flesh.
Nova moved carefully One wrong step and the entire wreck could collapse deeper into the flooded tunnel below.
But the supply crate was here somewhere. At least that’s what the radio trader claimed before charging her half her ammo for the information.


“Medical crate inside Line Seven wreckage,” he’d said. “Untouched.”
Untouched her ass.
Nothing stayed untouched anymore. Nova ducked beneath a hanging support beam and pushed forward her boots splashing through ankle-deep water.


Thunder cracked overhead. Then came the sound.
A low metallic scrape somewhere deeper inside the train. Nova froze instantly, her breathing slowed. Every muscle in her body locked tight at the sound approaching.
She slowly reached for the knife strapped to her thigh.

“Probably rats,” she whispered to herself.

But even she didn’t believe it.
Rats didn’t breathe like that.
A soft growl drifted through the darkness. Nova’s stomach dropped.
No.
No, no, no—
Her flashlight swept shakily across the ruined subway car. Nothing. Then two glowing yellow eyes opened beneath a collapsed section of metal.
Nova stopped breathing. The creature unfolded slowly from the shadows. Its limbs bent wrong, bones jutting sharply beneath gray stretched skin. Wet fur clung in patches across its twitching body while saliva dripped from rows of crooked fangs.
A Hollowfang.
And judging by the fresh blood smeared across its mouth…It had eaten recently. The creature let out a clicking growl then. Another pair of eyes opened behind it
Nova took a slow step backward. The Hollowfangs crawled forward together nails screeching across steel. Four of them. Maybe five. Her pulse slammed violently against her ribs.


“Shit,” she breathed.
One lunged Nova reacted instantly swinging the crowbar straight into its skull.
CRACK.
The creature slammed sideways into a row of seats with a shriek. The others exploded toward her. Nova ran
Metal screamed beneath her boots as she sprinted through the overturned train car. Her flashlight bounced wildly across the darkness while snarls thundered behind her.
One of them slammed into her back. Nova crashed hard against the floor pain ripping through her shoulder. Teeth snapped inches from her face.
She jammed the crowbar sideways into the creature’s mouth with a grunt as rancid saliva dripped onto her hands. The Hollowfang shrieked violently.
Another grabbed her leg. Claws tore through her jeans. Nova screamed and kicked blindly panic detonating inside her chest.
This was it.
After five years surviving this hellhole…This was how she died.
Then the tunnel shook with a growl so deep the entire train vibrated. Everything stopped. The Hollowfangs froze instantly.
Silence crashed through the subway car. Even the rain outside seemed quieter. Another growl rolled through the darkness. Closer this time.
Predatory in a way that made the infected creatures suddenly whimper. Nova slowly looked up.
Heavy footsteps echoed somewhere beyond the overturned doors. Like whatever was coming already knew it was the most dangerous thing in the tunnel.
The Hollowfang pinning Nova released her immediately. And began backing away. That terrified her more than anything. Because Hollowfangs feared nothing.
A massive shadow appeared at the end of the train car. Tall enough that its head nearly brushed the ceiling Black fur and Silver eyes glowing in the dark appeared from the shadows.
The wolf stepped forward slowly rainwater dripping from its coat it wasn’t a feral or a mindless monster no it was an alpha.