The city was dying quietly.
Power grids had collapsed hours ago, leaving streets swallowed in flickering darkness. Streetlamps blinked and failed, plunging entire blocks into shadow. Only the sky burned—a deep, unnatural red hanging above the skyline like an open wound.
Kael stood on the edge of the old clock tower, watching smoke curl from the ruins of Echelon. His jacket was torn, streaked with soot, blood, and rain. The wind carried the faint metallic tang of burning steel.
Below him, sirens wailed. Wolves—both human and beast—moved through the alleys, trying to regroup. Some carried the wounded. Some didn't speak at all.
Selene joined him quietly, her hair damp, the glow of the crimson sky turning her silver eyes dark.
"It's spreading," she said softly. "The red light. Every wolf I've scanned since the blast—something's happening to them. Their heart rates are erratic, senses off the charts."
Kael didn't answer immediately. His jaw was tight, his eyes locked on the sky.
"That's no moon," he said finally. "It's bleeding."
Selene frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I've seen it once before." He turned to her, voice low. "Years ago, when Lucien first began his experiments. That night, the moon turned crimson, and half my pack lost control. They tore each other apart."
She stepped closer, worry flickering in her voice. "Kael, are you saying—"
"Yes," he said. "He's activating them."
---
A roar cut through the night—low, guttural, not human. The sound shook the air.
Kael's eyes snapped toward the rooftops across the street. A shape moved there—massive, wolf-like, its fur slick with rain and reflecting the moon's bloodlight.
Another howl answered it. Then another.
Selene's pulse spiked. "He's unleashing them all."
Kael's claws slid free, glinting faintly. "Then we make a stand before they hit the civilians."
He leapt from the tower without hesitation, landing hard on the street below. The concrete cracked beneath him. Selene followed, rolling as she hit the ground, pistol already drawn.
They moved together, silent but urgent, down a half-lit avenue. In the distance, screams echoed between the buildings—people running, glass breaking, car alarms blaring.
By the time they reached the central plaza, the first wave of beasts was already there—six, maybe seven of them. But they weren't pure wolves anymore. Their forms were distorted, twisted, spines bristling with bone spikes. Their eyes glowed the same red as the moon.
Selene whispered, "Hybrids… he's forcing them through incomplete transformation cycles."
Kael growled. "He's turning them into weapons."
The first creature lunged. Kael met it head-on, slamming his shoulder into its chest. Bones cracked. He spun, claws flashing, slicing deep into the second's neck. Hot blood sprayed across the pavement.
Selene fired from behind him—controlled bursts, aiming for joints, not hearts. "Kael, three on your left!"
He ducked low, swept one off its feet, then drove a claw through its throat. Another crashed into him from the side, knocking him into a car. The metal folded inward with a shriek.
Selene sprinted, slammed a silver charge onto the creature's back, and detonated it. The blast sent it flying into a storefront. Glass rained everywhere.
When the dust cleared, only two hybrids still stood—larger, faster, smarter. Kael's chest heaved, his veins glowing faintly red under the skin. Selene noticed.
"Kael—your eyes!" she shouted.
He blinked, and for a split second the red light flared inside his pupils. The Crimson Moon wasn't just affecting the others—it was touching him too.
He staggered, fighting the pull. "Not now… not like this…"
Selene moved to him. "Fight it! You're stronger than the signal!"
The last hybrid rushed them both. Kael turned, fury snapping his control. He roared—louder than thunder—and when his claws came down, it wasn't a fight. It was an execution.
When the creature hit the ground, it didn't move again.
Kael stood over it, shaking, his chest rising like a bellows. His breath came out in bursts of white steam. Selene placed a hand on his arm carefully, her voice steady but soft.
"Hey. Look at me. You're still here."
His gaze met hers, eyes flickering between gold and red. After a long second, the red dimmed.
He dropped to one knee, exhausted. "He's inside me now, Selene. That signal—Lucien's using the moon to reach our blood."
Selene crouched beside him. "Then we cut the signal."
"How?"
She hesitated, glancing toward the horizon where Echelon's smoke still rose. "There's one place left—the relay tower at Westpoint. It's the only uplink strong enough to broadcast across the whole city. If we destroy it, we stop him from controlling more wolves."
Kael stood, wiping blood from his mouth. "Then that's our next target."
"But Kael…" she said quietly. "You won't make it through another transformation like that. If the moon pulls again, it could take you for good."
He gave a faint smile. "Then you'll have to pull me back."
---
They left the plaza in silence, the air thick with smoke and static.
As they passed through the ruined streets, Kael caught glimpses of his reflection in broken windows—his wolf form flickering behind his human face. It unnerved him, but he didn't stop.
Somewhere far away, Lucien watched through surveillance feeds, his voice echoing faintly in the static of Kael's mind:
> "You can't fight what you are, brother. The Crimson Moon reveals the truth."
Kael clenched his fists. "You want truth?" he muttered. "I'll show you what a real wolf does."
Selene shot him a small grin despite everything. "That sounded almost poetic."
"Don't get used to it," he replied.
They disappeared into the red haze of the night, toward the west end of the city—toward the next reckoning.
---
The Crimson Moon hung above them, pulsing faintly, watching.
Somewhere beneath that blood-red sky, Lucien smiled in the glow of his monitors.
> "Run, Kael," he whispered. "Every step you take only makes the beast inside stronger."
And miles away, Kael felt it—the beast's heartbeat, pounding in time with the moon.
He didn't know how long he could resist.
But one thing was certain—Lucien had just declared war on the last true alpha left alive.