MasukAlanza’s POV
"I am willing to give up my own life to save Lucia, but I cannot hand over the entire pack to do it," I said, the weight of the confession making my posture crumble. "I have no idea how to balance those two things."
The truth felt like lead in my chest. London didn't look at me with pity. He simply gave a slow, knowing nod.
"That burden is called responsibility," he said. "It will always act as a leash on your heart. It is a vital lesson for a leader."<
Alanza’s POV"I can't tell if you're looking for a horizon or if you're just waiting for the mountain to move again."Luciano’s voice was soft, drifting over the crisp morning air like the steam from the coffee mug in his hand. We were standing on the wide stone balcony of the new High Ridge Lodge. Below us, the valley was a sea of emerald pines and silver mist. It had been three months since the Floor of Kings, and the borders of the Neutral Zone were finally settling into reality."I'm just breathing, Luciano," I said, leaning my elbows on the railing. "It is a habit I am still trying to get used to."He stepped closer, the familiar scent of forest rain and ozone wrapping around me. He didn't try to touch me. He had learned the new rules. I was the Sovereign now, and while the fated bond still hummed between us, it was no longer a chain. It was a choice."The first group of refugees from the East arrived at the gate an hour ago," he said, his gaze fixed on the valley floor. "Sixteen
Alanza’s POV"If we don't reach the summit by dawn, we'll be fighting a war in a whiteout."Leyton’s voice was barely audible over the howling wind. We were traversing a narrow ledge on the northern face of the peak, the drop to our left a bottomless abyss of swirling snow and darkness. The physical strain was starting to tear at me. My breath came in ragged, burning hitches, and the violet lines on my skin felt like they were vibrating against my very bones.Luciano was behind me, his hand constantly hovering near my waist to catch me if I slipped. I could feel the heat of his wolf through his heavy coat, a stark contrast to the freezing spray of the mountain."The scent of the East is getting stronger," Luciano called out, his voice sharp with a warning. "They aren't just following our trail. They’re circling around the eastern ridge to cut us off at the pass.""They can't shift on this ice," Leyton shou
Alanza’s POV"Can you hear me, or is your mind still lost in that purple fog?" The voice felt like a heavy rock dropped into a still pond. I dragged my eyes open. My vision was a mess of blurry shadows and flickering orange light. I wasn't in the stronghold anymore. The air was damp and smelled like old stone and moss. Every breath I took tasted like iron."She’s waking up," Luciano’s voice said. I felt a rough hand on my shoulder. I tried to sit up, but my body felt like it was made of lead. I was lying on a cold stone floor. Above me, the ceiling was low and jagged. We were in the tunnels beneath the mountain."Don't move too fast," Leyton warned. He was standing a few feet away, his back to us. He held a flashlight in one hand and a serrated hunting knife in the other. His shirt was torn, and a dark smear of blood ran down his arm. "What happened?" I managed to rasp out. My throat felt like I had swallowed
Luciano’s POV"If the Eastern scouts hit the tree line, I want them shredded before they can howl." I stood on the northern ramparts of the stronghold, my breath blooming in the frigid mountain air.Karlos was at my side, his binoculars fixed on the dark valley below. The scent of the Blue Storm pack was thick on my left, where Leyton’s men held the southern ridge. It was an alliance built on glass, held together only by the woman sleeping in the center of this rock."The wind is shifting, Luciano," Karlos said, his voice low. "I smell ozone and... something sweet. Too sweet." I stiffened.My wolf surged to the surface, his vision sharpening the shadows into shades of gray and silver. The sweetness hit me then. It wasn't the scent of a female in heat. It was a chemical cloy, a heavy floral mask meant to drown out the air. "The gas," I growled, turning toward the interior courtyard. "Leyton!"The Blue Storm
Alanza’s POV"I am not a prize to be hauled off to your mountain, Leyton."The words felt like stones in my mouth. I was sitting in the back of an armored SUV, wrapped in Luciano’s heavy leather jacket. We were moving at high speed toward a neutral stronghold in the jagged mountains. Outside the window, the dark trees of the Northwest were a blur. My skin was still buzzing with the aftershocks of the transformation. Those violet lines on my arms were glowing faintly in the dark of the cabin."You are a target, Alanza," Leyton said from the front seat. He didn't turn around. His voice was a low growl. "Every Alpha from here to the coast felt that scent explosion. The Council is already calling for an emergency session. They want to know if the Sovereign is a myth or a weapon.""She’s neither," Luciano snapped. He was sitting next to me, his hand resting near mine but not touching. He looked like he had been through a
Alanza’s POV"If you take one more step, I will burn this house down with you inside it."I wasn't shouting. My voice sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a deep, frozen lake. Reynaldo froze at the door. His eyes darted to the liquid violet metal dripping from my finger. The floorboards hissed where the ring touched them."You're a defect, Alanza," Reynaldo spat, though he didn't move forward. "You don't have the soul to hold that kind of power. Give me the artifact.""It’s not an artifact," I whispered.Inside me, the silence finally snapped. It wasn't Sombra waking up. It was Sombra opening the door. A surge of white-hot energy slammed into my spine. My ribs felt like they were being hammered outward. I fell to my knees, gasping."Alanza!" Luciano’s voice was a roar of panic. He reached for me, but a shockwave of purple light threw him back against the window.The
Alanza’s POV"He seems decent enough," Sombra remarked, her voice a calm ripple in the back of my mind."Yeah, he does," I whispered back.Teddy didn't linger after our dance. He gave a casual wave and melted into the moving wall of bodies without a hint of clinginess.
Alanza’s POV"Alanza, honey," a voice drips with artificial sweetness, making the hair on my arms stand up.I turn to find Chloe closing the distance between us. She moves with a practiced sway, her hips cutting a path through the crowd as every guy in the vicinity tracks her
Alanza’s POV"Just keep your head up," Sombra says, her voice a steady anchor inside my mind. "You are doing fine. One step at a time."I take a slow breath, forcing the stale, crowded air into my lungs. It helps. I let it out slowly, trying to shed the layer of panic clinging
Alanza’s POV“Are you actually going to get out of the car, or do I need to drag you?” Lucia asked, her voice bright with a teasing edge that didn’t quite mask her own nervous energy.I took a shaky breath and looked out the window at the dark road. We had le







