"Power does not simply rise," it answers. Blood to blood, bond to bond, it threads through fate like a call no chain can silence."
The roar hadn't faded, and it throbbed through the stone of the palace like an echo trapped in marrow. I felt it in my teeth, in my spine, and worst of all, in my wolf. Vayne was pacing, claws raking against the edges of my ribs, his growl constant, demanding release. "Alaric!" Marcus's voice boomed behind me, his boots clanging against the marble. "By the Goddess, would you wait for once?"
I ignored him, my pulse hammering as I stormed down the corridor. Servants ducked into alcoves at the sight of me, whispering my name in fear or reverence, I couldn't tell which. It didn't matter, and what mattered was that sound. That impossible, heart-splitting cry of an Omega wolf.
Vayne's voice ripped through me: She bleeds. She roars for freedom. And you—
"—will not ignore her," I muttered under my breath, the words scraping raw as they left me.
