Chapter 33: The Blue Alpha

The dungeon doors slammed shut behind us with a hollow metallic echo.

Cold air wrapped around my skin.

They didn’t separate us this time.

They chained us side by side against the stone wall — thick white-silver shackles around our wrists, heavier restraints binding our ankles, long chains running through iron loops bolted into the rock. Even the wall itself seemed dusted with powdered silver.

Precautions.

Juliet shifted uncomfortably beside me, the chains scraping.

“I can’t believe we are chained up again.”

Despite everything, I chuckled.

“This time is different though.”

She glanced at me.

“We willingly got chained up the first time,” I continued, dragging the chain slightly to test its give.

The moment I pulled, pain tore through my wrists. The silver sizzled faintly against my skin, a sharp burning sensation that forced me to stop.

“But this time…” I finished, flexing my jaw against the sting, “…purely against our will.”

Juliet exhaled sharply. “Did you know about the silver chains?”

“No idea,” I replied. “They must have had a witch enchant them. This isn’t normal silver — it’s stronger.”

She turned her head toward me. “How did you get caught?”

I sighed.

“They poisoned my drink. Liquid silver.” My jaw tightened. “Fucking cowards.”

The word echoed slightly in the empty chamber.

Juliet leaned her head back against the wall. “How long do you think we should stay here before we break out?”

I was about to answer when I noticed Daniel beside her.

His breathing had changed.

Slow.

Uneven.

I turned fully toward him.

His head was drooping forward, eyes fluttering shut.

“Daniel?” I said sharply.

His eyes snapped open again, but they looked unfocused.

“I’m getting very nauseous,” he muttered. “I think I might pass out.”

Juliet immediately shifted closer to him, ignoring the way the chains burned her skin.

“Did you get bitten again?” she asked urgently.

“No,” he said weakly. “Not even a scratch.”

“What’s going on?” I demanded.

Juliet’s expression darkened.

“The wolves are here,” she said quietly. “And they’re with the queen.”

The air felt heavier.

“We need to get out of here right now.”

“What?” I snapped. “How the hell did that happen?”

“Seems like the queen is more dangerous than we thought.”

Daniel’s breathing grew more strained.

The silver was reacting badly to him.

Hybrid.

Wolf and vampire.

Both vulnerable to silver.

“Okay,” I said quickly. “I need you to cast a spell.”

Juliet gave me a look that would have been sarcastic if she weren’t in pain. She lifted her wrists slightly — just enough to show the restraints biting into her skin.

“My hands are tied up in silver. Even moving it hurts.”

I nodded once.

“Then it’s time for Plan B.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What’s Plan B?”

“I’ll summon Ayara.”

Juliet stiffened. “But there are wolves everywhere. Won’t they pick it up?”

“I just have to be very silent,” I replied. “Her senses are stronger now. She’ll hear it.”

Juliet studied me for a moment.

“Be careful.”

I closed my eyes.

Slowed my breathing.

Lowered my head slightly so my lips were close to the cold stone, allowing the sound to travel along the surface instead of through the air.

When I spoke, it was barely sound at all.

A whisper compressed into something thinner than breath.

A vibration.

A pitch so high and faint that human ears would dismiss it as nothing — but supernatural hearing would catch it like a flare in darkness.

“Ayara…” I breathed softly.

The word barely existed.

“Ayara… can you hear me…”

I adjusted the frequency, pushing it higher, thinner — threading it through cracks in the walls, through the corridors above.

“It’s me… Timi…”

Each syllable controlled.

Measured.

Almost silent.

“We need your help…”

I swallowed, ignoring the burn in my wrists as the chains tightened when I shifted.

“I don’t have time to explain… but you need to head to the war criminal dungeons…”

My voice thinned further, almost painful to produce.

“Your aunt has arrested us… you are our last hope…”

I focused everything into the final plea.

“Please… find a way.”

Then I stopped.

The dungeon returned to silence.

All we could hear was Daniel’s uneven breathing… and the distant echo of wolves somewhere above us in the palace halls.

Now we wait.“What are you doing?” Daniel asked weakly, watching me with half-focused eyes.

“I’m communicating with Ayara.”

He frowned. “What did she say?”

“She can’t really say anything back.”

“Why?”

“Because she has no idea how I did it,” I replied quietly. “And hopefully I was careful enough to make sure only she heard it.”

Daniel swallowed. “So what now?”

Juliet answered before I could.

“We wait.”

The dungeon fell into a suffocating silence.

Then—

Footsteps.

Light.

Fast.

Coming down the stone corridor toward us.

All three of us lifted our heads at the same time.

Excitement surged through my chest.

It worked.

From the entrance of the dungeon we heard growling — deep, aggressive — followed by a scream. Then another. The sharp clash of bodies hitting stone.

Then silence.

A heavy thud.

Another.

Bodies dropping.

The footsteps resumed.

Closer.

Closer.

Until a figure stepped into the torchlight.

Ayara.

Her face was streaked with blood — not hers. It splattered across her clothes, dark and fresh. Her chest rose and fell quickly, eyes glowing faintly with something feral.

She rushed toward us.

Without hesitation she grabbed the chain bolted into the wall beside me.

The silver sizzled against her palms.

Smoke curled faintly from her skin.

She hissed and jerked back instinctively.

“I think you need to crack the wall first, then I’ll—”

I stopped speaking.

She reached for it again.

This time she didn’t let go.

Her jaw clenched. Muscles tightened beneath her bloodstained clothes. The silver burned her hands — I could smell it — but she pulled.

The chain snapped.

Not loosened.

Snapped.

Metal rang against stone.

She grabbed the cuffs around my wrists next.

The silver seared her skin again, but she twisted and tore them apart as if they were thin wires.

One by one she freed Juliet.

Then Daniel.

We stood there, stunned.

None of us spoke.

Her strength… it wasn’t just enhanced.

It was monstrous.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said calmly.

We followed her up the stairs.

At the dungeon entrance, three guards lay motionless in pools of blood.

We stepped over them and moved quickly through the corridors.

At the top of the stairwell—

Three giant wolves blocked the passage.

The venomous ones.

Massive bodies. Thick fur. Eyes locked on us.

Ayara stepped forward.

“Stay behind me.”

We obeyed instantly.

She took one slow step ahead of us.

Then she growled.

It started low — vibrating from deep within her chest.

And in a split second her body shifted.

Bones cracked and reformed with violent precision.

Her spine arched.

Her limbs elongated.

Fur erupted across her skin in a wave of deep, radiant blue.

Claws tore through the stone floor as her paws hit the ground.

When the transformation finished, she stood towering before us — the largest wolf I had ever seen. Larger than the three blocking our path.

Her fur shimmered like midnight ice under torchlight.

She growled again.

This time it shook the hallway.

Ten times louder.

The sound wasn’t just heard — it was felt.

The three wolves flinched.

Actually flinched.

They shifted backward.

One step.

Then another.

Until they parted, lowering their heads instinctively.

Submitting.

Ayara walked forward.

We followed behind her.

Every guard we passed froze in place.

Every noble shrank against the walls.

No one dared move.

By the time we reached the great hall near the palace entrance, dozens of wolves surrounded us.

Growling.

Circling.

Then—

The queen appeared.

She stepped forward slowly, eyes wide.

“Ayara… is that you?”

Ayara remained still, towering.

The queen approached cautiously and placed a hand against Ayara’s massive head.

“What are you doing with these people?” she asked softly. “They’ve turned you against your own family. You need to come back to your senses, Ayara. You are the pride of the royal family.”

Her hand stroked the blue fur gently.

“Look at you… how beautiful you are. The biggest we’ve ever seen. Come back to me.”

For a moment—

Ayara didn’t move.

Then suddenly—

A wolf from behind lunged at me.

Before I could react—

A blur of blue.

Ayara moved so fast it looked like teleportation.

Her jaws clamped around the attacking wolf’s neck mid-air.

A brutal snap.

She flung the massive body aside like it weighed nothing.

And then—

She attacked.

There was no hesitation.

No struggle.

She tore through them with terrifying ease.

Her speed was beyond anything I’d witnessed. She weaved between snapping jaws, crushed skulls with her bite, slammed bodies into pillars hard enough to crack marble.

They couldn’t touch her.

Couldn’t even keep up with her.

Me and Juliet shifted and joined the fight, moving like a streak of silver and shadow.

Daniel, despite his weakness, forced himself into motion, striking with calculation.

But truthfully?

Ayara didn’tneed us.

Within minutes, the hall was silent.

Wolves either lay unconscious…

Or dead.

The surviving royal guards fled.

Leaving only the queen standing there.

Alone.

Ayara stepped toward her slowly.

Growling.

The queen’s composure shattered. Her shoulders sagged.

Defeated.

We didn’t say a word.

We simply walked past her.

Out of the palace.

Into the endless white snow.

Cold air hit our faces.

“How do we get out of here now?” Daniel asked.

“Don’t worry,” I replied. “I have a way. Come with me.”

We began running toward the stables.

Then—

Ayara let out a howl.

But it wasn’t a battle cry.

It sounded like pain.

We turned.

Her massive blue form trembled.

The fur began retracting slowly.

Bones shifted again — this time softer, slower.

Her body shrank.

Claws receded.

The blue faded.

Within seconds, she collapsed forward onto her knees — human again.

Bare skin against snow.

Her long hair fell over her shoulders, her breathing uneven.

Without hesitation, I pulled off my shirt and handed it to her.

She took it quietly and slipped it on, covering herself as she steadied her breathing.

The snow swirled around us.

And for the first time since this began—

We were free.I didn’t hesitate.

I lifted Ayara into my arms and sped forward.

The world stretched and blurred around me. Snow lifted in spirals behind my boots as I crossed the courtyard in seconds. Daniel and Juliet followed as fast as they could, but even at their peak they couldn’t match the unnatural velocity that surged through my veins.

The stables stood isolated at the far end of the palace grounds — old stone walls, tall wooden doors slightly crooked with age. No guards. No movement.

Abandoned.

Exactly how I left it.

I kicked the doors open and stepped inside.

The stable was empty.

No horses.

No hay.

Just dust, wooden beams… and two massive shapes at the back, concealed beneath a giant tarp.

Juliet slowed beside me, eyeing them suspiciously.

“What is that?”

I smirked slightly.

“Remove the tarp. You’ll be surprised.”

She walked forward, grabbed the heavy fabric, and pulled.

The tarp slid down in one sweeping motion.

Metal gleamed beneath the dim light.

Juliet froze.

Then she laughed in disbelief.

“No way.”

Before us stood two restored Supermarine Spitfire fighters.

Sleek wings.

Iconic elliptical curves.

Polished propellers.

Timeless machines buried in a world that had long forgotten them.

“You kept it all these years?” she asked, running her hand along the cool metal.

“Yeah,” I replied. “Just ours though. I rebuilt them piece by piece. They run. I fly them sometimes.”

She shook her head, still smiling. “Where do you even get gasoline from?”

“I make it,” I said simply. “Now come on. Let’s push them out and get the hell out of here.”

I carefully placed Ayara on a wooden worktable nearby.

“Are you okay?” I asked softly.

She nodded faintly. “I’ll be.”

Daniel sat beside her immediately, protective, watching her closely.

Juliet and I moved fast.

I dragged one Spitfire toward the doors, boots grinding against stone as the wheels rolled forward. She did the same with the second. Within moments we had both planes positioned out in the open field beyond the stable.

The cold air bit harder out there.

The sky was pale.

Time was running out.

I walked back, lifted Ayara gently, and carried her to the first Spitfire. I helped her into the passenger seat behind mine and secured the straps around her. I placed the helmet over her head and adjusted it carefully.

She looked small now.

Human.

Exhausted.

But still strong.

I climbed into the cockpit.

Daniel hurried to Juliet’s plane and strapped into her passenger seat.

Engines roared to life almost simultaneously.

The sound shattered the silence of the snowfield.

Propellers spun.

Wings trembled.

Within seconds we were accelerating across the frozen ground.

Then—

Lift.

The wheels left the earth.

We were airborne.

I glanced down.

The palace looked smaller already.

The massive doors opened.

The queen stepped out, robes flowing behind her.

Several guards rushed out after her.

They all stared upward.

At us.

At the impossible machines cutting through their sky.

I turned my head slightly.

“Ayara… are you okay?”

Her voice came through faint but steady.

“I’ll be,” she said softly. “Eventually.”

The palace disappeared behind clouds.

And for the first time—

We were truly beyond their reach.