The cell reeked of fear and desperation. I paced the small space, ignoring the throb of my wounds, the pull of the poison still running through my veins. None of it mattered. Not when Stella was out there, alone and hunted.Angela watched me from the other side of the bars, her eyes glittering with a sick sort of amusement. "You're wasting your energy," she said, her voice a mocking purr. "She's exactly where she needs to be."I lunged at the bars, snarling. "If they hurt her, I swear I'll—""You'll what?" Angela laughed. "Bleed on me? Face it, Silas. You're useless like this. Weak and Pathetic."I growled, but the truth of her words stung like silver. Without my wolf, I was just a man. A broken, beaten man.Angela leaned closer, her breath hot on my face. "But Stella... she's strong. Special. And not just because of the corruption.""What are you talking about?"She smiled, sharp and hungry. "Our mother's little experiment. The ritual that saved Stella's life? It made her everything
"Mum."The word hung in the air like a grenade with its pin pulled. No one moved. No one breathed. The alarms seemed to fade to background noise as we all stared at the small boy crumpled at the bottom of the tank, his hand pressed against the glass, eyes fixed on Veronica.His lips formed the word again. "Mum."My grip on Veronica's throat loosened from pure shock. Her son? This was her fucking son?The moment my fingers relaxed, the boy's body convulsed. His back arched unnaturally, spine bowing as if something inside was trying to tear free. His mouth opened, he was screaming, one we couldn’t hear due to the glass. His eyes rolled back until only whites showed."Alexander!" Veronica surged forward, breaking free from my grip completely. I was too stunned to stop her. She slammed her palm against the tank's release mechanism, and the glass partition hissed open. She dropped to her knees, gathering the small, trembling body into her arms."He's dying," she choked out, cradling him ag
SilasI kept my back to the wall, eyes fixed on the doorway. The facility's infrastructure was failing—not just the security systems, but the fundamental design. Pipes burst somewhere in the distance, followed by the hiss of escaping gas. The concrete beneath my feet vibrated with tremors that seemed to come from deep underground.Four corridors connected to this medical bay. Four potential points of attack. If I'd had my wolf, I could have monitored all of them through scent alone. But now, all I had were human ears straining against the cacophony of alarms and distant screams.Behind me, Veronica worked frantically to stabilize her son. Her son. The revelation still hadn't fully registered. What kind of monster experiments on their own child?A crash echoed from the east corridor. My hand tightened around the makeshift weapon I'd fashioned from a broken IV stand."Status?" I called over my shoulder, not taking my eyes off the door."His vitals are stabilizing," Veronica answered, vo
The words hung in the air like poison gas."Are you trying to kill Stella so your son can live?""Do you prefer I say the truth, or lie to your face?"My chest hollowed out. Not from shock—shock required investment, required me to still give a fuck about my own survival. This was just... clarity. Final confirmation of what I'd suspected since waking up strapped to that table.I was never meant to leave this place alive.Alexander's monitors beeped steadily in the quiet that followed Veronica's confession. The child's face was peaceful in unconsciousness, skin flushed with returning color. Black veins had receded from around his eyes, his breathing deepened. Whatever Veronica had done was working.My own corruption throbbed in response. Black lines crawled past my shoulder now, reaching for my neck like hungry fingers. The pain had changed—not the burning of infection anymore, but something deeper. Something pulling at me from the inside, as if the corruption had hooks embedded in my v
SilasThe service tunnel stank of mildew and burnt wiring. My makeshift weapon—a metal rod pried from fallen equipment—felt woefully inadequate as we pushed deeper into the darkness. Water dripped somewhere ahead, the sound amplified by concrete walls that seemed to press closer with every step.Alexander's gurney rattled over uneven flooring, each jolt making me wince. The boy remained unconscious, but stable since Stella's inexplicable intervention. Whatever had passed between them had bought us time, but for what? I still couldn't wrap my head around Veronica's callous admission. Her willingness to sacrifice Stella to save her son.And Stella's equally unfathomable decision to help them anyway.She walked ahead of me now, close behind Angela who led our strange procession. The thin lab coat did little to conceal her naked form beneath, or the corruption's steady advance up her neck. Black veins pulsed beneath her skin with each heartbeat, the pattern shifting subtly when she passed
The gunshot echoed in the confined space, reverberating through metal walls like a thunderclap. Time stretched, distorted. I saw the bullet leave the chamber. Saw Silas try to dive sideways, too slow without his wolf's reflexes. Saw Angela's face, calm and focused, a scientist completing an experiment.And then—nothing.The world went black. Not the darkness of unconsciousness or death, but something deeper. A void. Empty of light, of sound, of sensation.Except I wasn't alone.About fucking time.Rona's voice—stronger than it had been in months, since that night in the temple when our connection had shattered. Not distant or fragmented, but present. Immediate.Where are we? I tried to look around, but had no body to turn, no eyes to see.Inside. Between. Does it matter? Her irritation was familiar, almost comforting. We're where we need to be to fix this shitstorm you've created.I didn't—Save it, princess. We don't have time for your guilt complex. Your sister's trying to kill your
The city walls appeared through the morning haze like a jagged wound in the landscape. What had been imposing two days ago now looked fragile—sheets of rusted metal held together by desperation and habit. Black smoke billowed from multiple points within, and even from this distance, we could hear the chaos—screams, gunshots, the unmistakable sound of things breaking."Something's wrong," Silas said, stating the obvious as he adjusted Alexander's weight in his arms. The boy had fallen unconscious again after our escape, his small body struggling to integrate the changes the partial transfer had initiated.Veronica checked his pulse for the twentieth time in as many minutes. "His condition is stabilizing, but he needs shelter. Proper medical attention."I studied the city through my transformed vision. The corruption had altered my left eye, splitting the pupil like a wolf's, enhancing my perception beyond normal limits. Through it, I could see energy patterns flowing through the wall—h
Model BehaviorBlood. So much blood.I jolted awake with a gasp, my body launching upright before my mind could catch up. Cold sweat plastered my silk nightgown to my skin. My heart hammered against my ribs like it was trying to escape. For a moment, I couldn't remember where I was.The nightmare clung to me like a second skin, but its details were already fading, slipping away like water through cupped hands. All I could grasp was a vague sense of dread and the lingering image of someone—myself?—staring back at me with my own face.I pressed my palm to my forehead, trying to slow my breathing. My apartment gradually came into focus around me—expensive minimalist furniture, floor-to-ceiling windows showing New York's glittering skyline, the kind of luxury I'd never imagined I could afford.This was real. This was my life now. Not whatever horror show my subconscious had conjured up.I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, my toes curling against the cold hardwood floor. The clock on
I stood, needing to move, to process what we'd seen. "The Blackwater Resort. You're sure?"Silas nodded. "Positive. My father considered buying it a few years ago. I visited the property with him.""Then we know where they are," I said. "We need to move fast, before they relocate.""We need a plan first," Silas countered. "That place is massive—multiple buildings, underground levels, surrounded by water on three sides and forest on the fourth. And now they know we've found them."He was right, damn him. Rushing in would be suicide, especially against Logan's hybrids and whatever other security they had in place."Reconnaissance," I said reluctantly. "Small team, minimal footprint. Get the lay of the land, assess their numbers and defenses.""I'll lead it," Silas volunteered."No," I said firmly. "You're still recovering from the silver poisoning. I'll go.""Absolutely not," he objected, standing to face me. "You're their primary target. If Logan gets his hands on you again—""I'm not
Sleep didn't come easy. I tossed in my bed, thoughts jumping between Marie's silver-eyed baby and whatever the hell we were planning to do tomorrow. Using our bond to find Angela sounded good when I suggested it—now, in the darkness of my room, it seemed like inviting trouble.I woke before dawn, abandoning the pretense of rest. The quiet hours belonged to me anyway, had ever since New York. I pulled on jeans and a sweater, slipped out of my room, and headed for the training grounds. Physical exertion might clear my head.Frost covered the grass, crunching under my boots. My breath formed clouds in the pre-dawn air. Winter was settling in hard, earlier than usual. The cold felt good against my skin, still too warm from the renewed bond. Like I was running a perpetual low-grade fever.I started with basics—stretches, then push-ups, sit-ups, mountain climbers. The routine felt familiar, grounding. In the human world, I'd discovered discipline through training, building strength when I'd
I woke to the taste of bile in my mouth and the worst headache of my life. My body felt wrong, like my skin had been removed, flipped inside out, and put back on. Every nerve ending screamed. Every muscle ached. And my mind—my mind was the worst. Thoughts that weren't mine flickered at the edges of my consciousness, emotions I didn't recognize washed over me in waves.I barely made it to the edge of the bed before vomiting violently onto the floor. Someone rushed forward with a basin, but it was too late."Easy," a voice said. Zeta Ruth. "The bond shock is normal. It will pass."I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, trying to focus through the pain in my head. "Silas?" My voice was raw, barely a whisper."Next door. Recovering, like you."Relief flooded me, immediately followed by a burst of foreign emotion—confusion, disorientation, concern. His emotions, bleeding through the renewed bond."Make it stop," I gasped, clutching my head. "It's too much."Zeta Ruth handed me a cup of
The elders agreed to my terms, of course. What choice did they have? Silas would die without the ritual, and the pack needed both of us.The ceremony room was deep beneath the pack house, a circular chamber carved from bedrock, walls decorated with ancient symbols of the Moon Goddess. Moonlight filtered in through a shaft in the ceiling, illuminating a raised stone platform in the center. Behind it stood a carved altar bearing ceremonial knives, bowls, and herbs.Zeta Clara, the oldest of the pack elders, supervised the preparations. Pack members laid Silas on the platform, his body covered only by a thin sheet. The black poison lines stood out starkly against his pale skin, like veins of obsidian beneath the surface. I could see how they pulsed with each labored heartbeat."You understand what this ritual entails?" Zeta Clara asked me as I changed into the simple white shift they'd provided."Bella explained it.""Not just physically," she pressed. "Spiritually. Emotionally. You will
Three days. Three fucking days, and Silas hadn't opened his eyes.I hadn't left his side except to piss or when Zeta Ruth forced me to eat something. The room stank of sickness, silver poisoning, and my own unwashed body. Dark circles tattooed themselves under my eyes. I didn't care."His temperature's rising again," Zeta Ruth said, checking the digital thermometer. "103.8."The pack's head healer looked as exhausted as I felt. She'd been working around the clock, trying every treatment in the book and some that weren't. Nothing touched the silver poisoning. The black lines had spread across his entire torso now, up his neck, down his arms. Some had reached his face, thin dark veins like cracks in porcelain."More ice," she instructed her assistant, who hurried off to fetch it. She turned to me. "You need to rest, Stella. You're not helping him by making yourself sick.""I'm fine," I said for the thousandth time.She sighed but didn't argue. Smart woman.The door opened, and Bella wad
I couldn't wait any longer. I reached for that building pressure inside me and PUSHED, just as Rona had suggested.BOOM!The power exploded outward from my chest, following the paths of the needles and tubes. The burning silver became a conduit rather than a barrier. The black lines on my skin brightened to silver-white, spreading rapidly across my entire body."What the—" Logan began, but was cut off as the tubes connected to me burst, spraying blood in all directions.The restraints holding me shattered as the power wave hit them. I sat up, ripping the remaining needles from my body. Each extraction point sealed itself instantly, the white-silver lines on my skin concentrating around the wounds."Stop her!" Logan shouted.The human woman backed away, terror in her eyes. Angela rose from her chair, shifting as she moved. Her pregnant form distorted the shift, making it slower, awkward. Logan reached for something under the console—a weapon, probably.I couldn't worry about them. I tu
She smiled, a cold expression that reminded me of our father. "I made sure you and Silas never completed your mate bond. I made sure you ran. I arranged everything."A chill ran through me. "What?""The attack five years ago," she said, her voice matter-of-fact. "I arranged it. Aaron, Marcus, Jacob—they were all following my suggestion. 'Teach the wolfless bitch a lesson,' I told them. 'Show her what happens to omegas.'"My vision blurred with rage. Five years of nightmares, of trauma, of struggling to survive—all because my sister orchestrated my assault?"You fucking bitch," I snarled, thrashing against the restraints. "You set me up to be raped?""I set you up to be scared off," she corrected, unperturbed by my rage. "The rape wasn't the plan. That was the boys getting carried away. But your leaving was exactly what I wanted. You were supposed to die in the woods, vulnerable and alone. No one expected you to survive, much less thrive.""Why?" I demanded. "What did I ever do to you?
I'd heard enough. I needed to see what I was dealing with before bursting in. Near the ceiling was a ventilation grate. I jumped, grabbed the edge, and pulled myself up. The metal groaned under my weight but held. I peered through the slats.The room beyond was larger than the others, clearly the main lab. Scientific equipment lined the walls—centrifuges, computers, machines I didn't recognize. In the center was a metal table, and strapped to it was Silas.My breath caught in my throat. He was naked except for a cloth draped over his hips, his body covered in fresh cuts and burns. Silver-infused needles pierced his arms and chest, connected to tubes that ran to collection bags hanging beside the table. The bags were already half-filled with dark red blood.Logan stood at a workstation, examining something on a computer screen. He'd removed his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves, looking like a fucking corporate exec taking a casual Friday. Angela sat in a chair nearby, one hand res
I didn't go back to the pack house. There wasn't time.The fading scent trail led northeast, toward the old industrial district. I followed it at a dead run, not bothering with stealth. Logan had given me twelve hours, but the silver-laced blade he'd pressed against Silas's throat would still be burning, still be poisoning him. Every minute counted.That tiny thread of our broken bond pulled me forward like a compass needle. I could feel Silas's pain—distant, muffled, but there. It had surprised the hell out of me when our bond snapped partially back during the attack. Five years of nothing, and now this. Fucking inconvenient timing.I stuck to the woods when I could, avoiding the roads where someone might spot a blood-covered woman sprinting through the night. The last thing I needed was human interference. Luckily, at three in the morning, even the occasional passing car didn't slow down.The industrial district loomed ahead, a collection of abandoned warehouses and factories that h