Chapter 25 Chapter 25

Chapter 25 Chapter 25
"Magic," Caspian said from the backseat, his voice unusually reverent. "Ancient magic. The kind that's supposed to be just legends now."
I glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "What do you know about it?"
"Only what I've read in the old pack histories." His eyes met mine briefly. "Magic tied to bloodlines, to the first werewolves. It was believed to have died out centuries ago."
"Well, clearly it didn't," Asher muttered, his knuckles white on the steering wheel as he took a sharp turn onto the forest road leading to the pack house.
Kyle leaned forward, his breath warm against my neck. "Are you okay? I can feel your exhaustion through the bond."
I nodded, though in truth, I felt like I might collapse at any moment. The adrenaline was wearing off, leaving me drained in a way that went beyond physical fatigue. "I'll be fine. I just need answers."
The pack house came into view, a sprawling structure of wood and stone that housed the Williams family and served as the centre of pack operations. Several warriors patrolled the perimeter, their postures alert as our car approached. I spotted Alpha Williams on the front steps, his expression grim as he spoke with the head of security.
"There's my dad," Caspian said. "And... is that your grandmother?"
I followed his gaze and felt my heart sink. Grandmother stood beside Alpha Williams, her normally composed face tight with worry. The moment our car stopped, she rushed toward us, moving faster than I'd seen her move in years.
"Imogen!" She reached for me as I stepped out of the car, her hands gripping my arms with surprising strength. "Thank the Goddess you're safe. When the alarms went off..."
"Silverclaw," I cut her off, watching her face carefully. "Xavier Silverclaw."
The colour drained from her features. "He found us," she whispered, more to herself than to me. "After all these years..."
Alpha Williams approached, his imposing figure casting a shadow over us all. "Inside," he ordered, his voice carrying that undeniable Alpha command. "All of you. Now."
We followed him into the pack house, through the grand entrance hall and into the formal meeting room where pack business was conducted. The elders were already gathered there, their faces solemn as we entered. Elder Michaels gave me a look that made my skin crawl.
“Why is she here?” Elder Michaels hissed.
“Lovely to see you too, Elder Michaels, you know what, I don’t care, excuse me, but I don’t have energy for bullshit right now,” I said, turning for the door I just came in.
"Imogen." Alpha Williams' voice cut through the tension like a blade. "Sit down. We need to discuss what happened at the school."
“No, for what to be treated like a bigger outcast than I already have, no thanks. I couldn’t even follow my own pack's tradition last night of my first shift alone, as my family has done for generations, so if you’d excuse me, Alpha, I’ve had enough of being lower than dirt.”
I turned on my heel and headed for the door, my legs still shaky from whatever power had just coursed through me. The exhaustion was hitting me in waves now, and the last thing I could handle was Elder Michaels' thinly veiled contempt on top of everything else.
"Imogen, wait." Alpha Williams' voice carried that undeniable authority, but I was too drained to care about pack hierarchy right now.
"No," I said without turning around. "I'm done being talked about like I'm not in the room. I'm done with people making decisions for me." My hand was on the door handle when I felt Kyle's presence behind me through the bond.
"Please," he said quietly. "Just... please don't go. Not like this."
I closed my eyes, feeling the pull of three different bonds tugging at me to stay. My wolf whined with the need to be close to them, to accept their protection. But the human part of me, the part that had learned to survive by staying invisible, wanted nothing more than to disappear.
"Your grandmother needs to explain some things," Alpha Williams continued, his tone gentler now. "About the contract. About your family's history with Silverclaw."
That made me pause. I turned slowly, meeting Grandmother's eyes across the room. The guilt written across her face told me everything I needed to know.
"You knew," I whispered. "All this time, you knew about the betrothal contract."
Her shoulders sagged as if carrying the weight of years of secrets. "I knew. Your father told me before... before the attack. He was trying to find a way to break it without starting a war."
"And you never thought to mention this to me? In six years?" My voice cracked on the last word.
Elder Michaels snorted. "The girl has no right to question..."
"Shut up," I snapped, my patience finally reaching its breaking point. "Just shut up. I don't care what you think about my bloodline or my place in this pack. I'm tired of pretending your opinion matters to me."
The room went dead silent. I could feel the Williams brothers' shock through our bond, mixing with something that felt almost like pride.
My powers started to swirl around me, but this time it was going to wrap around me like a cocoon, “You think you can stop my chosen one, one that I made special.” Came a voice from my mouth that wasn’t fully my own.
The entire room went still, as if time itself had frozen. The voice that came from my mouth resonated with an ancient power that seemed to vibrate through the very walls of the pack house. My vision blurred, golden light swimming at the edges as something, or someone, spoke through me.
"You dare to threaten what is mine?" The voice continued, using my lips but carrying a timbre that made even Alpha Williams take an instinctive step back. "This child bears my mark, my blessing. She is the last of a bloodline I have protected for a thousand years."
I felt detached from my own body, watching as if from a great distance as golden light swirled around me like a protective cloak. The elders' faces had gone pale, their eyes wide with a mixture of fear and awe.
"The Goddess," Elder Michaels whispered, all contempt vanished from his voice. "It cannot be..."