Chapter 6
Ulrica’s rage boiled over, his composure shattering. Never—never in his life—had he imagined that gentle, quiet Selena could fight like this.
“Selena!” he roared, voice like thunder. “You dare defy me? Then don’t blame me for being merciless!”
He lunged again, but I twisted aside, seized his wrist, and hurled him over my shoulder.
Crash!
He slammed into the stone floor of the mourning hall, rattling the candles. Flames sputtered, wax splattering across the tiles.
Inside my mind, Wendy howled.
Venus! Why should you have all the fun? They hurt Selena—I want their throats between my fangs!
Sandra shrieked from where she still hung before the shattered screen.
“What are you waiting for? Take her down! Beat her until she begs!”
“Whip her a hundred times!”
“Make her crawl barefoot through the fire!”
“Press her head to the iron until she learns her place!”
At last, the remaining Warriors surged forward.
I didn’t even turn my head. My eyes cut like blades, locking on each strike. Every punch caught, every wrist snapped—bones shattered beneath my hands, screams ricocheting off the walls.
The hall fell into horrified silence. Guests drew sharp breaths, some fumbling desperately for signal stones to summon the Enforcers.
A few whispered, their voices trembling:
“Doesn’t Pine Pack have another daughter? The one they called the Blood Monster?”
“I heard she tested true Alpha… uncontrollable… they even locked her in a madhouse.”
“Gods above… Bay Pack has angered the wrong wolf. They’ve called down death itself.”
I ignored them all. My only thought was Selena.
My boot pressed down on Ulrica’s chest, pinning him. My voice was steel, cold enough to freeze the hall.
“Where is Selena?”
For the first time, fear flickered in his eyes. His lips trembled, his body shook.
“You’re… not Selena. Who are you?!”
I leaned down, fisting his collar, my blood dripping onto his pale face.
Slow, deliberate, every word carved into his bones:
“The stone chamber. The drugs. Selena’s whereabouts. My parents.”
“Ulrica. Sandra. Tell me everything.”
My voice wasn’t loud, but it pressed down like the weight of a mountain—mad, cold, merciless.
“Otherwise, I’ll turn this so-called bond ritual… into your funeral pyre.”
The words had barely left my mouth when—
Boom!
The grand doors blasted inward, shuddering the floor.
All heads whipped toward the entrance.
A towering figure stood against the light, his aura dark and suffocating.
Behind him marched a wall of black-armored Warriors, sealing the exits in a single sweep. Killing intent flooded the hall.
Sandra’s tears transformed into wild joy. She shrieked, voice breaking:
“Baron! Baron, save me! She’s insane—she’ll kill us all!”
The newcomer was Baron—Ulrica’s elusive, all-powerful Alpha patron.
His gaze swept over Sandra, dangling humiliated in tatters, and his eyes narrowed.
Then his stare shifted to Ulrica, sprawled in ruins, and his face blackened.
He didn’t even glance my way.
He strode to Ulrica, voice like a blade dipped in ice.
“Pathetic. This is how you protect her? If I had known you were this useless, I’d never have trusted you.”
The air thickened, every breath a struggle.
Ulrica’s fingers trembled, sweat dripping from his jaw, his complexion ashen.
My own gaze narrowed, sensing the suffocating weight of a predator far above Ulrica.
For the first time, I understood—
The true battle had only just begun.
