Alexandra's POV
Run.
The word cuts like a sharp blade through my thoughts, yet my body won't move. I look into Ethan's storm-dark eyes and feel my heartbeat thunder, trembling all over my chest. I can see the fight burning inside him as his hands tighten around my wrists, keeping me in place. His hold isn't severe, but it's relentless—as if he's afraid I'll disappear if he lets go.
He rasps, "You need to listen to me," in a desperate, painful voice. "Everything you think you know—it's a lie."
I wrench myself free, staggering back. "No. You don't get to do this, Ethan. Not now." My voice shakes, but it's not from fear. It's fury. A storm brewing inside me, stronger than anything I've ever felt.
Ethan cursed me with his rejection. He shattered me. And now, when I've begun to rebuild myself, he thinks he can crawl back into my life with half-truths and regret?
I won't allow it.
I whirl away, but before I can escape, another presence slams into my senses like a lightning strike. Adrian.
With a sarcastic expression and intrigued, golden eyes, he emerges from the shadows. His position is unwavering, in contrast to Ethan's. Not guilty. Unwavering self-assurance, as though he controls every area he enters.
Adrian whispers, "You're making a mistake, sweetheart," and takes a step closer. "You should hear him out before you tear him to pieces."
I shoot him a glare, pulse spiking. "And since when do you care about what Ethan has to say?"
"I don't." Adrian shrugs. "But I do enjoy watching you destroy men who deserve it. And right now, I'm debating whether you should finish breaking him or let him suffer a little longer."
Ethan's jaw clenches. "Stay out of this, Wolfe."
"Make me," Adrian challenges, tilting his head like a predator deciding whether to attack. The tension between them is a live wire, seconds away from sparking into something explosive.
But I don't have time for their war. Not when something deeper is shifting beneath the surface. A puzzle I haven't fully put together yet.
I take a steadying breath, forcing myself to focus. "If you have something to say, Ethan, say it. Now."
His shoulders rise and fall, his breathing uneven. And then—
"You were never meant to be just a mate," he says, voice raw. "You were meant to rule."
My world tilts. A sharp exhale leaves my lips. "What?"
Ethan's gaze burns into mine. "You think Lucien is watching from the shadows, waiting to strike? You're wrong. He's waiting for you to wake up. Because he's not your enemy, Alexandra. He's been protecting you all along."
Silence crashes between us. My hands go ice-cold.
"No," I whisper. "Lucien is the enemy of every alpha. He wants to control everything—"
"He wants you," Ethan corrects. "Not as a queen to stand beside him. As a queen to lead."
The world narrows around me. The ground feels unsteady beneath my feet, as if I've stepped onto a cliff's edge without realizing it.
And then Adrian chuckles, slow and dangerous. "Well, well," he murmurs. "Now it's getting interesting."
I step back, my breath shallow, heart hammering against my ribs. The weight of Adrian's words coils around my throat like a noose. His golden eyes burn into mine, filled with something I don't know if I should name as hunger or danger—or both.
"You don't have to trust me, Alexandra." His voice is a low rasp, the kind of sound that pulls at something inside me despite the battle raging in my head. "But if you want to survive, you'll have to choose."
My fists clench. "I don't take orders."
He smirks, stepping closer. "And that's exactly why you're still standing. But let's be honest, you're playing a game you weren't prepared for. You need someone who knows the rules."
I hate that he's right. Hate that some part of me even considers his words. But before I can answer, the scent of burning wood fills my lungs, sharp and sudden.
I spin just as the first flames lick at the far end of the hall.
"Shit." Adrian's voice tightens. "They found us faster than I thought."
The walls groan as the fire spreads unnaturally fast, thick smoke curling toward the ceiling. My wolf howls inside me, the instinct to run warring with the refusal to be hunted like an animal.
"Move!" Adrian grabs my wrist, but I wrench free.
"I can handle myself." I don't wait for a response. The fire is closing in, the crackling heat clawing at my skin. I need an exit, a way out before we're trapped—
Then I feel it.
A ripple in the air. A shift so sudden it makes my vision blur for a second. And then he's there.
Lucien Graves.
He steps through the flames like they are nothing, his dark coat billowing around him as if he walks with the wind itself. His silver eyes find mine, and for the first time, I understand what true power feels like.
The air around him hums with something ancient, something far beyond the games of alphas and packs. He is no ordinary enemy. He is something else entirely.
"Hello, little wolf," he murmurs, voice like silk over steel. "You've been running long enough."
My body tenses, instincts screaming at me to fight or flee, but his presence is suffocating. Adrian curses under his breath beside me.
Lucien tilts his head slightly. "What will you do now, Alexandra?" His gaze flickers to Adrian. "Will you run with him, like a desperate thing clawing for survival? Or will you finally accept what you are meant to be?"
The flames climb higher, the smoke thickening, but none of it touches him. He is untouchable. Unstoppable.
And I realize with bone-deep certainty—I might not make it out of this at all.
The choice is mine, but every option leads to disaster.