~Zoe~
I'd never been inside a war room before.
That's what this was, no matter how they dressed it up with brushed steel and holographic displays. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife—or claws, in this case. Wolves paced the perimeter, casting wary glances my way, some with openly hostile eyes. Not that I could blame them. I was the intruder here, the human in a den of predators.
Lyra's urgent text from two hours prior had been brief and to the point: We need you. Caleb needs you. It's about Elara. That was all it took to yank me away from my half-finished article on TechNova's meteoric stock rise following their "Project Synthesis" announcement—the same project my best friend was now the face of.
A familiar presence materialized beside me, Dr. Maya Chen's voice a low, stea
