CHAPTER 367: _FINISH WHAT DESTINY STARTED

When the light finally faded, I was no longer in the throne room.

Silence swallowed everything.

The ground beneath my feet was black and cold. It wasn’t stone, or metal, or anything that should’ve existed.

It pulsed faintly, like a living thing.

Above me stretched an endless black void swirling with lightning clouds that flashed once every few seconds, throwing everything into brief, blinding relief before plunging it back into darkness.

Each bolt of lightning revealed fractured patches of color suspended in the black — glimpses of places that didn’t belong here. Forests. Ruins. Fire. Shadows.

The space around me shifted each time I blinked, like the realm itself couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.

I was breathing hard, my chest rising and falling with each ragged breath. Damon was silent in my head for once, only watching, waiting.

Then I heard it.

A chuckle.

It was low. Mocking. Rolling through the dark like thunder.

"Impressive, isn’t it?" Ryker’s voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere at once. "You feel it too, don’t you? The hum in the air. The pulse beneath your feet. The Vein’s energy, unfiltered and pure. I’ve lived off it for decades."

I spun around, my claws drawn and my aura shimmering with silver light against the black expanse. "Show yourself!"

Ryker only laughed louder, the sound twisting with the crackle of nearby lightning. "Careful, brother. The Vein doesn’t take kindly to arrogance. It knows strength... and it rewards those who embrace it."

"You’ve been feeding on it," I snarled. "That’s why you reek of its chaotic magic now."

"Feeding?" His tone darkened, laced with amusement. "No, Kaelos. Feeding is too small a word. I’ve merged parts of it with myself. Every thread of this realm, every spark of lightning you see—it’s part of me now."

The next flash of lightning revealed him for the briefest second—his silhouette standing across the vast black plain, his head slightly tilted.

A cruel smirk curled on his face.

And then he moved.

The world blurred. One moment, he was several meters away. The next, his shadow crashed into mine with a sound like worlds colliding.

Claws met claws.

The shockwave ripped through the void, sending ripples across the black surface beneath our feet. Lightning cracked overhead, splitting the sky into veins of white and red.

My Alpha King aura flared to counter his darkness, silver light meeting crimson chaos as the two forces clashed again and again.

Damon growled through me, ’Push harder!’

We were transformed and Ryker was still unshifted. We should be gaining the upper hand here... but there was nothing ’human’ about Ryker’s current form.

I obeyed Damon’s words.

We struck, parried, ripped, and slammed. Each blow carried enough force to shatter mountains, yet all it did here was distort space itself.

Ryker ducked under my massive arm and slammed his elbow into my ribs, sending me sprawling backward.

I hit the ground and skidded several meters before springing back onto my feet, blood dripping from my mouth.

He was smiling again. Of course he was.

Lightning flashed once more... and that’s when he shifted.

The sound was grotesque. Bones snapping. Flesh tearing.

His form expanded, muscles rippling beneath pitch-black fur streaked with crimson veins of light. His eyes burned like twin coals, unblinking and wild with bloodlust.

The air around him warped with each breath he took.

His wolf form was bipedal like mine, but seemed even taller.

"Well then..." he said, his voice layered with an inhuman echo. "Shall we finish what destiny started?"

I didn’t answer, lunging at him without a second thought.

We collided midair, both roaring with enough force to shake the void.

The impact sent energy spiraling outward in massive waves. Lightning shattered across the horizon.

Space itself cracked open in spiderwebs of light, showing glimpses of other realms bleeding through—oceans, deserts, faces that screamed before fading.

Every clash was faster than thought, claws sparking with silver and red, our movements turning into blurs of light. My Alpha King aura surged, fueling Damon’s strength, coating every blow in silver radiance that tore through the Vein’s corruption.

But Ryker matched me at every turn.

He blocked with his forearms, kicked with enough force to send my body flipping through the air. He was faster, more fluid and way more reckless.

"You’ve grown," he said mockingly, landing a blow that sent me crashing to my knees. "But you still don’t understand power!"

He slammed his hand into the black floor.

Cracks radiated outward instantly, glowing red.

The ground split apart, and from the fissures erupted pillars of molten darkness that twisted upward like serpents.

Each one carried whispers—the lost voices of those who tapped into the Vein and failed screaming their agony.

I braced myself, gathering my aura, letting the Silverborn energy crawl down my arms until both my claws shimmered white-hot. When the first pillar lunged at me, I slashed through it, splitting it in half.

The pieces disintegrated into smoke but more came. Dozens... and then hundreds.

The space around me became a storm of moving shadows and fire.

’Kaelos!’ Damon barked inside my mind. ’You can’t block them all!’

’I know!’

I jumped, spinning midair as I released a burst of silver energy. It expanded outward like an explosion, cutting through the tendrils around me.

The burst shook the dimension itself—yet even that wasn’t enough.

Ryker appeared behind me, teleporting through the cracks in the air. His clawed fist slammed into my back, forcing the air out of my lungs.

I hit the ground, skidding across the cracked surface.

"You always thought the throne made you strong," he mocked. "But strength doesn’t come from thrones, Kaelos—it comes from submission."

He raised his hand again.

The air rippled.

A massive sphere of Vein energy formed above his palm, black and red lightning dancing around it like snakes. The energy pulsed, sucking light out of everything nearby.

My chest tightened with dread I didn’t want to admit. Damon cursed.

"That’s..."

"Cataclysm," Ryker said simply, his grin widening. "A spell I personally perfected. Watch closely, brother. You won’t see it twice."

And then he hurled it.

The explosion that followed devoured everything.

It wasn’t just noise or light — it was utter obliteration.

The sphere expanded, swallowing even the horizon. For a heartbeat, the entire dimension was nothing but roaring crimson.

I crossed my arms before me, channeling every last drop of silver energy into a barrier. It wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t meant to be. It was survival.

The impact tore through me like lightning through flesh. Pain flared across my body, searing through fur and bone alike.

My knees buckled. I roared through the agony, holding the barrier as long as I could.

When the blast finally cleared, my arms were trembling, my aura flickering in and out like a dying flame. The air reeked of burnt ozone whilst my vision blurred.

Ryker stood at the center of the destruction, barely scratched, his eyes glowing brighter. He tilted his head, watching me stumble back to my feet.

"I told you," he said softly. "You can’t win against what you refuse to become."

He raised his claw again.

I tried to move, but my limbs felt heavy.

Damon’s voice echoed faintly. ’Get up! Kaelos, get up!’

But it was too late.

Ryker’s next spell was already forming. The black void itself seemed to twist into a spiral above him, sucking in every thread of the Vein’s energy. He was drawing power far beyond anything mortal should touch.

The lightning turned crimson. The air distorted. And then, silence.

He vanished and then reappeared right in front of me.

His claws sliced across my chest before I could react, tearing through my thick hide and fur, leaving burning wounds that hissed with corruption.

I staggered, growling, my vision dimming for a heartbeat.

He raised his hand again, ready to end it.

"Goodbye, brother," he said, his voice almost gentle.

I tried hard to focus through the pain. I had to.

My eyes subconsciously fell on a little gold ring stuck on my finger like it was holding on for dear life.

It had surprisingly held on despite me shifting.

"You better come back with it. Okay?" Odessa’s voice echoed in my mind, reminding me of what was most important.

Going back to her.

I raised my head, my mind reeling when my gaze locked on Ryker.

I couldn’t die here.

But in that moment when all seemed hopeless... something changed.

His expression faltered. His stance wavered as he froze mid-motion.

A guttural snarl ripped from his throat, his crimson eyes widening in confusion and fury. The Vein energy swirling around his arm suddenly sparked violently, the crimson light flickering to black.

"What—" he hissed. "No... No!"

His body arched backward as if something invisible had struck him. The Vein’s tendrils recoiled from his form like snakes burned by holy fire.

I blinked through the haze, confusion twisting through the pain. His magic—his control—it was unraveling.

I could see it.

The red veins that had covered his fur were dimming, flickering like dying embers. Each pulse of light sputtered weaker than the last.

’What’s happening?’ Damon demanded inside my mind.

I staggered closer, my breathing ragged. "He’s losing it. Someone’s—someone’s pulling the magic from him."

Ryker screamed then, his voice warping as his power turned volatile. The air crackled with energy, arcs of lightning snapping out in every direction.

And then I saw it — that unmistakable signature of pure, bright violet essence cutting through the chaos like dawn breaking through a storm.

Warm. Familiar. Holy.

My chest tightened, my breath catching in my throat. The connection burned through the mate bond, pulsing stronger than ever before.

A whisper tore from my lips before I could stop it.

"Odessa..."