Alle Kapitel von The Midnight Alpha: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 10

"What the hell is silver-infused?" Samuel spat, shoving the empty glass back toward the bartender. "I said the strongest you have. Not this watered-down piss."The bartender, a burly guy with a scar running through his eyebrow, didn't blink. He just poured another amber double. "Take it easy, kid. That stuff'll stop a heart if you aren't careful.""Good. That's the point." Samuel downed the liquid. It burned. A searing, jagged heat scraped down his throat, hitting his stomach like a lead weight.His phone vibrated in his pocket. Thrum. Thrum. Probably another text from Marcus. Or worse, from his 'loving' fiancé, Elena. The image of them—Elena’s legs wrapped around his step-brother’s waist in their own bed—flashed behind his eyes. He squeezed his lids shut, but the visual was scorched into his retinas."Fucking traitors," he hissed.The bar was a dive. The Lunar Eclipse smelled of stale sweat, spilled tequila, and the heavy, metallic tang of wolf musk. It was a place for the desperate.

"Where the hell is my tablet? I had a firewall half-cracked!"Liam’s voice cut through the stagnant air of the back seat like a serrated blade. He wasn't scared. He should have been terrified, but the kid just kicked the leather of the Maybach’s passenger seat, his silver eyes flashing with a defiance that made Samuel’s blood turn to ice."Shut it, Liam," Samuel hissed. He gripped the door handle, knuckles white, skin crawling.The Alpha King didn't look back from the front. Adrian Stain sat like a mountain of stone, his presence alone sucking the oxygen out of the car. The scent of cedar and rain—the same scent that had haunted Samuel’s nightmares for five years—filled every lungful of air. It was thicker now. Heavier. It triggered a primal thrumming in Samuel’s bones that he couldn't switch off.They were hauled through the lobby of Stain Global. Glass, steel, and a thousand eyes. Samuel kept his chin tucked into his ruined collar, hiding the pulse that hammered against the mark on

"Eat. You're shaking like a leaf."Adrian held a piece of honeyed fruit to Samuel’s lips. The silver fork clicked against Samuel's teeth. The master suite smelled of sex, ozone, and the sharp copper of the bite mark still weeping on the side of Samuel’s neck. Every muscle in Samuel’s legs spasmed, a brutal reminder of the hours spent pinned beneath Adrian’s crushing weight."I can feed myself, Adrian. I’m not a pet."Samuel tried to push the Alpha’s hand away. His fingers felt like lead. Adrian didn't move. He sat on the edge of the silk-draped bed, his broad chest bare, showing the jagged red furrows Samuel’s nails had carved into his skin."You’re my Consort," Adrian rumbled. His thumb traced the edge of the new mark on Samuel's throat. The skin there burned, a raw, stinging heat that pulsed in time with Adrian’s heartbeat. "Last night proved you belong here. But the pack? They don’t see the Sun-Omega. They see a human playing dress-up."Adrian pulled a robe of heavy, midnight-blue

"Move your feet, Samuel. You’re standing like a statue in a storm."Nathan Clarke shifted his weight, the gym’s rubber mats squeaking under his boots. He didn't wait for a reply. He lunged. A heavy, gloved fist whistled past Samuel’s ear, the wind of it stinging his skin.Samuel exhaled, a sharp, ragged sound. He scrambled back, his heels catching on the edge of the sparring ring. "I’m an architect, Nathan. Not a gladiator. My job involves blueprints, not getting my ribs turned into dust.""In this house, your job is surviving." Nathan’s face was a mask of cold granite. He didn't sweat. He didn't breathe hard. He just circled, his eyes tracking the pulse jumping in Samuel’s neck. "The pack elders are already sniffing for blood. If you can't defend the King’s mark, they’ll rip it out of your throat."Samuel wiped sweat from his eyes, the salt stinging. The gym smelled of old leather, bleach, and the oppressive, metallic tang of Alpha pheromones. High above, the observation deck remaine

"What the hell is wrong with the perimeter guards? They’re dropping like flies, Adrian! Look at them!"Samuel shoved the heavy oak doors of the war room open. Outside in the hallway, two elite warriors slumped against the stone wainscoting. They weren't bleeding. No claw marks. Just grey skin and a black, viscous bile leaking from their mouths."Get back, Samuel! Don't touch the water!" Adrian barked. He stood over a topographical map of the estate, his knuckles white where they gripped the table. He turned, his silver eyes bloodshot, nostrils flaring as he caught the scent of rot. "Nathan! Report!"Nathan stumbled into the light, his face a mask of cold sweat. "It’s the reservoirs, Sire. The Shadow Pack... they didn't use silver. It’s a viral strain. Synthetic. It targets the shifting gene. The moment the cells try to heal, the virus liquefies the organs.""The whole pack?" Samuel’s voice cracked. He moved toward Adrian, but the Alpha stepped back, an arm raised to keep him away."St