Chapter 24 Chapter 24

Chapter 24 Chapter 24
I felt the blood drain from my face. Alphas were rare enough, one per pack, bloodlines carefully guarded and preserved. The idea of multiple Alphas banding together, submitting to a single leader... it should have been impossible.
"You're lying," Asher said, though I could feel his uncertainty through the bond.
"Am I?" Xavier raised an eyebrow.
“He used blood magic on them, all of them. It would have happened to my father as well if he had allowed our union to form a bond with him through their daughters. How’s about this for a fuck you?”
My hands began to swirl with the same coloured light, sending it to the ground like smoke.
The smoke-like light spread across the gym floor, seeping into cracks and crevices with an otherworldly glow. I could feel the power flowing through me, ancient and wild, unlike anything I'd experienced even during my shift. It was as if breaking that blood contract had unlocked something that had been dormant in my bloodline for generations.
Xavier took a step back, his confident mask slipping for the first time. "Impossible," he breathed. "That magic died with the old packs."
"Apparently not," I said, though I had no idea what I was actually doing. The power felt instinctive, like breathing or walking, something my body remembered even if my mind didn't understand it.
The light began to rise from the floor, forming intricate patterns in the air between us. Through our bond, I felt the Williams brothers' amazement mixing with their protective instincts. They wanted to help, but they could sense this was something only I could do.
"You think parlour tricks will save you?" Xavier snarled, though I could hear the uncertainty creeping into his voice. "I have an army at my disposal."
"And I have something you don't," I replied, the words coming from some deeper place of knowing. "The blessing of the Goddess herself. Your blood magic is corruption. Mine is purification."
The light suddenly flared brighter, and Xavier actually stumbled backward. For a moment, his carefully controlled facade cracked completely, and I saw something that looked almost like terror flash across his features.
"This isn't over," he said, his voice shaking with barely controlled rage. "You can't hide behind these boys forever, princess. And when I return, and I will return, you'll learn exactly what happens to those who defy the Silverclaw pack."
He turned and stalked toward the door, his movements sharp with fury. But just before he reached it, he paused and looked back at me with those cold blue eyes.
“Then let me finish it, right here, the marble smoke now mixed with gold. Come for me again, and this spell will strip you of your wolf.” I said as my green eyes swirled with gold and silver.
Xavier's eyes widened, a flicker of genuine fear crossing his face before he could mask it. "You dare threaten an Alpha bloodline? You have no idea what powers you're toying with, child."
"No," I replied, the golden light swirling more intensely around my hands, "you have no idea what I'm capable of. My father may have hidden my heritage, but the magic is remembered. The Goddess remembered."
The Williams brothers stood transfixed beside me, their shock pulsing through our bond. None of us had expected this, least of all me. I felt like I was channelling someone else's knowledge, someone else's power, yet it felt more natural than anything I'd ever done.
Xavier backed toward the door, his elite guard howling outside with increasing urgency. "This isn't over, Lancaster. Blood always finds a way." With those ominous words, he turned and vanished through the exit.
The moment he disappeared, my legs gave out. Kyle caught me before I hit the floor, his arms strong and steady around my waist.
"What the actual hell was that?" Asher breathed, staring at my hands where the golden light was already fading.
"I don't know," I admitted, my voice shaking as the adrenaline began to ebb. "It just... happened. Like my body remembered something my mind forgot."
Caspian moved to the windows, peering out cautiously. "They're retreating. All of them." His voice was tight with tension. "But they'll be back."
"We need to get to the pack house," Kyle said, still supporting most of my weight. "Now. Before they regroup."
I nodded weakly, trying to find my strength again. "My grandmother will know what this means. About the contract, about Silverclaw... about whatever just happened with the light."
"Can you walk?" Kyle asked, his amber eyes searching my face with concern.
"I think so." I pulled away from him, testing my shaky legs. They held, barely. "But we should hurry."
We moved through the empty school building at supernatural speed, the bond between us humming with shared urgency and confusion. Outside, the territory-breach alarms had stopped, but I could hear distant howls, the Williams pack warriors patrolling the borders, securing the territory.
"My car's this way," Asher said, leading us toward the faculty parking lot where he had special permission to park as the student body president.
We piled into his sleek black SUV, me in the passenger seat with Kyle and Caspian in the back. As Asher pulled out of the lot, I caught a glimpse of movement at the tree line, a flash of silver-streaked dark hair that made my blood run cold.
"He's still watching," I whispered.
Kyle leaned forward, his hand coming to rest protectively on my shoulder. "Let him watch. He can't touch you now."
But I wasn't so sure. Or at least he was going to try at least once more.
As Asher drove toward the pack house, my hands still tingled with lingering power. I stared at them, half-expecting to see the golden light still swirling around my fingers, but there was nothing visible, just the same hands I'd always had, now somehow capable of wielding magic I didn't understand.
"My grandmother never mentioned any of this," I said, breaking the tense silence in the car. "Not the contract, not the Silverclaw pack, not... whatever that was back there."