Adriel's POV
The city didn't feel the same after the blackout.
New York moved more cautiously now—lights restored but trust shaken, voices lower, shadows longer. Something had shifted the night the power died, and even humans felt it. I felt it everywhere, humming beneath my skin like a second heartbeat.
Mason insisted I stay inside for a few days after that.
"Just until we understand what's happening," he said gently, like he wasn't trying to cage me.
I agreed because part of me was afraid of what I might do if I lost control again.
But fear had never stopped me before.
On the fourth night, Mason came home later than usual. His shoulders were tight, his jaw set in a way I'd come to recognize as worry.
"Long day?" I asked.
"Something like that," he said, loosening his tie. "Come with me. I don't want you alone tonight."
The words warmed something fragile in my chest.
Together, we exited the penthouse and entered the restless light of the streets. The air smelled of rain and metal, and my senses tingled with discomfort. My wolf paced, alert, ears flicking at every sound.
"You okay?" Mason asked.
"I don't like this," I admitted. "It's too quiet."
He glanced around. "It's New York. It's never quiet."
But it was.
The street we turned onto was poorly lit, and half the storefronts were closed. My heartbeat quickened, instincts screaming.
I slowed.
Mason noticed instantly. "What is it?"
"Something's wrong," I whispered.
The sound of footsteps came from behind us.
Then another set.
Then a laugh.
"Evening," a voice called.
I spun, placing myself between Mason and the shadows without thinking. Three men stepped into the light, faces half-hidden beneath hoods, eyes sharp and hungry.
"Wallet," one said casually. "Phone. Watch. Easy night."
Mason's hand brushed my arm. "Adriel"
"Stay back," I said quietly.
The men laughed.
"Aren't you cute," the tallest one sneered. "Is she your guard dog?"
Something in me snapped.
Not rage.
Instinct.
The first man lunged.
I moved.
Time slowed, the world sharpening into clean, brutal clarity. I caught his wrist, twisted, and felt bone give under my grip. He screamed as the knife clattered to the pavement.
The second man rushed me from the side.
I ducked, swept his legs out from under him, and slammed his head into the concrete hard enough to knock him out cold. The third hesitated, eyes widening as he finally saw me not a frightened girl, but something feral.
"Run," I told him, my voice low and dangerous.
He did.
The silence afterward was deafening.
I stood there, chest heaving, blood humming in my ears. My hands shook as the adrenaline drained away.
"Adriel," Mason said softly.
I turned.
He was staring at me as if he'd never seen me before.
"You're hurt," I said quickly, scanning him.
"I'm not," he replied. "But you"
I looked down.
My knuckles were scraped. Blood—mine and not mine—smeared across my skin. I hadn't even felt it.
"I didn't think," I whispered.
Mason stepped closer, his expression unreadable. "You didn't hesitate."
"I couldn't," I said. "They were going to hurt you."
The words settled heavily between us.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
"We should go," he said.
Back in the car, my hands wouldn't stop shaking. Mason drove in silence, his jaw tight.
"I'm sorry," I said finally. "I didn't mean to scare you."
He pulled over abruptly, turning to face me. "You saved my life."
I swallowed. "I didn't want you to see me like that."
"Like what?" he asked. "Strong?"
I laughed bitterly. "Like a monster."
He reached for my hand, hesitating just enough to ask permission without words. I let him take it.
"You're not a monster," he said firmly. "You're extraordinary."
Something cracked open inside me.
No one had ever said that before.
As we pulled into the garage, a strange unease crept over me. My wolf growled low in my chest.
"Do you feel that?" I asked.
Mason frowned. "Feel what?"
I scanned the shadows.
Eyes watched us from the dark.
Not human.
Wolves.
My breath hitched.
"They followed us," I whispered. "From my world."
Mason's grip tightened on the wheel. "Alex?"
"Not him," I said. "Not yet."
The air thickened, heavy with threat. A low growl echoed through the garage, answered by another—closer.
I pushed the door open, stepping out before Mason could stop me.
"Adriel," he hissed. "Wait"
Too late.
Shapes moved in the darkness, yellow eyes glowing.
Rogues.
Hunters.
I planted my feet, power rising instinctively, silver light gathering beneath my skin.
I would not run.
Not this time.
Behind me, Mason stepped out of the car, something metallic glinting in his hand.
"Get back," I ordered.
"Not happening," he said.
The wolves circled.
And somewhere above us, unseen but unmistakable, a presence pressed down on the air—commanding, furious, and far too familiar.
My chest burned.
Alex.
As the first rogue lunged and Alex's power crashed into the night like a storm, one terrible truth slammed into me—Saving Mason had just dragged the war into the human world.
The first rogue lunged.
I didn't think—I answered.
Power surged through me, silver and scorching, flooding my veins as I stepped into the attack instead of away from it. My palm slammed into the wolf's chest before he could shift fully, and the force sent him crashing into a concrete pillar with a sickening crack.
The garage shook.
"Adriel!" Mason shouted behind me.
"Stay back!" I yelled, my voice raw as another rogue circled to my left.
They moved like predators—silent, coordinated. Not pack. Not bound by law.
Rogues.
I felt Alex then, unmistakable and overwhelming, like a storm pressing against my spine. His presence wrapped around the space, dominant and furious, but he didn't intervene.
He was watching.
Judging.
The second rogue leapt. I ducked, spun, and kicked out hard. My heel connected with his jaw, snapping his head sideways. He skidded across the concrete, shifting uncontrollably, bones cracking as panic took him.
A third wolf growled low, eyes flicking past me and to Mason.
"No!" I roared.
Something ancient ripped free inside my chest.
The world slowed.
I crossed the distance between us in a blink, slamming into the rogue mid-shift. My claws tore through his shoulder as we hit the ground. He howled, thrashing, but I pinned him there, power burning through my limbs.
"Touch him," I snarled, "and I will end you."
The words didn't feel like mine.
The rogue froze.
Silence fell, heavy and stunned.
Then—clapping.
Slow. Deliberate.
I looked up.
Alex stepped out of the shadows.
He hadn't shifted. He didn't need to.
His eyes glowed silver in the dim light, his presence bending the air around him. Alpha power rolled off him in waves, thick enough to choke on.
"Impressive," he said coolly. "You've grown."
My hands shook not with fear, but with fury.
"You don't get to say my name," I snapped.
His gaze flicked briefly to Mason, still standing behind me, jaw tight, eyes sharp.
"So this is the human," Alex said. "The one you protect."
Mason stepped forward. "Back away from her."
Alex smiled faintly. "You don't understand what you're standing next to."
"I understand enough," Mason shot back. "She chose to save me. That's all that matters."
Alex's eyes darkened.
"She is packed," he said. "She belongs to us."
I rose slowly to my feet, placing myself fully between them.
"No," I said. "I don't."
The bond flared violently, pain and heat colliding in my chest.
Alex took a step closer. "You're dangerous now, Adriel. Unstable. The city can't contain what you are."
"Neither could you," I whispered.
For the first time, something flickered across his face—regret, sharp and fleeting.
Behind him, the remaining rogues backed away, fear overtaking hunger.
"This isn't over," Alex said quietly. "You've declared yourself."
He turned, shadows swallowing him as quickly as he'd appeared.
The silence afterward was deafening.
I swayed, suddenly exhausted.
Mason caught me before I fell.
And as his arms wrapped around me, one terrifying truth settled deep in my bones—Alex hadn't come to stop the rogues.
He'd come to confirm what I was becoming.
As distant sirens wailed and my power finally began to fade, I realized with chilling certainty that I wasn't just hunted anymore. I was being claimed.