bChapter /bb201 /b

JESSICA

I’m more than an omega. More than Grayson’s bond. I am fire made flesh.

youchst

“Most omegas bend. Most wolves break. But yours… no one has ever trained a hybrid like yours. They’ll btry/b. Jess. And you’ll either break them–or yourself.”

Break me?

“Break me?” I scoff, tipping my head. “So the honor of training a hybrid like me has to be yoursb?/b”

E

A corner of his mouth twitches. “Not honor,” he says. “Necessity. You have strength that even the Triad has never held. Strength that could burn usb–/bor save us.”

“From who exactly?” I snap, fangs shing, wolf thrumming under my skin.

Kirill reaches out, letting his fingers hover just above my shoulder, not touching. “From yourself, Jessica. Have you forgotten the pile of bodies you’ve left behind? The wolves you’ve unmade because you refused control?”

My chest tightens, pulse spiking. The memory ws at me, but I straighten, wolf snarling, defiant. “I don’t need you–or the Triad–to remind me what I am.”

His amber eyes re, intense and almost hungry. “No. You need control, or you’ll destroy everyone around you. Start with me. Trust me. I can help you.”

“How do I trust someone who could crush me without a thought?”

Those words seem to make him lean closer, like he’s smelling the defiance in me.

“You’re fire. But fire without direction… burns everything, including the hand that feeds it. Mine, for now, is the only hand that can guide yours.”

I bare my teeth, pulse spiking, ws itching. “And if I don’t want your guidance?”

“Then we fight,” he says, calm as death, amber eyes flicking with amusement. “And believe me… your wolf would loseb./b”

After that threat, Kirill left me saying he’s going to let me enjoy some peace for now.

“I miss you,” I said to myselfb, /bstaring at the empty wall and thinking of Grayson.

I close my eyes, let the memory of Grayson fill me, and let the heat of my wolf simmer. I wonder what he’s doing right now–if he feels the pull of my absence, if his chest aches like mine does, if he’s pacing, cursing the distance, thinking of me.

“I love you,” I whisper again, letting the words tumble into the empty room, fragile and braw/b. bAs /bbif /bsaying bthem /bwill stitch the ache inside me.

Goddess, how can he be so cruel–sending me here, leaving me in this mountain of stone and fire, surrounded by wolves who smell my weakness and my strength both?

My wolf stirs, restless and bitter, echoing the same fury that twists through my chest. It’s hunger, it’s need, it’s rage. And it’s all for him.

But I understand him. I vow to always seek understanding for Grayson Westwood and I will.

No matter what the Triad throws at me, no matter the blood, the fire, or the shadows–I will carry him in me. Always.

At night, one of the wolves–thankfully not Cid–tells me I shall go into the Cradle for a feast. Whatever that

meansb. /b

So here I am, standing at the front gate, noticing how suddenly the world has gone quiet. Will there be war? What will happen to me if I push these gates open?

Only one way to find out.

I shove the iron gates open and the first thing I noticed is the massive walls surrounding the gates as bif /bit’s protecting the ce itself from outsiders.

“Hello?” I say, and my voice sounds small, ignorant, like a pup in a hall of kings.

My breath fogs, white and quick. The wind moves, but it does not so much pass as curl its fingers around me. questioning.

From where I stand, I saw shadows move on my side and that’s when I noticed we are not alone. How can they conceal their presence?

They emerge from the darkness like wraiths, their eyes glowing with feral hunger. Five of them, maybe more. their fur bristling, teeth bared. They’re not here to wee me.

“Look who’s graced us with her presence,” one sneers, his voice dripping with mockery. “The Triad’s little pet Think you’re special, hybrid?”

I bare my teeth, ws unsheathed. “Special enough to take you all down.”

Heughsb, /bba /bcold, cruel sound that makes my skin crawl. “We’ll see about that.”

They move as one, a coordinated strike that sends me diving to the side. I roll to my feet, but they’re already closing in, their growls echoing like a chorus of death.

One lunges, and I meet him head–on, our ws shing, teeth snapping. He’s strong, but I’m faster. I twist, sinking my ws into his side, and he howls in pain.

But there’s no time to celebrate. Another wolf barrels into me, his weight mming me to the groundb. /bbI /bsnarl, struggling beneath him, but he’s huge, his jaws snapping inches from my face.

I kick, my boot connecting with his jaw, and he stumbles back. I scramble to my feet, breath heaving, blood dripping from a cut on my arm.

b6:06 /bbSat/bb, /bbSep /bb27 /b

:.

“Is that ball /byou’ve bgot/b?b” /bbI /bbtaunt/b, my bvoice /bsteady despite the fear wing at bmy /bchest.

bBut /bperhaps, I shouldn’t bask/b.

Suddenlyb, /bba /bwolf with bck /bfur and red eyes leaps from the shadows, saliva dripping from its fangs.

辣回

The bck/b–furred wolf lungesb, /band I barely duck in time. Its bws /bbgraze /bmy side, tearing through bmy /bshirt and leaving a burning trail of pain. Shit. Shit. This one’s different–bigger, meaner, and its eyes glow like embers in the dark.

I backpedalb, /bkeeping my ws ready, but bit’s /brelentless. It leaps again, and I throw myself to the ground, rolling to my bfeet /bjust bas /bits jaws snap shut where my head had been.

“Alright, big guy,” bI /bgrowl, wiping blood from my split lip. “Let’s danceb.” /b

It howls, a sound that sends shivers down my spine, and charges. I sidestep, shing at its side, but it whirls around faster than I expect. Its paw swipes, hitting me square in the chest and sending me flying. I hit the ground hard, the air knocked out of me.

Before I can recover, it’s on top of me, its weight crushing. Its teeth bare, inches from my face, and I can smell bits /brancid breath.

The wolf’s weight presses down, its eyes burning like fire. Then, in a blur bof /bsmoke and shadow, it shifts. The fur recedes, muscles reshape, and the bbeast /bbes a man. Kirill. His bare chest gleams with sweat, his sharp jawline set in a feral grin. He’s every inch the dangerous alpha, his presencemanding and brutal.

“You’re slower than I anticipate,” he taunts, his voice a deep rumble. Blood trickles from a cut on his cheek, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

I wipe the blood from my mouth, my ws retracting as I straighten. “And you’re such a bastard,” I fire back, my voice steady despite the ache in my ribs.

Kirill stands there,pletely unbothered by his nakednessb, /blike he’s the king bof /bthis damned forest. He grabs clothing from the side, eyes still not leaving mine.

“You’ve managed to wound me, Jess.b” /b

I smirk, my own confidence burning brighter than his taunts. “You’re wee.”

“You’re wee?” he repeats, a lowugh rumbling from his throat. “You think cutting me makes you clever. Wolves bleed, bJessica/b. Even kings.”

He takes a step closer, and the ground feels smaller beneath me.

I tilt my chin higherb, /brefusing to shrink. “Then maybe you’re not as untouchable as you pretend.”

The grin fades from his lips, reced by something sharper, darker. His gaze rakes bover /bmeb–/bnot bwith /bblust/b, but with the same precision he uses to size up prey. “Untouchable? No. Dangerous. bYes/b. And byou/bb…/bb” /bHis bvoice/b. lowers, a growl threaded with hunger. “…you keep forgetting you’re the one inside my bden/bb./bb” /b

bThe /bcircle of wolves tightens. Silent, obedient. Their beyes /bglint, waiting bto /bbsee /bif I’ll bfall to /bmy bknees /bbor /bbsink /bmy

b6:06 /bbSat/bb, /bbSep /bb27 /b

ws deeper.

bHe /blets bthe /bsilence bstretch/bb, /bcounts me with that wolf’s patience, thenb–/balmost too casually–he inclines his bhead /btoward the yard beyond the ring.

“We prepared a bfeast /bfor your arrival,” Kirill says. The words are simple, polite bas /bba /bde’s edge. b“/bCome. bJoin /b

us.”

b“/bbIs /bthat it, alphab?/bb” /b

I wish he could hear the mockery in my tone. Kirill gaze linger for me for another second before he steps closer. “Wee to the Triad, Jess,” he says, voice low enough that only I can hear it and loud enough that the yard takes the words in. “Eat well. Fight harder. Survive longer than those who’vee before byou/bb–/band perhaps you will be more than prey.”

biAD /i/b

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