Chapter 165 Exposed

Chapter 165 Exposed
Kai’s POV

The first death happened twenty-three minutes after the seal broke. It was a human. A male, about forty-two years old, he was torn apart outside the Crescent Valley gas station by something witnesses described as “a giant wolf standing on two legs.”

By midnight, the videos were everywhere. They were not getting deleted anymore. Too many uploads. Too many witnesses. Too much panic.
The world had finally seen us. And the world reacted exactly how Selene predicted it would. With fear.

I stood in the remains of Luna’s living room staring at the television while emergency broadcasts flickered across every channel.

NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYED TO CRESCENT VALLEY
UNIDENTIFIED BIOLOGICAL EVENT
MULTIPLE CASUALTIES REPORTED
DO NOT APPROACH INFECTED INDIVIDUALS

“Infected,” Ethan muttered bitterly from across the room.

I ignored him. Mostly because if I looked at him too long right now, I might actually kill him. The symbols below his skin were darker now and spreading farther up his throat. Forbidden ritual markings.

Whatever he aligned himself with, it was changing him too. Luna sat silently near the broken staircase wrapped in one of her grandmother’s blankets.
But the blanket barely hid the truth anymore.

Her fingers still ended in claws. Silver-black fur spread partially across one shoulder and disappeared below the fabric. And her eyes…
They hadn’t turned fully human again once tonight. The wolf wasn’t retreating anymore. It was settling in permanently and Grandma Ashford moved around the room boarding shattered windows without saying much. She was too calm and still too calm.

Like she’d feared this exact night her entire life. Selene leaned against the far wall watching all of us carefully. Waiting and strategizing. I hated that expression. Because she wasn’t surprised by any of this.
She planned for it.

“Stop staring at her like she’s dying,” Selene finally said.

My eyes snapped toward her instantly. “She’s losing control.”

“No,” Selene corrected. “She’s evolving.”

Luna flinched slightly at the word. I moved toward her immediately with instinct and automaticity. The bond between us pulled constantly now like an invisible wire under my ribs. Every emotion she felt echoed faintly through me fear rage confusion hunger Especially hunger. That one worried me most.

I crouched in front of her carefully. “Hey.”

Her golden eyes lifted slowly toward me and for one terrifying second…The wolf looked back instead of Luna. It was predatory, ancient and assessing.
Then she blinked. And some softness returned. Barely.
“I can hear everything,” she whispered.

Outside, helicopters thundered overhead and sirens echoed through town.
People screaming in the distance. She winced painfully.
“Every heartbeat feels too loud.”

I glanced toward Grandma Ashford. “She needs containment before the next moon surge.”

Ethan immediately stepped forward. “No.”

My patience snapped thin. “You don’t get opinions anymore.”

“She doesn’t need chains,” he said.

“She almost transformed fully!”

“And locking her up fixes that?” he asked.

“Enough,” Luna snapped suddenly.

The room went silent instantly. Because her voice wasn’t fully human anymore. There was a layered growl below it now. The wolf was bleeding into every word and Luna stood slowly. The blanket slipped slightly from her shoulders revealing more silver-black fur spreading across her collarbone.

Ethan looked heartbroken and Selene looked fascinated. I looked terrified.
Because the transformation wasn’t slowing down. It was accelerating.
Luna stared at all of us breathing unevenly. “I’m standing right here.”

Silence. Then suddenly…A scream echoed outside. Close. Too close, that everyone froze. Another scream followed immediately. Then followed by gunshots.

I moved to the shattered window instantly. Three streets down, chaos erupted near the town square. People were running and cars crashing. And in the middle of it…
A transformed wolf tore through the street violently. Not fully stable, but moon-sick.
Its body twisted unnaturally between human and wolf forms. Military vehicles surrounded it. Soldiers shouting. One raised his gun and the wolf lunged.
Gunfire exploded and Luna gasped sharply behind me. Then clutched her chest in pain. The bond and the transformed wolf outside wasn’t random.
She could feel it and Selene realized immediately. “So it begins.”

I turned sharply. “What begins?”

Selene looked directly at Luna. “The hierarchy response.”

Grandma Ashford’s face paled instantly. Oh no.

“What does that mean?” Luna whispered.

Selene’s silver eyes gleamed. “Broken seals don’t just awaken power.”

The transformed wolf outside suddenly stopped attacking. Even through the chaos outside, I felt it too. A pull, it was an ancient instinct to submission.
The wolf slowly turned its head toward this house and toward Luna.
Then….It lowered itself. Not attacking. It was bowing.

My stomach dropped. “No way.”

Selene smiled faintly. “The town is responding to its heir.”

Gunshots rang out again outside. The moon-sick wolf roared violently as soldiers kept firing. Luna doubled over suddenly with a cry. As blood spilled from her nose instantly. I caught her before she collapsed.
“Luna!”

She grabbed my arm painfully hard. “They’re hurting it,” she gasped.
Cold horror flooded me. Not “them.” It.

The transformed wolf. She was connected to it somehow.
The seal breaking had created something worse than exposure. It was like a network.
Pack instincts spreading unnaturally across Crescent Valley. Moon-sick victims responding to Luna directly and Selene stepped closer calmly.
“She needs to claim control before the others destabilize completely.”

Ethan snapped immediately. “She’s not some queen!”

Selene ignored him. “Without an Alpha beside her, the hierarchy fractures.”

Her eyes shifted deliberately toward me. I hated that look. Because part of me knew she was right. Luna’s transformation wasn’t isolated anymore.
It was affecting others. The bond between us mattered now.
Politically, supernaturally and territorially. Everything was changing too fast.
A phone suddenly buzzed loudly nearby and Grandma Ashford picked it up.
Her expression darkened instantly. “What?”

She slowly lowered the phone.
“The governor just sealed the town borders.”

Silence. Then…
“No one is allowed in or out of Crescent Valley anymore.”

Outside, helicopters multiplied overhead. Searchlights swept across rooftops.
Military barricades locked down the streets and the town had officially become a containment zone.
And we were trapped inside it.