The chains finally gave way.
For several seconds the dungeon had echoed with the tortured screech of metal grinding against stone. Luna had watched the anchors embedded in the floor fracture bit by bit as the massive wolf strained against them.
Then Adam pulled once more.
Harder than before.
The bolts tore free.
Stone shattered outward as both anchors ripped completely out of the ground, leaving jagged holes where the restraints had once held him.
The chains snapped loose.
Adam tore the shackles from his wrists like they were nothing more than brittle wire. The metal rings clanged across the floor as he rose from the forced kneeling posture and dropped onto all fours.
For a brief moment the dungeon fell still.
The massive wolf lifted his head.
Then he howled.
The sound erupted from his chest like thunder ripping through the earth.
It filled the entire dungeon chamber, vibrating through the stone walls and rushing upward through the north mansion's hidden corridors until it burst out into the night above.
That was the howl Cassius and his men heard.
Luna stood frozen for a moment.
Her ears tilted back slightly in disbelief.
She had seen strong wolves before.
Veterans.
Pack alphas.
But Adam had just torn through restraints designed specifically to contain creatures like them.
And he had done it in a state that should have left him exhausted.
Her amber eyes narrowed.
Just how powerful are you…?
The thought barely finished forming before the wolf lowered his head and sniffed the air.
His snout hovered briefly over the slab of raw meat Luna had placed earlier.
The scent of blood and flesh filled the chamber.
He inhaled once, then did something that confused Luna even more.
He ignored it.
His glowing blue eyes slowly lifted.
And locked onto Luna.
There was nothing human behind them.
No recognition.
No restraint.
Only raw instinct.
Only hunger.
Only violence.
The wolf lunged.
The attack happened with terrifying speed.
His massive body exploded forward, claws tearing into the stone floor as he closed the distance in a single bound.
Luna moved instantly.
Her body twisted sideways as she pushed off her hind legs, sliding past his strike by inches. Adam's claws slammed into the crate behind her instead, splintering the wood as his momentum carried him through.
He turned immediately.
No hesitation.
No pause.
Another lunge followed.
Luna ducked low, her tail whipping behind her to stabilize her balance as Adam's jaws snapped through empty air where her neck had been.
She slid beneath him and drove her shoulder upward into his ribcage.
The impact staggered him half a step.
But he didn't slow.
He spun with animal fury, swiping downward with claws capable of tearing flesh from bone.
Luna leapt backward just in time, the claws slicing through the air in front of her chest.
The difference between them was obvious.
Adam was enormous.
Nearly Nine feet tall when standing upright.
His shoulders were wide and dense with muscle built for raw force.
Every movement carried crushing power.
But Luna moved differently.
Her body was smaller, sleeker.
Just over seven feet in her wolf form.
Where Adam's strength lived in his chest and arms, Luna's power flowed through her hips and legs.
Her stance shifted constantly.
Weight balanced through the strong curve of her lower body as her tail adjusted instinctively with every step.
Adam lunged again.
This time Luna pivoted.
Her hips rotated sharply as she slipped around his side, her claws flashing downward in a precise strike across the back of his knee.
Adam stumbled.
Not enough to fall.
But enough to disrupt his charge.
He roared and swung backward blindly.
Luna ducked again, sliding beneath the arc of his claws before springing away with a powerful push from her hind legs.
Her ears flattened.
Her breathing grew heavier.
She had fought wolves before.
Many of them.
But fighting someone who ignored pain entirely was exhausting.
Adam attacked again.
Again.
And again.
Each time Luna slipped aside, deflecting or redirecting the momentum with calculated movements.
A shoulder shove here.
A claw deflection there.
Her tail shifted constantly, helping her pivot around his massive frame.
Yet every strike from Adam carried terrifying force.
One direct hit could shatter bone.
He came again.
Luna sidestepped and slammed her hip into his side, using leverage rather than brute strength to throw his balance forward. Adam crashed into the stone wall, cracking the surface before spinning around with a furious snarl.
He refused to stay down.
No matter how many times she knocked him off balance, he rose again.
Luna's breathing grew heavier.
Her ears lowered slightly.
This isn't working.
She couldn't simply outmaneuver him forever.
Eventually fatigue would slow her.
Eventually he would land a strike.
Which meant she had only one option.
She would have to wound him.
Badly enough to keep him down.
Her amber eyes hardened.
"Hang in there," she muttered under her breath.
Adam lunged again.
Luna moved inside the attack.
Her body twisted sharply beneath his swinging arm. In the same motion she grabbed his wrist with both hands and rotated her hips beneath his shoulder.
Then she pulled.
The movement was fast.
Technical.
Precise.
Adam's massive arm bent violently the wrong direction.
Bone snapped.
A sharp crack echoed through the dungeon.
Adam roared.
Before he could react, Luna shifted her grip and repeated the motion on the other arm.
Another crack.
Both of Adam's arms hung uselessly.
Then she slammed her shoulder upward into his chest and twisted.
His shoulders dislocated with a wet pop.
The wolf collapsed onto the floor.
Luna stepped back immediately, panting.
Her chest rose and fell heavily as steam curled from Adam's battered body.
Her ears drooped slightly as she tried to slow her breathing.
Even her tail lowered slightly behind her.
The dungeon fell quiet again.
Then Luna's ears twitched.
A sound.
A small one.
Snap.
Adam's arm jerked.
Bone slid back into place beneath the fur.
The second arm followed.
Luna's eyes widened.
Impossible.
He hadn't eaten.
His body shouldn't have enough energy to regenerate that quickly.
Yet the bones reset themselves with terrifying speed.
Adam's shoulders popped back into their sockets.
He rose again.
The tattoo beneath his chest pulsed brighter now.
The reddish orange glow spread faintly beneath his fur.
Adam lunged again.
This time the strike landed.
His shoulder slammed into Luna's chest like a battering ram.
The impact drove the air from her lungs as she crashed against the wall behind her.
Pain flared through her ribs.
Luna growled.
Fine.
If he could survive the first round...
She would put him down harder.
The next exchange became brutal.
Luna moved faster now.
More aggressive.
She slipped past his next charge and slashed downward across the back of his ankle.
Her claws cut deep.
The Achilles tendon snapped.
Adam collapsed onto one knee.
Before he could recover Luna twisted behind him, using leverage and momentum to wrench both of his arms free from their sockets, ripping them clean off.
Then she struck again.
Her claws raked across his face.
Deep.
Precise.
His eyes burst under the force.
Blood sprayed across the stone floor.
Adam collapsed.
The dungeon floor became a red smear beneath his body.
Luna stood over him, panting heavily.
Her ears drooped.
Her chest heaved.
The rage inside her slowly faded.
And suddenly she realized what she had done.
Adam lay in front of her.
Broken.
Mangled.
Blind and crippled
Blood pooled around his body as his regeneration began again.
But this time it was slow.
Too slow.
His body twitched weakly as torn flesh struggled to repair itself.
Luna's heart sank.
What did I just do?
The realization struck like a blade through her chest.
Her strength had always been dangerous.
But now she had turned it on the only person she had ever prioritized protecting.
The thought shattered something inside her.
I'm a monster.
Her ears flattened completely.
Her breathing grew uneven.
Then Adam's tattoo flared.
The glow exploded outward from his chest.
Orange-red energy poured across his body like burning veins as heat surged through his muscles.
Steam erupted from his wounds.
Bone regrew.
Muscle reformed.
His eyes regenerated inside their sockets.
Within seconds Adam pushed himself upright again.
Fully healed.
Fully enraged.
Luna stared in disbelief.
"What the fu…?"
The wolf roared and charged.
She barely raised her arms before he reached her.
His hand grabbed her leg.
His other seized her arm.
Then he tore.
The pain was instantaneous.
Blinding.
Her limb separated from her body with a sickening rip.
The world spun.
Adam lifted her massive form overhead and smashed her into the dungeon floor.
Stone shattered beneath the impact.
The last thing Luna saw before darkness took her was the ceiling spinning above her.
Then everything went black.
Her body lay motionless in the rubble as blood pooled beneath her.
Her chest didn't move.
Her eyes remained closed.
Anyone watching would have assumed she was dead.
But faintly…
Very faintly…
Her chest lifted once.
Then again.
Unconscious.
Not dead.
Adam stood over the broken chamber and lifted his head.
He howled again.
The sound tore through the night for the second time.
Then the wolf turned.
With terrifying force he charged forward and smashed straight through the dungeon wall.
Stone exploded outward as his body burst through it like paper.
He didn't slow.
He ran.
Into the night.
And somewhere across the island…
Chaos waited for him.