The end of the hibernation period had officially arrived.

The atmosphere inside the western corridor of the Iron-Wood Manor was thick and suffocating.

The entire family was gathered at the far end of the sprawling hallway, maintaining a strict, calculated distance from the doors of Syris’s private chambers.

The toxic-green magical ward that had sealed the room for months slowly disappeared.

"Stay back. All of you," Torian commanded, his booming voice dropping into a lethal, uncompromising Warlord growl. The White Tiger Alpha stood at the absolute front of the formation, his massive shoulders tense, his razor-sharp claws fully extended from his fingertips.

Right beside him, Kaelen had his arms spread wide, acting as a physical, muscular barricade to keep the incredibly anxious, pacing pre-teen wolf triplets securely behind him.

Roxy stood a few paces back, her heart hammering against her ribs. She had wisely transferred Little Fedor into Caspian’s protective arms, knowing the aquatic Warlord would shield the infant if she couldn’t protect him closely.

Beside her, Zarek’s golden eyes were completely locked onto the obsidian doors, a faint, warning wisp of black smoke curling from his clenched fists, entirely prepared to incinerate anything that threatened his Matriarch.

Although he knew he wasn’t going to do it.

"The feral protocol remains absolute," Kaelen reminded the pack, his icy blue eyes never leaving the sparking doorway. "When the doors open, do not make any sudden movements. Do not bare your teeth. Do not challenge his aura. Syris will not recognize us immediately. We must let his core stabilize."

That’s if he was even going to come out.

"I’ve got the perimeter," Zarek rumbled, stepping slightly in front of Roxy, turning his massive body into a living shield.

Onyx, entirely driven by the pure, stubborn, and completely fearless curiosity of a pre-teen who had spent months missing his little sister, saw the green light fade. To his adolescent brain, the danger had passed.

The door was simply a barrier between him and Tanith.

Before Kaelen could even register the shift in the boy’s weight, Onyx dropped his center of gravity. Using the blinding, erratic speed of a Northern wolf, the pre-teen smoothly ducked directly under his father’s outstretched arm.

"Onyx! No!" Kaelen roared, completely dropping his stoic composure as he lunged forward to grab his son.

But it was a microsecond too late.

Onyx sprinted the remaining distance across the woven runner. He slammed his hands flat against the wood and, using all of his strength, violently pushed the heavy door open.

The massive doors swung inward with a heavy, echoing groan, revealing a void of absolute, impenetrable pitch-black darkness.

For one agonizing, suspended heartbeat, nothing happened.

And then, a massive, breathtaking streak of iridescent emerald scales slithered out of the darkness at absolutely blinding, lightning-fast speed. It was a serpent of impossible, terrifying proportions.

It possessed a diamond-shaped head, its scales gleaming like jade in the torchlight, and thick, rippling coils of pure muscle that looked capable of crushing steel.

The sheer size of the beast triggered absolute panic.

"Get back!" Zarek bellowed, his hands igniting with roaring black hellfire as he stepped in front of Roxy.

But the giant emerald serpent was too fast, lunging directly at the pre-teen wolf who had opened the door. The massive snake struck, its thick coils instantly whipping around Onyx’s body, completely lifting the boy off the floorboards in a terrifying, inescapable grip.

Roxy screamed, her soul completely shattering in horror. "Onyx!"

But the horrific sound of crushing bones never came.

Instead, a bright, breathless laugh echoed down the hallway.

"Ack! Okay, okay, I missed you too! You’re squishing me!" Onyx wheezed, his arms pinned to his sides.

The Vanguard Warlords froze dead in their tracks, their hellfire and claws violently halting mid-strike.

The colossal, terrifying emerald serpent wasn’t attacking. It was playfully, aggressively nuzzling its massive, scaled snout directly into Onyx’s messy dark hair. The snake wrapped around the pre-teen in a massive, suffocating hug, letting out a series of high-pitched, incredibly joyful hisses that sounded remarkably like a toddler’s giggles.

Roxy’s breath caught in her throat. She stared at the iridescent green scales, the familiar, vibrant golden eyes of the serpent, and the sheer, overwhelming abundance of transmigrated magic radiating from its core.

"Tanith?" Roxy whispered, her green eyes wide with sheer disbelief.

It was the little princess. The hibernation had triggered a massive, staggering biological metamorphosis. She had shed her tiny, infant form and emerged as a formidable, breathtakingly beautiful snake-shifter. She was terrifying in size, but her soul was entirely intact. She was still the sweet, playful toddler who loved her wolf brothers.

"By the gods, she is enormous," Caspian breathed from the back of the hall, clutching Zale protectively.

Torian let out a massive, shuddering breath, his fangs retracting as he dropped his hands to his knees. "I almost had a heart attack. Onyx, you reckless little—"

The absolute, overwhelming relief of seeing Tanith safe and playful completely dismantled the Vanguard’s perimeter. The Alpha Kings lowered their guard. Zarek extinguished his hellfire, letting out a long sigh as he stepped slightly away from Roxy to observe the massive serpent happily suffocating his adopted son.

It was the most catastrophic tactical error they had ever made.

While the entire pack was completely distracted by the beautiful, terrifying reunion between the wolf and the giant snake, the pitch-black void of the open doorway behind them was entirely ignored.

A sudden, chilling whisper of movement echoed from the darkness. It was a sound like heavy, wet velvet dragging across stone.

Before Roxy could even blink, a massive, impossibly thick coil of dark, almost black-emerald scales whipped out from the shadows of the room. It moved with a speed that entirely defied physics, completely bypassing the relaxed Vanguard Warlords.

The thick, muscular serpentine tail shot forward and wrapped securely, possessively around Roxy’s waist.

"Wha—!" Roxy gasped, her eyes blowing wide.

She didn’t even have time to formulate a scream. The colossal tail violently contracted. With a single, effortless, and blindingly fast yank, Roxy was completely lifted off her feet and dragged backward, flying through the air directly into the pitch-black abyss of Syris’s chambers.

"Roxy!" Zarek roared, spinning around, his golden eyes widening in sheer, unadulterated horror.

Kaelen lunged forward, his hand extending to catch her.

But they were too late. The moment Roxy’s body cleared the threshold, the heavy doors violently, aggressively slammed shut directly in the Alphas’ faces with a deafening BOOM.

The heavy iron deadbolt clicked into place from the inside. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The corridor plunged into a stunned, absolute, and utterly paralyzed silence. The chaotic joy of Tanith’s return was instantaneously vaporized by the sheer audacity of the ambush.

Torian stood frozen in the center of the hallway, staring blankly at the locked doors. The White Tiger Alpha slowly blinked, his blue eyes twitching with a mixture of profound shock and rising fury. He looked at Zarek, then at Kaelen, his jaw dropping completely open.

"What the fuck?" Torian boomed, his voice echoing violently off the stone walls. "Did that slimy snake just kidnap our mate?"