Chapter 85: New Threats Emerge

Words : 1099 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 85: New Threats Emerge Aiden POV The emergency radio crackled to life at exactly 3:47 AM, jerking me awake from the first good sleep I’d had in weeks. "Alpha Aiden, urgent message from the Northern Territories," came the panicked voice of our border guard. "You need to hear this now." I grabbed the radio, my heart already racing. Nothing good ever came through emergency lines at this hour. "Go ahead, Marcus," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Sir, we just got reports from twelve different packs across North America. They’re all reporting the same thing - strange tears in the air that show... other places. And sir, they’re all happening near places where powerful magic was recently used." My blood turned cold. Lily’s sacrifice to break the shadow wolves’ memory spell had used incredible amounts of old magic. Magic that strong always had effects. "How many tears?" I asked, already pulling on clothes. "Seventeen confirmed so far, but the stories keep coming in. Alpha Rodriguez from the Desert Pack says one opened right in their area. He can see through it to what looks like a completely different world. " I was halfway down the stairs when another voice broke through the radio fuzz. "This is Alpha Chen from the Mountain Ridge Pack," came a female voice, tight with fear. "We have a situation. One of our scouts fell through a hole that appeared near our healing springs. We can hear him calling for help, but he’s somewhere else entirely." My hands shook as I reached the main floor. Caleb was already there, looking pale and nervous. Brock stood by the window, looking out at the pre-dawn darkness. "It’s starting," Caleb said quietly. "The ancient books warned about this. When someone uses magic powerful enough to break shadow bonds, it can cause ripple effects." "What kind of ripple effects?" I asked. "The kind that tear holes between worlds," Brock said sadly. "I’ve been watching pack communications all night. The tears are showing everywhere Lily used her power to help others remember their stolen memories." The radio crackled again. "Alpha Aiden, this is Elder Thompson from the Coastal Pack. We have a... problem. Something came through one of the tears. It looks like a dog, but it’s wrong somehow. Its eyes are completely black, and it doesn’t reply to any commands." My stomach dropped. "Did you say something came through?" "Yes, sir. And it’s not alone. We’re seeing movement in other tears. Things that look like our pack members, but they smell different. Foreign. Like they’re from somewhere else entirely." I looked at my brothers. Caleb’s face had gone white. Brock was already reaching for his guns. "How many packs are reporting creatures coming through?" I asked into the radio. "Seven so far," came the reply. "But Alpha, there’s something else. The tears aren’t staying small. They’re getting bigger every hour." The front door burst open and Lily stumbled in, grabbing her chest. She looked tired, like she hadn’t slept in days. "The bond," she gasped. "Something’s wrong with the pack ties. I can feel them stretching, breaking. It’s like the magic is undoing everything we fixed." I caught her as she swayed, feeling how cold her skin was. "Lily, what’s happening?" "When I broke the shadow spell, I used power from the pack bonds themselves," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I thought it would only affect the memories, but magic doesn’t work that way. It’s affecting all the links between our world and others." The radio burst with voices as more packs checked in. Each report was worse than the last. "Three tears have merged into one giant opening here." "We’ve lost contact with our eastern border patrol." "Something that looks like my dead father just walked out of a tear, but he’s been gone for ten years." "The animals are organizing. They’re not random. They’re working together." I felt the weight of leadership crushing down on me. Twelve packs were looking to me for answers, and I had no idea what to do. "Caleb, how do we fix this?" I asked desperately. "I don’t know if we can," he allowed. "The ancient texts mention tears between worlds, but they always end the same way - with entire packs disappearing into other realities." Lily suddenly straightened, her eyes wide with fear. "That’s not the worst part," she said. "I can feel something else. Something big is coming through the tears. Something that’s been waiting for a way into our world." The radio went silent for a moment, then exploded with screaming. "HELP US! THEY’RE EVERYWHERE! THE CREATURES ARE MULTIPLYING!" "THE TEAR ABOVE OUR TERRITORY IS THE SIZE OF A FOOTBALL FIELD!" "THEY TOOK SARAH! THEY DRAGGED HER THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE!" I grabbed the radio. "All packs, this is Alpha Aiden. Gather your pack members and move to your safest places. Do not approach the tears. Do not deal with anything that comes through them." "Alpha," came a shaky voice. "This is the River Pack. The tears aren’t just showing other places anymore. They’re showing other times. I can see our area, but it’s the way it looked fifty years ago. And there are dogs there who look just like us." Lily grabbed my arm, her fingers digging in painfully. "Aiden, what if fixing the shadow spell didn’t just affect our world? What if it affected all the worlds linked to ours?" "What do you mean?" "What if there are other versions of our packs out there? Other versions of us? And what if we just opened doors between all of them?" Before I could answer, the lights in our house flickered and went out. In the darkness, I heard Brock swear loudly. "Um, guys?" he called from the window. "You need to see this." We all rushed to look outside. There, floating about twenty feet above our pack grounds, was a tear in the air. Through it, I could see our area - but it was different. The buildings were in the wrong places, and wolves I didn’t recognize were running around in fear. And standing in the center of that other pack grounds, looking straight at me through the tear, was another version of myself. He was dressed differently, his hair was longer, but there was no missing it. The other Aiden raised his hand and pressed it against his side of the tear. When I looked closer, I could see his mouth moving, making words I could barely make out: "Help us. They’re coming for all of us."

Chapter 85: New Threats Emerge

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