The city was dying.
Smoke bled from the skyline, curling into the night like the ghost of everything they had lost. Sirens wailed in the distance, half-swallowed by thunder and the groaning of collapsing steel. The Crimson Moon hung above Westpoint — swollen, low, and angry — painting the world in red.
Kael stood on the edge of the relay tower's rooftop, coat whipping in the wind, eyes fixed on the horizon. His knuckles were raw from the last fight; his claws still dripped faint streaks of dark blood — Lucien's, but not enough. Not nearly enough.
Below him, the city streets flickered with fire. Cyberwolves — Lucien's machines — still prowled, hunting the last of the Silver Fang. But Kael wasn't running anymore. He had come to end it.
Behind him, Selene stepped forward through the haze. Her face was pale under the moonlight, her crimson eyes catching every flicker of flame. She looked at Kael with that quiet ache that came when words no longer worked.
"You know what happens if we destroy the relay," she said softly. "It'll take down half the city's grid. People will die."
Kael didn't turn. "People are already dying." His voice was low, steady. "Lucien built his empire on their blood. I'm not leaving this world to him."
Selene came closer, close enough to touch him. "Kael, listen to me. Lucien isn't just trying to rule—he's trying to erase what we are. If you do this, you'll kill the link that keeps our kind hidden. You'll expose every supernatural being in this city."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Maybe it's time the world saw what we've become."
Thunder cracked. And from the shadows behind them, a voice Kael knew too well rolled through the wind.
"Beautiful speech, Alpha," Lucien said, stepping into the moonlight. "But you were never one for strategy, were you?"
Lucien looked half-human, half-something else. His veins glowed faintly under his skin — the result of his hybrid serum. His eyes were twin orbs of burning red, and his smile was the kind only monsters learned to perfect.
Selene's breath hitched. "Lucien, stop this madness. You're killing your own blood."
Lucien's laughter was sharp and cold. "Blood? You think that means anything anymore? You're just a failed experiment, Selene — proof that weakness can wear a pretty face."
Kael moved before the last word left his mouth. One second he was standing still; the next, he was a blur of fury and muscle. His claws collided with Lucien's arm, tearing through flesh and metal — sparks bursting like tiny suns.
Lucien retaliated instantly, slamming Kael into a steel beam so hard the whole tower shook. The impact cracked concrete, sent dust raining from above.
"You always were predictable," Lucien hissed. "Rage before reason."
Kael rose slowly, blood dripping from his lip. "Maybe," he growled, "but rage is all I have left."
He lunged again, this time faster. Their blows echoed through the rooftop — claw against steel, flesh against fury. Sparks flew. The wind screamed. Every strike carried years of hatred, betrayal, and pain.
Selene could only watch — the two men she loved in different ways locked in a storm that neither could walk away from.
At one point, Kael got Lucien in a chokehold, slamming him down onto the cracked surface of the roof. "You turned them into weapons!" Kael roared. "You murdered your own pack!"
Lucien laughed through blood. "I evolved them. You're just too afraid to change."
Lucien's hand flared with crimson energy — a pulse from the hybrid serum — and he drove it straight into Kael's chest. Kael stumbled back, gasping, the light searing through his veins. He fell to one knee, vision blurring.
Selene screamed his name, rushing forward, but Lucien caught her by the throat. "Don't," he said, smiling. "You'll ruin my masterpiece."
Her hand burned with energy — vampire fire, bright and violent. She shoved it into his side, forcing him to release her. The smell of burning flesh filled the air.
Kael staggered to his feet again, heart pounding like war drums. His wolf surged beneath his skin, demanding release. The moon called to him — the Crimson Moon — and he gave in.
Bones shifted. Muscles tore and reformed. His body expanded, fur bursting across his arms and shoulders. In seconds, Kael stood taller than Lucien — the full form of the Silver Fang Alpha, silver eyes burning under the blood-red sky.
Lucien smiled, transforming in response — his hybrid form grotesque, a fusion of wolf, man, and machine.
The rooftop trembled as they clashed again, this time primal and unrestrained. Kael's claws ripped through Lucien's armor; Lucien's metal fangs tore into Kael's shoulder. Lightning flashed, and the city below looked like a battlefield from another world.
Selene, half-blinded by the light, reached the console — the relay controls — and hesitated. She could end it. One press and the system would overload, killing every cyberwolf under Lucien's control. But it would also kill Kael. The link between the Alphas ran deep — she could feel it in her blood.
"Selene!" Kael's voice roared through the chaos. "Do it!"
Her fingers trembled. "Kael, no—"
"DO IT!"
Lucien slammed Kael into the wall again, laughing as the tower's beams groaned under their weight. "He'll die for nothing," he sneered.
Selene's eyes filled with tears. "Then we all die free."
She hit the switch.
A deafening surge of energy exploded across the tower. Blue light flooded the night sky, followed by a thunderclap that split the clouds. The relay overloaded, lightning arcing across the city in a wave. One by one, the cyberwolves collapsed — sparks sputtering, metal shrieking — until silence reclaimed Westpoint.
On the rooftop, the blast sent Kael and Lucien flying in opposite directions. Lucien hit the edge, teetered, and fell — disappearing into the fire below.
Kael lay broken near the center, breathing shallowly. Selene ran to him, hands trembling, blood mixing with rain.
"Kael, stay with me," she whispered.
He smiled weakly. "Told you… I'd finish it."
"You can't leave me now," she said, voice cracking. "Not after everything."
He reached up, brushing his clawed fingers against her cheek. "The moon's fading…"
"No. Don't you dare—"
The Crimson glow dimmed, giving way to silver dawn. Kael's eyes closed slowly, his body returning to human form as the first light of morning touched him.
Selene held him against her chest, tears falling freely. Around them, the tower burned — but in the distance, the city began to breathe again.
A new day. A broken peace.
And under that pale dawn, Selene whispered the words only he could hear.
"For every moon that rises… I'll find you again."