Chapter 63 Wolves Don't Ruin Cities
Chapter 63 Wolves Don't Ruin Cities
Glass exploded inward.
Lyra barely had time to raise her hand before the blast wave hit, fire bursting from her palm in a wide arc. The flames slammed into the shattered windows, melting falling shards into harmless rivulets of glowing liquid that splashed onto the marble floor.
“Down!” Cassian shouted.
Wolves shifted instantly, bodies snapping and reforming as they took defensive positions. Alarms howled through the converted warehouse that served as Lyra’s command hall, their sound sharp and metallic human.
That was the first warning, this was not a pack raid.
A city operation.
Rafael sprinted toward the open windows, eyes glowing as he scanned the skyline. “No heat signatures close,” he growled. “The shot came from farther out.”
Lyra stepped forward, heart pounding. Outside, the city sprawled endlessly, buildings stacked like concrete mountains, lights flickering as if nothing had happened. Traffic flowed. Humans walked. L
And somewhere out there, someone had just tested her territory like a chessboard.
A second explosion rocked the eastern district.
Then a third.
Cassian’s phone buzzed violently in his hand. He glanced at the screen, jaw tightening. “They’ve hit three supernatural safe houses,” he said grimly. “Not ours. Independent assets.”
Lyra’s fire rippled along her arms. “The Silver Order?”
Cassian shook his head. “Too clean.”
Another alert came in.
Then another.
Lyra inhaled sharply as realization settled like ice in her veins. “They’re dismantling the supernatural.”
Cassian met her gaze. “They’re reminding everyone who owns the city.”
Outside, sirens wailed, human police this time, flooding streets already crawling with chaos. News drones buzzed overhead, capturing plumes of smoke and flashing lights, completely unaware of the invisible war erupting beneath the surface.
Rafael turned back from the window. “We can respond,” he said fiercely. “Send strike teams. Claim retaliation.”
Lyra looked at him, really looked.
Blood hummed beneath his skin, loyalty burning bright and unthinking. It was the same instinct that had saved her countless times.
It was also exactly what would get them slaughtered.
“No,” she said quietly.
The room stilled.
Rafael frowned. “Lyra—”
“This is what they want,” she continued, voice steady despite the fire twisting in her chest. “Wolves rushing in blind. Packs declaring territory they don’t understand.”
Cassian exhaled slowly. “She’s right.”
Rafael’s jaw clenched. “So we do nothing?”
Lyra stepped forward, placing her hands flat against the war table. Maps flickered to life, both supernatural zones and human infrastructure layered together.
“This isn’t pack land,” she said. “This is a city. Wolves don’t rule cities.”
Silence stretched.
Cassian studied her carefully, something like grim respect flickering in his eyes. “Mafia warfare doesn’t follow honor,” he warned. “There are no borders. No sacred grounds. They will hit hospitals, banks, data centers anything that hurts leverage.”
Lyra swallowed hard. “Then we stop thinking like wolves.”
She reached for the black ring still warm on her finger. The metal pulsed faintly, reacting to her resolve.
“We gather information,” she said. “Follow money trails. Track tech shipments. Identify human allies.”
Rafael stiffened. “We don’t deal with humans.”
Lyra met his gaze unflinchingly. “We do now.”
Another explosion thundered in the distance, closer this time.
Cassian’s communicate through mind link. “Lyra movement near the southern perimeter. Fast.”
Lyra straightened instantly. “Get me visuals.”
“Mafia.”
Lyra’s heart hammered. “They’re advancing openly.”
“They’re fully armed” Cassian said grimly.
A sharp crack echoed through the hall.
Rafael staggered.
Lyra’s breath caught as she turned just in time to see him drop to one knee, hand flying to his shoulder. Blood bloomed instantly, dark and thick.
“Rafael!” she screamed.
He collapsed fully this time, snarling in pain as smoke curled from the wound. Cassian was beside him in seconds, ripping open Rafael’s jacket.
Lyra knelt, horror flooding her chest.
The bullet had burned clean through flesh, edges glowing faintly silver-blue.
Silver-tech.
“No,” Lyra whispered, hands shaking as she hovered over the wound.
Rafael’s teeth clenched. “Sniper,” he growled. “Long-range. Suppressed.”
Lyra’s fire surged instinctively but she forced it down, remembering Dominic’s words.
“Get him to the lower infirmary,” she ordered, voice trembling but firm. “Shielded routes only.”
Cassian scooped Rafael up without hesitation, barking orders as wolves scrambled to respond.
Lyra stood slowly, gaze drifting to the shattered wind
ow again.
“This war would not be fought with claws alone.”
She curled her fingers into a fist.
The flame answered.