The ground beneath our feet didn't just shake; it groaned and split open as if the earth itself were vomiting up the secrets it had been forced to swallow. From hidden, pressurized hatches concealed beneath the thick layer of grey ash, figures began to emerge. They didn't move with the fluid, predatory grace of the wolves I knew. Instead, they moved with a jerky, hauntingly mechanical precision, their limbs twitching as if they were being yanked by invisible wires. As they stepped into the harsh, artificial red light of the pylons, I gasped, my heart stopping in my chest.
I recognized them. Every single one of them.
There was Kael, the Beta who had taught me how to track my first prey in the lowlands. There were the Omegas who had brought the twins their morning milk when we first arri
