Page 41 of Fated Wolf's Redemption

Ryder leans forward, forearms braced on the table. “What was inside?”

Sophia clears her throat. “Cells. Three that we saw. Both of ours… and one holding Max Bennett.”

Ryder’s face tightens. “The Ironclaw warrior? That was him?”

I nod. “Barely. He’s not the same…”

“Is the pack safe with him?” asks Ryder.

“Absolutely,” responds Sophia. “He’ll be with Kylie, and that will soothe him. Besides, I saw improvement from when we took him out of there and got here.”

“Sophia’s right. We ran into some of the Crimson Claw. Max didn’t hesitate and he didn’t lose control, but they did something to him. Prolonged exposure to whatever energy Cain’s working with. Maybe something more.”

Sophia lifts the folder we took from the lab and places it on the table. “This was in Cain’s private cache. Genetic schematics. Biological notes. Not just hybrids but attempts to combine elemental bloodlines with synthetic augmentation. Half of its Windrider script, but corrupted. He’s trying to blend Windwoven power with something else.”

“Blood rites,” I add. “The ritualistic kind. The kind that disappeared after the War of Mists.

Ryder looks at me. “And the gate?”

I nod. “We found the threshold glyph. Etched into a control panel. Reinforced with fracture runes. He’s not just opening a door. He’s trying to tear the wall down.”

Ryder stiffens. His jaw ticks once. But he says nothing.

Sophia watches him, narrowing her eyes. “Max said something in the cell. Just before we got out.”

Ryder’s attention snaps to her. “What?”

She doesn’t flinch. “He said, ‘He sees you now.’”

Isabella goes still. Ryder looks between us like he’s calculating what to say, what to bury. The silence stretches.

I break it. “You know what he meant.”

A long beat. Then Ryder sits back, running a hand through his hair. “According to Sophia’s father, Cain worked with the regional council years ago. Quietly. Supposedly as a consultant on shifter bloodlines—tracking fertility issues, mapping behavioral patterns. But he went rogue. Started asking questions about shifter origins, about ancient rites. When the Windriders cast out one of their own, he followed her.”

Sophia’s voice is quiet, but it cuts. “What was her name?”

“Lina.”

The name lands like a fist to the chest. Sophia stiffens beside me.

“They exiled Lina before I was born,” she says slowly. “The stories say she tried to weaponize the Windwoven bond. That she wanted to bind the storm to blood, not spirit.”

“She succeeded,” Ryder says. “Briefly. Before they cast her out, she left fragments of her research behind. Cain found them. Maybe they found each other. But whatever he’s doing now… it’s not science anymore. It’s religion.”

“You should’ve told us,” I say. “Back in the beginning.”

Ryder’s gaze hardens. “You think I haven’t been fighting to keep this from spreading for years? I had nothing but rumors. Nothing actionable. Now I do, and it’s not like you Windriders were exactly forthcoming with information.”

I growl at him—he doesn’t get to speak to Sophia that way. Ryder starts to say something, but Isabella places a restraininghand on his leg. He reaches down, takes her hand in his and brings it to his lips. My brother adores his mate.

He turns back to me fully, voice sharper. “Effective immediately, you’re the lead on the Cain operation. But this isn’t just your mission, Lucas. The council’s watching. You’ve got two weeks. Bring them proof—real, undeniable evidence that Cain is behind the breach and the mutations.”

“And if I don’t?” I ask.

“Then the council takes it out of our hands. And you know what that means.”

Mass burn. Blanket sanctions. Regional lockdowns.

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