Inside Lycara’s palace, the atmosphere was already electric. The goddess stood at the center of a ritual circle, her pack gathered around her. The room vibrated with ancient language and pulsing green light. Just as Lycara raised both hands to the ceiling and spoke her incantations, her senses sharpened. She paused, sniffed once, and narrowed her gaze.

  “They’re here,” she growled. “Kill them now.”

  The pack immediately scattered through the palace corridors.

  Outside, the sky shifted. Thick clouds rolled overhead, turning a deep viridian. A massive circular opening slowly formed in the center of the swirling green mist, as if the heavens themselves were being carved open.

  “We have to move fast,” Derek said.

  They sprinted down the cracked road toward the palace, shadows dancing in the green fog. Water rippled loudly on their left. The lake surged. A violent splash erupted as two massive figures broke the surface.

  Paul and Gwendolyn.

  Sheryl and Derek staggered back from the force. The werewolves stood upright, snarling, saliva dripping from their exposed fangs.

  They charged.

  Derek fired the M4 point-blank as Gwendolyn lunged. The Orichalcum-jacketed silver round struck her forehead. She dropped instantly, body collapsing with a thud.

  Sheryl fired three shots into Paul’s chest. The rounds hit hard. Paul stumbled, eyes flickering as the green life drained from him. Both bodies fell limp. A faint green mist rose from their corpses and evaporated into the night sky.

  Two down.

  Two more emerged.

  Carl sprinted from behind and tackled Derek to the ground. Phil grabbed Sheryl by the collar of her jacket and yanked her deeper into the woods.

  Carl wrapped his arm around Derek’s neck in a chokehold. “What are you going to do now?” Carl laughed. “Hahaha.”

  Derek’s teeth lengthened into sharp lion fangs. He twisted and sank his teeth deep into Carl’s forearm. Carl roared in pain, recoiling.

  He prepared to transform, but Derek drew his Glock and fired three shots into Carl’s chest. The rounds tore through him. Carl hit the dirt and did not move again.

  Meanwhile, Phil slammed Sheryl onto her back in the dark forest.

  “Why,” he snarled, “why did you hide your gift from me?” He pinned her against a tree by her throat.

  Her eyes flashed yellow. Her muscles surged with power. She broke his grip, spun, and kicked him backward. Phil rolled across the forest floor and sprang to his feet. His claws extended. His eyes glowed green.

  He charged.

  Sheryl reacted fast. She grabbed the Celestial Silver Spike from her back. As Phil came crashing down, she drove the weapon up into his stomach. The force of his own momentum impaled him deep onto the spike.

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  A thick green substance poured from his mouth. His eyes dimmed.

  She leaned close. “Phil,” she whispered, “I’m sorry. You got too close. I tried to warn you. Goodbye.”

  She pulled the spike free. Phil’s body went still.

  Sheryl sniffed the air, shifting her focus toward Derek. She dropped onto all fours and bolted back toward the palace with thunderous speed.

  Inside, Derek entered the hallway. He held his M4 ready as he advanced through the maze-like interior.

  A voice echoed.

  “Good job, Derek,” Lycara said. “Too bad you refuse to join us.”

  Derek swept the area, but she was nowhere in sight.

  The ceiling cracked. Debris rained down.

  Sarah crashed through the roof and landed on top of him with bone-shattering force. She grabbed him with her claws and flung him across the hall.

  Derek’s eyes turned yellow. His tactical vest tore apart. His muscles expanded. His bones shifted.

  The werelion exploded outward.

  Savage had returned.

  Sarah stood upright. Derek mirrored her stance. They collided in a violent crash. Derek speared her to the ground and bit into her shoulder, lifting her and slamming her through a wall. Sarah recovered, slashed across his face, then raked claws down his chest.

  Derek seized her arm and drove his massive claws deep into her abdomen. She screamed and stumbled back, but he grabbed her throat with both hands and choke slammed her through another wall.

  Derek had only seconds before she rose again.

  He reached his side, grabbed the smaller Celestial Silver Spike, and plunged it into her chest. Sarah gasped. Green light pulsed through her eyes, then faded. Her body went still.

  Sarah’s body hit the floor with a heavy, final thud. Derek pulled the spike free, chest heaving, fur matted with sweat and blood. He barely had time to steady himself when he felt it — a tremor in the air behind him.

  A low hiss.

  A scent he recognized.

  Michelle.

  She stepped into the fractured hallway from a side chamber, her silhouette framed in the flicker of green energy leaking from the ritual above. She was half-shifted — muscles bulging beneath stretched skin, claws fully formed, eyes glowing an unnatural, venomous green.

  Michelle:

  “You killed my sister.”

  Her voice was layered — human and Lycan, warped into something hateful.

  Derek didn’t respond. He lowered his stance, claws extending.

  Michelle lunged.

  She moved faster than Sarah had — a blur of claws and teeth. She slammed Derek against the wall, pinning him with one forearm to his throat and raking claws across his ribs with the other. Stone cracked. Derek roared and slashed back, cutting deep into her shoulder, but she didn’t let go.

  Michelle:

  “You think you can stop her?

  You can’t even stop me.”

  She lifted him and hurled him through a doorway. Derek crashed into a stone pillar, splitting it down the center.

  Michelle stalked forward, snarling.

  Derek rose, breathing hard, fangs dripping.

  She didn’t wait.

  She sprinted, low and feral.

  Derek countered — meeting her mid-charge with a vicious upward claw strike across the jaw. Michelle staggered but recovered instantly, pouncing with both arms extended.

  Derek dropped to one knee and swept her legs, flipping her over him. She crashed onto her back with a deep grunt.

  He moved in to finish her — but Michelle kicked him square in the chest, sending him sliding several feet across the stone.

  She scrambled upright.

  He mirrored her.

  They circled.

  Two predators.

  One kill.

  Michelle attacked first, swinging for his throat. Derek caught her wrist, twisted, and slammed her against the wall. She slashed at his face, cutting a deep line across his cheek. Derek roared and slammed his forehead into hers, stunning her long enough to reach for the spike holstered at his waist.

  Michelle saw the motion — and panicked.

  She lunged.

  Derek stabbed.

  The Celestial Silver Spike drove straight into her sternum with a tearing, metallic crack. Michelle froze. Her eyes widened, green light pulsing violently inside them — then flickering out.

  A wave of green mist burst from the wound in her chest as the Compound 47 ignited inside her corrupted Lycan source node.

  Michelle convulsed once.

  Then she collapsed into Derek’s arms.

  Her body reverted to human form before it even hit the floor.