Chapter 30
The Council struck back within the hour.
Not with soldiers.
With law.
Emergency edicts flooded every network, every pack channel, every personal implant. Words became weapons—clean, irreversible, and absolute.
EXECUTIVE DECREE 77-A
All Crescent Pack territories are hereby dissolved.
All Omega-born Alphas are to be detained for reclassification.
Any Enigma demonstrating emotional alignment is subject to immediate neutralization.
Kai read the message once.
Then again.
Around him, the Crescent safehouse erupted into chaos. Voices overlapped, fear spiked, pheromones clashed—panic echoing through pack bonds like a shockwave.
"They're dismantling us," one of the Deltas said. "Freezing accounts. Locking access routes."
"They're hunting Omegas," another whispered. "Separating families."
Kai closed his eyes.
He felt every single one of them.
The Enigma stood at the center of the room, unnaturally still. His power pressed against the walls, contained only by discipline so severe it bordered on self-destruction.
"They want to isolate you," the Enigma said finally. "That's the strategy."
Kai nodded. "They know I won't abandon my pack."
"And they know I won't abandon you."
The room quieted.
Everyone was watching them now—not with awe, not with fear, but with the terrible understanding that love at this level had consequences for everyone tied to it.
The Night Pack envoy stepped forward, expression grim. "We can get you out. Both of you. Off-grid. Beyond Council reach."
Kai looked at him. "At what cost?"
The envoy hesitated. "The Crescent stays. We can't protect them and you."
Silence.
Kai's chest tightened painfully.
The Enigma's voice cut through it, sharp and decisive. "Then we don't run."
Kai turned to him. "You can't fight the entire Council alone."
"I don't need to," the Enigma replied. "I need time."
He faced the room. "I will draw their attention."
A ripple of shock passed through the pack.
"No," Kai said immediately.
"They're already focused on me," the Enigma said calmly. "I escalate. I destabilize. I become the disaster they predicted."
Kai grabbed his arm. "You'll destroy yourself."
The Enigma met his gaze. "If it keeps you alive, it's acceptable."
The words landed like a blade.
"I didn't choose you so you could martyr yourself," Kai said, voice breaking despite his control. "I chose you because you stay."
The Enigma softened—just slightly.
"That's why this works," he said quietly. "Because you are my restraint. And because I trust you to lead while I burn."
He leaned in, lowering his voice so only Kai could hear.
"You're stronger in the daylight. I'm stronger in the dark."
Kai swallowed hard.
"How long?" he asked.
"Forty-eight hours," the Enigma replied. "After that, either the Council collapses—or I do."
Kai shook his head. "No."
The Enigma lifted a hand, cupping Kai's cheek with reverent care. "Listen to me. You are not losing me. You are holding the line."
Their foreheads touched.
The bond between them flared—painful, intimate, undeniable.
"I will feel you," the Enigma murmured. "Every second. If I falter, pull me back."
Kai's hands trembled as he gripped the Enigma's coat. "You promise you won't disappear."
"I promise," the Enigma said. Then, more softly, "As long as you don't stop calling me home."
A distant explosion rocked the city.
Time was gone.
The Enigma stepped back, already unraveling space around himself.
"Kai," he said once more.
"Yes?"
A rare vulnerability crossed his face. "When this ends—no matter how—it was worth it."
Then he was gone.
The room felt colder instantly.
Kai stood frozen for a heartbeat longer—then straightened, Alpha authority surging, Omega empathy grounding it.
"You heard him," Kai said, voice steady despite the storm inside. "We hold. We protect. We do not fracture."
Eyes turned to him.
Fear shifted into resolve.
"The Council wanted separation," Kai continued. "We give them unity."
Outside, the world burned.
And Kai prepared to lead it through the fire—without the one person who had become his anchor.