Sera's POV
The silver is eating through my skin.
I stopped counting the hours yesterday. Or was it the day before? Time doesn't work right when you're being tortured.
My whole body is covered in burns now. The silver floor, the silver walls, even the air in this cell feels like it's burning me from the inside out.
I'm going to die here.
Tell us what spell you used. The Council interrogator stands outside my cell, his voice bored. He's asked the same question fifty times already. Confess, and we'll make your death quick.
I didn't use a spell, I whisper. My throat is raw from screaming earlier when they poured silver water on my wounds. I don't know any magic.
Liar. He writes something on his clipboard and walks away.
I curl up in the corner, trying to find a position that hurts less. There isn't one.
Through the mate bonds, I can feel Kael and Darius. They're far away, but the connection is still there, weak and fading. I can feel their rage, their desperation, their guilt.
Tomorrow is the third day. Tomorrow they have to reject the bonds or lose everything.
I hope they reject me. I hope they choose their packs, their positions, their lives.
I'm not worth losing everything for.
My eyes start to close. Maybe if I sleep, I won't hurt so much. Maybe I'll just sleep and never wake up and
BOOM.
The entire building shakes. Dust falls from the ceiling. Somewhere above me, someone screams.
I force my eyes open. What was that?
Another explosion, closer this time. The lights flicker and go out, plunging the hallway into darkness.
Then I hear it. Fighting. Snarling. The wet sound of claws tearing through flesh.
Someone is attacking the Council compound.
Hope flickers in my chest for the first time in two days. Maybe it's Lyssa. Maybe it's someone from Shadowpine who believes me.
Footsteps pound down the hallway toward my cell. Running. Getting closer.
I try to stand up, but my legs won't hold me. I collapse back to the floor, gasping in pain.
The footsteps stop right outside my cell.
A figure stands there in the darkness, massive and terrifying. His eyes glow ice blue in the shadows.
Kael.
He's covered in blood. His shirt is torn to shreds. His hands are still shifted into claws. And he's looking at me like seeing me hurt is killing him.
Sera. My name comes out like a prayer.
He grabs the silver bars with his bare hands. I can smell his skin burning, but he doesn't let go. He rips the entire door off its hinges and throws it down the hallway like it weighs nothing.
Then he's inside the cell, kneeling beside me, his hands hovering over my burns like he's afraid to touch me.
I'm sorry, he says, and his voice breaks. I'm so sorry. I should have come sooner.
You came. That's all that matters. You actually came.
Of course I came. You're my mate. He starts to pick me up, then freezes. This is going to hurt.
Everything already hurts.
He lifts me as gently as possible, but I still scream when his arms touch my burned skin. Through the bond, I feel his pain not physical pain, but the agony of knowing he's hurting me.
I've got you, he whispers. I've got you now.
Another explosion rocks the building, this one so close it throws us both sideways. Kael twists in mid-air to take the impact, slamming into the wall with his back while protecting me with his body.
Footsteps echo from the opposite hallway. Different from Kael's. Heavier.
A second figure appears through the smoke and dust.
Darius.
He's also covered in blood, also barely human, also looking at me like I'm the only thing in the world that matters.
His amber eyes meet mine. You're alive.
Barely, I manage to say.
Darius's gaze shifts to Kael, and his face hardens. Get away from my mate.
OUR mate, Kael snarls. And I got here first.
I don't care who got here first
Are you two seriously going to argue right now? a woman's voice snaps from behind Darius.
Dr. Winters appears, carrying a bag that clanks with medical supplies. She takes one look at me and her face goes pale.
Oh, Moon Goddess. What did they do to you?
Silver burns, I whisper. Everywhere.
We need to get her out of here NOW, Dr. Winters says. I can treat silver poisoning, but not if we're dead. Council reinforcements are three minutes away.
Bloodmoon territory is closer, Darius argues. We can
Shadowpine has better healers
MOVE! Dr. Winters shouts. Both of you! We'll figure out where we're going after we're not about to die!
Kael holds me tighter and runs. Darius is right beside him, and Dr. Winters brings up the rear.
We burst out of the building into chaos. The Council compound is on fire. Bodies are everywhere Council enforcers who tried to stop them. I can hear more wolves coming, dozens of them, converging on our position.
This way! Darius leads us into the forest.
We run. Kael's arms are the only thing keeping me conscious. Every jolt sends fresh waves of agony through my burned body.
Through the trees, I can see wolves chasing us. Council enforcers, fast and deadly.
They're gaining! Dr. Winters gasps.
Let them, Kael growls. I'll kill anyone who tries to take her from me again.
So will I, Darius adds.
But there are too many. Even two Alphas can't fight off twenty enforcers while protecting me and Dr. Winters.
We're not going to make it.
Then I feel it that power inside me, the same one that threw both Alphas at the river. It's weak, buried under layers of silver poisoning, but it's there.
Fighting to get out.
Fighting to protect my mates.
Put me down, I gasp.
What? No
Put me down!
Kael sets me on my feet. I immediately collapse, but Darius catches me from the other side. Together, they hold me upright.
The enforcers burst out of the trees, thirty feet away and closing fast.
I close my eyes and reach for that power. It hurts. Everything hurts. But I grab onto it anyway and pull.
Sera, what are you Kael starts.
The power explodes.
Silver light erupts from my body, so bright it turns night into day. The shockwave hits the enforcers like a wall, throwing them backwards into the trees.
But it doesn't stop.
The light keeps growing, spreading, and consuming everything. I can't control it. It's too much, too strong, feeding on my pain and rage and fear.
Sera, stop! Darius shouts. You're killing yourself!
But I can't stop. The power has taken over.
The last thing I see before the world goes black is both Alphas reaching for me, their faces twisted with terror.
Then I'm falling.
And falling.
And everything disappears into silver light and pain and darkness.
Somewhere far away, I hear Kael screaming my name.
But I can't answer.
Because I'm drowning in my own power, and I don't know how to swim.