The air in Vestia has become thicker than usual.
Silence had settled over the pack without any warning, happiness had gone extinct in the pack. Fewer wolves came out to train. Even the younger pups stopped laughing and dancing in the courtyard.
They knew something was wrong.
Another body had been burned that morning.
The third in two days.
Ruby stood behind the glass wall and watched as the smoke went into the sky from the cremation pit.
She didn't flinch. Didn't cry. She couldn't afford to do anything.
Not when she had not found the cure.
Inside the lab, she stood over her microscope, her jaw clenched and eyes visibly red from the exhaustion. On the desk beside her were different tubes of blood, one from each of the last ten victims that had died.
The test results didn't lie.
There was no natural way of explanating how the virus worked. It mutated very fast. It was targeting its victims. The younger, stronger wolves died faster than the rest. Alphas and betas fell hardest. It didn't work on humans, but they would be carriers. More like humans were spared.
And now, something else had shown up from her latest testing.
Something like magic. But not just any magic.
Like it was bound magic. One that was controlled.
It wasn't just a disease anymore. It was a weapon.
Ruby wrote down the name she had been saying in her mind for days now.
Wolfsbane Virus.
The name was fitting. And sounded fatal like it was .
She turned to Maren, who remained silent behind her, like she always did. Waiting for the next errand.
"This isn't random," Ruby said quietly. "Someone is controlling the virus. Directing it . This is being played."
Maren blinked in confusion. "By who?"
Ruby's jaw clenched. "I don't know. But I don't think they're not working alone."
Across the compound, Han stood on the balcony of the large building looking at the empty training grounds, his arms folded and deep in thought.
The pack was restless.
Scared.
They need answers. One which he didn't have.
He could feel it in their movement . He could hear it in the way they spoke in their low voices and avoided eye contact with him.
Rumors were spreading everywhere like wildfire. Some blamed the council and others whispered that an old curse had returned from the past rulers.
A few even suspected Ruby. The one who had been called to help.
But Han didn't blame anyone.
If anything, he trusted her more now than he had when she returned to viesta. She had been sacrificing sleep, food, and all the comfort for his people. She hadn't asked anything. She just worked.
And with every day that came by, he felt something inside him….. something familiar...something he had kept all these years.
A pull toward her.
A feeling he couldn't explain.
He heard footsteps behind him and he turned.
It was Evelyn.
Her arms were crossed, and her expression was piercing.
"You've been avoiding me," she said too calm..
"I've been busy," he replied in short.
"So has she."
Han didn't reply to her.
"She's spending more time in your pack compound than she's doing in her own room," Evelyn added, stepping closer to Han. "People are starting to notice it."
"She's trying to save lives, Evelyn." He walked towards her.
"She's trying to get close to you." She snapped back.
Han's voice grew sharper. "Don't start this again."
Evelyn narrowed her eyes. "You're too blind to see what she's doing."
He then turned and walked away.
Later that day, Ruby walked out of the lab to get some fresh air. Her shoulders hurt from hovering over the microscopes, and her head spinned from the different writings she had gotten used to seeing over the past month.
The Wolfsbane virus wasn't spreading anymore.
It was being aimed clearly controlled by someone.
Suddenly, a howl which meant warning sounded through the pack.
Then another.
Ruby froze in realization.
She turned and ran toward the source. Warriors were already rushing out of the compound gates, their weapons drawn. A guard ran past her shouting, "Rogues! West border!"
Rogues. Now?
Ruby's heart pounded faster. Were they infected? Were they part of all of this?
Before she could even think twice, she picked a dagger from a desk and ran where the guards were heading.
The forest near the western edge of Vestia was a picture of war, Ruby had seen only in books.
Three rogue wolves had found their way through the boundary. They were fast and feral, with wild eyes and foaming at their mouth. But this wasn't a hunt for food or territory.
This was a hit.
It was calculated and was clearly a distraction.
Two warriors were already down on the ground and unconscious or even worse. Ruby hid behind a tree watching the battlefield.
She had been thankful the breach had happened far from the girls.
A snarl came from her left.
A rogue jumped at her, claws sharp.
Before she could even react, a black and silver wolf hit the rogue I'm mid air, sending the rogue crashing into a boulder nearby.
Han.
His eyes glowed, his wolf half shifted. He glanced at her just long enough to say, "Behind me."
Two more rogues charged at the wolf.
Han fought aggressively and not wavering. Ruby wasn't a trained warrior, but she didn't just stand and watch either. She stabbed a rogue low and sliced the back of one rogue's leg while Han handled the front of the battle.
One by one, the rogues all fell wounded and unconscious, but still alive.
Blood dropped from Han's shoulder where a claw gotten past his defense and injured him.
"You okay?" Ruby asked out of breath.
"I've been worse," he said with a smile..
They stood close to each other. Both lost their breath, their hearts pounding from all the adrenaline. His eyes looked at hers.
Ruby felt warm on her face instantly. One she hadn't felt in a long time.
For a moment, it felt like everything else had gone silent.
And then....
A sound behind them.
They turned.
Evelyn stood at the edge of the battle, her eyes wide, and clearly on them.
She had seen them ....noticed the heat between them.
"Evelyn," Han called her, stepping back from Ruby.
But she said nothing.
She just turned and walked away. Evelyn slammed the door to her chambers and closed the curtains, bringing darkness to her room.
She wasn't blind.
She saw it.
The way he looked at Ruby.
The way she looked back.
She knew his heart didn't belong to her anymore.
It had gone back to Ruby.