CHAPTER 36: DESPERATE MEASURES

Aiden POV

The emergency howl cut through the morning air like a knife through my chest. I dropped the communication crystal I’d been holding and ran toward the sound, my heart beating so hard I could feel it in my throat.

"What’s happening?" I yelled to Marcus, one of our border guards, as he stumbled into the pack clearing.

"River Pack," he gasped, blood spilling from a gash on his forehead. "They’re striking our eastern border. But something’s wrong with them, Alpha. Their eyes... they’re sparkling."

My blood turned ice cold. The Shadow Wolves had reached River Pack. We were too late.

"How many?" I ordered, helping Marcus stay upright.

"All of them," he whispered. "The entire River Pack is marching toward us like they’re under someone else’s control."

I closed my eyes for a second, trying to think past the fear clawing at my chest. River Pack had over two hundred wolves. They’d been our friends for decades. Now they were coming to destroy us, and there was nothing we could do to fight them without hurting innocent wolves who weren’t in control of their own actions.

"Get everyone to the safe caves," I ordered. "Women, children, and elders first."

As Marcus limped away, I grabbed the contact crystals from my study. These magical stones let pack leaders talk to each other across great distances. If River Pack had fallen, I needed to tell the other packs and ask for help.

I pressed the first crystal, the one linked to Mountain Pack.

"Alpha Stone, this is Alpha Aiden of Silver Peak. We have an emergency—"

The voice that answered wasn’t Alpha Stone’s. It was cold and lifeless, with that terrible flat tone I’d heard from our own controlled pack members.

"Silver Peak Pack will surrender," the voice said. "The First Shadow commands it."

I dropped the rock like it had burned me. Mountain Pack was gone too.

My hands shaking, I tried the next crystal. Forest Pack.

"Submit to the First Shadow," came another calm voice. "Resistance is useless."

Sunset Pack. Same thing.

Valley Pack. Same thing.

One by one, I tried every pack partnership we had. Twelve different packs, twelve crystal connections we’d made over years of careful diplomacy. Every single one answered with that same horrible, emotionless voice telling me to submit.

I sank into my chair, looking at the pile of crystals. How was this possible? The First Shadow couldn’t have taken over twelve different packs in just a few days. Unless...

"Unless he’s been planning this for months," I whispered to myself.

The truth hit me like a punch to the stomach. All those diplomatic talks I’d attended over the past year. All those times leaders from other packs had visited Silver Peak. The Shadow Wolves hadn’t just been building an army in secret—they’d been infiltrating pack leadership everywhere.

How many of those diplomatic talks had I sat through with controlled wolves? How many times had I shaken hands with pack leaders who were already under the First Shadow’s power?

A new howl outside made me jump up. This one was different—not fear, but a signal. Three short howls, then one long one. It was the code for "incoming messengers."

I ran outside to find a small group of wolves nearing our territory border. But as they got closer, I could see the telltale glow in their eyes. They weren’t messengers. They were controlled dogs from multiple different packs, all working together.

The lead wolf, who I recognized as Beta Tom from Forest Pack, stopped just outside our territory line. When he spoke, his voice wasn’t his own.

"Alpha Aiden Silver," he called out, though his mouth barely moved. "The First Shadow offers you one chance to save your pack from destruction."

I forced myself to walk closer, even though every sense told me to run. "What do you want?"

"Give us the Triple Moon bearer," Beta Tom said. "Surrender Lily Carter freely, and your pack will be allowed to serve the First Shadow. Refuse, and we will take her anyway, after we kill everyone you’ve ever cared about."

"Lily isn’t here," I said, which was true. She and Caleb were still missing.

"We know," the controlled wolf answered. "But she will return. She cannot fight the pull to save those she loves."

The wolf pointed behind him, and more controlled wolves stepped forward. I recognized faces from every pack I’d tried to contact—friends I’d known for years, partners I’d trusted with my life. All of them looking at me with those terrible glowing eyes.

"How many packs?" I asked, though I didn’t really want to know the answer.

"All of them," Beta Tom said. "Every pack within five hundred miles now serves the First Shadow. You are alone, Alpha Aiden. You have no friends left."

The words hit me harder than any physical blow could have. Every pack alliance I’d carefully built, every friendship I’d nurtured, every diplomatic link that had taken years to create—all of it was gone. Worse than gone. Turned against us.

"We will give you until sunset to decide," the controlled wolf continued. "Surrender the Triple Moon bearer, or watch your pack die."

The group turned and walked away, leaving me standing there feeling more useless than I’d ever felt in my life. As the future Alpha, I was meant to protect my pack. I was supposed to have answers, friends, backup plans. Instead, I had nothing.

I walked back toward our area, my mind racing. Every pack we could have turned to for help was now our enemy. Every getaway route I could think of would just lead us into more controlled wolves. Even if we tried to run, where could we go? The First Shadow’s impact seemed to reach everywhere.

A sound made me look up. More howls in the distance, but these were coming from various directions. North, south, east, and west. We were being trapped.

I went up to our highest watchtower and looked out over the landscape. My heart sank. Hundreds of wolves were coming from every direction. Not just River Pack anymore, but wolves from all the packs I’d tried to call. They moved in perfect formation, like pieces on a chess board controlled by a single thought.

The First Shadow wasn’t just making good on his threat to attack other packs. He was using all the packs he’d already conquered to trap us here. There would be no escape, no fighting our way out, no last-minute rescue from friends.

We were totally surrounded by an army of controlled wolves, and somewhere out there, Lily and Caleb had no idea they were walking into a trap that had been months in the making.

I gripped the watchtower railing so hard my fingers turned white. As Alpha, I had to find a way to save my pack. But for the first time in my life, I couldn’t see any way out.

That’s when I noticed something that made my blood freeze in my veins. Among the coming wolves, I could see faces I recognized from our own pack. Wolves who should have been in the safe dens.

The First Shadow hadn’t just surrounded us from outside. Somehow, he’d already gotten inside our area too.