Chapter 5: Wolf’s Mercy

The forest held its breath.

Kael's scouts circled Lira, amber eyes burning like embers in the dark. She crouched low, claws digging into the frozen earth, the metallic tang of blood sharp on her tongue. One scout lunged a blur of fangs and fur. She sidestepped, slashing its flank. The wolf yelped, collapsing into the snow, crimson blooming across its pelt.

"Last chance," the lead scout growled, his voice garbled by his half-shifted jaw. "Surrender, and Kael might let you live."

Lira bared her fangs. "Tell him to come kill me himself."

The pack attacked in unison.

She met them head-on, hybrid instincts turning her into a storm of silver and fury. Claws tore her sleeve, teeth grazed her thigh, but each wound sealed as fast as it opened. Pain was nothing only the hum of power under her skin, terrifying and exhilarating.

Then…

A gunshot.

The night shattered.

The lead scout crumpled, a silver bullet lodged between his eyes. The others froze.

"Enough."

Ryen Thorn stepped into the clearing, smoke curling from his revolver. Moonlight carved shadows across his scarred jaw, his leather coat dusted with snow. The remaining scouts hesitated, eyes flicking to the wolfsbane rounds gleaming at his belt.

"Traitor," one hissed.

Ryen fired at its feet. "Run."

They obeyed.

Lira straightened, claws still unsheathed. "Why?"

"You're welcome." He holstered his gun.

She wiped blood from her lip. "Did you shoot him to save me or to steal me from Kael?"

His gaze flicked to her bloodied hands. "Does it matter?"

The Safehouse

The derelict watchtower loomed at the edge of the Eclipse Wilds. Ryen led her up the groaning stairs, lighting a lantern that cast jagged green shadows across walls papered with maps and newspaper clippings Missing Persons, Supernatural Sightings, Eclipsion Blood Crisis.

Lira's gaze landed on a faded photo of a teenage girl with Ryen's amber eyes. "Your sister?"

He snatched it down. "None of your business."

She shrugged, peeling off her shredded coat. "You brought me here. That makes it my business."

He tossed her a medkit. "Clean your wounds."

"They're already healed." She held up her arm, smooth and unscarred.

Ryen stared, something unreadable flickering in his gaze. "Of course they are."

He paced, boots scuffing against rotting floorboards. "Kael's pack will track us by dawn. Your blood's the only thing that can stop them."

Lira leaned against the wall, exhaustion creeping into her limbs. "You want me to cure them? Like I did Finn?"

"No." He turned, voice low. "I want you to fake your death."

She laughed, sharp and humorless. "You're as mad as Selene."

"Am I?" He pulled a vial of murky liquid from his coat. "Wolfsbane and adrenaline. It'll slow your pulse, make you look dead long enough for Kael to call off the hunt."

"And then what? I rot in this tower forever?"

"No. Then we find Ashen Labs. Orion's research could hold the real cure one that doesn't strip us of what we are."

Lira's locket burned against her skin, Orion's voice a ghost in her mind: "You were born to rule, not rot."

She clenched her jaw. "Why should I trust you?"

Ryen stepped closer, his scent pine and gunpowder curling around her. "You shouldn't." His eyes flicked to the vial. "But you're out of options."

They met Kael at dawn, deep in the ruins of the Howling Quarter. Smoke curled from collapsed buildings, the air thick with the scent of damp ash and blood. Kael stood atop a shattered smokestack, his imposing frame backlit by the rising sun. Finn knelt beside him, the boy's human face pale and drawn.

Ryen shoved Lira forward, his grip bruising. "She's all yours."

Kael leaped down, claws slicing the air. "Pathetic. I thought you had spine, hybrid."

Lira spat blood at his feet. "Go to hell."

Kael's snarl twisted into something almost amused. Then he backhanded her. Hard.

She hit the ground, the wolfsbane serum bitter on her tongue. Her vision blurred, her limbs numbing. Faster than I thought, she mused, the world tilting.

"Check her," Kael ordered.

Finn hesitated before kneeling beside her. Cold fingers pressed to her throat. His breath hitched.

"No heartbeat."

Silence. Then Kael sneered. "Burn the body."

"No." Ryen stepped forward. "Let me bury her."

Kael's gaze darkened. "Why?"

Ryen didn't flinch. "Because you're not the only one who's lost someone."

The lie held.

Kael grunted, turning away. "One hour."

In the ashes of a gasoline-soaked dummy, Lira stirred. Every muscle ached, but she forced herself upright.

"It worked," Ryen murmured, crouching beside her, soot streaked across his face.

She shoved him. "You hit me harder than Kael did."

"Had to sell it." He offered a hand. "Come on. Labs are north."

She ignored him, staring at the smoke curling into the iron-gray sky. "What happens when Kael finds out?"

"Then we'll be ready."

She took his hand.

From the shadows, Finn watched them disappear into the Wilds.

Kael's laughter echoed behind him, the pack already celebrating. A torch arced through the air, flames devouring the remains of what they thought was Lira.

Finn hesitated, clutching the silver locket he'd stolen from her "corpse." Orion's symbol was etched into its surface, pulsing faintly against his palm.

What are you?

The answer burned in his grip.

Finn slipped into the trees. Following her trail.