"The ground shook with Alpha power."
When Darius lunged with the full force of his half-shifted form behind him, the earth itself seemed to tremble beneath the primal roar that tore from his throat. The sound was more animal than human, carrying enough raw fury to make every wolf within a mile radius freeze in terror. Sand exploded across the training grounds in violent sprays as his claws carved deep furrows through the packed dirt, students stumbling backward in blind panic as they scrambled to escape the radius of his supernatural rage.
His partially extended claws slashed through the superheated air with lethal precision, each strike aimed with the killing intent of a predator who had abandoned all pretense of civilized behavior. The scent of his wolf's fury rolled across the Academy grounds like smoke from a wildfire-pine forests burning, winter storms turned violent, the metallic tang of spilled blood mixing with raw dominance until breathing became a conscious effort.
Gideon met the attack with that signature grin still playing across his bloodied lips, amber eyes dancing with malicious satisfaction as he twisted at the last possible moment to counter. His own Alpha reflexes kicked in with supernatural speed, allowing him to dodge the worst of Darius's assault while positioning himself to strike back with calculated cruelty.
Their collision when they finally connected sent shockwaves through the training ring like actual thunder, two apex predators unleashing enough combined dominance to make the very air shimmer with heat distortion. The impact rattled every wolf in the circle, weaker students dropping to their knees as the crushing weight of Alpha power pressed against their consciousness.
Horrified gasps erupted from the watching crowd as the reality of what they were witnessing sank in. Excited whispers transformed into panicked shouts as Academy protocol disintegrated beneath the weight of supernatural violence. No one had seen a routine sparring session disintegrate this far into lethal combat-not in years, not since the Academy had implemented strict controls to prevent exactly this kind of bloodbath.
And then, cutting through the chaos like a blade through silk, Caleb Bane appeared.
The Beta heir moved faster than conscious thought, his lean frame sliding between the two raging Alphas with the kind of reckless courage that separated true leaders from mere survivors. His hands shot out with desperate precision, palms slamming against Darius's heaving shoulders as he threw every ounce of his Beta authority behind the command to halt.
"Enough!" His voice cracked across the training ground like a whip, carrying the unique resonance that allowed Betas to cut through Alpha rage when nothing else could reach them. His own wolf pressed hard against Darius's consciousness, not challenging but demanding recognition, demanding that some fragment of human reason reassert itself.
Other Betas leaped into action around the ring, some from Darius's own pack who recognized their responsibility to their future Alpha, others simply following the ancient instinct to restore balance when the natural order threatened to collapse into chaos. They formed a living barrier of bodies between the combatants, hands extended, voices raised in the complex harmonies that had been used for centuries to calm dominant wolves on the edge of madness.
Darius's chest heaved like a bellows as his half-shift continued to ripple across his powerful frame, muscles swelling and contracting as his human consciousness fought his wolf for control. His eyes burned with molten gold fire, locked past Caleb's determined face as if nothing else existed in the world except Gideon Wicke and the need to tear him apart with his bare hands.
The scent of his barely restrained violence filled the air until it was almost impossible to breathe, waves of supernatural fury washing over the assembled students with enough force to send the weaker ones stumbling toward the exits.
"Stand down, Fenrir!" Head Trainer Korver's voice boomed across the training ground, layered thick with the kind of dominance that had been honed through decades of keeping young Alphas in line. "This is a direct order from Academy authority!"
For one terrible, suspended moment, I thought Darius wouldn't obey. His wolf strained against every restraint like a rabid animal fighting its cage, low snarls rumbling from his throat as his claws dug fresh furrows in the sand beneath his feet. The mate bond pulsed inside my chest with vicious intensity, sharp enough to steal what little breath I had left and make stars dance across my vision.
My own wolf howled in desperate unison with his, throwing herself against the barriers of my consciousness with enough force to leave me gasping. Every instinct I possessed screamed at me to answer his call, to throw myself into the storm of his fury and offer whatever comfort a mate could provide in the face of such overwhelming rage.
"No," I whispered under my breath, both hands pressed against my stomach as if I could physically contain the bond's pull with nothing but willpower. "Not like this. Not you."
The words were meant for him, though I knew he couldn't hear me over the roar of his own wolf's fury. This wasn't the controlled, calculating Alpha heir I'd come to know-this was something primal and dangerous, the kind of berserker rage that had made werewolves the stuff of human nightmares for millennia.
The instructors pressed their authority harder, their combined voices ringing across the field with enough supernatural weight to make the ground vibrate beneath our feet. "Both of you will face severe punishment for this disgraceful display! This is not how heirs of great packs conduct themselves in civilized society!"
Slowly, grudgingly, Gideon straightened from his combat crouch. He brushed a trickle of blood from his split lip with theatrical nonchalance, his trademark smirk returning despite the vivid bruises already blossoming across his sharp cheekbones. Sand clung to his dark hair and training clothes, but he looked every inch the victor-not because he'd physically beaten Darius in combat, but because he'd succeeded in provoking the Alpha heir into losing control so completely.
The sight of his satisfaction made bile rise in my throat, but I couldn't look away from the calculated triumph burning in his amber eyes. This had been his plan all along-to push Darius past his breaking point in front of witnesses, to prove that even the mighty Fenrir heir could be reduced to nothing more than a mindless beast given the right provocation.
My knees trembled as another wave of Darius's emotions crashed through our supernatural connection, leaving me lightheaded and nauseous. The pull of the mate bond had become unbearable, my wolf clawing at my consciousness with such desperate intensity that it felt like my skin might split open from the inside out. His rage, his wolf's primal fury, slammed into me through the invisible chain that connected our souls until my entire body shook under the overwhelming force of it.
The edges of my vision began to blur as the Academy's training ground seemed to tilt sideways around me. The shouting voices of instructors and panicked students faded into a distant roar that sounded like ocean waves crashing against a shore I couldn't see.
My breath hitched once, twice, as I fought against the darkness creeping in from all sides. But the mate bond's demands were too strong, Darius's supernatural fury too overwhelming for my human consciousness to process.
The last thing I saw before everything went black was Caleb's desperate face as he continued to hold back a half-shifted Alpha whose golden eyes burned with the kind of rage that could consume worlds.
And then the darkness claimed me completely, offering blessed relief from the agony of a bond stretched beyond its breaking point.