Chapter 2
Zoren
The beta kneeling before me trembled, his forehead pressed against the polished marble of my office floor. Blood from his split lip dripped onto the pristine surface, each drop reminding him of the price he was paying for his failure. He should have been better. He should have done better. I always required the best of the best in my organization.
"Tell me again," I commanded, my voice carrying the weight of generations of Nightshade authority, "how you lost track of the moon-blessed signature we detected in the Northern Territory."
From my position behind the massive obsidian desk—a piece that had served five generations of Nightshade alphas—I watched the beta's shoulders shake, and I didn't feel an ounce of pity.
The scent of his fear saturated the air, mixing with the subtle aromatics of the rare wolfsbane incense burning in the corner. Just as it should be.
"Alpha Nightshade, the signature... it just vanished. One moment our mages had a lock on it, the next—nothing. Like smoke in the wind." He dared to lift his head, something he shouldn't have done. "We've never seen anything like it."
I rose from my chair, allowing my footsteps to echo as I circled him. The wolf tattoo on my left arm seemed to ripple with my contained anger, the magic in the ink responding to my emotions. It was fortunate for him that I was controlling myself so well. Otherwise, he would be nothing but a pile of blood and broken bones right now.
"Nothing just vanishes, Marcus. That's not how anything works. Someone is using ancient magic to hide their tracks, and you're going to find out how." I took a deep breath. "Otherwise, you know what is going to happen."
The massive windows behind my desk offered a view of the Nightshade compound—twenty acres of well-guarded territory that housed the most powerful shifter cartel in North America. Eight generations of my family had built this empire through cunning, force, and the strategic acquisition of magical bloodlines. I wouldn't be the one to let such a prize slip through our fingers. I wouldn't be able to live with the shame.
"Get up," I ordered, watching as Marcus scrambled to his feet. He almost fell. "You have forty-eight hours to bring me something useful. Don't disappoint me again, and you know I mean it."
As he hurried from my office, my second-in-command, Viktor, emerged from the shadows where he'd been observing. "You're being generous. Your father would have killed him for such a failure."
I was aware of that. My father would've done a lot worse than just killing him, to be honest.
"My father's methods belonged to a different era," I replied, returning to my desk and the stack of reports that demanded my attention. "Fear alone is a poor motivator for loyalty. But fear mixed with the possibility of redemption? That keeps them creative."
Maybe my father would still be alive if he had learned that before his demise.
Viktor's scarred face twisted into a knowing smile. "And desperate men take risks that might reveal what we're looking for."
I nodded, pulling up the holographic map that dominated one wall of my office. Dozens of points of light marked known magical signatures across our territory, but it was the blank spaces that held my attention. Somewhere in those dark zones, someone with extraordinary power was hiding. Who was it? The question lingered, begging to be answered, but still avoiding me.
"The moon-blessed bloodlines were supposed to have died out centuries ago," I mused, more to myself than Viktor. I thought better when talking to myself. "The last recorded case was during the Great Pack Wars, when they were hunted almost to extinction for their abilities. It was a mistake."
"And yet here we are, chasing ghosts," Viktor said. "What makes you so sure this one's different from the other leads we've followed?"
I pressed my palm against the cool surface of my desk, remembering the vision that had jolted me awake three nights ago. Visions were important. They always told something I needed to know.
In it, I'd seen a figure bathed in moonlight, power radiating from them in waves that made my alpha wolf howl with recognition. I didn't even know if it was a man or a woman.
And that power was the same power that had once belonged to my mate, Elena, before rival packs had taken her from me. Just her memory made my heart ache.
I had good memories of her, but her death always resurfaced every time I remembered her, and I couldn't control it.
"Because this time, I can feel it." I turned to the ancient texts spread across my desk—grimoires and historical records that had cost fortunes and lives to acquire. "The old writings speak of moon-blessed shifters who could bend reality itself, who could hide entire packs from their enemies or heal wounds that would kill any other wolf. Those are extraordinary powers."
Viktor stepped closer, examining the texts with me. "And you think finding one could give us the edge we need against the Eastern Alliance?"
"I'm actually sure it could do more than that." I traced the lines of an ancient illustration showing a moon-blessed omega channeling power through a crescent mark. "With that kind of power under our control, we could reshape the entire shifter world. Everything would be within our reach."
A knock at my door interrupted our discussion. One of our top intelligence operatives entered, carrying a thick file. It increased my tension by a slight amount. "Alpha Nightshade, we've completed the analysis of the magical disturbance patterns you requested."
I took the file, scanning its contents with my usual efficiency. Maps, energy readings, witness accounts—all pointing to a pattern of movement. Someone powerful was traveling between remote locations, never staying long enough to leave a trace. But they'd made one crucial mistake.
"Look at this," I said, spreading out the data. "Every location shows the same signature, just before it disappears. They're using a massive amount of energy to hide their tracks, but the act of hiding leaves its own mark, and they may not know it. Not yet, anyway."
Viktor leaned in, his eyes narrowing. He was coming to the same conclusion I was. We usually thought alike. "Like footprints in fresh snow—you can erase them, but the act of erasing leaves new prints."
"Exactly." I felt the familiar thrill of the hunt stirring in my blood. "And these new prints form a pattern. They're moving in a spiral, each jump taking them further into our territory. The question is: are they running from something, or looking for something, or maybe even someone?"
I dismissed the operative with new instructions, then turned back to my private collection of magical artifacts. Among them sat a circular mirror of black glass, its surface occasionally rippling like disturbed water. It had cost me three million dollars and the lives of two enforcers to acquire, but its power to track magical signatures made it invaluable.
"Have the teams ready," I told Viktor as I activated the mirror with a drop of my blood. "When we get a location, I want to move as soon as possible. No territory disputes, no pack politics—this stays purely within Nightshade control. It must be."
"And if our ghost turns out to be as powerful as you suspect?" Viktor asked, weighing possible outcomes. "The old stories say the moon-blessed couldn't be controlled, that their power answered only to the moon itself. And as far as we know, those old stories are probably true."
I thought of Elena again, of how her gifts had made her both powerful and, at the same time, vulnerable. This time would be different. This time, I would do more than protect—I would possess the omega completely.
"Everything and everyone can be controlled, given enough effort and want," I explained, watching as the mirror's surface began to swirl with images. "It's just a matter of finding the right leverage."