CHAPTER 198
(A day ago)
The air in the Blackstone valley had turned from stagnant to frigid, since the moment the search party returned with their unconscious Beta. The biting wind whipped through the pines as the last traces of the purple sunset vanished. The pack house stood tall against the encroaching night.
Alpha Silas stood on the wide stone porch, his silhouette framed by the moonlight. He was in his human form, though the sheer power radiating from him made the air around his skin hum with a static charge.
At the foot of the stairs, three massive wolves waited in the gravel. They were in their beast forms—thick-furred, lethal, and silent.
Their eyes, varying shades of amber and pale yellow, were fixed on Silas with a mixture of reverence and primal fear.
"My son has proven himself to be a liability I can no longer afford to ignore," Silas began, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that carried clearly in the crisp night air.
