All Chapters of THE LAST SHIFT: A Werewolf without a Wolf : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Air was still heavy. That golden light still appeared to be on my skin even when we arrived back to the Archive. Each breathing was difficult. Each moment I fancied that Echo would be behind us with those staring, glowing eyes.but she did not come.Kieran locked the steel door, and thrust in a heavy metal bar. That would not prevent her. We all were aware of that. However, it was better to do something than standing.I leant against the wall. I was shaking with my legs. My heart was still not beating slowly after the explosion.Whats next? I was shaky in my voice.Tyra was walking up and down. She was tapping with her fingers on her arm in a very nervous way. The activation will be experienced by the Council. The monitors on the sky constantly look at the heart of the mountain. The arrival of echo online is equivalent to striking a flare in the night."Kieran rubbed his hair. Kaia has a purpose, they will think she has failed her purpose.I never failed at something. I rose to my ful

Light gold burst in front of my eyes.I went back on a flight. The impact of the explosion struck me on the chest like a hammer. I fell on the ground painfully. I rolled downhill, dirt in my mouth, rocks scraping my skin.I moaned and shoved myself erect. Smoke twisted and turned around me, metallic and heavy. I heard the ringing in my ears. It was all in confusion."Tyra?" I shouted. "Kieran!"No answer.Then I heard a cough behind me. With a pounding heart, I turned. Kieran came out of the smoke, bleeding on his eyebrow. His shirt was burnt, his breathing was ragged, and still he was alive.I ran up to him and took hold of his arm. How are you doing?Barely, he nodded. “Where is Tyra?To this we were answered by a groan. Tyra lay directly next to the vault opening and was covering a tiny control panel with her body. Weakly she raised her head. The door is still open... not long though.I faced around and stopped.Echo was standing still.She had not stirred at the head of the slope

The Vault shuddered beneath my feet."That's not good," Kieran muttered, steadying me as another tremor rolled through the floor.Tyra's fingers flew over the console. "The outer shield's compromised. She's not just breaking through, she's learning the system.""Learning how?" I pressed my hand against the wall, feeling the vibrations travel up my arm."Every time she tests a weakness, she adapts. Gets smarter." Tyra's voice was tight with panic. "The shield should hold for hours. It's been thirty minutes."A cold weight settled in my chest. "She's using me. My connection to this place.""What connection?" Kieran turned to face me."I can feel her out there. Like she's..." I struggled for the words. "Like she's tuned to the same frequency as my wolf."Tyra spun around. "That's impossible. She's a copy, not a…."“She is no longer a copycat. The truth slapped me like cold water. "She's evolving. She uses what she learned of me in her studies”Another impact shook the Vault, harder this

Echo was gone.Where she'd stood, something else moved in the shadows. My chest tightened as I watched it take shape—tall, wrong, with silver eyes that cut through the darkness like knives."What the hell is that?" I couldn't keep the fear out of my voice.Kieran pushed me behind him. "That's not Echo.""But it came from her," Tyra whispered. Her hands shook as she pulled out some kind of scanner. "It literally split off from her code."The thing stepped forward, and I watched the grass under its feet wither and die. The smell hit me—burnt metal and rotting flowers."It's some kind of parasite," Tyra said, her voice cracking. "Something which lay lurking within her programming."I shook my head. "No. Not hiding. Waiting."Those silver eyes locked onto mine, and my wolf whimpered deep inside me. She knew. Somehow, she knew what this was before I did."Subject Seven has awakened." Its voice made my skin crawl…hollow, empty, like wind through a graveyard. "Reset protocol denied. Secondar

There was some sort of fear in the eyes of Malek which I knew; the exhausted, hard-travelled kind that shows in the eyes of those who have run too far and never felt safe.His voice was so low that I could scarcely hear him; but he said, "I was Subject Twelve. They changed my real name, but I forcefully put it back on myself. I can't give it up.”He was shaking frantically. “You are subject seven, aren't you? The earliest one?I nodded. “My name is Kaia.”He relaxed his body, but looked as if he was going to cry. “Well, it isn't a rumour then, you escaped in reality."“What rumour,” I asked.He moved nearer, and looked uneasily at Kieran and Tyra. “In the Citadel there were rumors, rumours of a person getting away. Somebody has managed to break their Lock altogether."His tone still went even lower. “They were not supposed to speak about you but they did. They address you as Glitch."Kieran clenched his teeth. “They put you to frighten the others?"“No,” said Malek, and shook his head