The night sky over Westpoint looked broken.
Lightning crackled silently across the clouds, bending light like shattered glass. The moon hung too low — distorted, bleeding silver into the fog that smothered the city. From the highest tower in the industrial district, a pulsing beam of white light flickered like a heartbeat. Every few seconds it flared, humming deep enough to rattle glass and bones alike.
Kael stood at the ridge overlooking the city, drenched in rain, his breath visible in the cold air.
Selene crouched beside him, adjusting the scope on her rifle. Behind them, the remnants of the Silver Fang waited — five wolves who had survived too much and trusted too little.
Tarin spoke first. "That's it, isn't it? The relay tower."
Kael nodded. "Lucien's signal core. Once it stabilizes, the merge will be complete."
Selene glanced sideways. "You think he's there already?"
"He's been there," Kael said. "The Pulse is radiating from that place. He's feeding off it."
The others exchanged uneasy glances. For weeks they had chased rumors — destroyed labs, half-burned maps, ghost transmissions. But now, for the first time, they stood within reach of the end.
Selene's voice was low. "Then what's the plan?"
Kael's eyes narrowed. "We end it tonight."
---
They moved through the ruins like phantoms.
The air was thick with static — a subtle vibration that crawled under the skin. Even the rain seemed to fall slower here, bending around invisible waves. The streets below the tower were lined with dead machines — abandoned cars, melted drones, and statues of soldiers frozen mid-step, their armor fused into metal and bone.
Kael stepped over a body that hummed faintly when touched. "He's already begun the assimilation."
Selene frowned. "Assimilation?"
"He's rewriting organic matter into code," Kael said. "Making the world his network."
"Then we destroy the tower."
He didn't answer. His eyes were locked on the pulse of light above.
Each flare reflected in his irises — one human, one not.
---
The closer they got, the louder the Pulse became.
By the time they reached the inner perimeter, their comms had died, and their senses were drowning in vibration. Every heartbeat felt amplified, every breath heavy.
Tarin motioned toward the courtyard. "Two guards on the south gate. Looks like the Vanguard's elite unit."
Kael sniffed the air. "Not human."
Selene followed his gaze — the guards' skin shimmered faintly, like glass refracting silver beneath. "Hybrids."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Lucien's army."
Without a word, he moved. One step, then two — and he was gone, a blur of motion. The first hybrid didn't even have time to react before Kael's claws cut through his chest, silver blood spilling like quicksilver. The second turned, weapon raised, but Selene's shot cracked through the storm and dropped him instantly.
The rest of the pack slipped in silently behind them.
The base of the tower loomed above — a black metal structure laced with glowing veins, stretching into the clouds. The hum grew louder as they climbed the stairwell, their footsteps echoing like drums in an empty cathedral.
Halfway up, Kael stopped.
"Do you feel that?" he asked softly.
Selene did.
The Pulse had changed — no longer chaotic, but rhythmic. Like breathing. Like it was aware of them.
---
The door to the control chamber opened with a hiss.
And there he was.
Lucien stood at the center of the room, surrounded by suspended cables that glowed faintly blue. His once-human frame was now interlaced with metallic patterns, veins of light crawling beneath his skin. The floor around him pulsed like liquid circuitry.
"Kael," Lucien said, his tone calm — almost welcoming. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it."
Kael's claws flexed. "You've done enough damage."
Lucien smiled. "You say that as if you're any different from me. Look at yourself." He gestured at Kael's glowing chest. "You're a product of the same code. The only difference is that I stopped pretending to be human."
Selene raised her rifle. "He's more human than you ever were."
Lucien tilted his head, amused. "And yet, he's the one they fear. Do you know what they call him in the Vanguard records now? The Eclipseborn. The perfect bridge. The final evolution."
Kael stepped forward. "You call this evolution? Turning people into data?"
Lucien's smile faded. "You still don't see it. The world was dying — corruption, decay, flesh. The Pulse is salvation. It's order. You could help me bring it to perfection."
"I'd rather die."
Lucien sighed. "Then you will."
The Pulse roared.
Energy exploded outward, hurling everyone back. The floor cracked, light searing through the fractures. Kael staggered to his feet just as Lucien vanished in a burst of static — reappearing behind him, his hand striking like lightning. Kael caught the blow, claws clashing with metal. The sound was like thunder tearing the air apart.
Selene rolled behind a console, firing bursts of energy rounds that ripped through Lucien's shields. Sparks lit the room like fireflies. Tarin and Lira joined in, their howls shaking the tower.
But Lucien was faster — stronger. He moved like a storm given form, his body bending light itself.
Kael roared, slamming him through a steel pillar. "You don't get to rewrite the world!"
Lucien grinned, blood glowing silver. "I already have!"
He thrust his hand into the core of the floor — and the Pulse answered.
The tower shook violently. Energy surged upward through the spire, and the moon above flickered. For a heartbeat, it wasn't one moon — it was two, overlapping, splitting, merging.
Selene shouted, "Kael! The core — it's destabilizing!"
Kael turned — his body already flickering with the same silver code. "If it reaches critical, the entire city will become part of the network."
Lucien laughed. "Then let it! This is transcendence!"
Kael lunged, claws slashing through the air. The two collided again — wolf and god, code and blood. Sparks rained like stars.
Selene climbed toward the control panel, her fingers flying across ancient keys. "I can override it — but I need time!"
Kael heard her, and something in him snapped.
He roared — a sound that shook the bones of the tower. His pulse synced with the tower's hum. Every beat was pain. Every beat was power.
He tackled Lucien into the beam of light, both of them consumed by the Pulse.
The tower screamed.
Selene watched in horror as the light engulfed everything — the walls, the floor, even the rain outside. The sound was deafening, like the universe tearing itself in half.
Then — silence.
The light vanished.
Selene blinked through the smoke. The beam was gone. The tower still stood, barely. Lucien's body lay motionless near the shattered core — his eyes blank, his veins dark.
And Kael…
Kael was gone.
Only his pendant — the wolf sigil — lay on the floor, glowing faintly against the ruin.
Selene dropped to her knees, clutching it to her chest as tears mixed with the rain.
"Don't you dare leave me again," she whispered.
And somewhere, deep within the static hum of the dead tower, a heartbeat pulsed once.
Then again.
Slow. Steady. Alive.