ARIA POV
I woke to the sound of breaking glass and tiny growls. My eyes snapped open just in ti to see three small wolf cubs falling across my bedroom floor, surrounded by the remains of what had been my favorite water pitcher.
"Luna!" called a frightened voice from the hallway. "I’m so sorry! They got away while I was changing the little girl’s clothes!"
I couldn’t help but smile as I swung my legs out of bed. My triplets—two boys and a girl—had changed into their wolf forms again. At just six months old, they were already breaking all the rules of werewolf growth.
"It’s okay, Mira," I called back to my friend and top babysitter. "They’re getting faster every day."
I knelt down, holding out my hands to the three troublemakers. Luna, the smallest with silver-tipped fur, jumped into my arms first. Her brothers, Orion and Felix, circled carefully, still playing their ga of chase.
"Co here, you little monsters," I said, laughing as Orion finally jumped into my lap. Felix stayed defiant, growling at with his tiny teeth showing.
I let my eyes flash silver—just for a second. Felix instantly tucked his tail and trotted over, submitting with a little whine.
"That’s cheating," said Kael from the doorway, his normally stern face softened by a rare smile.
"Being a mother of triplet werewolf babies with special powers is all about survival," I answered, gathering Felix into my arms with the others.
The triplets had been born early, that terrible night six months ago when Silas escaped. But against all chances, they were healthy and strong—maybe too strong. Where regular werewolf children couldn’t shift until puberty, mine had been changing into wolf form since they were three months old.
Lucien appeared behind Kael, dical bag in hand. "Still having the headaches?" he asked, his healer’s eyes examining carefully.
I nodded, trying not to worry him. "Just small ones. Nothing like before."
After giving birth, my strange connection to Silas had faded, but never completely disappeared. Sotis I still caught flashes of what he was seeing—sterile rooms, scientific equipnt, humans in lab coats. The Shadow Division was studying him, using him. And sotis, I was sure they were preparing him for sothing.
A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. Jaxon entered, his face unusually serious.
"The council is waiting," he reminded . "Representatives from twelve packs are here for the progress report."
I sighed and handed the cubs to Mira, who had finally caught up. "Duty calls. Keep them in human form if you can. We don’t need them shifting in front of the guests."
Thirty minutes later, I sat at the head of a big table in what we now called the Unity Hall. Where once only Alphas had been able to speak, now representatives of all ranks sat together. Six months of change had not been easy, but the effects were starting to show.
"The training program has been successful beyond our expectations," reported Beta Thorn, once one of the most traditional wolves in our pack. "Forty-three Ogas have finished combat training. Seventeen have joined police units."
I nodded, pride filling my chest. "And the territory disputes?"
"Resolved in all but two regions," answered Kael, who handled security issues. "The Southern Ridge and Eastern Valley packs are still resisting integration."
This wasn’t shocking. Change never cos easily, especially to those who gained most from the old ways.
"What about the human situation?" asked an Oga representative from a nearby pack.
The room grew quiet. This was the question everyone feared.
"No direct confrontations," Jaxon replied carefully. "But our scouts report increased surveillance action near all big territories. The humans know sothing has changed among werewolf kind."
"And Silas?" soone asked.
I took a deep breath. "Still no sign of him. But I believe he’s with the Shadow Division, helping them gather information about us."
The morning continued with reports on food supplies, cub education, and territory growth. The new thod wasn’t perfect, but it was working. Wolves who had been oppressed for generations were finally finding their voices and their power.
As the eting wound down, Elder Malin slipped quietly into the room and gave a sealed note. My heart raced as I read it.
"Council dismissed," I said suddenly. "Thank you all for your reports."
When everyone but my mates had left, I put the note on the table for them to read.
"Three packs in the north have reported cubs born with silver eyes," Kael read aloud, his voice tight with worry.
"Like our triplets," Lucien said.
"Like ," I whispered.
Jaxon paced the room. "That’s not all. The note references strange lights in the sky above those territories, the night the cubs were born. " We all knew what this ant. The changes weren’t isolated to our pack. Sothing bigger was happening—sothing that went beyond our understanding of werewolf biology.
"We need to see these cubs," I decided. "Send word that I’ll travel north within the week."
"Is that wise?" Kael asked. "With the humans watching and Silas still out there?"
Before I could answer, a howl of fear sounded from outside. We rushed to the windows to see Mira running toward the building, fear on her face. Behind her, three small figures dashed through the crowd—my triplets, sohow escaped again, and fully shifted into wolf form.
But sothing was wrong. As I watched in horror, Luna—my tiny daughter—stopped in the middle of the gathering place. Her silver-tipped fur began to glow with blue light.
"No," I gasped, running for the door.
By the ti I reached her, Luna was floating three feet above the ground, her wolf form suspended in the blue light. The crowd backed away in fear as her brothers circled beneath her, whining.
"Luna!" I called, reaching for her.
The mont my fingers touched the light, a vision slamd into with such force that I staggered:
A laboratory. Silas strapped to a table. Scientists putting black liquid into his veins. A wall of monitors showing pictures of werewolf territories. And a countdown clock: 72:00:00... 71:59:59...
Then Silas turned his head, looking directly at as if he could see watching.
"Hello, Aria," he said, smiling through bloodstained teeth. "Your daughter says hello too."
The vision disappeared as Luna dropped into my arms, shifting back to human form. She blinked up at with eyes that were no longer their usual silver—but dark black like Silas’s veins.
"Mama," she said in a voice too adult for her infant body, "the bad man is coming. Three days."
My blood ran cold as I clutched her to my chest. Around us, the other werewolves whispered in fear.
"What’s happening to her?" Lucien demanded, his healer’s hands already checking our girl.
But I knew. Sohow, the link I had with Silas had transferred to Luna. Only bigger. More dangerous.
"We don’t have a week," I told my friends as Luna fell into an unnatural sleep in my arms. "We have three days before Silas and the Shadow Division make their move."
And this ti, they wouldn’t just be coming for .
They would be coming for all of us.
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