1906. The wedding night.The blade was cold.Alaric noticed that first. Not the pain. Not the blood soaking through his white wedding shirt. Only the cold, spreading from the center of his chest like winter water.Silver.He looked down. A dagger with a black moon carved into its hilt was buried in his heart, and the hand holding it was small, pale, and trembling.He knew that hand. He had kissed it three hours ago, in front of every pack and every clan, while the whole supernatural world bowed to them. He had promised that hand forever.He lifted his eyes. Silver hair. A crimson gown. The face he loved more than his own life."Selene," he whispered.Her eyes were empty. No hatred. No tears. Nothing.Behind her, a woman in a servant's dress stepped out of the shadows and smiled.The Golden Alpha, the strongest being of his age, fell to his knees on his wedding night. The last thing he felt was his bride's hand still on the blade.***Present day."Champagne, Cole. Now. And smile, for

[6:47... 6:46...]The door to apartment 4C was hanging from one hinge.Ethan took the stairs three at a time and burst inside. The tiny living room had been torn apart. The couch was flipped, Lily's schoolbooks were scattered across the floor, and their mother's framed photo lay face down in a spray of broken glass."Lily!"No answer.He checked the bedroom. The bathroom. The narrow closet where she used to hide during thunderstorms when she was little. Empty. Empty. Empty.On the kitchen floor, beside an overturned chair, lay her phone, its screen cracked into a spiderweb.It buzzed in his hand the moment he picked it up. A message from an unknown number. A photo.Lily in the back of a white van, her wrists bound with a zip tie, her face wet with tears. Jace Miller grinning beside her, his arm draped around her shoulders like they were old friends.Then a second message.Unknown: Old cannery, Pier 9. Bring $5,000 for Derek's nose. Or don't, and she learns some manners. Clock's tickin

"Mr. Cole, I'm afraid there's been a change."The hospital administrator didn't even look up from her clipboard. Ethan stood at the front desk of St. Mary's with a bag of oranges for his mother, three hours of sleep, and a pair of borrowed sunglasses hiding the fact that he could suddenly see every dust particle floating in the air."What kind of change?""Your mother's bed has been reassigned. Alpha Reed's office called this morning." She finally met his eyes, and there was something like pity in them. "Her treatment was covered by the Hale Estate staff program. This morning, at Alpha Reed's request, the household office suspended it. Unless the Alpha withdraws his complaint by tomorrow, she'll be discharged.""She can't be discharged. She can barely stand.""I'm sorry. It's not my decision." She lowered her voice. "Word is, the Alpha wants a public apology. At the Moon Assembly tonight."Ethan's hand tightened around the bag until an orange split.So that was the price. Kneel in fro

The cage door slammed shut behind him.The sound echoed through the tunnel, and two hundred werewolves roared. Somewhere in the crowd, Toby was shouting his name, his voice cracking.[Mission complete: Enter the Pit.][Reward: Strength +2. Combat Instinct Lv.1 acquired.]Heat rushed through Ethan's arms and settled in his chest. The world sharpened. The noise of the crowd faded to a low hum, and suddenly he could see every detail of the man in front of him: the old knee injury Brutus favored on the left, the slight drop of his right shoulder before he moved, the way his eyes flicked to the crowd every few seconds, enjoying the attention.Brutus cracked his knuckles. Up close, he was even bigger. Each of his fists was the size of Ethan's head."Nothing personal, human," he said. "But I've got money on this."The bald man rang a bell.Brutus charged.***He was fast. Much faster than anything that size should have been.Ethan threw himself sideways, and a fist the size of a cinder block

Six days until the fight.Ethan woke at four, ran fifteen kilometers in the dark, did five hundred push-ups on the kitchen floor, and ate three plates of eggs while Lily watched him like he was a zoo animal.[Daily Missions complete. Speed +1, Strength +1, Vitality +1.][Current Stats: Strength 14 | Speed 11 | Senses 10 | Vitality 9][Opponent analysis: Derek Reed. Estimated Strength 22. Speed 18.]He stared at the numbers until they blurred.Twenty-two. Derek was a young, healthy werewolf from a strong bloodline. Even with everything the System had given him, Ethan was still only a little more than half as strong."How do I close that gap in six days?"[Impossible through stats alone.][Recommendation: Acquire technique.]"From where? YouTube?"The panel didn't answer. It rarely appreciated his jokes.***The answer found him that afternoon, in the garage beneath the east wing of Hale Estate.Ethan was on his back under one of the security SUVs, changing the oil, when a pair of old l