bin

was my sanctuary, all dark wood, leather-bound books, and the

rounds of my territory. I heard the soft click of the door closing. I heard two sets of foot

urn

ld tilted

t black. But the mask, a blank white slate, was deeply

est and wild mo

had never smelled before, yet it felt as familiar as my own skin. A deep, primal part of me,

i

at was mine. Every instinct screamed at me to act. I had to lock every muscle in my body to keep from lunging forward. The scent was a drug,

Alpha control. It had to be the desperation. The hope that th

or. "You are the emissary of The Surgeon?" My

flat, digitally altered. "I am. And I am here to assess whethe

it was breathtaking. An

s never leaving the masked figure. "Take t

a P

rd. Machines beeped and whirred, casting a sterile, blue glow over t

ale and waxy, his breathing shallow. The air in the room was thick wit

y restrained power. His gray eyes watched my every move, sharp a

m. I approac

vered in a thin, black leather glove, and gently took the old wolf's wrist.

tory his body was telling me. The subtle tremors in his muscles. The whispe

w moments,

voice cutting through the quiet hum o

l degrees. "I have had the best healers in three territories

It is subtle. Administered over years. Micro-doses of silver dust, mixed

precision. It was a formula known

I knew then that I had him. He had suspected. He had seen some piece of evidence, bu

Alpha's command replaced by

ilence stretch, letting

ed. "A standard antidote would kill him. It requires... a biological cataly

his jaw clenched. "Wh

my mask, I met his intense, stormy gray eyes. I held h

. It is a specific bio-signature, a uniq

, his voice a low

he silent, tense room like

Hanc

ace a blank mask of shock. Alistair, who had

The girl from the market. The driver who had outmaneuvered a pack of Rogu

aring at now-the mysterious, masked emissary-wit

is head. I could see it in the

onfusion, my