Chapter 3 The monster beneath the skin

The dream came again.

Ryker stood in a river of blood, his hands coated, dripping, but no matter how much he scrubbed, it wouldn't wash off.

Across the water stood Kaida, cloaked in white, her eyes black voids, her mouth moving soundlessly. Behind her, the ruins of Black-fang burned, flames rising like twisted wings.

And then her voice pierced the silence.

"You became the thing you swore to destroy."

He woke with a start, breath shallow, sweat slick on his skin despite the bitter forest cold.

The fire in their camp had long gone out, replaced by frost and silence. Dax was nearby, curled up in a bed of furs, twitching with some dream of his own. The others - rogues, killers, broken souls - slept scattered like shadows around Ryker's tent.

The dream always left him shaken, but this time it was different.

This time, his wolf stirred.

Ryker sat up slowly, and for the first time in nearly a year, he felt it - a tug. Deep inside his chest. Primal. Feral. The magic that had sealed away his other half was weakening.

The barrier Kaida helped forge was fracturing.

He clenched his fists, watching the faint glow pulse beneath his veins.

Soon, his power would return.

And when it did... not even the gods would protect her.

Meanwhile, Kaida was already wide awake, her face ghost-pale in the torchlight as she stood at the window of her war chamber, watching the perimeter flares flicker across the far hills.

They hadn't gone out - they'd been snuffed.

Silently.

Precisely.

Her heart pounded.

She turned sharply. "Thorne!"

The commander entered at once, armor half-buckled, eyes wide. "Luna?"

"We're being tested," she said coldly. "He's here."

Thorne's jaw clenched. "You have no proof it's him."

She glared. "You think rogues snuff magical wards without being seen? You think anyone else knows our defenses better than Ryker?"

Thorne hesitated. "The council will want-"

"To wait," she spat. "They always want to wait. That's why they're always reacting instead of preventing."

She crossed the room and pulled open a hidden cabinet. Inside rested an obsidian blade - Ryker's old alpha dagger.

The one he had forged himself from the fangs of fallen alphas. The one he swore never to draw again after he took power.

Kaida ran her fingers over the hilt.

"I'll handle this."

Thorne stepped forward. "He'll kill you."

"I'm counting on it," she whispered.

Deep in the forest, Ryker paced in a slow, deliberate circle, drawing sigils in the dirt with a clawed fingertip. Around him, the rogues watched, murmuring uneasily.

"You're summoning it again," Dax said under his breath. "The rage form."

Ryker didn't stop. "I need to test the limits of my bond. If the magic's cracking, I want to know how much."

"You said that form burns your mind-"

Ryker's head snapped toward him, eyes glowing silver.

"I said it costs me. Everything worth having does."

Dax fell silent.

The others backed away as Ryker stood in the center of the sigils and raised his arms to the sky. Thunder rumbled.

The wind picked up. His body arched violently as the transformation started - not the full wolf, but something more primal, more brutal.

His bones cracked. His skin stretched. His muscles swelled with ancient fury.

He let out a roar that shook the trees, and for a moment, the snow turned red beneath his feet.

Back at Blackfang Keep, Kaida stood in front of the council - twelve wolves of age, wisdom, and arrogance.

"He's out there," she said. "You know it. I can feel him."

High Elder Malick, a gaunt wolf with a silver mane, narrowed his eyes. "You expect us to believe the cursed one has returned to power?"

"I don't expect you to believe," Kaida said. "I expect you to prepare."

Another elder snorted. "Why should we fear a broken Alpha? You saw to it he was stripped and bound."

Kaida jaw tightened. "And I'm telling you, it's coming undone."

The room fell into murmurs.

Malrick steepled his fingers. "What would you have us do?"

She met his gaze. "Unleash the Red Fang unit. Reinforce the eastern pass. Double the flame wards. And recall the Nightbinders from exile."

"You want to call in death mages?"

"I want to live through the next moon cycle," Kaida said flatly.

Malrick looked around the chamber. No one argued.

That night, as the full moon rose over the mountains, Ryker stood atop a cliff overlooking Black-fang territory.

His breath came in plumes of ice. The keep was a dark jewel below, its spires aglow with torchlight, unaware of the storm rising just beyond the trees.

He reached for his wolf. Not the full transformation - he wasn't ready. But enough. Enough to remind them who he was.

Fur rippled along his arms. His eyes glowed brighter. Claws replaced nails.

And the power sang in his blood.

He let out a single howl - long, mournful, angry.

The kind of sound that made packs tremble. That made traitors remember. That made lovers regret.

And far below, in her chambers, Kaida's breath caught.

The sound cut through her like a knife.

She whispered, "He's coming."