"Inside. Now."
Alaric's hand clamped around Zoraide's arm.
She yanked free. "Do not order me."
"I am not asking."
Another explosion hit the barrier. Wood shards flew across the square.
Villagers screamed. Wolves shifted mid run. The air filled with blood and smoke.
Fenris stood beyond the broken gate, calm in the chaos.
"Send her out," he called. "And I might spare the pups."
Alaric stepped forward, eyes blazing gold. "You step one foot closer and I rip your throat out."
Fenris smiled. "You can try."
Zoraide's pulse pounded. Her bitter herbs burned against her skin, thick in her nose.
Good.
Hidden.
She turned to run toward the healer's hut.
Alaric grabbed her again. "Where do you think you are going?"
"To help the injured."
"You will stay with me."
"I am not your shadow."
His nostrils flared. He leaned close, inhaling sharply.
"You still smell like nothing," he muttered. "It is driving me insane."
"Focus on the rogues."
A high pitched scream cut through the air.
"Toby!"
Zoraide's head snapped toward the sound.
The small pup stood near the well, frozen, clutching a wooden toy.
A rogue wolf stalked toward him, slow and deliberate.
Fenris tilted his head. "Such a fragile thing."
Alaric shifted instantly, bones cracking, fur bursting through skin. His massive wolf lunged toward the rogue.
Two more rogues blocked him.
"Move!" he roared.
Zoraide's feet felt rooted to the ground.
Hide.
Stay small.
Stay safe.
The herbal mask pressed against her senses, dulling everything.
Toby screamed again.
The rogue lunged.
"No!" Zoraide shouted.
She ran.
Alaric's wolf barreled through one attacker but the second sank teeth into his shoulder. Blood sprayed across the dirt.
He shook it off and kept fighting.
"Zora, stop!" he snarled in human words between shifts.
She ignored him.
The rogue reached Toby first.
It shifted into a scarred man with dead eyes. He grabbed the pup by the collar.
"So tiny," he mocked.
Toby kicked and cried. "Let me go!"
Zoraide skidded to a halt a few feet away.
"Drop him," she said.
The rogue laughed. "The scentless Omega thinks she can command me."
Her jaw tightened.
Behind her, Alaric tore through another wolf. He was trying to reach her.
"Zora, get back!" he shouted.
Fenris watched, amused.
"Show me," he called to her. "Show me what you are hiding."
The rogue holding Toby sniffed the air, frowning.
"You do not smell like prey," he muttered.
Zoraide's heart slammed against her ribs.
The herbs.
They were fading under the heat of battle.
Alaric reached her side, bleeding from his shoulder.
"I told you to stay behind me."
"I told you not to order me."
He stepped in front of her anyway, placing himself between her and the rogue.
"Release the pup," he growled.
The rogue tightened his grip. Toby whimpered.
Fenris's voice cut through again. "If you will not send her to me, I will take something else."
He nodded once.
Another rogue darted forward from the side, faster than the rest.
Straight toward Toby.
Alaric moved to intercept but the first rogue slammed Toby into him, using the pup as shield.
Alaric froze.
Zoraide saw the hesitation.
Saw the fear.
The second rogue grabbed Toby's arm and pulled him away.
Toby's scream ripped through her chest.
Something inside her snapped.
The herbal mask burned, then crumbled under a surge of heat.
Her wolf surged forward.
Not small.
Not submissive.
Power flooded her veins like fire.
Alaric turned sharply.
He stared at her.
"What are you doing?" he demanded.
Her vision sharpened.
Scents exploded around her. Blood. Smoke. Fear.
Alaric's scent hit her hardest. Cedar and dominance, laced with confusion.
He stepped closer, eyes wide. "Zora."
"Move," she said quietly.
He did not.
"You are shaking."
"I said move."
The rogue laughed. "Look at her. She thinks she can growl."
Toby screamed again as the second rogue dragged him across the dirt.
That was enough.
Zoraide inhaled deeply.
The last of the bitter herbs fell from her skin like dust.
Her true scent burst free.
It rolled across the square, heavy and commanding.
Every wolf froze.
Alaric's eyes went wide.
That is not Omega.
Fenris straightened slowly.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"There you are," he whispered.
Zoraide's bones began to crack.
Alaric reached for her. "Wait."
Too late.
She dropped to her knees as her body expanded. Muscle tore through fabric. Silver fur erupted across her skin.
Gasps echoed from every direction.
Her wolf rose.
Massive.
Larger than Alaric.
Silver eyes glowing like cold steel.
The ground trembled beneath her paws.
The rogue holding Toby stumbled back. "Alpha," he breathed.
Not just Alpha.
Something older.
Zoraide bared her teeth.
A roar exploded from her chest, shaking windows and scattering rogues.
Alaric stared up at her, stunned.
His wolf lowered instinctively.
The mate bond snapped tight, blazing hot.
She turned her silver gaze on him for a split second.
He felt it.
The pull.
The challenge.
The truth.
"You lied to me," he said under his breath.
She did not answer.
She moved.
In one blur of silver, she crossed the distance to Toby.
The rogue tried to run.
She caught him mid step.
Her jaws closed around his shoulder and flung him across the square like a rag doll.
He crashed into a cart and did not rise.
The second rogue dropped Toby and shifted to attack.
Zoraide met him head on.
Claws sliced through fur. Blood sprayed.
She slammed him into the dirt and pinned him with one massive paw.
He whimpered.
She growled low.
Alaric shifted back to human, staring at her with naked awe.
"Impossible," he muttered.
Fenris began to laugh.
The sound was rich with triumph.
"I knew it," he called. "The lost Silver Alpha."
Zoraide's ears twitched.
The pack murmured in shock.
Silver Alpha.
The rogue beneath her tried to crawl away.
She ended it swiftly.
Then she turned her glowing eyes toward Fenris.
He did not retreat.
Instead, he bowed slightly.
"Welcome back," he said.
Alaric stepped forward, blood dripping down his arm.
"She belongs to Crescent Fang," he snapped.
Fenris's gaze flicked to him, amused.
"You think you can keep her?"
Zoraide moved to stand between them.
The mate bond roared, thick and electric.
Alaric looked up at her towering form.
"You are my mate," he said quietly.
Her silver eyes burned.
The word mate hit differently now.
Not fragile.
Not prey.
Power met power.
Fenris smiled wider.
"Tell him," he urged. "Tell him what you are."
The wind shifted.
Zoraide caught a new scent.
More rogues.
Dozens.
Closing in.
Fenris spread his arms.
"This village was only the beginning," he said. "They have been hunting you for years."
Alaric's jaw tightened. "Who?"
Fenris's eyes gleamed.
"The High Council."
The name fell like a stone.
Zoraide's wolf stiffened.
Alaric looked between them. "What is he talking about?"
Fenris took one step back toward the forest.
"They will burn every pack that shelters her," he called. "Starting with yours."
More howls echoed from the dark tree line.
Alaric moved to Zoraide's side.
"Shift back," he said urgently. "We need to move."
She did not.
Her silver gaze stayed locked on Fenris.
He gave her one last look.
"Run, Silver Alpha," he said softly. "Or they will cage you again."
Then he vanished into the trees.
The forest erupted with answering howls.
Zoraide slowly turned her massive head toward Alaric.
Fear flickered in the pack's eyes.
Not fear of rogues.
Fear of her.
Alaric held her gaze.
"You are not my Omega," he said, voice rough.
The mate bond burned hotter.
He swallowed.
"You are something else."
In the distance, horns sounded.
Not rogue.
Not Crescent Fang.
Zoraide recognized that scent too.
Cold.
Metal.
Authority.
Her silver eyes widened.
The High Council had arrived.