The sterile, chemical scent of the hospital seemed to have seeped into Marie's skin, a cold reminder of the shift she'd just fled. She gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white, her mind a blur of fatigue—until the headlights cut through the gloom.
There, perched at an unnatural, upward angle against the muddy embankment, was Scarlet's car.
Marie slammed on the brakes, the tires skidding on the wet asphalt, and scrambled out into the biting night air. She climbed the embankment, her shoes slipping on the beach sand breath coming in ragged gasps.
They were both there. Scarlet and that mysterious woman were slumped in the wreckage, moonlight catching the pale stillness of their faces. Between them, resting on the damp earth as if it had been placed there by design, lay a leather-bound book.
Marie reached out, her hand trembling, and snatched it up. The weight was wrong—it felt unnaturally heavy, as if the pages were lead or held some dense, gravitational pull. Panic surged, a cold realization that Scarlet hadn't just crashed; she had been ensnared by something far darker than a slick road. With shaking fingers, Marie dialed the hospital, her voice breaking as she begged for an ambulance, her eyes never leaving the shadowed ruins of the car.
*******
Deep in the untamed woods, beyond any hiker's reach, Ryan strained against iron chains bolted to a jagged stone pillar. Sean loomed over him, once a friend, now a seething jailer. As the sun dipped, a decaying mansion's silhouette rose in the clearing behind them. Sean wasn't alone—his two brothers emerged from the shadows like ghosts: burly Elias, with his scarred knuckles and perpetual sneer from barroom brawls, and cunning Harlan, wiry and hawk-eyed, forever scheming in whispers.
Ryan yanked at the heavy chains binding his wrists to the basement's rough stone pillar, muscles burning unnaturally—with no agony from the locker slam. The unknown lair pulsed with earthy dampness, faint blue glows flickering from cracks like distant stars. Post-blackout haze cleared: hallway shove, Sean's amber flash, then darkness.
A growl echoed. Sean stalked in, taller in the gloom, veins glowing faintly under taut skin.
"Struggle all you want, beta. Silver chains hold our kind."
Ryan snarled instinctively, voice deeper than expected.
"Beta? Unlock me, psycho! Mark's neck snap, Peter's ripped jaw—your work? After mocking me?"
Sean circled, claws clicking stone. "Mockery woke it first—your shove triggered my flash, mine yours. Bus? Rogue wolves, not me. But you smelled it, didn't you? Latent beta, Ryan—pack blood dormant till now. Feel the itch? Eyes burning gold?"
Ryan's vision sharpened, pulse feral-hot; chains groaned as strength surged, links bending. Panic mixed thrill.
"Lies!"
Sean lunged, claws sinking into Ryan's shoulder, twisting until bone grated. Ryan howled, blood spraying the stone as Sean ripped free a chunk of flesh. The wolf-heal surged, but pain drowned it—Sean followed with a brutal headbutt, cracking Ryan's nose in a gush of crimson. Vision swam; chains rattled weakly.
"Learn fast, beta—or break." Fists pummeled ribs, each impact a thunderclap, until Ryan sagged, coughing froth.
Sean shoved him limp against the pillar and stalked out, door booming shut. Darkness swallowed Ryan—barely conscious, breaths shallow, world a haze of agony.
Time smeared. Feral strength clawed back; Ryan snapped the weakened silver, collapsing free in human form, wounds oozing. He crawled up into fog-choked woods, collapsing near a trail where laughter echoed—hikers playing tag among trees.
Edwin spotted him first, mid-chase with sister Lila. "Holy crap, guy's wrecked!" Broad-shouldered Edwin rushed over, Lila trailing wide-eyed. They hoisted Ryan, dragging him toward safety—escape tantalizingly close. But Sean scented the intrusion, shifting mid-stride, beast-form exploding through the underbrush.
He erupted from the fog not as a man, but a hulking alpha of muscle and matted, shadow-soaked fur, amber eyes blazing like furious coals locked on the hunt. Claws spread the earth as it thundered forward; Edwin, terrified yet defiant, yanked screaming Lila—her wide eyes mirroring his horror—behind a crumbling oak. He lunged, jaws snapping inches from Edwin's throat in a scorching breath blast, doom seconds away.