2026-10-12 18:08:06
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 15: Good Boy
The uniform still smelled like his father.Ethan found it in the back of the estate's uniform closet on Monday morning, hanging in a plastic bag with a faded name tag pinned to the chest: D. COLE. Black jacket. Black trousers. White shirt, yellowed slightly at the collar. Mr. Graves had told him to wear it. "It's the driver's uniform. It's the only one in your size."It fit perfectly.He stood in front of the narrow mirror in the staff changing room for a long moment, looking at himself in his dead father's clothes.Daniel Cole had worn this jacket every day for eight years. He had driven Victoria Hale to board meetings and charity galas and late-night meetings at the docks. He had come home tired and smiling, and he had never once talked about his work.Then one winter night, six years ago, his car had gone off an icy road on the way back from the docks. The police had called it an accident. Mrs. Hale had paid for the funeral. Everyone had said how generous that was.Ethan straighten
Chapter 14: Three Seconds
Darkness.Ethan kept his eyes shut and listened.He heard the whistle of claws cutting through the air toward his throat. He heard Derek's heartbeat, racing at an impossible speed, pounding like a war drum. He heard the scrape of a bare foot on concrete, the shift of weight onto the left leg.He moved left.The claws missed his throat by the width of a hair and tore through the chain-link fence behind him like paper.The crowd screamed.[Golden eyes suppressed.][Warning: Host is holding back the wolf core by force. Pain imminent.]The pain came like fire. It started in his chest and burned outward through every nerve, as if the thing sleeping inside him was clawing at his ribs, furious, demanding to be let out. Ethan clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ached.Not yet, he told it. Not here. Not in front of her.The thing inside him snarled. But it stayed down.Derek swung again. Ethan heard it coming, a heavy hook from the right, and ducked. Another, a low kick. He jumped. A grab. He t
Chapter 13: Fight Night
The Pit had never been this full.Five hundred werewolves packed the old rail tunnel, standing on crates, hanging from the rusted support beams, pressed so tightly against the cage that the chain-link bowed inward. The air was hot and thick with sweat and beer and the electric smell of wolves on the edge of shifting. Someone had hung a banner from the ceiling, painted in red: REED vs. THE HUMAN.Betting slips fluttered everywhere. The odds on the board read DEREK REED 1:8. ETHAN COLE 15:1."Fifteen to one," Toby muttered, peering through the curtain of the fighters' corner. "That's an insult. Last week you were sixty to one. Now they only think you're mostly going to die.""That's progress," Ethan said.He sat on an upturned bucket, wrapping his hands. Harlan stood beside him, leaning on his cane, silent. The old man had said almost nothing all evening. He had only gripped Ethan's shoulder once, hard, and whispered three words.Wait for three.Ethan didn't know exactly what it meant.
Chapter 12: Redline
Selene.The vial was the color of fresh blood.It sat in a padded steel case on Victoria's desk, glowing faintly under the lamp. A label on the side read REDLINE — PROTOTYPE 7 — HALE BIOSCIENCES."Isn't it pretty?" Victoria said.Selene stood by the window, hands folded behind her back. "What does it do?""For about ten minutes, it makes a wolf three times stronger than he has any right to be. Faster. Angrier. Pain stops meaning anything." Victoria lifted the vial and turned it in the light. "After ten minutes, the heart usually gives out. We're still working on that part.""And you're giving it to Derek Reed.""Marcus asked very nicely." Victoria smiled. "He's terrified his son will lose to a human in front of the whole city. It would be the end of the Reed name. So I offered him a little help."Selene kept her voice perfectly flat. "You bet against Derek.""I did." Victoria set the vial back in the case and closed the lid with a soft click. "And I'll probably lose. Unless the Cole b
Chapter 11: The Silver Test
Three days until the fight.Ethan's back had healed overnight. By morning, the claw marks from the alley were thin pink lines. By noon, they were gone.[Vitality bonus: Accelerated healing.]He stood in front of the bathroom mirror, turning to look at his shoulders, and felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cold apartment. Humans didn't heal like this. Humans didn't get up after being kicked by seven werewolves.What am I turning into?His phone buzzed.St. Mary's: Mr. Cole, there's a visitor asking for your mother. He says he's from Hale Corporation's insurance department. Please call.Hale Corporation didn't have an insurance department.Ethan was out the door before he finished reading.***He heard the voices before he reached his mother's room. His senses picked them out through two closed doors and the noise of a busy cardiac ward."...a beautiful boy, I'm sure. Was there anything unusual about the birth, Mrs. Cole? Complications? Anything strange?"The man's voice was sm
Chapter 10: The Woman in the Back Seat
Four days until the fight."Cole. You're driving tonight."Mr. Graves dropped a set of keys into Ethan's palm at the end of his shift. They belonged to the black armored sedan at the far end of the security garage, the one nobody was allowed to touch."Who am I driving?"Graves's mouth thinned. "Ms. Vale. Eleven o'clock. Don't speak unless spoken to. Don't look in the rearview mirror. And if you scratch that car, you'll be paying for it until you're dead."Ethan stared at the keys.Ms. Vale. The woman who had saved his job without explanation. The woman whose voice sounded like the System. The woman whose scent, he was almost sure now, had been hanging in the doorway of the locked room last night.Roses and rain.The same scent as the silver-haired figure on the rooftop at Pier 9.He hadn't slept. He kept seeing the painting: the hole where a face should have been, the black paint over the bride, the pale hand holding the dagger. The Golden Alpha and his bride. The memories in his hea
You may also like
World System Among Gods
M_jief124.6K viewsMy Reality-Changing System
M_jief58.2K viewsTHE SUPERIOR SYSTEM: INCRIDIBLE BENEDICT MULLER
M_jief36.7K viewsMASON WILLIAMS AND THE CELESTIAL SYSTEM
Bigsnowy 34.1K viewsThe God Living in My Phone
Wiens77315 viewsBelittle Me Now And Cry Later
DiamondWrite 414 viewsThe Unfortunate Master Of The Apocalypse
Mika'el Ar140 viewsThe Apocalypse Where Rain Kills Humans
Ootd132 views