Luna. Chapter 189

(Kael's POV)

The transformation happened without conscious thought.

One moment I was standing in the courtyard giving orders to my team, the next I was on four legs with enhanced senses flooding my brain.

The shift to wolf form used to feel like coming home. Tonight, it felt like putting on chains.

My wolf form was powerful. Faster than human shape. Stronger. Better suited for combat and stealth operations.

But it came with limitations that were becoming increasingly problematic.

"Alpha, we need confirmation on the approach route," Jasper's voice came through the radio clipped to my collar.

I tried to respond and realized the fundamental problem with supernatural communication devices. They required human vocal cords to operate effectively.

Which I currently lacked.

The frustration was immediate and overwhelming. Here I was, finally close enough to end this conflict, and I couldn't even coordinate with my own team.

I could understand every word coming through the radio. I could process tactical information and make strategic decisions. But I couldn't communicate any of that to the people who needed to hear it.

I started to shift back to human form, but the process felt sluggish. Resistant. Like my body was fighting the change.

That had never happened before.

"Alpha, we need to move. The window for infiltration closes in fifteen minutes."

I concentrated harder on the transformation, forcing my supernatural physiology to comply with conscious will.

The change took longer than usual, leaving me slightly disoriented when it finished.

"Sorry, had to shift back. The approach route is—"

"Well, well. Look who's finally arrived."

The voice came from directly behind me. I spun around, every instinct screaming danger.

General Cassius stood twenty feet away, but he looked nothing like the confident government official I remembered.

His uniform was torn in several places, dark stains that might have been blood covering the fabric. His face was scratched, with deeper cuts along his jawline that suggested recent combat.

But it was his eyes that made my skin crawl. They held an intensity that bordered on madness. A fever brightness that suggested either drugs or psychological breakdown.

In his right hand, he held a syringe filled with something that glowed faintly green in the moonlight.

"Cassius." I kept my voice level despite the adrenaline spike. "You look like you've had a rough night."

"Nothing I couldn't handle." His smile was wrong somehow. Too wide. Too many teeth. "Though I have to admit, your little escape plan was more elaborate than I expected."

"What escape plan?"

"Please. We both know you arranged my release from that warehouse. Feed me false information, let me run home to Adrian, use my intelligence to misdirect his forces."

He wasn't wrong, but something about his tone suggested he was more amused than angry about the deception.

If he knew the information was false, why had he delivered it to Adrian's staff? What game was he really playing?

"If you knew it was false information, why did you deliver it?"

"Because the game is more interesting this way." Cassius raised the syringe, examining the glowing liquid in the moonlight. "Besides, I had my own plans to consider."

"What kind of plans?"

"The kind that require you to be unconscious for the next few hours."

He lunged forward with supernatural speed, the syringe aimed at my neck.

I dodged to the left, but Cassius had anticipated the movement. His free hand caught my wrist, his grip strong enough to crack bone.

The strength was impossible. Cassius had always been physically capable, but this was beyond normal human parameters. Even beyond normal supernatural enhancement.

"Hold still. This will only hurt for a moment."

"Like hell it will."

I drove my knee upward, aiming for his solar plexus. The impact should have doubled him over.

Instead, he laughed.

"Enhanced physical conditioning is a wonderful thing," he said, bringing the syringe closer to my throat. "Courtesy of the same research program you've been so determined to shut down."

That explained the unusual strength and speed. It also explained why he looked like he'd been through a battle and was still standing.

But enhanced conditioning worked both ways.

I shifted my weight and threw him over my shoulder, using his own momentum against him.

He hit the marble fountain hard enough to crack the stone, but rolled to his feet immediately.

"Impressive. But not impressive enough."

The syringe was still in his hand, the green liquid casting eerie shadows on his damaged face.

And somewhere in the darkness beyond the courtyard, I could hear the sound of approaching footsteps.

Multiple sets. Moving with military precision.

Reinforcements.

This was about to get much more complicated.