Chapter 46: The Devil I Remember

Chapter 46: The Devil I Remember

Alex’s POV

The night was too quiet.
That kind of quiet that doesn’t belong in the forest,the kind that means something is listening.

Ella’s hand was still in mine.
Her pulse fluttered against my skin, fast and unsteady, and even though the air was freezing, her palms were slick with sweat. She didn’t speak, but she didn’t have to. I could smell her fear. Taste it. Feel it tugging at the edge of my wolf’s restraint.

“Keep behind me,” I said, scanning the treeline. “No matter what happens.”

She nodded, but her grip on my hand tightened; stubborn, terrified, human.
And then I felt it.
A shift in the air. A ripple of power.

A low growl rolled through the darkness.

He stepped out of the trees like a nightmare I’d spent half my life trying to forget.
Alpha Darius.

The moonlight touched his face, and it was exactly as I remembered; cold eyes, sharp jaw, the cruel calm of a man who’d never once doubted he was a god. The years hadn’t softened him. If anything, they’d sharpened him.

“Well,” he drawled, his voice smooth as oil. “The prodigal wolf returns. How poetic.”

I forced the growl back in my throat. “You’ve got a strange idea of poetry, Darius.”

His gaze flicked to Ella, and something cruel curved his lips. “And you brought me my runaway.”

She flinched, stepping back, but he didn’t move closer, not yet. He was enjoying this. He always did.

“You’ve been busy,” Darius said, eyes sliding back to me. “Stealing what’s mine. Corrupting what doesn’t belong to you.”

“She’s not yours,” I said flatly.

He laughed, low and cold. “Everything in my pack is mine, Alex. Every wolf, every breath, every drop of blood that runs through their veins. Including hers.”

Ella’s voice shook when she said, “I was never yours, Alpha.”

For a moment, silence hung heavy. Then Darius turned to her slowly, and his tone dropped to something deadly soft.
“Do you remember who taught you to speak, little omega? Who gave you food, shelter, a name? You were nothing until I decided you could serve me. You exist because I allowed it.”

My claws pushed against my skin, my control slipping. “Say another word to her like that,” I snarled, “and I’ll tear your tongue out.”

His eyes gleamed with amusement. “Ah. There it is. The boy with his father’s temper.”

That name, father hit like a blade to the chest.

“You killed them,” I said, my voice shaking with fury. “You slaughtered them and called it justice.”

He didn’t deny it. He just smiled. “Your father was a traitor. He thought he could defy my rule, challenge my vision for the packs. You were a child, I let you live out of mercy.”

“Mercy?” I stepped forward, teeth bared. “You made me watch.”

His grin faltered then, just slightly, and it was enough. I lunged.

The forest exploded with motion claws, teeth, fury.
He met me halfway, faster than I remembered, strength crashing against mine. We collided, the impact sending shockwaves through the ground. My wolf howled inside me, begging for release. Darius fought with brutal precision, every move meant to maim, not kill, he wanted me to suffer.

“You’re still just a boy swinging at ghosts,” he hissed, driving his fist into my ribs.

I countered with a snarl, slamming him into a tree hard enough to splinter bark. “And you’re still a coward hiding behind your title!”

We broke apart, circling. His eyes glowed pale gold, his wolf just beneath the surface. “You think this girl makes you strong?” He glanced at Ella. “You’re weaker now, Alex. Because you care.”

He lunged again, catching me off-guard, claws slicing my shoulder. Blood splattered across the ground, hot and sharp. I gritted my teeth, twisted, and threw him off.

Ella screamed my name.

“Stay back!” I shouted, even as Darius slammed into me again, forcing me down.
His hand closed around my throat, squeezing his face inches from mine.

“You could have been my greatest weapon,” he snarled. “Instead, you became a curse.”

“Then I’ll be the one that ends you,” I rasped, and with one last surge of strength, I shifted.

My wolf broke free; silver and massive, fury embodied.
Darius followed instantly, his dark form colliding with mine in a blur of teeth and claws. The ground trembled. Trees split. Blood sprayed the air.

He was strong. Too strong. But rage gave me something he didn’t have; A reason.

Because behind me, Ella was there. Watching. Trembling. But she didn’t run. She didn’t hide.
And that meant I couldn’t lose.

I caught Darius by the throat this time, pinned him down, my teeth sinking into flesh. He howled, not in pain, but in rage. His claws tore across my flank, but I didn’t let go until I heard the crack of bone.

When I shifted back, panting and blood-soaked, he was on his knees, broken but alive.
He laughed weakly, blood staining his teeth. “You think you’ve won? The council will hunt you for this. They’ll destroy everything.”

I looked down at him, eyes blazing. “Let them try.”

And then he looked at Ella. His voice dropped, venom-soft. “You think he’ll protect you? You’re an omega. Nothing more than a shadow pretending to be someone worth saving.”

She stood taller than I’d ever seen her. “Maybe,” she said. “But at least I’m not pretending anymore.”

Something flickered across his face, disbelief, maybe even fear. And then he slumped, finally silent.

The forest was still again.
The storm had passed, but its mark remained; blood, scars, ashes of everything that came before.

Ella fell to her knees beside me, her hands shaking as she reached for my arm. “Alex… you’re bleeding.”

I looked at her, at the way her eyes glowed faintly in the moonlight, scared but strong.
And for the first time, I didn’t see the handmaid or the imposter.
I saw the girl who defied an Alpha and lived.

“It’s over,” I whispered.

She shook her head. “No. It’s only the beginning.”

And I knew she was right.
Because Darius’s fall wasn’t the end. It was the spark.
And the world we knew was about to burn.