I couldn't believe my ears. "What are you talking about, Clay?"

The slim-waisted Alpha pointed over the walls surrounding the clearing. "There's nothing but icy mist flowing over the woods beyond those borders, Hunter. The stuff is covering the everything for miles. Any wolf's scent would be completely erased by it."

I could feel the blood in my veins beginning to boil. The fire in my gut rising to my chest. The air itself that surrounded me started warping from the heat. I may have invited select groups to come and aid me against the murderous demons, but they should have understood the rule.

This is my home.

"Calm down, Sin. It's not like you can do anything about it," Dick stated. Those sounded like fighting words to me, and I was already done with him.

I wheeled around and started shifting, growing heavier and ready to throttle him. The fire burning inside me had risen all the way up to my head and now flames wisped carelessly from between my fangs. "Say that again, I dare you," I growled.

For just a moment, fear flickered through the bronze Alpha's eyes, but he was still an Alpha. That meant he couldn't back down from a threat so easily.

Before I could knock some respect into Dick's head, Clay stepped between us. "Hunter, calm down. He's right, you can't do anything about this."

I was stunned to hear Clay say that.

"The humans aren't capable of doing all of this. Just look at this crater. It would take them weeks to dig it, and months for them to even get started. They also don't know enough about us to use water and mist to wipe out a pack's presence. This must have been the royal Lycans' work."

Not for the first time, the underwhelming man surprised me and forced me to think instead of react. I realized that Clay always kept his body so slim just so that he didn't get carried away with his strength. It must make it easier to keep focused. How much should I try to learn from someone like him?

"Why would they do this?" Axel asked the question before I could. "Even for the queen, this should be crossing a line. They were invited here for help, not to take over."

Clay thought for a moment and I could see the wheels spinning in his head. "It might as well be the same thing for them. For creatures as powerful as the Lycans, they may think that all the land that they walk on belongs to them. This smoke must be their way of making it official. This is really bad."

"No shit," I growled. It sounded more aggressive than I wanted it to. I was concentrating on shifting down into a more casual shape. If I wasn't careful after so many transformations, I could forget what my body is supposed to look like completely.

"I mean, it's bad for everyone. The royal Lycans have been dormant in their cave kingdoms for centuries at least. They were served and respected for so long that we just assumed they valued us as well, but what if they don't? What if the Lycans don't actually care about what we want anymore.

"Sure, they may help us wipe out the demons, but what then? Will they go back into their caves and rest, or..."

"Or have we unleashed even greater monsters of our own," I said, realizing the direction he was going.

"We have to get out of this shit-hole, now," Dick announced.

The air dropped ten degrees almost instantly. "Now why in the world would you want to do that?" that was the last voice that I wanted to hear right now. A voice that resonated like twenty souls combined. A voice that came rising from the deep dark crater that none of us had considered going into. One that no longer felt like a friendly sound.

The purest white-furred male wolf that I'd ever seen strode slowly out of the shadows of the pit. Streaks of silver fur ran down his sleek body from his shoulders to tail. His eyes glowed a neon green in the darkness and tendrils of mist that glowed like pure moonlight swirled around each of his four legs. No one was sure exactly how many of the royal Lycans came to Viridian with the Queen Luminaria, but I was unhappy he was one of them.

The royal silver-tongued son of Lady Luminaria and Sir Cassian. Prince Bastian.

Yeah there are a lot of new characters in this book and each of them have a role to play. I can't say too much about what I have planned without giving the surprises away, but don't hesitate to leave a comment telling me what you think of the story so far.

Also, a question from me, to you~ Would you like it if I made a character icon for each new character that has a big part in the story, or would you prefer to just keep it to your imagination?