Chapter 2 The Shadows That Hunt

"The Shadows That Hunt"

The scream shattered the silence.

Kieran was already moving before Astrid could react, his body a blur of motion as he stormed toward the door. His Beta, Elias, appeared in the hallway, his face set in a grim mask.

"North wing," Elias said sharply. "It's bad."

Kieran didn't wait for more. He disappeared into the corridor, his long strides eating up the distance.

Astrid hesitated only a second before following.

This wasn't part of the plan.

She should be using the chaos to finish what she came here to do-to drive her blade into Kieran's heart before the curse could take hold. But something in the air had changed. A thick, cloying energy curled around her senses like smoke.

Not normal.

Not human.

She gritted her teeth and quickened her pace, her instincts screaming a warning she couldn't yet decipher.

As she entered the north wing, the stench of blood hit her like a wave.

The hallway was a massacre.

Bodies lay crumpled against the stone walls, their throats torn open, their eyes wide in shock and horror. The crimson streaks glistening on the floor weren't fresh claw marks. No, these were deliberate-deep, jagged wounds that didn't match any werewolf attack Astrid had ever seen.

Kieran stood in the middle of the carnage, his golden eyes burning with restrained fury. His hands were curled into fists, his entire body coiled like a predator ready to strike.

Elias knelt beside one of the fallen, cursing under his breath. "This wasn't a rogue attack. These wounds... they were ritualistic."

Astrid's blood ran cold.

Ritualistic.

The word sent a sharp pulse of memory through her mind-her own past missions, the blood-soaked knowledge of dark magic and the things that lurked in the forgotten corners of the world.

She stepped closer, careful not to let her expression betray what she knew.

"This wasn't an accident," she murmured.

Kieran turned to her, his gaze locking onto hers like a steel trap. "You've seen something like this before."

It wasn't a question.

Astrid's heartbeat quickened. She couldn't afford to reveal too much-not yet. "Once," she admitted. "But this... this is different."

Elias exhaled sharply. "Alpha, if this was a ritual, then the attack wasn't random."

Kieran's jaw tightened. "They were after something."

Astrid didn't miss the flicker of unease in his expression.

"Or someone," she said quietly.

The words hung between them like a noose.

And then, as if summoned by the weight of the realization, another sound split the night.

Not a scream this time.

A whisper.

A breathless, inhuman whisper that slithered through the air like a phantom's sigh. The torches lining the hallway flickered violently, the flames dancing as if caught in an unseen wind.

The temperature plummeted.

Astrid felt it in her bones-the unnatural presence pressing against the walls, the very fabric of the space around them warping under its weight.

Kieran bared his teeth, his wolf rising to the surface in response to the unseen threat.

And then, from the shadows, it emerged.

A figure-if it could even be called that.

It stood at the far end of the hall, where the torches barely reached. A tall, jagged silhouette, its body shifting like smoke, tendrils of darkness curling at its feet. No eyes, no mouth-just a void of nothingness where a face should have been.

Astrid's pulse hammered.

This wasn't a rogue.

This wasn't anything she had ever been trained to kill.

Kieran moved before she could even process what was happening. A deep growl tore from his throat as he launched forward, his body shifting in a flash of black fur and raw power.

But the thing was faster.

It blinked out of existence-one second it was there, the next it was behind them.

Astrid barely managed to throw herself to the side as a razor-sharp tendril of shadow slashed through the space where she had stood. A deep gouge split into the stone wall beside her, the air humming with dark energy.

Elias wasn't so lucky.

The Beta let out a choked gasp as something wrapped around his throat, lifting him off the ground effortlessly. His legs kicked, his claws slashing at the air, but the thing didn't react.

It was toying with him.

Astrid didn't think. She moved on instinct, pulling the dagger from her sleeve and hurling it straight at the creature's head.

The blade hit.

The thing shrieked, a sound so shrill and inhuman that it sent Astrid's senses into a tailspin. The torches exploded, plunging the hall into near darkness.

And in that moment of chaos-

The creature vanished.

Elias collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. Kieran stood frozen for a split second, his golden eyes burning in the dim light.

Then, slowly, his gaze slid to Astrid.

Not just with suspicion this time.

With something else.

Recognition.

Understanding.

"What the hell are you?" Kieran's voice was dangerously low.

Astrid didn't move, didn't blink.

She had made a mistake. A big one.

The dagger she had thrown-it wasn't ordinary steel. It was silver-lined with enchanted runes. A weapon meant for things far worse than werewolves.

Kieran had seen it.

And now, he knew.

Astrid wasn't just a rogue.

She was something far more dangerous.

The room was silent, save for the ragged breathing of Elias and the distant rumble of thunder outside.

Then Kieran took a step toward her.

Astrid's fingers twitched toward the second dagger hidden at her thigh.

She could run.

She could fight.

Or she could lie.

His golden eyes flicked to the remnants of the blade she had thrown-the one still lodged in the stone wall, its runes faintly pulsing with dying energy.

His expression darkened. "That weapon... it wasn't made for wolves."

Astrid forced herself to hold his gaze, keeping her breathing steady. "No, it wasn't."

Kieran's jaw tightened. He wasn't just suspicious now-he knew she was hiding something.

She could see the gears turning in his mind, piecing together the signs.

One more second, and he'd ask the wrong question.

One more second, and this whole charade would shatter.

Then Elias coughed, breaking the moment.

Kieran hesitated. Just long enough.

Astrid exhaled silently, forcing a smirk onto her lips. "Are you always this paranoid, Alpha? Or just when things don't bleed the way you expect?"

Kieran didn't answer. But the way he looked at her now-it wasn't just with suspicion.

It was with a hunter's gaze.

And she knew, deep in her bones-he wouldn't let this go.