CHAPTER 37: TEAR OFF

The circle of wolves stared at the prey in the middle. Their breaths came rough and uneven, their eyes glowing faintly in the dark. With them already in their true forms, it was hard to hold their beasts back. Each one stared at the girl like she was already theirs, hunger rolling off them in waves.

Alpha Soier moved first.

He stepped forward slowly, each stride echoing across the silent courtyard. He planned to mount her the moment the clock struck twelve, claim her before the entire pack so she would have no choice but to submit.

But then one of his wolves spoke through the pack link, voice low and cautious in his head."Alpha. The tradition."

He froze.

He had almost forgotten. Almost. For one brief second, he was tempted to do away with it altogether- this old, useless custom of binding an omega with her own blood before the claiming. What did it matter now? She was already surrounded, already beaten, already his.

But he stopped himself. The others were watching, and if anyone dared to report anything to the King... No. It was better that the tradition be followed.

He frowned, the anger in his chest burning hotter, and changed his path. Instead of walking behind her like he had planned, he came to stand in front. First, she would submit to him. First, she would bow her head like all the others had before her. And then... then he would make sure she remembered her place until her last breath.

The clock struck twelve.

The sound echoed like a hammer falling on stone.

"Stand," he ordered sharply.

Emira straightened slowly, her thin garment clinging to her skin. And he stared hungrily, his eyes glowing red. She lifted her chin, meeting his eyes without flinching.

That look. That same cold, steady look she had been maintaining. Even now, with the others from the pack watching, and her own downfall facing her, she dared to defy him. Dared to stare as though he was nothing to her. And then she smiled. A calm serene smile as if he were a joke.

Rage burned through him.

He opened his mouth to order her to her knees, to break that calm mask on her face once and for all-

But she moved first, even before he could guess her intent.

Emira raised her neck high, the silver blade flashing in her hand. Before anyone could stop her, she dragged it across her throat in one sharp, merciless cut.

Blood exploded in a hot spray, flinging across the circle of wolves and on him. He stilled.

Gasps tore through the pack as the dark liquid splattered over fur and dirt alike. The wolves nearest to her stepped back instinctively, their snarls dying in their throats. Even Alpha Soier froze where he stood, the shock holding him silent as the crimson kept pouring down her body.

And then she started to speak the words in a voice that was calmer still, "By blood and bone, I call the Shadows. Let no hand touch me but yours. No power claim me but you.

I will pay the price you ask— Only shield me now."

"Stop her!" Alpha Soier roared as he heard the words. The Omega had gone crazy! She actually dared to utter the forgotten curse.

His voice cracked like thunder and the several wolves leapt forward at once at their Alpha’s panicked roar, realizing that something had gone wrong. But even as they tried to move, some unseen force gripped them, making it impossible. A force that wrapped around their limbs and locked them in place. Muscles strained, claws scraped against stone, but not a single wolf could move closer.

It was as if the earth itself had decided no one would touch her. Emira’s legs buckled as her blood continued to come out in spurts at first until it slowly started to trickle down her body. She sank to her knees, the blade clattering to the ground beside her. Blood ran down in a steady stream, spreading in a dark circle around her trembling body.

The others could only watch and she continued to smile in victory. Soon, the air itself turned oppressive and their own wolves started to push back, as if wanting to recede.

Some strained harder against the invisible hold, snarling in frustration. Others stared in open fear as the girl continued so sway on her knees.

Alpha Soier’s chest heaved with fury. He didn’t like this. Didn’t like the way the air had grown heavier, colder. It felt wrong. Ancient. How dare she! How dare she escape him by using the forgotten curse! He watched as Emira’s lips moved again, weaker this time.

And no one heard the words.

And then she collapsed, Emira had no regrets in her mind. Even if she died tonight, her oath not accepted by the Alphas, she would have no regrets. At least she would leave this world with dignity.

Just as this last final thought echoed in her head, and darkness started to creep around her vision, it came.

A deafening explosion tore through the courtyard. Light burst out from the ground, so blinding that the wolves all cried out and staggered back. The ground itself cracked beneath them as the wave of power ripped outward, hurling bodies aside like they weighed nothing.

Alpha Soier slammed into the wall behind him, the breath knocked out of his chest, his ears ringing. He blinked furiously, trying to clear the haze from his eyes. Around him, his strongest fighters were groaning, some struggling to rise, others still pinned where they had landed.

But the light didn’t fade, instead slowly surrounding the prone figure on the ground, until no one could see her. Emira, strained to keep her eyes open, even though she could not move.

And then she saw them.

Three enormous wolves stepped out of the brilliance, their forms dark against the blinding glow as they stood over her, staring down at her coldly.

The Shadow Alphas had come.