The wind clawed at the tent’s remains, shredding smoke and memory into the endless gray. I knelt in the snow, retching until my throat burned raw. Yrsa’s blood had frozen midair, crimson icicles littering the ground like broken glass. The stew pot lay on its side, carrots scattered—tiny, accusing eyes.Pathetic, Vorath snarled. Not in my mind. In my teeth.Mara emerged from the blizzard, her pelt crusted with ice. She didn’t crouch. Didn’t smirk. Just stared, her scarred face a cliffside eroded by storms. “Crying?”I wiped my mouth with a trembling hand. “Frost.”“Frost doesn’t stink of shame.” She kicked the stew pot, sending it clattering into the dark. “You killed her. Now live with it.”Behind her, the Unbound picked Yrsa’s tent clean. A man with a split lip yanked the raven feather from its string, tucked it behind his ear. A woman with frost-rotted fingers hacked off Yrsa’s braid, stuffing it into a leather pouch. No ceremony. No words. Just the wet snick of blades and the creak
The Scholar’s Gambit (Viktor, Age: 28)The lab stank of antiseptic and thawing rot. I pressed my palm to the observation window, fogging the glass with my breath as I watched Dr. Elena Voss slice into the dead wolf’s chest. Her scalpel peeled back ribs like she was opening a gift. Too slow. Too careful. Humans always hesitated. “Femoral artery’s thicker than normal,” she said, gloved fingers prodding rubbery muscle. Her German accent sharpened every word, like she was lecturing a child. “Reinforced, almost. Like it evolved to withstand—” “Blood loss during shifts,” I cut in. My reflection grinned back at me in the glass—pale, gaunt, eyes too bright. “You’re wasting time. Cut deeper.” She stiffened, goggles flashing as she glanced up. “This isn’t a butcher shop. If you want progress, let me work properly.” I laughed. The sound bounced off the lab’s steel walls, harsh and hollow. “Proper? You think wolves die properly out here?” I descended the metal stairs, boots clanging. The
The Silver Claw (Viktor Age; 35)The trapper’s blood steamed in the cold, pooling around my boots like molten copper. I crouched over his corpse, fingers buried in his ribcage, prying loose the liver. The forest reeked of iron and pine sap. A twig snapped. I froze, knife slick in my grip. A girl stood at the tree line, her breath fogging the air. Sixteen, maybe. Skinny. Eyes sunken, like she hadn’t slept in weeks. Her parka was patched with wolf fur, her boots caked in mud. Blood Moon colors. “I know what you are,” she said, voice trembling. Not from fear—from hunger. I tossed the liver into the snow. It landed with a wet thud. “Then you know what happens to pups who wander too far.” She didn’t flinch. “They say you turn people into monsters.” I wiped the blade on my sleeve. “They say a lot of things.” “I want you to make me one.” I laughed. The sound startled a raven from the trees. “You don’t want what I am.” She stepped closer. The trapper’s blood soaked into her
The ruins swallowed me whole. Ice clawed up the pillars like frostbitten fingers, their jagged edges scraping a starless sky. My breath came in ragged bursts, each exhale a cloud of frost that hung in the air like a ghost. The bone dagger trembled in my grip—surgeon’s hands, steady once, now betraying me. The blade’s edge bit colder than the wind gnawing through my coat, colder than the void where Lira’s laugh used to live.Rot.It hit me first as a stench. My knuckles wept flesh, black veins spidering up my arms like cracks in a shattered window. Vorath writhed inside me, a thousand teeth grinding my bones to dust. I hadn’t eaten in days. Didn’t need to. The parasite feasted well.“You’re dying.”Angela’s voice cut through the silence, sharp as the dagger’s edge. She stood at the rim of the ruins, her silhouette warped by the thing festering inside her—claws too long, spine arched like a wolf mid-leap, eyes glowing sulfur-bright. But her voice… her voice was still hers. Soft. Human.
The blade bit deeper into my wrist. Blood spilling blood onto the ice with a hiss. The ritual circle flared acid-green. My bones snapping, fingers stretching into talons. Angela slammed against the barrier again with enough force to make it rattle from its foundation, her claws leaving smears of her own blood on the shimmering air.“You think this makes you strong?” she shouted, voice raw. “You’re just its tool now!”I tried to answer, but my jaw cracked, tendons snapping as it unhinged. Venom dripped from fangs that hadn’t been there seconds ago. The taste burned my tongue—rot and iron. Vorath’s laughter vibrated in my chest, louder than my own heartbeat.Angela lunged sideways, hunting for a weak spot in the barrier. Her mutated arm lashed out, talons raking the ice near the edge of the circle. The green light flickered.“Clever,” I rasped, the words slurred around too many teeth. My left eye was gone, replaced by a wet, bulging orb that saw in heat and shadows. “But you’re too late
The forest felt less like a living thing and more like a corpse left out in the cold. Snow stuck to the bare bones of birch trees, their skin pulled back like meat from a skeleton. The air was thick, filled with a sickly sweet smell of rot. Not just decay, but something worse, something deliberate. Vorath's evil had sunk into the ground, changing roots into snakes, turning sap into black glass. I tripped over a frozen stream, its top cracked, glowing faintly, like poisoned veins. Silas moved ahead of me, rifle slung across his back, his breath fogging in short, controlled bursts. He hadn’t spoken in hours. Not since we’d found the remains of the pack’s outpost—a cabin reduced to splinters, its walls clawed open from the inside. Blood streaked the snow outside in frantic arcs, as if someone had tried to crawl away. The scent was days old, but Silas had vomited anyway, his human stomach rejecting what his wolf once would have understood. I flexed my corrupted hand, the black veins pul
The road to the city was a graveyard of bones.They littered the frozen mud like broken pottery—shattered ribs, splintered femurs, wolf skulls picked clean by crows. Silas walked ahead, his boots crunching through the debris without slowing. He hadn’t spoken since dawn, his silence as heavy as the rifle slung across his back. I kept my corrupted hand buried in my coat pocket, the skin beneath the fabric raw and hot. The veins had spread past my wrist overnight, black and swollen, throbbing with every heartbeat.The city walls rose in the distance, jagged and uneven. Rusted metal sheets welded to crumbling concrete, patched with splintered wood and coils of barbed wire. Smoke billowed from chimneys, staining the sky charcoal. Even from here, the stench hit me—rotten meat, diesel fumes, and the sharp, metallic tang of fear. Human and wolf, blended into something sour.Silas stopped abruptly, shoulders stiffening. “Keep your hand hidden.”I curled my fingers into a fist, the movement sti
The cold bit harder outside, sharp enough to sting the raw edges of my anger. I shoved my gloved hand deeper into my coat pocket, the corruption beneath the fabric throbbing like a second heartbeat. The streets here weren’t streets—just alleys strung between leaning buildings, their walls pockmarked with bullet holes and graffiti that read like obituaries. Burn the Cursed. Silver Pays. I kept my head down, my boots crunching over ice and things better left identified.The market stank of desperation. Vendors hawked wares under tarps sagging with old snow—rusted tools, cracked batteries, jars of murky liquid that might’ve been fuel or piss. A gaunt man in a bloodstained apron stood behind a folding table, cleaver in hand. His stall reeked of iron and something sweetly rancid. Meat. Thick slabs of it, glistening under a flickering bulb. My stomach twisted, but not from hunger.“Try a cut?” The vendor grinned, a cigarette dangling from his lips. Ash dusted the meat. “Fresh today.”The wo
The council meeting that night was grim. Bella took notes as we described what we'd witnessed, her face growing paler with each detail."Forced conversion," she murmured. "He's found a way to override the rejection response.""At what cost?" I demanded. "That wolf was being torn apart from the inside.""The cost doesn't matter to Logan," Silas said. "Only the result.""We can't let this happen," Mason declared. "The eclipse ritual—if he perfects this process, makes it permanent...""He'll have an army of controllable hybrids," I finished. "Each one as strong as three normal wolves, immune to silver, loyal only to him.""So we stop him," Eliza said, steel in her voice despite her lingering grief. "We hit the quarry before the eclipse. Destroy his lab, free the captives.""It's not that simple," Silas cautioned. "The quarry is a fortress now. We'd lose half the pack trying to breach it.""Then we need another approach," I said. All eyes turned to me. "Logan wants me. My blood. I'm the k
The quarry lay in a natural depression, surrounded by pine forest and abandoned mining equipment. From our vantage point on the ridge, I could see the extent of Logan's modifications—new structures, camouflaged entrances, subtle signs of extensive underground construction."They've been busy," Eliza whispered, her enhanced vision picking out details in the growing darkness.Marcus crouched beside her, scanning the perimeter. He'd barely looked at me during the journey, maintaining a careful distance that spoke of either respect or fear. Possibly both."Guards at all access points," he reported. "But they're focused outward. Not expecting approach from above.""The main entrance leads to a vertical shaft," Silas said, consulting hand-drawn maps from the previous reconnaissance. "Elevators down to the primary chamber.""Too exposed," I noted. "Alternative routes?""Old mining tunnels." He pointed to a cluster of buildings near the quarry's edge. "They connect to the main chamber from mu
My father's body lay on the funeral pyre, wrapped in ceremonial cloth. I watched from the back of the crowd as Zeta Clara performed the traditional rites, her voice carrying across the silent gathering. The morning was bitter cold, my breath forming clouds that dissipated like smoke.I felt nothing.Pack members cast sideways glances at me, expecting grief, tears, some display of daughterly sorrow. Instead, I stood rigid in my formal blacks, face blank, hands clasped behind my back to hide their steadiness."The Beta served with honor," Zeta Clara intoned. "His sacrifice in the battle against Silver Claw will be remembered..."The words washed over me, meaningless. Honor. Sacrifice. These weren't the words that came to mind when I thought of Beta Andres Harrison. Father. Abuser. The man who'd blamed me for my mother's death for twenty-two years.Silas stood at the front with the other pack leaders, head bowed in respect. Through our bond, I felt his concern—a steady pulse of worry dir
We resumed walking, both lost in thought. The implications were staggering—Logan using the Solstice for his hybrid transformation, while we potentially used it to restore our pack's abilities. Two opposing forces, drawing on the same celestial power.We reached pack territory as dawn broke, wolves emerging from their homes to witness our return. A ragged cheer went up at the sight of Silas, relief spreading visibly through the gathered crowd.Zeta Ruth rushed forward to assess his injuries, but he waved her off. "Check the others first," he insisted. "I'm healing."In the commotion of our return, I noticed Liam pushing through the crowd, his expression urgent."Stella," he called. "Come quickly. It's Bella."My stomach dropped. "What's happened?""She went into labor an hour ago. Something's wrong—Zeta Clara says the baby is coming too fast."I glanced at Silas, who nodded. "Go. I'll join you when I can."I followed Liam to the infirmary, fear quickening my steps. If Bella's labor was
"Blood calls to blood," he continued smoothly. "Bond calls to bond. Did you really think I wouldn't anticipate your approach? The tunnels were the obvious choice once we secured the perimeter."There was no point in continuing the charade. I pushed aside the ceiling panel and dropped into the room, landing in a crouch. My father followed a moment later."Right on schedule," Logan said, unfazed. "Allow me to introduce our investors. They've been most eager to meet you."The three visitors turned, and I realized with shock that they weren't human or wolf—their eyes had the same silver sheen as the hybrids, but their faces were fully human, their movements natural."Successful integrations," Logan explained, noting my surprise. "First-generation hybrids, now fully stabilized. They've been funding our research for years.""You're playing with forces you don't understand," I said, eyes fixed on Silas. His face was bruised, one eye swollen shut, but he was fully conscious, watching me inten
Mason and Liam returned with good news—the old sewage tunnels were intact, partially collapsed in places but navigable. Better yet, they showed no signs of surveillance or recent human activity."There's a junction box here," Mason explained, marking a spot on the blueprint. "From there, maintenance tunnels lead to the main building, the east wing, and the old spa complex. We found signs of recent activity in the east wing tunnel.""That's where they're keeping Silas," I said with certainty. Through our bond, I'd felt him being moved earlier, the disorientation and pain as guards dragged him somewhere.The rescue team assembled at nightfall—myself, my father, Mason, and six other wolves chosen for strength and stealth. Liam had wanted to come, but I'd refused. He was too young, too inexperienced, and had already risked enough."The objective is extraction only," my father reminded everyone as we gathered at the territory's edge. "We locate Silas, neutralize immediate threats, and with
"We can't just storm the place," my father said, pointing to the satellite images spread across the council table. "The Blackwater Resort has one road in, three miles of shoreline, and Logan's people watching every approach."Four hours of sleep hadn't been enough. My body ached, my head throbbed, and the bond with Silas pulsed like an infected wound. I could feel him—alive, in pain, conscious now—but couldn't reach him."Then we don't use the obvious approaches," I countered, leaning over the map. "What about underwater? The east side of the peninsula?"Mason shook his head. "Too many cameras. They've set up a surveillance perimeter extending two hundred yards into the lake."The council room held every high-ranking pack member who could be spared from border patrol. Twelve hours since we'd lost Silas, and tension hung thick in the air. An Alpha in enemy hands was more than a tactical problem—it was a psychological wound."What about the old sewage tunnels?" Bella suggested, pointing
We made it to the stairwell without incident, but as we descended toward the ground floor, a voice called out from above."Hey! Where are you taking them?"I turned to see a guard leaning over the railing, suspicious."Safe zone C," I replied, hoping it meant something.His eyes narrowed. "There is no safe zone C."So much for bluffing. "Run!" I shouted, shoving Liam and Eliza ahead of me down the stairs. Silas took up the rear as guards shouted and gave chase.We burst through the ground floor door into chaos—alarms blaring, security personnel rushing about, voices shouting contradictory orders. Perfect cover for our escape, if we could navigate through it."This way," Silas urged, guiding us toward a side exit. We were almost there when a figure stepped into our path.Logan.He looked different from the delivery room—back in his customary suit, composed and coldly amused. Behind him stood two hybrids, their unnatural forms partially concealed by loose clothing."Stella," he greeted
I finished preparing, strapping silver knives to my thighs and slipping a third into my boot. The pendant warmed against my chest, somehow comforting despite my lingering suspicion of my father's motives.We gathered at the eastern edge of pack territory as twilight deepened into night. Silas, Liam, Eliza, and me—a small team, unencumbered by weapons except for the silver blades we each carried. Speed and stealth were our priorities."Lake Carson is fifteen miles east," Silas briefed us. "The resort sits on a peninsula jutting into the water. We'll approach from the forest side, using the trees for cover. Once there, we observe only. We're looking for security patterns, entrance points, and Angela's location within the complex.""What about hybrids?" Liam asked, nervously fingering the silver knife at his belt."Avoid them," Silas said firmly. "We're not there to engage. If spotted, retreat immediately to the rendezvous point." He pointed to a location on the map he'd brought. "Questi