The city didn't sleep.
Even after everything — the storms, the fires, the broken towers — Westpoint pulsed with life again. Cars hissed through rain-slicked streets, neon signs flickered against cracked glass, and the air reeked of exhaust and electricity.
Kael walked through it like a ghost.
The hood of his jacket was pulled low, shadowing the silver glow still lingering in his veins. Every few steps, he felt it — a flicker under his skin, like static crawling through his bones.
He's still in there.
The First Wolf.
Silent. Waiting.
Selene walked beside him, eyes darting across rooftops. "You shouldn't be out in the open," she whispered. "If Lucien's remnants are still out there—"
Kael cut her off. "They're not the problem anymore."
He stopped at the edge of a bridge overlooking the city. The river below glowed red in the early dawn light — Crimson Dawn. That's what the people had started calling it after the last blood moon.
"Then what is?" she asked softly.
Kael's reflection in the water shimmered — for a moment, not entirely human. A pair of golden eyes blinked back at him from the rippling surface. He looked away.
"Whatever the First Wolf left behind," he murmured. "It's spreading."
---
By noon, they reached the safehouse — an abandoned subway station buried beneath the east docks. Tarin and the others were already there, patching walls, sorting weapons, setting up what passed for a command center.
Tarin grinned when he saw Kael. "Alpha returns from the dead and still can't take a vacation, huh?"
Kael smirked faintly. "You try resting with a dead god whispering in your skull."
Laughter rolled through the room — the kind that tried to feel normal. But the shadows under everyone's eyes told a different story.
Selene tossed her wet coat aside. "Status?"
Tarin pointed at the board they'd set up: a map of the city covered in red pins. "We've got disturbances all over the lower sectors — people disappearing, wolves losing control mid-shift. It's spreading faster than before."
Kael leaned closer. The pattern of pins wasn't random. They were forming a shape.
A spiral.
A mark he'd seen before — carved into the ruins at Lunaris.
"The corruption," Kael muttered. "It's reaching here."
Selene crossed her arms. "You think the First Wolf's energy leaked into the city?"
Kael didn't answer. His gaze drifted again — to the faint glow creeping up his arm.
Tarin noticed it too. "You're glowing again, boss."
Kael sighed. "It's not me. It's him."
---
That night, the storm rolled in.
Thunder rattled the tunnels, rain hammering the streets above. The pack tried to rest, but unease filled the air. The lights flickered.
Kael sat alone in the maintenance room, staring at the flame of a single candle. The reflection of the flame twisted, forming shapes that weren't there — a snarl, a shadow, a wolf's skull.
Then came the voice.
Soft. Familiar.
> "You can't fight me forever."
Kael clenched his fists. "Watch me."
> "You're already changing. Every howl, every heartbeat — you're one step closer to what I was. What you could be."
"Shut up."
> "You think they'll still follow you when they see what's under your skin?"
Kael slammed his fist into the wall. The candle went out.
Selene burst in, eyes wide. "Kael!"
He looked up, breathing hard. The silver glow around his eyes faded slowly.
"Just… needed a minute," he muttered.
She stepped closer, crouching in front of him. "He's talking again, isn't he?"
He hesitated, then nodded.
Selene brushed her hand against his jaw, forcing him to look at her. "Then remember what's real. This is real. Me. The pack. The life you built after him. Don't let him drag you back."
Kael managed a small smile. "You always know what to say."
"Yeah," she said softly. "And I'll keep saying it until you start believing it."
---
Hours later, the alarm sounded.
Tarin's voice echoed through the tunnels. "Kael! We've got movement topside — Sector 9!"
Kael was already on his feet. "Let's move."
They burst through the subway doors into chaos. The rain hadn't stopped, and lightning painted the streets white. Wolves — feral, twisted — were tearing through cars and storefronts, their eyes glowing the same silver as Kael's veins.
"Gods," Selene whispered. "They're infected."
Kael shifted mid-stride, his body rippling into wolf form. His fur gleamed like steel under the lightning. He launched himself into the fray, claws tearing through the first corrupted wolf. But each one that fell screamed — not in pain, but in resonance.
They were connected.
Kael froze. He felt it — every death, every echo of their pain reverberating inside his skull.
> "See? You're one of them now."
He howled, louder than the thunder, and slammed another wolf into a wall. His claws dug deep, and the silver light from his veins burned into the creature — cleansing it, erasing it.
When the last one fell, Kael dropped to his knees, panting. His fur was soaked with rain and blood. The glow had dimmed again, but his pulse raced wildly.
Selene ran to him. "You okay?"
He nodded weakly. "For now."
Tarin crouched beside a fallen wolf, frowning. "These aren't Lucien's men. These were ours."
Kael's head snapped up. "What?"
Tarin pointed. "Recognize him? That's Mace. He went missing last week."
Kael stared at the body, disbelief tightening his chest. The corruption wasn't just spreading. It was turning their own.
Selene looked at him, voice trembling. "What do we do now?"
Kael stood slowly, eyes burning with grim resolve.
"We hunt the source," he said. "Before it hunts us."
He turned toward the skyline, where the first light of dawn was breaking — a deep, crimson red. The city glowed beneath it like a wound that refused to heal.
And somewhere in the distance, a faint howl answered back.
Kael's jaw tightened. "He's here. The First Wolf's echo".
Selene frowned. "I thought you destroyed him."
Kael looked at the horizon. "You can't destroy a god. You can only delay him."