Chapter 42 Chapter 42

Chapter 42 Chapter 42

"I'm learning," I said, standing slowly. The magic I'd felt yesterday began to stir beneath my skin, responding to the threat. Golden light flickered around my fingertips, barely visible but definitely there. "And apparently, I'm better at it than you expected."

Xavier took another step back, his hand pressed to his chest where I could see sweat beading on his forehead. Whatever spell I'd cast was clearly working, eating away at the connection between him and his wolf.

"This isn't over," he gasped, his voice strained. "I have other ways to claim what's mine."

"I'm not yours," I said firmly, the golden light growing brighter around my hands. "I never was, and I never will be. The contract is broken, your claim is void, and if you come near me again, losing your wolf will be the least of your problems."

The threat rolled off my tongue with an authority I hadn't known I possessed. Through our bond, I felt the Williams brothers' alarm as they sensed the magical energy I was channelling. They were too far away to help, but I could feel them moving, racing toward town.

Xavier clutched at his throat, his breathing becoming laboured. "You think you've won? This is just the beginning, princess. There are forces at work here that your little light show can't touch."

"Then maybe you should run back to whatever hole you crawled out of and tell them that the Lancaster bloodline isn't as defenceless as they thought," I replied, taking a step toward him.

The movement sent another pulse of golden energy through the air, and Xavier actually stumbled backward into a table, sending coffee cups crashing to the floor. The other customers scrambled away from him, some heading for the exits.

"This... this is impossible," he wheezed, his perfect composure completely shattered now. "The old magic died with your pack."

"Apparently not," I said, feeling a savage satisfaction at his obvious pain and confusion. "Funny how wrong you can be about things."

Marcus moved closer to my side, his own protective instincts flaring. "I think it's time for you to leave," he said to Xavier, his voice carrying more authority than I'd ever heard from him.

Xavier's eyes darted between us, calculating. I could see him weighing his options, trying to decide if he could push through whatever was happening to his wolf long enough to grab me. The golden light around my hands flared brighter, and he seemed to think better of it.

"This isn't finished," he said, straightening his jacket with shaking hands. "You can't…”

Thankfully, this coffee shop was in the parklands, so when the smoke enveloped me again like a shield, the Goddess spoke through me again. “Oh, is that so? I can do a lot more than strip you of your wolf. Let's start with your pups under your breeding program.”

Xavier's face drained of all colour. His carefully cultivated mask of superiority crumbled completely as he staggered backward, his hands clutching at his chest.

"You wouldn't dare," he gasped, but the voice coming through me wasn't interested in his protests.

"I already have," the Goddess spoke through my lips, my body merely a vessel for her power. "Your breeding program ends today. The children you've forced into existence will find their way to safety, and the females you've imprisoned will be freed from their bonds."

The coffee shop had emptied of customers, everyone fleeing at the first sign of supernatural confrontation. Only Marcus remained at my side, his presence steady and grounding even as power that wasn't entirely mine flowed through my veins.

Xavier's knees buckled, and he collapsed against the doorframe. "What have you done?" His voice was barely audible, horror etched across his face.

"Justice," the Goddess answered simply. "For generations, your bloodline has perverted the sacred gift of the wolf, using blood magic to bind those weaker than yourselves. Did you think I wouldn't notice? That I wouldn't eventually act?"

I felt detached from my body, watching, as if from a great distance, as my hands rose of their own accord, golden light swirling around my fingers. The light shot forward, encircling Xavier in a shimmering cocoon.

"You are hereby stripped of your Alpha status," my voice pronounced, the words ancient and powerful. "You will live as the lowest of omegas, unable to command even the weakest wolf. This is my judgment, and it is final."

Xavier screamed, a sound so filled with rage and agony that the windows of the coffee shop vibrated. His body contorted as something visibly tore away from him, not his wolf, I realised, but something darker, more malevolent. A shadow separated from his form, writhing in the air before dissipating into nothing.

Just as suddenly as it had come, the Goddess's presence withdrew from me. My knees buckled, and Marcus caught me before I could hit the floor.

"I've got you," he murmured, his arms strong around my waist.

Xavier lay crumpled in the doorway, his breathing shallow, his eyes wide with shock. The perfect suit was rumpled now, his hair dishevelled. He looked smaller somehow, diminished.

"What just happened?" I whispered, my own voice sounding strange to my ears after the Goddess's powerful tones.

"You just took down an Alpha," Marcus said, awe evident in his voice. "Or rather, the Goddess did, using you as her conduit."

Xavier stirred, pushing himself up onto his elbows. When he looked at me, his eyes were different, no longer that eerie, glowing blue, but a dull, ordinary shade. The menace that had radiated from him was gone, replaced by confusion and fear.

"What am I?"

I stared down at Xavier, feeling a mixture of satisfaction and exhaustion coursing through me. The golden light had faded completely from my hands, leaving only the memory of power that wasn't entirely my own.

"You're nothing," I said quietly, my voice hoarse from whatever the Goddess had done through me. "Just a broken man who thought he could steal what he was never meant to have."

Xavier's face crumpled, the reality of his situation finally sinking in. Without his Alpha status, without the dark magic that had sustained him, he was just another wolf, and barely that. I could see the moment he realised how completely he'd been stripped of everything that had made him dangerous.

"This isn't possible," he whispered, his voice cracking. "The old magic...it's been dead for centuries."