Sage's POV
Marcus's hand reaches for me, dark magic crackling around his fingers.
I don't think. I just react.
Silver light explodes from my body pure Omega power erupting like a volcano. It's stronger than before, wilder, and it sends every wolf in the room flying backward.
Including Marcus.
Impossible! he snarls, crashing into the wall. You're untrained. You shouldn't be able to
RUN! Kael grabs my hand and yanks me forward.
We sprint through the gap Lydia left when my power threw her aside. Damon and Ryder shift into their wolf forms, creating a shield with their bodies as we race through crumbling hallways.
Behind us, Marcus howls orders. His army gives chase.
Where are we going? I gasp, my legs burning.
Anywhere but here! Damon's voice echoes in my mind our partial bond letting him speak telepathically even in wolf form.
We burst out of the fortress into freezing night air. Snow falls heavy and fast, covering our tracks almost immediately. But I know it won't be enough to hide my Omega scent.
We need a plan, Ryder's mental voice joins the bond. Marcus has hundreds of wolves. We can't outrun them all.
The old tunnels, Kael says urgently. From the first war. They run beneath the entire territory. If we can reach them
An explosion rocks the ground. We're thrown forward as part of the fortress collapses behind us.
Through the smoke and debris, Lydia emerges in human form, her silver hair wild. Did you really think you'd escape? Marcus promised me Kael in exchange for delivering you, Omega. I'm not letting my prize slip away.
I was never yours, Kael snarls.
You should have been! Lydia's eyes flash with madness. I served you for decades. Fought beside you. Bled for you. But you never saw me. Never wanted me. All because I wasn't some special Omega!
She shifts into her massive silver wolf and lunges.
Kael meets her midleap. They collide with bone cracking force, rolling across snow in a blur of fur and fangs.
Keep moving! Damon orders me. We have to
Marcus's wolves pour from the fortress. Too many to count.
We're surrounded again.
Ryder and Damon position themselves on either side of me, snarling warnings. But I can feel their exhaustion through the bond. Feel their wounds from the earlier fight. They can't take on this many enemies.
We're going to die here.
Unless I do something.
I need to fight, I say.
You don't know how, Ryder argues mentally.
Then teach me. Fast.
Through the bond, I feel Kael's approval even as he battles Lydia. Feel Damon's fierce pride. Feel Ryder's desperate hope.
Shift, all three tell me simultaneously. Trust your wolf. She knows what to do.
I close my eyes and reach for that presence inside me the wolf I've only shifted into twice before. This time, instead of fighting the change, I embrace it.
My bones crack. Fur sprouts. The shift hurts less than before because I'm not resisting.
When I open my eyes, I'm standing on four paws. My white wolf form is smaller than the Alphas, but power thrums through me Omega magic making my fur shine silver in the moonlight.
Marcus's wolves hesitate. They can feel my power. Smell my Omega scent mixed with three Alpha bonds.
Good. Let them be afraid.
I howl not in fear, but in challenge.
The first wolf that attacks me dies quickly. My instincts guide my movements, and Kael's combat training surfaces through our bond. I move like he taught me fast, brutal, efficient.
Two more wolves fall.
Through the chaos, I see Kael finally pin Lydia. His jaws close around her throat not killing, but dominating.
Yield, he commands.
Never! Lydia writhes, trying to escape.
Then die a traitor. Kael's voice is arctic cold.
But before he can finish it, Marcus appears. He kicks Kael off Lydia with supernatural strength, then grabs the female wolf by her scruff.
Useless, Marcus snarls at Lydia. Then he snaps her neck.
Just like that. His own ally. Dead because she failed him.
Horror freezes me in place.
Marcus shifts to human, dropping Lydia's body in the snow. Let that be a lesson to all of you. Failure is death in my pack.
His red eyes find me. But you, daughter... you're too valuable to kill. So I'll make you a deal.
No deals, Kael snarls, back in human form and bleeding from a dozen wounds.
Marcus ignores him. Come with me willingly, Sage. Right now. And I'll let your three Alphas live. I'll even withdraw my army from the territories. No war. No death. Just you and me, finally getting to know each other as father and daughter should.
Don't listen to him, Damon says. He's lying.
Am I? Marcus smiles. I give you my word as an Alpha. Come willingly, and they live. Refuse, and I kill them all while you watch. Then take you anyway.
I shift back to human, standing naked in the snow but too angry to care about modesty.
If I go with you, you'll force the bond. Make me your slave.
I prefer the term 'partner,' Marcus says. But yes. The bond will ensure your cooperation. However, your Alphas will be alive. Isn't that worth a little freedom?
Through the partial bonds, I feel Kael's rage. Damon's calculations. Ryder's desperate plea for me not to sacrifice myself.
But I also feel their exhaustion. Their injuries. They can't fight much longer.
If I surrender, at least they survive.
I need a guarantee, I say, stalling. How do I know you'll keep your word?
You don't, Marcus admits. But you don't have any other choice.
He's right. We're trapped. Outnumbered. Exhausted.
I take a step toward Marcus.
Sage, no! All three Alphas shout in unison.
But I'm not surrendering.
I'm getting close enough to use my Omega power pointblank.
I take another step. Marcus grins, thinking he's won.
One more step.
I reach for my power, gathering it like Nova taught me
Pain explodes in my back.
I look down and see a silver blade protruding from my chest. Someone stabbed me from behind.
I fall to my knees, blood pouring into the snow.
Through fading vision, I see Marcus's shocked face. He didn't order this attack.
I turn my head and see my attacker.
It's Theron the real Theron this time, not Lydia's impersonation. Kael's loyal Beta. The man Kael trusted absolutely.
I'm sorry, Theron whispers, and I can see he means it. Tears stream down his face. But Marcus has my daughter. He said if I didn't kill you, he'd kill her. I'm so sorry.
The blade is silver poisonous to shifters. Fatal to an Omega.
I'm dying.
Through the bonds, I feel my three Alphas' agony as they feel my life slipping away.
Kael shifts and tears into Theron with a roar of absolute betrayal.
Damon and Ryder race toward me, but they're too far away.
The world goes dark.
And the last thing I hear is Marcus's furious scream: You FOOL! I needed her alive!