"Really Maya?You sold us out again!" Faith's voice was low, vibrating with a frequency that made the leaves around them shiver. After everything you and Mother did, what did I ever do to you ?
"I didn't sell you out, Faith. I upgraded," Maya sneered, the silver tranquilizer rifle steady in her hands. You were always a mistake. A 'Dud' living in a scholar's shadow. But now? Now you're just a bounty. Silas promised me your spot in the Lunar Council's research division once you're…. 'processed.'
Sarah stepped in front of Faith, her hands raised. "Silas, stop this. She's my daughter. You swore you'd protect the lineage!"
I am protecting it, Sarah, Silas drawled, stepping out from behind a tree. His blue eyes were glowing with a manic, stormy light. "By making sure it's under my control. Killian is currently being torn apart by the Council's Enforcers. He can't save you this time."
He looked at Faith, his gaze hungry. "The way you shut down the grid….that wasn't human, little bird. That was the 'White' pulse. The legend is true, isn't it? You aren't a Dud. You're the Catalyst."
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Faith shouted.
But she did. Inside her chest, the silver light she had felt at the manor was no longer a hum, it was a roar. It felt like molten silver was being poured into her joints. Her vision began to sharpen, the dark forest turning into a landscape of heat signatures and vibrant scents.
"Maya, take the shot," Silas commanded. "We don't need her conscious to harvest the serum."
Maya smirked and pulled the trigger.
Thwip.
The silver dart hissed through the rain. Time seemed to slow down for Faith. She saw the needle spinning, the toxic fluid inside shimmering.
Suddenly, Faith's hand moved. It wasn't a human movement, it was a blur of silver-white light. She caught the dart mid-air, inches from her throat.
The forest went deathly silent. Maya's jaw dropped. Silas's eyes widened in a mix of terror and triumph.
Faith looked at the dart in her hand. Her fingernails had elongated into sharp, translucent talons. Her skin was shimmering with a faint, white frost.
"I am….not….a bounty," Faith whispered. Her voice was layered, a human girl's plea mixed with the ancient, tectonic growl of a Goddess.
Kill her Now! Silas roared, finally feeling the shift in the atmosphere. "Maya, kill her now!"
Maya scrambled to reload, her hands shaking. But Faith was already moving. She didn't run; she leaped. She cleared twenty feet in a single bound, her feet barely touching the mud.
She slammed into Maya, her strength triple what it had been an hour ago. The rifle shattered like glass against Faith's forearm. Maya let out a terrified yelp as Faith pinned her against a tree, her glowing silver eyes inches from Maya's amber ones.
"Every time you pushed me in the trenches…." Faith growled, the silver light in her veins pulsing with every word. "Every time you let Silas touch me…I remembered."
"Faith, stop!" Sarah cried out, running toward them. "If you kill her now, the shift will consume you! You aren't twenty yet! Your heart won't take the full transformation!"
Faith felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her chest. Her heart was beating at a frantic, impossible speed. Her bones were vibrating, trying to lengthen, trying to become the White Wolf, but her human body was fighting back.
She collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest, the silver light flickering dangerously.
Silas saw his opening. He shifted halfway, his claws extending as he lunged toward the weakened Faith. If I can't have the Catalyst alive, I'll take the heart!
Before he could reach her, a massive black shape erupted from the undergrowth.
Killian.
He was covered in blood, most of it not his own, and his fur was burned from silver grenades, but he looked like Death itself. He tackled Silas mid-air, the two Alphas crashing through the brush in a tangle of teeth and fur.
Killian shifted back to human form just long enough to grab Silas by the throat and slam him into the mud. Haven't I warned you? Killian hissed, his voice a jagged wreck. "Nobody. Touches. Her."
He threw Silas aside and scrambled toward Faith, pulling her into his arms. He didn't care that Maya was watching or that Sarah was standing there. He pressed his forehead against Faith's, his own Alpha energy flooding into her to try and stabilize her frantic heart.
"Faith, look at me," Killian breathed, his voice desperate. Control the spark. Don't let it take you yet. You aren't ready.
Faith looked up at him, her silver eyes slowly fading back to brown. "You... you came."
"I'll always come," Killian whispered, kissing her forehead.
The moment of relief was cut short by the sound of a hundred clicking rifles.
They were surrounded. Not by the Council, and not by Silas's men.
A new group of soldiers stepped into the clearing. They wore white tactical gear with a Crescent Moon and Sun crest. These were the High Elite Guardians, the personal army of the Lunar King.
A woman stepped forward, her silver hair braided like a crown. She looked at Faith, then at Sarah, and finally at Killian.
"The Alpha Nightshade and the Architect's daughter," the woman said, her voice like ice. The King has been patient. But the Grid has been activated, and the White Wolf has breathed. You are all under the jurisdiction of the Crown now."
She looked at Killian with a cold smirk. "And Alpha? Your father's debt to the King is finally due. He traded your soul for his fortune twenty years ago. It's time to pay back".