Chapter 10: The Sovereign Shield

The silver-plated wolf-bane blade caught the harsh fluorescent light, flashing with a lethal, blinding gleam as Ryker lunged. He wasn’t acting like an Alpha Prince anymore; he was a rabid, cornered animal executing a suicide mission, driven by the absolute ruin of his entire legacy.

"Dominic, watch out!" I shrieked.

But before Dominic could even pivot his massive shoulders, a wild, deafening roar echoed not through the hallway, but from the very depths of my soul.

Protect our mates! Lupine screamed.

An explosive, suffocating wave of white-hot energy erupted directly out of my chest. It wasn’t the soft, submissive aura of an Omega. It was ancient. It was heavy. It carried the crushing, majestic weight of a thousand ancient kings. The force of my sudden psychic outburst hit Ryker like a physical semi-truck in mid-air.

BOOM.

Ryker gasped as the sheer shockwave of my power slammed into his ribs, violently throwing him backward. The silver blade slipped from his fingers, clattering uselessly across the concrete floor as he crashed hard against the lockers for the second time, coughing up a fresh splat of blood.

The corridor fell into a stunned, breathless silence.

Zane and Tristan froze in their tracks, their hockey tape half-wound around their knuckles. Kaelen’s dark eyes widened to the size of saucers, his jaw tightening as he stared at me. Dominic slowly turned around, his silver eyes completely wild, tracking the faint, glowing silver mist that was currently swirling around my skin, highlighting every voluptuous curve of my body with a ethereal radiance.

"What the hell was that...?" Ryker wheezed from the floor, clutching his chest, his blue eyes wide with a terrifying, agonizing realization. He stared at me, his voice trembling so hard he could barely form the words. "You... you aren't an Omega. That’s... that’s the Sovereign aura. No... no, it's impossible! The lineage died out centuries ago!"

"It didn't die," Dominic murmured, his voice dropping to a deep, gravelly register that practically vibrated with a mix of awe and possessive pride. He looked down at me, the ruthless captain completely melting away, replaced by an Alpha who realized his mate was a literal goddess walking among wolves. "You didn't just reject a soft Omega, Blackthorn. You rejected the Sovereign Queen."

"No... no!" a shrill, hysterical scream pierced the air from the mouth of the tunnel.

Cynthia stood there, her platinum-blonde hair wild, her expensive silver gown rumpled as she took in the horrific scene. She looked at Ryker bleeding on the floor, then at the four Blackwood Alphas surrounding me, and finally at the undeniable, glowing silver power radiating off my body.

"She’s a freak!" Cynthia screeched, her fingers clawing at her own face in a fit of jealous madness. "Ryker, get up! Kill her! She’s ruining everything! The title is mine! The pack house is mine!"

"Your pack house belongs to the bank now, Cynthia," I said. My voice didn't sound like mine anymore. It echoed with a deep, layered, dual resonance—my voice and Lupine’s voice speaking as one perfect, unstoppable force.

I took a slow step forward, my oversized Reapers hoodie shifting over my wide hips. For the first time in my eighteen years, I didn't feel small. I didn't feel ugly. I felt magnificent.

"Kaelen," Dominic commanded quietly, never breaking eye contact with me. "Call the supernatural council enforcers. Have the former prince and his accomplice removed for illegal possession of wolf-bane and an attempted assassination on a Sovereign mate. Let them rot in the rogue badlands."

"Right away, Boss," Kaelen rumbled. He stepped forward, his massive hands easily grabbing Ryker by his good shoulder and dragging him along the floor like a sack of garbage. Zane and Tristan moved with synchronized, terrifying speed, stepping into Cynthia's path before she could even think of running. They grabbed her arms, ignoring her piercing shriek of "Get your filthy hands off me!" as they dragged the stepsister who had tortured me for years down the dark tunnel toward the waiting authorities.

As the echoes of Cynthia’s screaming faded, the south corridor fell into a deep, intimate quiet.

The silver glow around my skin slowly receded, leaving my body trembling from the sudden aftershock of unleashing so much dormant magic. My knees buckled, the sheer exhaustion hitting me all at once.

But I didn't hit the ground.

Dominic caught me, his thick, padded arms wrapping securely around my waist. Simultaneously, Asher stepped out of the medical bay door, his jersey still torn, his hand immediately flying to my lower back to support me. The moment both of their skin-to-skin contacts locked onto me, a massive, electric jolt of the fated-mate bond surged through the corridor. The raw, addictive heat of the reverse harem bond didn't just soothe my aching muscles; it amplified my internal wolf power tenfold.

"Fuck," Asher groaned, burying his face into the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent of sweet vanilla and fresh rain. "Your magic... it completely healed my ribs, Elara. You’re incredible."

Dominic’s silver eyes darked to a deep, stormy charcoal as he looked down at my face. He leaned in, his lips brushing against mine in a brief, heavy, agonizingly possessive kiss that made my breath catch in my throat.

"We need to get you home, little wolf," Dominic whispered against my lips, his voice thick with a dark, protective hunger. "The entire united territory is waiting to see their new Luna. But first... we have a celebration to attend."

He looked back toward the hockey rink entrance, where the roar of the Blackwood fans was still shaking the rafters.

"Let's go show them who owns the ice."