Chapter 5 Standing Tall

“We hide her,” Thane said. “Somewhere they can’t reach. Somewhere I can guard.”

Alpha Echo shook his head. “She faces them,” he disagreed. He kicked his boots up on the table. His posture was far from calm. “If she runs, they will control her story. Call her the girl who puts a spell on three Alphas.”

“They’ll tear her apart,” Alpha Ares remarked.

“They can try,” Thane sneered.

I sat at the far end of the long table with my hands in my lap. It’s still a question for me on why the Concord wanted to see me, or whoever Alpha Ares says that marks belonged to. Sure, I made a scene at the ceremony, but to get the attention of the higher assembly seems too much for someone of no pack.

Those words kept ringing in my head. The quiet truth I’ve been living with, out in the open.

Alpha Ares remained by the window, his back pressed flat against the wall. When Thane shifted his gaze to him for an opinion, he offered a single, quiet truth. “It’s her choice.”

Their heads turned to me, I lowered my head without meaning to.

“Selena,” Thane’s voice dropped. “What do you want to do?”

No one had ever offered me a choice before. I tried to speak, but my lips trembled like I was in the middle of winter. Having three dominating Alphas with me as mates I thought I was okay. In the back of my mind I knew they wouldn’t hurt me the way I was hurt but this fear just keep eating me up.

“Hey, look at me,” Alpha Echo’s voice was soft. He always have that approach that calms my nerves. “It’s okay to speak up, no one will hurt you here. You’re our own now.”

“He’s right. You have three packs now. We have have your back,” Thane agreed.

I slowly looked up, Thane’s eyes were determined, Alpha Echo’s smile was sweet, and Alpha Ares reassuring presence said it all. I took a deep breath before speaking. “C-Could you give me some time to think, please?”

Alpha Echo smiled, tilting his head a little. “As long as you need.” He stood beside me. “Would you mind coming with me, outside?”

“Why?” Thane asked quickly.

“Because if she’s going to stand in front of hundreds of wolves, she has to learn how to be looked at.” Alpha Echo held out his hand. “Trust me. I’m very good at being looked at.”

Behind the lodge, the morning was bright and bitterly cold. The early sun cut across the clearing, shining through Alpha Echo’s hair and eyes.

“Shoulders back.” He paced a slow circle around me. I tried to take charge. “Like you’re allowed to be here.”

“I-I don’t think I…”

He stopped behind me. “Selena.” His hand settled on my waist. “Don’t overthink, just breathe.”

I did. His scent hit my senses. The sun-warmed honey and woodsmoke. His hand slid an inch, guiding my spine straight. His fingers slipped under my chin and titled my face up. “There. Now, look at me and don’t look away until you want to.”

I didn’t want to and I think that’s the problem. His breath was against my cheek, and I was suddenly, horribly aware of his mouth. I quickly pushed him without thinking. “I’m sorry.” I panicked.

“It’s okay, Sel-” He reached out to calm me down, but I quickly slapped his hand away.  

“No!”

I knew he meant well, but the weight of it was too much to carry. Everything was spinning out of control. For him, for Thane and Ares, and the terrifying truth that being with me will put them in danger.

“S-Stop saying it’s okay. It’s not,” I cried. “I-I don’t understand what’s happening.” I looked at him. My heart pounding so hard as the words I usually swallowed finally tearing free. “I was rejected and now I’m with three Alphas. Instead of answers, the Concord wants me to prove I didn’t trick all of you.” I looked at him, terrified of my own thoughts. “Are you all really my mates? All three of you? W-What if that letter was right?” I clutched my head. “I must have broken something. I must have done something wrong to drag you all into this.”

My voice dragged off sob as I stumbled back across the dirt. My tear blurred eyes caught sudden movement by the cabin. Thane and Ares stepped out, their eyes locked on mine as the beats of my breakdown died out in the open air.

But Echo didn't look back at them. He kept his attention entirely on me, taking a slow, cautious step forward.  “You broke nothing,” Echo said softly. They’re cautious, because three Alpha bond is something they can’t ignore. It’s too rare, and frankly, too fascinating. They need to see it, and when they do, we will be standing right beside you.”

I knew he was right, but the head was completely out of control. They wouldn’t believe me. They would only see me as worthless and decide I was a liar. I don’t care if they drag me away in chains. But the thought of the three Alphas being punished and ruined by them just for showing me mercy, suffocated me.

Before I could even gasp at the horror of that thought, something inside me snapped.

Heat flooded up under my ribs, so fast and so hard that I gasped and folded in half. My hands slammed into the dirt as a raw, suffocating wave of fire tore through my veins. My skin prickled with a terrifying, static electricity, and my bones suddenly felt too tight for my body, grinding against each other as if trying to break free. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't speak.

Echo’s calm face disappeared. Thane and Ares rushed towards us.

“Don’t fight it,” Ares commanded, dropping down in front of me.

I shook my head. “I… c-can’t…” I chocked out. My forehead pressed into the grass as a blinding, suffocating wave of fire tore through every bits on my bones.

"You can," Ares growled.  “Let her out."

A primal roar echoed in my mind.

A blinding white light seemed to burst behind my eyelids as my body expanded, pushing past the pain until I was standing on four powerful legs, wrapped in thick, phantom-silver fur. A heavy, dominating aura rolled off me. The weight of my new presence rippled outward like a shockwave.

Then all three of them stopped.

I turned my great head and looked at them. And one by one, without a word, without a sound, the three most powerful Alphas in the world went down on their knees.

Thane stared at his own legs in horror. “What the hell,” he choked, fighting the invisible weight. “I didn’t...”

“Neither did I,” Echo whispered.

Ares lowered his head. His eyes were closed. His hands were shaking against the grass, and I understood, with a strange, cold certainty, that he wasn’t surprised.