Scarlet chains

Chapter 22----The clans

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*Dominic POV*

The war room was tense. I stood by the monitor, fists clenched, jaw tight. Nicole lay in the infirmary, unconscious. Her blood still stained the hallway floor.

"Lucinda," I muttered. "She was right here. She did this."

Cayden's aura flared beside me, wild and burning like the sun. "And no one saw her leave? None of the guards?!"

"They were unconscious," I said darkly. "Whoever helped her knew what they were doing."

We exchanged a glance. The silence between us held too many questions—about Nova, about Lucinda, and the Cult we barely understood.

"She's gone, Dominic," Cayden said after a moment. "I can't feel her. Not even a trace of her scent. It's like she vanished from every realm."

I ran a hand through my hair. "We're not losing her. I don't care what tricks they pulled. We'll burn their world to the ground if we have to."

Cayden nodded. "Then we start preparing. We find their weakness. And when the time comes—"

"We hit them hard," I finished.

Outside, thunder rolled. The realm was shifting. And we knew—the Cult had her now.

But they weren't ready for us.

-*Cayden POV

The trees whispered my name before I even crossed the boundary.

The Hollow Forest wasn't welcoming. The deeper you went, the older it became—untamed, primal. This was where the original bloodlines slept. Where the true Alphas ruled in silence and instinct.

I shifted slightly as my boots crunched through fallen leaves, my aura pulsing out with a warning: I wasn't here as a cub anymore.

The howls came before I saw them—long, low, and questioning.

"I need to see the Elders," I growled.

Two shadowy figures stepped out from behind the trees—wolves in partial shift, fur bristling with suspicion. They sniffed the air, then one of them dropped to a knee.

"Alpha Cayden. The forest felt your pain."

"I'm here for war," I said simply. "And for Nova."

Their eyes widened. "The hybrid?"

"She's been taken. Controlled. We're going to bring her back."

They didn't question me.

They turned.

And they led me in.

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