Arclight City never slept.
Not really.
It just pulsed—like a heart too full of secrets.
Hours after the rooftop bloodshed, Kael moved through the lower district alone. The rain had stopped, but the air was heavy with smoke and the scent of oil. Neon lights flickered in puddles at his feet, reflecting the city's pulse in distorted ripples.
He didn't trust vampires. He never had. Yet something in Selene's voice lingered. That calm confidence. That strange mix of predator and protector.
He shouldn't have cared. But curiosity was a curse alphas rarely survived.
The East Docks stretched ahead—a wasteland of steel containers, rusted cranes, and the dull roar of the sea. The moon hovered low, turning the water into a sheet of molten silver.
Kael stopped near a row of cargo crates. Every sense was awake. His heartbeat slowed. The wind carried salt, metal… and her scent.
"You came," Selene's voice said from the shadows.
She stepped out from between the containers, coat fluttering in the sea breeze, moonlight glinting off her blade. Tonight she looked different—calmer, colder.
"You said you wanted to talk," Kael replied. "Make it quick."
Selene tossed him a small metal disk. It hummed faintly in his palm.
"Tracking beacon," she said. "Bloodshade tech. Lucien's been planting them near your territory for weeks. He's mapping your patrol routes."
Kael's jaw tightened. "You're sure?"
"Positive. He's not just hunting you, Kael. He's surrounding you."
Kael's hand crushed the beacon. The metal snapped like glass. "Then he's closer than I thought."
Selene studied him. "You don't scare easily."
"Fear is for those with something left to lose."
"Everyone has something left to lose," she said softly.
For a heartbeat, silence. Then—
A low growl rolled through the docks. Containers trembled. Kael's head snapped up.
From the darkness between the cranes, figures began to emerge. One. Two. Six. Then more.
Dozens.
Lucien's wolves.
Their eyes glowed red under the moon.
Selene cursed. "They followed me."
"No," Kael growled. "They followed him."
The sound came like a whisper of steel on stone.
From atop a crane, Lucien Vargan appeared. Dressed in black, tall, lean, and deadly. His smirk cut like a blade.
"Draven," he called, voice echoing through the night. "Still alive, I see."
Kael bared his teeth. "Unfortunately for you."
Lucien leaped down with the grace of a panther, landing lightly before Kael and Selene. Around them, the Bloodshade wolves tightened their circle.
Lucien's crimson eyes gleamed. "You've been busy. I see you made a friend."
Selene's hand drifted toward her weapon. "You call this friendship?"
Lucien laughed. "Oh, I remember you, half-blood. You were supposed to be dead."
"Disappointed?"
"On the contrary," Lucien said, eyes flicking toward Kael. "She's your problem now."
Before Kael could respond, Lucien whistled sharply. The sound pierced the air—and the wolves charged.
The docks exploded into chaos.
Kael shifted mid-motion, fur tearing through his skin as his body expanded, bones snapping into the form of the Silver Fang Alpha. He met the first attacker head-on, slashing through its throat.
Selene fired twin pistols, silver rounds lighting up the night. Each shot burned through flesh, searing crimson trails in the dark.
Lucien moved like lightning—faster than any wolf Kael had ever seen. His claws flashed as he struck, forcing Kael back with sheer speed.
"Still fighting the old way," Lucien taunted, striking again. "Strength without vision."
Kael caught his wrist, twisting until bone cracked. "And you talk too much."
They clashed again—claw to claw, alpha to alpha. Sparks flew as their strikes tore through metal and stone.
Selene reloaded mid-roll, blasting two wolves off a container. One tackled her from the side; she spun, dagger flashing, driving it deep into the beast's skull.
Her movements were precise, almost inhuman. Beautiful, in a deadly way.
Kael barely noticed. His focus stayed locked on Lucien, who was smiling even as blood dripped down his arm.
"You think you can stop what's coming?" Lucien hissed. "This city will kneel—under the moon and the fang."
Kael snarled, "Not while I breathe."
Lucien's grin widened. "Then I'll fix that."
He slammed his palm against the ground.
A surge of dark energy rippled through the docks. Kael stumbled back as something roared beneath the surface—something massive.
The sea churned. Metal screamed.
From beneath the pier, a monstrous shape rose—a creature half-wolf, half-shadow, its body fused with steel and bone. A Bloodshade experiment.
Selene's eyes widened. "What the hell—"
Lucien spread his arms. "My gift to you, Draven. Enjoy it."
The creature lunged, crushing containers like paper. Kael tackled it, claws raking metal hide. Sparks burst. The monster slammed him into a crane, shattering it.
Selene ran to the edge, firing rapid shots at the beast's joints. The bullets ricocheted uselessly.
Kael roared, ripping a steel beam from the wreckage and driving it through the creature's chest. It howled—then exploded in a burst of dark mist.
When the air cleared, Lucien was gone.
Only silence remained.
Kael dropped to one knee, panting. His body burned, half-shifted, soaked in blood and rain.
Selene approached cautiously. "You're insane."
He smirked. "You're the one who stayed."
She looked away. "Don't flatter yourself. I don't like debts."
Kael stood, towering over her. "Then we're even."
"Hardly," she said, glancing toward the horizon. "That thing—Lucien's not done. He's testing weapons. Mixing vampire blood with wolf DNA. He's building something worse."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "And you know where?"
"I might," she said. "But you won't like the answer."
"Try me."
Selene looked up at him, moonlight gleaming in her violet eyes. "He's hiding in your territory, Kael. Beneath the city itself."
For a long moment, neither spoke. The wind howled through the broken cranes.
Kael finally said, "Then we hunt below."
Selene's smirk returned. "I thought you'd say that."
She turned to leave, coat whipping in the wind. Kael watched her silhouette vanish into the night, his claws retracting slowly.
The moon hung high above them, bleeding silver light across the docks.
And somewhere in the darkness, Lucien Vargan smiled.
The war for Arclight City had only just begun.