ALBERT POV
Being an alpha hybrid did have its perks.
The strength. The speed. The heightened senses that made the world sharpen into razor detail when the blood started to flow. But the best one? The control.
I couldn’t fully shift into Atticus. Not here. Not in someone else’s pack territory. My wolf form was too large, too different, too other. The moment I did, I’d lose the ability to communicate, and right now, I needed every ounce of focus I had to coordinate with the Shadowfang warriors.
So I let Atticus come forward, just enough to merge our instincts. Enough to make me the kind of nightmare you saw in old scary movies — half man, half beast. My fangs slid long. My claws extended. My skin rippled, muscles stretching as fur crept along my arms and down my spine.
I could walk upri
