Chapter 5 The Unholy Alliance

The mercenaries didn't even have time to scream.

Xavier moved like a shadow. Even wounded and poisoned, he was a monster. He snapped the lead wolf’s neck with one hand and threw the second against the stone wall. The third mercenary turned to run, but Xavier caught him by the throat, lifting him off the ground.

"Who sent you?" Xavier’s voice was a dark, terrifying rasp.

"Sophia..." the wolf wheezed, his face turning purple. "She’s... she’s the Alpha now. Silas is dead. She’s coming for the boy."

Xavier dropped him like trash. He didn't kill him; he just let him slump to the floor, unconscious.

I stood there, clutching the iron pipe, my heart hammering against my ribs. Leo was awake now, hiding behind my legs, his small hands gripping my jeans.

"You’re alive," I whispered, looking at the blood soaking Xavier’s shirt. "I thought the silver..."

"I’m an Alpha, Elara," he said, turning to me. His eyes were dim, the gold fading into a pained yellow. "It takes more than a toothpick to kill me. But Sophia has the pack. My father's guards turned on him the moment they smelled the coup."

He stepped closer, and I smelled it, the scent of bourbon and winter forests, mixed with the metallic tang of blood. My body betrayed me. Even now, after everything, the mate bond wanted me to reach out and touch his face.

I forced myself to stay still. I wouldn't be his "weak human" ever again.

"What now?" I asked. "You’re bleeding out, and the whole city is hunting us."

"We go to the tunnels," Xavier said, looking at the rusted key in my hand. "Elena is right. The Omegas are the only ones Sophia hasn't bought. They hate her. They’ll fight for the True Heir."

"They’ll fight for Leo," I corrected him, my voice cold. "Not for you. You rejected them just like you rejected me."

Xavier flinched as if I’d slapped him. "I did what I had to do to keep you alive, Elara. My father was going to kill you the night I found out you were pregnant. He had the assassin ready."

"So you broke my heart instead?" I laughed, a bitter, sharp sound. "You let me live in a basement for five years while you lived in a palace? That’s not protection, Xavier. That’s cowardice."

"I know," he whispered. "And I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. But if we don't move, we won't have a life to spend."

The sound of howling grew closer. It wasn't just a few wolves; it was a hunting party.

"Mommy, I’m scared," Leo whimpered.

I scooped him up, kissing his forehead. "I’ve got you, Leo. I promise."

We followed the narrow path behind the basement into the sewer tunnels. It was dark, damp, and smelled of old stone. Xavier led the way, his hand against the wall to steady himself. Every few steps, he stumbled, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

"You’re not going to make it," I said, watching his shoulders shake.

"I’ll make it," he growled.

Suddenly, the tunnel opened up into a massive underground chamber. It looked like an old subway station, but it was filled with people. Hundreds of them. They weren't dressed in suits or diamonds. They wore rags. Some were missing limbs; others had scars that would never heal.

The Omegas. The "trash" of the supernatural world.

They all stopped and stared. A large man with a scarred eye stepped forward, a heavy iron club in his hand.

"An Alpha in our home?" the man spat. "You’ve got a lot of nerve, Moretti. Your father hunted us for sport last month."

Xavier tried to stand tall, but he collapsed to one knee. "I’m not... here as an Alpha," he gasped. "I’m here... as a father."

He pointed at me.

I stepped forward into the light of the torches. I held Leo up so they could see him.

"This is Leo," I said, my voice ringing through the chamber. "He is the son of Xavier Moretti, but he was raised in the streets just like you. He has the Ancient Blood. And right now, the woman who wants to kill you all is coming to take him."

The crowd murmured. They looked at Leo’s face, then at the way I stood, brave and unbroken.

"Why should we help the man who turned his back on us?" the scarred man asked.

"Don't do it for him," I said, looking the man in the eye. "Do it for the revenge you’ve wanted for years. Sophia thinks you’re nothing. She thinks I’m nothing. Tonight, let’s show her what 'nothing' can do to a queen."

A cheer went up from the crowd, a low, guttural sound of hungry wolves ready for a fight.

Suddenly, a loud boom shook the ceiling. Dust rained down.

"They found us!" someone yelled.

The iron doors at the top of the stairs were ripped off their hinges. Sophia stood there, flanked by twenty armored wolves. She held a crossbow, and the bolt was tipped with glowing purple liquid.

"Wolfsbane," Xavier hissed, trying to stand.

"Found you, little rat," Sophia sneered, aiming the crossbow directly at my heart. "And look, you brought me the traitor Alpha, too. Two kills, one bolt."

She pulled the trigger.

The bolt flew through the air, a streak of purple death. I didn't have time to move. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact.

But the pain didn't come.

I opened my eyes to see Xavier standing in front of me. The bolt was buried deep in his shoulder. He groaned, his knees buckling, but he didn't fall. He turned his head, his eyes glowing a fierce, blinding gold.

"Run, Elara," he whispered, blood bubbling at his lips.

But I didn't run. I looked at the Omegas, then at Sophia’s arrogant face.

"No more running," I said.

I grabbed a torch from the wall and threw it into a pool of leaked oil near the stairs. A wall of fire erupted, separating us from Sophia’s guards.

"Kill them!" Sophia screamed through the flames.

But then, the ground began to shake again. Not from an explosion. From a shift.

Behind me, three hundred Omegas began to transform. Their bones cracked and reset. Their fur was mottled and scarred, but their eyes were full of hate.

"For the Luna!" the scarred man roared, his voice now a wolf's howl.

The Omegas surged forward, leaping through the wall of fire.

But as the battle began, I felt a cold hand grab my ankle. I looked down. It was a guard who had crawled through the smoke. He pulled me down, his teeth baring for my throat.

"Mommy!" Leo screamed.

And then, the air went cold. Dead cold.

Leo’s shadow didn't look like a boy anymore. It looked like a giant, winged beast.