17 hours earlierGabriel"You're carrying my heir, now come back...you can't defy fate!" I growled, my powerful alpha voice reverberating with an undeniable force. "Take your rightful place at my side, or you'll be captured!"I locked eyes on the sleek silver wolf fleeing into the night - the very female werewolf now pregnant with my child. Her intoxicating scent hung ripe in the air, stoking an insatiable drive within me to claim what was mine.Tensing my haunches, I prepared to give chase, but sudden shouts and commotion shattered the stillness around me."Stand down and surrender or we will open fire!" a gruff voice shouted. I whipped around to find myself surrounded by U.S. soldiers, their assault rifles trained on me.A rumble built in my broad chest as Fury, my bestial wolf counterpart, raged just beneath the surface."Those puny humans dare interfere with forces far beyond their comprehension," he snarled inside my head.In a blur, I launched myself at the nearest soldier, seiz
GabrielWith a blur of preternatural speed, I launched myself into the soldiers' midst, claws and fangs shredding through their ranks like a whirlwind of death."Talon!" I roared over the chaos. "Cut down these infernal insects! I must pursue my the mother of my pups!"My beta's eyes went wide with surprise as he tore into a group of soldiers from the flank. "Your Your pups?" he called back, blocking a hail of gunfire with his nigh-impervious form."Yes, you dense cur!" I bellowed, ripping a man's throat out with a vicious swipe. "I smell my pups on a female who carries my unborn pup within her!"I punctuated the revelation by shattering the spine of another soldier underfoot. Talon looked appropriately shaken by the news."Alpha...you never mentioned seeing a human," he said carefully, pausing to fling a dismembered corpse aside. "Why was this kept secret?""I wasn't seeing anyone! Damn it! I shouted, breaking a soldier's neck."And she's not human!""I never knew about them until no
GabrielThe silence in my study was shattered as Talon burst through the door, eyes wild. "Alpha! You must see this at once."I turned from the window, frowning at his flustered state. "What is it? Have you found a lead on Lyra's whereabouts?""More than that," he said grimly, striding over to my desk and producing a tablet. "I had the hunters scour the human cities for any sign or footage of her. Look what they uncovered."He tapped the screen and security footage began playing, grainy but clear enough to make out. It showed Lyra - her silvery hair and lithe figure unmistakable - entering what looked like a human medical facility."There she is," I growled, leaning closer. "But she's not alone..."Indeed, a tall, dark-haired man in a leather jacket could be seen following a few paces behind Lyra. At first I thought little of it - until the man glanced up at the camera, his sharp features visible for just an instant.I felt my breath catch in my throat as icy realization washed over m
Gabriel"Make no mistake, they will all burn," I growled, reaching out to rake furrows in the thick glass with my claws. "Every last stain upon this diseased place will be scoured utterly before I ascend to my preordained glory."Somewhere out there amongst the festering human civilizations, Damien plotted and schemed alongside the Silvermoon."Alpha, wait...." Talon calls my attention."What about Lyra, the mother of your pups, she might be in the pack and you don't want to hurt her..." He explained.I took a slow, steadying breath, Talon's words reverberating through me. As much as I burned to enact my wrath upon Damien, he raised a valid point.Lyra was but an innocent pawn in whatever depraved scheme that mongrel was weaving. To harm her would be to endanger the life of my unborn heir growing within her womb."You're right," I growled after a tense silence, raking my claws through my hair as I struggled to master my fury. "Whatever vile intentions Damien harbors, Lyra herself is n
GabrielOne-hour Earlier The smell of her fear hit me like a physical force as I tore through the dense underbrush, brambles raking at my skin."I'm coming, my pups!" I roared, willpower bleeding into a feral growl as Fury's bestial influence flowed through me in thick currents."She is in fear, Alpha! I can scent the cloying reek of rogue filth drawing ever nearer!" the primal wolf's voice reverberated in my mind. "Her life hangs by a sinew if we do not hasten our strides!"Putting on an extra burst of Alpha speed, I followed the twin trails of Lyra's earthy aroma and the coppery tinge of her freshly spilled blood cutting through the forest's musty odors. Every instinct told me she'd been set upon by one of the marauding rogue packs that plagued these untamed woodlands.The sounds of snarling and terrified sobbing reached my ears, inflaming my protective fury into a supernova of cosmic wrath. I could practically taste the fear radiating off of her - the desperation of a mother wolf
Gabriel"It's her, I can smell the pheromones Again." Fury rumbled, making me turn in a swift mode.I shifted into my massive wolf form, letting my inner wolf Fury take the lead. As my lupine body raced through the forest, my human consciousness blended with Fury's primal instincts. "Guide me to her, Fury," I projected. "I smell Lyra's fear mixed with the stink of those rogue wolves."Fury zeroed in on Lyra's maternal scent, that alluring aroma of the new life she carried. Her trail led us to a clearing where a mangy rogue pack had surrounded her."There!" Fury's excited thoughts rang out. "Our mate is terrified but still fights to protect our unborn pup!" A protective snarl rumbled in my throat. The brutish lead rogue leered at Lyra, eyeing her pregnant belly with greedy hunger."Well well, a lone omega carrying a fresh litter," he sneered. "That plump little one will make a fine meal for us!"The other mutts closed in, licking their chops. Lyra shrank back, hands cradling her bel
Gabriel"Bring the car," I ordered but before they did, some more rogues circled us."No one leave this place!" One of the rogues shouted with a smirk."No, actually none of you are leaving this place alive, filth!" I roared as more rogues circled us, hackles raised and fangs bared.My fury blazed white-hot. How dare these diseased curs threaten the safety of my unborn heir and its mother? I would tear them apart with my bare hands if need be.Shifting into my fearsome hybrid form, I let out an ear splitting alpha roar that shook the trees. The rogues faltered, terror thick in the air."You worthless scavengers have courted oblivion this day!" I thundered, stalking forward. "I am Gabriel Blackwood, the prime alpha - and the life you have jeopardized is that of my heir!"With each word, I felt the cosmic energies within me swell, the unstoppable cosmic tides of destiny itself cresting in my veins.The lead rogue, an ugly brute with one eye dangling from its socket, squared his shoulder
GabrielHad the strain and exertion been too much? Or worse - had something happened to the pup? Panic clawed at my throat as I gently cradled Lyra, feeling her shallow breaths ghosting against my skin."Stay with me," I growled, half command and half plea. "Do not falter now when you carry the heir to my legacy!""Stay and give birth to my pups!"One-hour earlier "Drive! Drive, we're running out of time!" I roared, cradling Lyra's unconscious form against my chest as we piled into the armored SUV.Terror clawed at my throat as I felt her shallow breaths ghosting against my skin. Fury, my inner wolf, whimpered deep in my psyche - a broken, keening sound wracked with fear."Do not falter now when you carry the heir to my legacy!" I growled, both commanding and pleading in the same breath.Lyra didn't stir, her face ashen and body utterly limp in my arms. Fresh crimson bloomed between her legs, that copper tang of her blood setting my pulse to thundering.Had the strain been too much?