The neutral grounds — an abandoned industrial lot on the edge of Ravenwood City — stretched out under a blood-red sunset. We arrived as a single deadly force: Ryker leading, me riding behind him, the four rogue Alphas flanking us like shadows ready to strike. The curse hummed steadily inside me, anchored through all five males. The bonds were stronger now, tighter, more intimate.
We killed the engines. The air smelled of rust, oil, and impending violence.
The first hybrid waited in the center of the lot.
It was no longer a pup. It had grown unnaturally fast — a grotesque fusion of child and monster. Its body was covered in dark fur and pulsing red veins. Golden eyes exactly like Leo’s stared at me with cold intelligence. It held a scalpel in one clawed hand, mimicking my own movements w
