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CALLUM

T he city’s quieter tonight, but it’s the wrong kind of quiet, like the moment before a snare snaps shut.

I breathe in deep and nearly gag.

Beneath the usual stench—smog, old oil, fried food gone sour—there’s something else. Something wrong. Metallic and wild. Like storm lightning pressed under your tongue.

“You feel that?” I murmur, low.

Elias walks beside me, boots crunching gravel. “Yeah,” he says, sniffing the air. “Smells like new blood. Fresh. Female. Could it be the same one as the other night?”

I grunt. “No, it’s not.” I’m not sure how I can tell, but I can. This one is… different. “Plus, they usually don’t drift this far. Even the rookies know better.”

“Unless they don’t know anything,” he replies. “Could be one of those suppressed types that popped hard during the full moon last night. There has been more and more lately, especially with the Blood Moon.”

I stop near an alley mouth, scanning the shadows. “This isn’t just any pop. It’s deeper. Feels like... the Veil shifted.”

Elias arches a dark brow. “The Veil’s already gone.”

“Not all the way,” I say. “There’s still cracks. Still stuff buried in us that doesn’t wake up until something shakes it loose.”

Elias doesn’t argue. He just watches me, silent.

I feel it again, that pressure building in my chest. Like my ribs are too small for whatever’s clawing at them from inside.

The scent strengthens.

We round a corner, and my feet slow.

It’s here.

Not the source, but close. The air hums with it. The alley is empty, but there are signs—scrapes on the wall, a smear of something dark on the dumpster edge, and the faintest trace of heat in the air.

Elias crouches, touching the ground with two fingers. “Movement. Fast. Someone fell here.”

I crouch next to him. “She was hurt. And she’s shifting.”

The air around us is vibrating like a tuning fork. My beast snarls beneath my skin, pacing, restless. I close my eyes and drop lower into instinct.

Follow it, the animal part of me whispers. Find her.

But something’s off.

This isn’t the usual territorial alertness. This is pull . Like a magnet inside of me, dragging me forward. It’s not lust. Not fear. It’s something I can’t explain, even to myself.

“Callum,” Elias says, voice wary. “You’re twitching.”

“I need to see where it leads.”

“You’re not gonna fully shift, are you? Here?” Elias looks around nervously at the open streets.

I ignore him. Let the beast rise, just under the skin.

The change ripples through me—not all the way. My nails stretch, eyes sharpen, hearing triples. My spine hums.

Then I catch it.

The scent.

It hits me like a punch.

Ash. Moonlight. And blood.

But it’s not old blood, it’s alive . Still in motion. Still transforming. The air around it is warping, and my head fills with static.

“What the fuck is that ?” Elias says beside me, backing up half a step.

“I don’t know.” My voice comes out rough and curious.

We follow it, fast and low, cutting through side streets like shadows.

A block later, I slow to a halt.

There’s nothing here but a patch of concrete still hot with energy. The scent lingers. Recent. She was here. Minutes ago, maybe less.

But she’s gone now.

“Tracked?” Elias asks.

I shake my head. “No. She’s moving blind. Instinct only.”

“Could be a werewolf,” he mutters, grim.

“Smells like one,” I agree. “But different.”

“Different how?”

I shake my head. “Like it’s not... finished.”

We stand there a long moment, just breathing. Listening. The city murmurs around us like it always does. But the undercurrent is louder now. Something shifted tonight, and it’s still echoing.

“You think she crossed the line on purpose?” Elias asks finally.

“No,” I say. “This wasn’t a rogue looking to start shit. This was someone in the middle of something they couldn’t stop.”

“She shouldn’t be here,” he says.

“I know.”

“So what do we do?”

I hesitate. My jaw tightens.

“We wait,” I say. “We watch. She’ll show again.”

Elias doesn’t push, but I know what he’s thinking. Same thing I am.

This wasn’t just a trigger.

This was an awakening .. And those… those are illegal, even with the veil lifted. PEACE would have a field day with this. And so would my pack.

Whoever she is, whatever she’s becoming, she's about to upset the thin balance we all have been teetering on.

I know for certain that the pack isn’t going to like it.