The time hit twelve, and Sarah was fully prepared.
She walked to Jake's room, took a deep breath, and pushed the door wide open like she owned the place.
What she saw was definitely not part of the plan.
Jake sat on the edge of his bed, shirtless, boxers barely hanging on, one hand gripping his phone while the other was clearly… occupied. Dead center in the act.
Their eyes locked. Time stopped.
Sarah froze in the doorway, jaw slack, brain buffering.
Jake blinked. "SERIOUSLY?!" he barked, panic in his voice.
"I—uh—WHAT THE HELL?!" she blurted, spinning around so fast her hair whipped.
Jake scrambled, grabbing the nearest pillow. "Ever heard of knocking?!"
Sarah, still covering her burning face, shouted back, "Ever heard of LOCKING the damn DOOR?!"
She slammed the door shut and bolted down the hall.
Shit… I blew my chance, she thought, face still glowing red. "That was the perfect opportunity… I just didn't expect THAT. I guess being away from the pack really took its toll on me."
Somewhere else, deep in the Claw's Heart…
The room was cold. Silent. Dead.
A young scout knelt before a towering figure seated on a throne—crudely built from bones and blackened steel.
"Alpha," the scout said, breathless. "We've traced the surge from last night. We know where she is."
The Alpha's eyes burned in the shadows. A low growl rumbled from his chest.
"So… she's alive," he muttered, lips curling into a twisted grin. "As expected from my little Luna."
"Where is she?" he asked, voice sharp and commanding.
"Far north… Upstate New York," the scout replied quickly.
Another wolf stepped forward from the darkness, chest bare and scarred.
"I'll bring her back," he said, bowing low.
The Alpha raised a hand. "Not you," he said in a cold, measured tone. "Bring me the twins… immediately!."
"Yes, Alpha," the scout replied, vanishing into the dark without another word.
"We're coming…"
The voice was deep—distorted like a growl, echoing in her mind.
Sarah jolted awake, eyes wide, chest heaving.
Soaked in sweat, she sat upright in bed, heart pounding.
"No… no, no, no," she whispered, voice trembling.
That voice—it wasn't a dream. It was the link.
It was back.
The pill—an ancient suppressant crafted by witches—was meant to sever her psychic link with the Alpha. One dose, one chance. No shifting. No mental contact.
But she had already broken the one rule: she shifted.
The magic had held on… but now, it had worn off, completely gone.
"Dammit all," she muttered. "They found me."
Thunder cracked over Claw's Heart as the great iron doors groaned open. The twins entered—tall, cloaked, and radiating danger. Identical in face, though opposite in gender and opposite in energy: Hunter, the male burned with untamed fire in his eyes, Huntress, the female moved like the chill of death itself.
Their boots echoed through the dead silence of the throne room, a sound that made even seasoned warriors tense. Every wolf in the room instinctively bowed their heads—not out of respect, but fear. These were not ordinary werewolves. They were the very embodiment of destruction.
The Alpha leaned forward on his throne of bone and steel, eyes gleaming with dark satisfaction.
"My Children," he said with a sinister grin. "Luna has wandered too far from the pack… It's time she remembered where she belongs. Bring her back—alive. But if she resists…"
He stood slowly.
"Burn the world around her."
"Yes Father" they echoed together.