Chapter 27: The Alpha's Command

Aria's POV

The black moon's evil laughter crashed into my mind like broken glass.

I gasped and stumbled as the sound cut through my thoughts, making it impossible to focus. Around me, the battle raged louder than ever. Gunshots mixed with wolf howls and the sound of claws ripping through metal.

"The sister is waking up," the Alpha Queen warned frantically. "If she fully awakens while I'm merged with you, she'll be able to possess your body too."

"What does that mean?" I asked, dodging as a controlled wolf flew over my head.

"It means you'll have two goddess-level beings fighting for control inside your human mind. The battle will destroy you from the inside."

A bullet whizzed past my ear, followed by Papa's angry shout. "Aria, stay down!"

But staying down wasn't an option anymore. Every second the fighting continued, more people got hurt. I could see Kael struggling against two controlled wolves, blood streaming from fresh wounds. I could see Papa's men running out of ammunition. I could see the freed wolves getting overwhelmed by Viktor's remaining servants.

Everyone I cared about was going to die unless I did something.

"How do I stop this without letting your sister take over?" I asked the Alpha Queen desperately.

"Use your command voice. But only once, and only for a few seconds. Any longer and you'll drain all your remaining human strength."

I took a deep breath and reached for the power that had been growing inside me all night. Not the gentle silver magic I'd been using, but the true authority of the Alpha Queen.

The voice that every supernatural being was born to obey.

"ENOUGH!" I shouted.

The word exploded from my throat with the force of thunder. Silver light erupted from my body, washing over every person and creature in the stone circle.

And suddenly, everything stopped.

Not just the fighting - everything. Papa froze with his gun half-raised. Kael stopped mid-transformation, caught between human and wolf. The controlled wolves became statues with their claws extended. Even Viktor's shadow-form went perfectly still.

The only sounds were the wind through the mountains and my own ragged breathing.

"Move away from each other," I commanded, my voice still carrying supernatural authority. "Slowly. No sudden movements."

Everyone obeyed without question. Humans and supernatural beings alike stepped backward until there was empty space between all the different groups.

"Now put down your weapons."

Guns hit the ground with metallic clanks. Claws retracted. Even Viktor's dark magic pulled back into his body like smoke being sucked into a bottle.

For the first time since the summit began, no one was actively trying to kill anyone else.

"This is what peace looks like," I said, speaking to everyone at once. "This is what we could have if you all stopped fighting long enough to remember that we're not really enemies."

"Beautiful speech," Viktor said, though his voice sounded strained like he was fighting against my command. "But peace built on force isn't real peace. It's just slavery with prettier words."

"Maybe," I admitted. "But at least it stops the bleeding."

I looked around at all the people I'd managed to save. Papa was hurt but alive. Kael was healing fast now that the poison was gone. The freed wolves were helping their injured packmates stand up.

"I can hold them like this for a few more minutes," I said. "Long enough for everyone to leave safely."

"And then what?" Papa asked. "Viktor will just hunt us down again tomorrow."

"Not if I take his power away permanently," I said, turning toward the Soul Eater.

But Viktor was smiling now, like he knew something I didn't.

"You can't take my power without killing me," he said calmly. "And the Alpha Queen is too kind to commit murder, even when it's justified."

He was right. I could feel the Alpha Queen's reluctance to end Viktor's life, even though he was a monster who had hurt so many people.

I created him, she explained sadly. Destroying him would be like a mother killing her own child.

"But he's not your child anymore," I said. "He's a disease that needs to be cured."

"Indeed," Viktor agreed cheerfully. "And unfortunately for you, princess, holding everyone frozen is draining your power faster than you realize."

I could feel it now - the command magic pouring out of me like water from a broken dam. My knees started shaking as weakness crept through my body.

"You have maybe thirty seconds before you collapse completely," Viktor continued. "And when you do, my control over these wolves will return. They'll tear your precious friends apart while you watch helplessly."

"Unless you surrender now," he added. "Give me your power willingly, and I'll let everyone else walk away."

"Don't trust him," Kael said urgently. "He's lied about everything else."

"Have I?" Viktor asked innocently. "I told you the truth about Elena's betrayal. I told you the truth about the pack's guardian magic. I told you the truth about what Aria really is."

"After lying about it for three years," Papa pointed out.

"I prefer to think of it as waiting for the right moment to reveal important information."

My strength was fading fast. The command magic was too powerful for my human body to channel for long. But if I released everyone from the freezing spell, the fighting would start again immediately.

"Twenty seconds," Viktor said helpfully.

I had to make a choice. Keep everyone frozen until I passed out, then watch Viktor slaughter them while I was unconscious. Or release the spell now and hope we could find another solution in the chaos that followed.

"Ten seconds."

Neither option would save everyone. But maybe I could save some of them.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to the Alpha Queen. "I'm not strong enough for this."

Yes, you are, she replied firmly. You just haven't learned how to be strong yet.

"Five seconds."

My legs gave out, and I fell to my knees in the snow. The silver light around my hands flickered like a dying candle.

"Three seconds."

Viktor's smile grew wider as he felt my command magic starting to fail.

"One."

The freezing spell shattered like glass.

Everyone stumbled as movement returned to their bodies. The controlled wolves immediately raised their claws, ready to finish what they'd started. Papa's men reached for their dropped weapons.

But before anyone could attack, I did something that surprised everyone - including myself.

I laughed.

"What's so funny?" Viktor demanded.

"You made a mistake," I said, still giggling even though I was too weak to stand. "A really big one."

"What mistake?"

I looked up at him with eyes that were no longer silver, but pure white light.

"You assumed I was trying to hold everyone frozen until I could defeat you," I said. "But I wasn't trying to stop the fighting."

"Then what were you doing?"

My smile grew wider as the truth hit me like a lightning bolt.

"I was listening. While everyone was frozen, I could hear their thoughts. All of them."

Viktor's shadow-form went very still.

"And do you know what I discovered?" I continued. "Half of your controlled wolves don't want to fight anymore. They're only attacking because your magic is forcing them to."

"So?"

"So now I know exactly which ones are really loyal to you, and which ones are just scared prisoners."

I raised my hand, and silver light shot out toward six specific wolves. When the light touched them, they gasped and fell to their knees as their real memories returned.

"That's not possible," Viktor said, backing away. "Those wolves have been Soul Bonded to me for years."

"Surface bonding," I corrected. "You never actually owned their souls. You just made them forget they had a choice."

The newly freed wolves looked around in confusion, then horror as they realized what they'd been forced to do.

"We're sorry," one of them said to Papa. "We never wanted to hurt anyone."

"We know," Papa replied gently. "It wasn't your fault."

Viktor snarled with rage as his army shrank to just a handful of truly corrupted followers.

"Clever girl," he admitted. "But you're still too weak to fight me directly."

He was right. Using the command voice had drained almost all my strength. I could barely keep my eyes open, let alone use more magic.

But I wasn't alone anymore.

The freed wolves formed a protective circle around me. Papa's men reloaded their weapons. Even Grandmother's ghost blazed brighter, ready to defend me with whatever power she had left.

"You want her?" Kael said, his wolf form rippling with fury. "You'll have to go through all of us."

"My pleasure," Viktor replied.

He raised his hands to cast another spell, but nothing happened. His shadow-form flickered and became more transparent.

"What?" Viktor looked down at himself in confusion.

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" I said innocently. "When I freed your wolves, I also took back all the power you stole from them over the years."

Viktor's human appearance began returning as his stolen magic abandoned him. Without the supernatural energy he'd been feeding on, he was aging rapidly.

"You little witch," he gasped, suddenly looking like an old man instead of an ageless predator.

"Actually," I said, struggling to my feet with Kael's help, "I'm something much more dangerous than a witch."

"What are you then?" Viktor asked weakly.

I smiled and let just a tiny bit of Alpha Queen power shine through my eyes.

"I'm a twenty-three-year-old girl who's really tired of old men trying to tell her what to do."

But before Viktor could respond, evil laughter rang out from the black moon again.

And this time, something began descending from the sky toward us.

Something with wings like shadow and eyes like dying stars.

"Viktor was never the real threat," I realized with growing horror. "He was just bait to make me use enough power to wake up the real enemy."

The thing from the black moon landed in the center of our broken stone circle with a sound like thunder.

When it spoke, its voice was my own voice, but twisted and wrong.

"Hello, sister," it said, looking directly at me. "I've been waiting so long to meet you."

But using so much power had weakened me beyond my limits.

I collapsed just as Viktor broke free of my fading command and lunged for me with a hidden silver blade he'd kept as backup.

The last thing I saw before darkness took me was the creature from the black moon smiling with my own face.

"Perfect timing," it said pleasantly. "Now we can finally become one."