CHAPTER FIVE : THE HYBRID

LEILA'S POV 

"STOP!" I lunged forward.

The projection caught me with its free hand. Its grip was solid despite being made of smoke and magic.

"This is a demonstration," Dane's voice said calmly. "Of what I can do from fifty miles away. Imagine what I could do standing right in front of you."

Alec's screams were getting weaker. His glasses fell to the floor. His eyes rolled back.

"Please," I begged. "Please stop. I'll do whatever you want."

"Will you come with me? Willingly? Without your mates interfering?"

"Yes! Just stop hurting him!"

The shadows released Alec. He dropped to the floor, gasping.

I tried to go to him, but the projection held me in place.

"Good girl. But I need to make sure you mean it." Those silver eyes studied me. "Shift. Show me your wolf. Prove that you're what I've been searching for."

"I, I can't control it yet. I might hurt…"

"Then hurt someone." The projection's smile was cruel. "That's rather the point."

Before I could respond, my door burst open.

Maddox and Ronan crashed into the room, both in mid-shift, clearly having fought their way through whoever tried to stop them.

They saw the projection holding me. Saw Alec bleeding on the floor.

And they attacked.

"NO!" I screamed. "It's a trap!"

But it was too late.

The projection released me and moved. Too fast. Impossibly fast.

It caught Maddox by the throat. Slammed Ronan into the wall hard enough to crack the plaster.

And then it looked at me.

"Your mates are here. Perfect. Now you can watch them die while you decide if you still want to refuse me."

Something inside me snapped.

Not my control. Not my fear.

My wolf.

She erupted to the surface with violent force. The shift was instant, complete, and absolutely out of my control.

The massive silver-white wolf that emerged wasn't me anymore. It was pure instinct. Pure rage. Pure protective fury.

I lunged at the projection.

My jaws closed on shadow and smoke, should have passed right through. But my hybrid magic did something, made the intangible solid enough to hurt.

The projection actually stumbled.

"Magnificent," Dane's voice purred. "Even better than I imagined."

My wolf didn't care about his praise. She wanted blood.

She released the projection and spun toward the real threats, toward Maddox and Ronan, who were both struggling to their feet.

Toward my mates.

"LEILA, NO!" Alec's voice cut through the haze. "That's not them! You're confused! Your wolf doesn't understand…"

But my wolf saw two males in her territory. Two males who'd threatened her mate (the projection, because proximity and magic made her confused about who was who).

She attacked.

Maddox barely got his arm up in time. My jaws closed on his forearm instead of his throat. I tasted blood. Heard him cry out.

"Leila, please!" Ronan's voice. "It's us! It's your mates!"

But I was too far gone. My wolf was in full predator mode, unable to distinguish friend from foe.

I released Maddox and turned on Ronan. He didn't even try to defend himself. Just stood there, eyes locked on mine.

"It's okay," he said quietly. "If you need to hurt someone, hurt me. I can take it."

The calm acceptance in his voice did what his struggling couldn't.

It cut through the rage.

My wolf faltered.

These males weren't threats. They were... they were...

Ours.

The bond surged, finally recognizing what my confused instincts had missed. These weren't enemies. These were the males I'd been aching for. The three threads pulling at my heart.

My mates.

I shifted back, collapsing naked on the floor.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Maddox was already there, despite his bleeding arm. He wrapped himself around me. "It's okay. It's not your fault."

"I hurt you."

"I've had worse." His voice was rough. "Are you okay?"

"No." I was shaking. "I can't control her. I almost killed you. I almost…"

"But you stopped." Ronan knelt beside us, carefully not touching. "You fought through it. That's what matters."

"Touching." The projection's voice made us all freeze. "But ultimately pointless."

It was still there. Still watching.

"You've just proven my point, little hybrid. Without proper training, you're dangerous. To yourself. To your mates. To everyone around you." Dane's smile was visible even through the shadow-magic. "Come with me. Let me teach you control before you kill someone you actually care about."

"Get out," I whispered.

"In six days, I'm coming for you. When I arrive, I'm going to kill these three males. Slowly. And you're going to watch." The projection began to dissolve. "Unless you agree to come willingly. Your choice."

It vanished.

The room fell silent except for my ragged breathing.

I looked down at my hands. Maddox's blood was on them. I'd hurt him. My own mate.

"This is why Marcus locked me up," I said quietly. "I'm too dangerous. Too broken."

"You're not broken," Alec said. He'd pulled himself up against the wall, still recovering from whatever Dane had done to him. "You're untrained. There's a difference."

"I could have killed Maddox."

"But you didn't." Maddox's grip on me tightened. "And I'm not afraid of you, Leila. None of us are."

"You should be."

"Too bad." He pressed his forehead to mine. "You're stuck with us. Dangerous or not."

Footsteps pounded in the hallway. Marcus appeared with half a dozen guards, all of them armed.

He took in the scene, the destroyed room, his three sons surrounding me, the blood, the obvious signs of a fight.

"What happened?"

"Dane sent a projection," Ronan said calmly. "Made his offer. Leila refused. He attacked. She defended herself."

Marcus's eyes found the bite mark on Maddox's arm. "She bit you."

"I was in her way. It was an accident." Maddox's voice was flat. "Not her fault."

"She can't control her wolf. This is exactly what I was afraid of." Marcus looked at me. "I'm sorry, Leila. But I can't risk you hurting someone else. Guards…"

"No." Ronan stood, placing himself between me and his father. "She stays with us."

"That's not your decision."

"Then make it an Alpha order. Try to take her." Ronan's ice-blue eyes were absolutely cold. "See what happens."

The room went silent.

Marcus stared at his eldest son, the perfect heir, the obedient Alpha-in-training, who was now openly defying him.

"You're willing to risk pack law for her?"

"Yes."

"Even though it means your death?"

"Yes."

Marcus's jaw clenched. "Maddox? Alec? Do you feel the same?"

"She's our mate," Maddox said simply. "Where she goes, we go."

Alec adjusted his cracked glasses. "I've done the math, Dad. Our odds of surviving the next six days are roughly 3% if we're separated from Leila. They're maybe 15% if we stay together. I'll take the higher probability."

My mother pushed through the guards. She saw me shaking on the floor, saw her new family torn apart over me, and tears filled her eyes.

"This is exactly what your father feared," she whispered. "That you'd become so powerful, so dangerous, that everyone would want to use you or kill you."

"Then maybe I should just go with Dane," I said. My voice sounded hollow. "At least then everyone else would be safe."

"NO!" All three brothers said it simultaneously.

The force of their unified rejection hit like a physical blow. Through the incomplete bonds, I felt their absolute certainty.

I was theirs. They weren't letting go.

Marcus saw it too. The way his sons had already chosen.

"Six days," he said finally. "You have six days to figure out how to control your wolf and prepare for Dane's arrival." His eyes swept over all four of us. "After that, if you're still alive, we'll deal with the Council."