🌙 Episode 39: The Alpha's Breaking Point
Lila's POV
The forest was too quiet. No crickets. No rustle of night birds. Only the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears.
Ethan's claws glinted in the moonlight, his golden eyes scanning the shadows. "Stay close."
Before I could answer, the underbrush erupted. Wolves—four of them—burst from the trees, their eyes glowing the same poisonous amber as Marcus's.
I barely had time to scream before Ethan moved. A blur of claws and muscle, he met them head-on, the air splitting with snarls and the crack of bone.
I stumbled back, but Marcus's voice slithered through the trees, calm, taunting.
"Do you know, little human, how she begged?"
I froze, my chest seizing.
Marcus stepped into view, his smirk sharp in the moonlight. "Ethan's precious mate. The one he slaughtered. She begged him to stop. And do you know what he did?"
"Shut up!" Ethan roared, his claws tearing through the first wolf. Blood sprayed the leaves, hot and metallic.
But Marcus didn't stop. His words cut deeper than claws ever could.
"He didn't stop. He tore her throat out with his own teeth."
My breath caught, horror stabbing through me. Ethan's growl turned feral, his movements growing wilder—less controlled. The bond burned, twisting with his fury.
"Ethan!" I cried, but he was slipping, the wolf consuming him.
Marcus's smile widened. "Look at him, Lila. Do you really think you'll be any different when his control finally breaks?"
Ethan's POV
I couldn't hear her anymore. Couldn't hear anything except Marcus's voice and the rush of blood in my ears.
Her screams. My claws. The memory I'd buried clawed its way up, and suddenly I was back there—her eyes wide with terror, my wolf ripping through her.
No. Not again.
The second wolf lunged, and I ripped him apart, the taste of blood hot on my tongue. Another slammed into me, teeth sinking into my shoulder. Pain flared—but it only fed the wolf.
"Ethan!"
Her voice. Faint, desperate. My bond flared, trying to pull me back.
"Look at me!" Lila cried, her hands grabbing my face.
The wolf in me snarled, wanting to tear, to kill—but her touch burned hotter than the rage. Her eyes locked on mine, wet with tears but fierce as fire.
"You're not him anymore," she whispered. "You're not the monster Marcus says you are. You're mine."
The bond roared, snapping through the haze. My claws faltered, my breath breaking. Slowly, painfully, I shoved the wolf back, forcing my control to hold.
Marcus's laughter cut through the night, sharp and mocking.
"Not bad. But how long can you keep her safe before the beast wins again?"
Lila's POV
The wolves were retreating, their bodies torn and broken around us. But Marcus didn't look afraid. If anything, he looked… satisfied.
"You see?" he murmured, his gaze sliding over Ethan. "He's already breaking. And when he does, little human—you'll be the one who pays."
Then he vanished into the trees, his laughter echoing long after he was gone.
I turned to Ethan, his chest heaving, blood dripping from his claws. His eyes still burned gold, haunted and desperate.
I touched his cheek again, even as my hands shook. "I'm still here. You didn't lose me."
His jaw clenched. "Not yet."
The bond pulsed, fierce and fragile. And in that moment, I knew Marcus wasn't wrong. Ethan was breaking.
But I would break with him before I ever let him fall alone.
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✨ End of Episode 39