The Face-Slap at the Border

The border of Black-Ridge was marked by a massive stone bridge over a plunging gorge.

Damon stood on the far side, flanked by twenty of his best warriors. He looked impatient, his arms crossed over his chest. Chloe was there too, looking bored and annoyed.

When Rowan and I stepped onto the bridge, the air seemed to drop ten degrees.

"Rowan!" Damon shouted. "I didn't think you'd stoop to kidnapping omegas. Give her back. She has pack secrets she needs to answer for."

I stepped out from behind Rowan’s broad shoulders. I wasn't the shivering girl in the mud anymore. Rowan had dressed me in fitted black leather that showed off the new, lean muscle on my frame. My hair was tied back, and my violet eyes were burning.

Damon froze. His jaw dropped. "Kaima?"

"You called me property, Damon," I said, my voice carrying across the gorge like a whip. "I don't remember being an object."

"How dare you speak to your Alpha like that!" Chloe shrieked, stepping forward. "You’re a rogue now! You belong in a cage!"

Rowan stepped beside me, his hand resting possessively on the small of my back. "She belongs to no one, Damon. But she is under my protection. Which means if you take one more step onto this bridge, I will consider it an act of war."

Damon’s eyes narrowed. He looked at the way Rowan was touching me, and I saw a flash of something—jealousy? No, it was territorial aggression. "She is my mate, Rowan. By law, she returns to me."

"You rejected her," I said, stepping forward. "In front of the whole pack. The bond is dead."

"The bond doesn't die until I say it does!" Damon roared, his wolf surfacing. He started across the bridge, his gait predatory. "Come here, Kaima. Now!"

Rowan started to move, but I put a hand on his chest. "No. This is mine."

I walked toward Damon. Every step I took felt like I was crushing the air.

"Kaima, stop," Rowan warned behind me.

Damon reached out to grab my throat. "You’re coming home to the dungeons, you little—"

I didn't shift. I didn't even raise my hands. I simply let the Beast breathe.

KNEEL.

The word didn't come from my mouth; it exploded from my aura. A shockwave of purple energy slammed into Damon.

The "mighty" Alpha hit the stone of the bridge so hard the rock cracked. His face was slammed into the ground, his nose breaking instantly. He tried to push himself up, but his arms were shaking, his muscles refusing to obey him.

Behind him, his warriors fell like dominoes. Chloe was screaming, pinned to the ground by a pressure she couldn't understand.

"What... is this?" Damon wheezed, blood dripping from his face onto the bridge. "What did you do to me?"

I walked up to him and placed my boot on the back of his head, pressing his face further into the dirt.

"I’m the weakling, remember?" I whispered, leaning down so only he could hear. "I’m the 'stain' on your lineage."

"Kaima... please..."

"Don't beg. It’s pathetic," I spat. I looked at Chloe, who was hyperventilating. "And you. If you ever look at me again, I’ll let my wolf play with your intestines."

I looked back at Rowan. He was standing there, his arms crossed, looking at me with a mix of pride and hunger that made my heart race.

"We’re done here," I said.

I turned my back on my former mate and walked toward Rowan. But as I reached the middle of the bridge, a sudden, piercing howl echoed from the woods behind Damon’s men.

It wasn't a wolf. It was something older.

A group of men in white robes emerged from the trees—The Elders of the High Council. They were looking straight at me, their faces grim.

"The prophecy," the lead Elder whispered, pointing a gnarled finger at me. "The First Fang has returned. Seize the girl! Kill anyone who stands in the way!"

Rowan was at my side in a heartbeat, his claws extending. "Over my dead body."

The Elders didn't flinch. They raised their hands, and the ground began to shake. "She is a blight! She will bring the end of the wolf race!"

Suddenly, a massive, shadowy figure began to manifest behind me—a wolf the size of a house, made of pure violet smoke and teeth. It let out a roar that shattered the windows of the distant cabins.

"Let them try," the Beast’s voice echoed in my head.

But then, Rowan gasped, clutching his chest. A black mark was appearing on his neck—identical to the one on mine.

"Rowan?" I cried, catching him as he stumbled.

"The bond..." he choked out, his silver eyes turning pitch black. "Kaima... run..."

The Council’s magic slammed into us, and the bridge began to collapse into the abyss below.