POV - Kieran
I crashed through the cell door to find Victoria holding a silver blade to Elara's throat.
"One more step," Victoria purred, "and I'll paint these walls with her blood."
Everything inside me went deadly still. My wolf wanted to tear Victoria apart, but one wrong move and Elara would die. Cassian was collapsed on the floor, barely aware. And my pregnant mate had tears running down her face.
I'd failed everyone who counted.
"Let her go," I said, my voice quiet and deadly. "Your fight is with me, not her."
"My fight is with anyone who threatens my power." Victoria pressed the blade harder. A thin line of blood showed on Elara's neck. "She's carrying your bastard child. That makes her a threat."
"The child is innocent," I growled.
"The child is a weapon." Victoria's eyes gleamed with dark hunger. "Ancient magic reacts to Blackthorn blood. If I kill you and your cousin, all that power transfers to whoever controls the kid. Which will be me."
Horror poured through me. "You're insane."
"I'm ambitious." Victoria smiled. "There's a difference. Now, you're going to watch me kill your mate. Then you're going to finish our political marriage and give me access to the Alpha power. Or I'll hunt down every person you've ever cared about and—"
Cassian moved.
Even hurt, he was fast. His hand shot out, grabbing Victoria's ankle. Magic burst from his palm—not the gentle healing energy I'd felt before, but something fierce and burning.
Victoria screamed, stumbling backward. The blade sliced through empty air as Elara dived away.
I didn't think. I just moved.
My punch connected with Victoria's jaw. Bones crunched. She flew backward, crashing into the wall hard enough to crack the wood.
"RUN!" I yelled at Elara.
But she wasn't running. She was kneeling beside Cassian, her hands shining with soft white light that I'd never seen before.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Healing him," Elara said, her voice strained. "I don't know how, but I can feel what's wrong. The link is draining him. I can fix it—"
Victoria lunged at her.
I intercepted, grabbing Victoria's wrist before her claws could reach Elara's face. We crashed through the cabin door, rolling across the ground in a tangle of fur and rage.
"You can't win," Victoria hissed, shifting fully into her wolf form. "The Council has already given the execution order. All three of you are dead."
"Then I'll take you with me," I promised.
We fought like animals. Tooth and bite. Blood and violence. Victoria was strong and well-trained, but I was fighting for something bigger than power. I was fighting for my family.
She got her teeth around my throat. For one terrible second, I thought she'd tear it out.
Then white light burst across the clearing.
Victoria screamed, releasing me. The light was coming from the cabin—from Elara, whose hands blazed with power that shouldn't exist.
"ENOUGH!" Elara's voice rang with Alpha order that made even my wolf pause. "All of you, stop!"
Victoria and I both froze, looking at the omega who suddenly radiated more power than any Alpha I'd ever met.
"How—" Victoria whispered.
"Royal bloodline," Cassian said softly from the doorway. "I knew it the moment I met her. Elara's not just an omega. She's descended from the old masters. The ones who made the blood magic in the first place."
The world turned sideways.
Elara stared at her bright hands like they belonged to someone else. "What's happening to me?"
"The pregnancy activated your dormant abilities," Cassian stated. "Carrying Kieran's child while connected to our blood bond triggered something ancient in your DNA."
"This changes everything," Victoria said, her expression changing from rage to calculation. "If the Council finds out she has royal blood—"
"They'll execute her immediately," Cassian ended grimly. "Royal bloodlines were meant to be extinct. The Council made sure of that two hundred years ago."
Elara's power flickered and died. She swayed, tired. I caught her before she could fall.
"I've got you," I whispered against her hair.
"You don't have anything," she said angrily, pushing me away. "You gave up that right when you chose politics over family."
The words cut deeper than Victoria's claws ever could.
"I was trying to protect thousands of lives—"
"And what about our life?" Elara asked. "What about our baby's life? Did that not matter at all?"
"It mattered more than anything," I said desperately. "But I couldn't choose between you and my job. I couldn't let innocent people die because I wanted to be selfish—"
"SELFISH?" Elara's voice cracked. "Loving your child is selfish now?"
"I DO love our child," I roared. "I love you. But love isn't enough when people's lives hang in the balance!"
"Then you should have let me go from the beginning," Elara said softly. "Instead of making me believe I was special. That I was different from all your other women."
"You ARE different—"
"Clearly not different enough." She turned away from me. "Cassian, can you take me somewhere safe? Somewhere far from the Northern Territories?"
"Elara, no—" I started.
"Yes," Cassian said strongly. "I know a place. Beyond Council reach."
"You can't take her," I argued. "She's MY mate—"
"She's not your anything," Cassian said coldly. "You announced your engagement to Victoria. You made your choice. Now live with it."
Pain burst through my chest. The link between me and Cassian burned like acid, and suddenly I understood. He loved her too. Somehow, through our blood link, Cassian had fallen in love with Elara.
And she was looking at him like he was a hero while she looked at me like I was a monster.
"The Council will hunt you," Victoria said, rising to her feet. "All three of you. I'll make sure of it."
"Then we disappear," Cassian said. "Completely. Change our names, hide our smells, and never come back."
"What about my territory?" I asked. "My pack?"
"Choose," Cassian said simply. "Right now. Them or her. Duty or love. You can't have both anymore."
Every wolf in the clearing looked at me, waiting for my answer.
My area had been my life's work. Thousands of wolves relying on my protection. Decades of political ties that would crumble if I abandoned them.
But Elara was having my child. My real child. The one person who should have counted more than anything else.
"I—" My voice broke. "I don't know how to choose."
"Then I'll choose for you," Elara said softly. "Goodbye, Kieran. Take care of your area. I hope it keeps you warm at night."
She took Cassian's hand and started walking into the forest.
"WAIT!" I lunged forward.
Victoria's hand clamped around my arm with supernatural strength. "Let them go. You have a wedding to attend."
I watched Elara disappear into the darkness with my cousin, taking my unborn child and the shattered pieces of my heart.
Then my phone rang.
Marcus's voice was worried. "Alpha, you need to come back instantly. The Council just arrived with fifty soldiers. They're demanding you hand over the pregnant omega, or they'll burn the entire region to the ground. They're giving you one hour."
My blood ran cold.
"How do they know about Elara?" I asked.
"Someone told them." Marcus paused. "Alpha... they're saying the omega isn't just pregnant. They're saying she's the last live heir to the Royal Bloodline. And according to ancient rule, anyone who impregnates royal blood without Council permission must be executed."
The phone slipped from my hand.
I'd thought I was choosing between my area and my love.
But the Council had already made the choice for me.
And now everyone I cared about was going to die.
Victoria smiled like she'd won everything. "Looks like your time just ran out, Alpha. What will you give first—your pack, your mate, or your life?"