MARKED BY THE ALPHA'S HATE

Selene crossed the threshold into Blackfang territory with her heart pounding like a war drum.

The ground changed beneath her feet. The forest here was older, meaner. The trees bent toward each other like they were whispering secrets. The wind carried the scent of blood and ash. Even the moonlight felt corrupted too sharp, too cold.

She shouldn't be here. Not alone.

But she wasn't alone, not really. Her mother's sword pulsed against her back, and the bond with Darius burned like a fuse inside her.

Still, the silence was loud.

Until it wasn't.

Talon stepped from the shadows, casual as ever. His cloak moved like smoke. Didn't think you'd actually come.

Selene didn't stop walking. You said you had answers.

I said I had truths. Answers are softer.

I'm not here for soft.

He smirked. No. You never were.

She stopped three feet from him. Where's Victor?

Busy. Killing your future.

Talon—

He raised a hand. Relax. He doesn't know you're here. Yet.

Selene's fingers twitched at her side, close to the hilt of her blade.

Talon noticed. If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have done it already.

That's not why I'm reaching for it.

His smile vanished. Then why?

Because I don't trust you.

Good, he said. Then you're ready to see what he's been hiding.

He led her through a narrow path veiled in shadow. It reeked of old magic and wet earth. At the end of it: a gate. Iron, twisted into snarling wolves. It opened without a sound.

Beyond it lay Victor's garden.

But it wasn't flowers that grew here.

It was bones.

Selene stopped cold.

Hundreds of skulls lay in neat rows, bleached white, half-buried in moss and bloodied soil. Each one marked with a symbol.

Moonblood sigils.

She stepped closer, bile rising in her throat. What is this?

His record,Talon said.Every one of them was like you.

Her voice came out hollow. Moonbloods.

Some born. Some turned. All dead.

Selene dropped to one knee. Her fingers brushed the grass near one skull, small and cracked.

A child.

Why? she whispered.

Because Victor believes in fear,Talon said behind her. And there's nothing more dangerous to him than a woman who carries both fire and fate in her blood.

She looked up, eyes burning. Then why serve him?

Talon hesitated. I did once. Not anymore.

I don't believe you.

You don't have to. Just listen.

He handed her something.

A torn page. Faded ink. Her mother's handwriting.

Selene read it aloud:

> If she lives, they will come for her. The Blackfangs, the wolves who serve him. But if she finds the blade if she takes the oath she will not just survive. She will rise.

Selene's grip tightened.

She wrote this before she died,Talon said. She knew what Victor was planning. She knew what you'd become.

Selene stood slowly. Then why are you showing me this?

Talon's gaze darkened. Because I was ordered to kill you tonight. But instead, I'm giving you the choice.

What choice?

To walk away. Hide. Live.

No.

He tilted his head. You're sure?

She looked at the skulls again.

I'd rather die on my feet than be another name buried here.

Talon nodded once. Then the war starts now.

Darius tore through the woods like a blade through silk.

Her scent was all over the path. Wrong direction. Too close to Blackfang borders.

He shifted mid-run, landing hard in his human form, chest heaving.

She's in there,he growled.

Neris stepped beside him, cloak flaring. She had to go.

I should've stopped her.

No,the Oracle said. You had to let her choose.

Darius ran a hand through his hair, blood streaking his palm. If anything happens to her....

It already has.

His head snapped toward her.

Neris's voice was steady. The sword woke something inside her. A fire older than prophecy. Older than the packs. That's what Victor fears.

Darius's fists clenched. And what should I fear?

Neris looked at him with something like sorrow.

The moment she stops needing you.

Back in the garden of bones, Victor stood in the far shadows.

He'd been watching them the whole time.

Talon didn't see him. But Victor saw enough.

Selene. The sword. The refusal to run.

She was becoming a problem.

A beautiful, dangerous problem.

He turned to the Blackfang beside him. It's time.

For what, Alpha?

Victor's smile was thin. Unleash the Obsidian.

The wolf hesitated. It hasn't been fed in days.

Victor's eyes burned. Then it'll be hungry.