Chapter 62 Love Beyond Command
[Lysander]
The relief was immediate but the pain lingered. My head still throbbed. Blood still dripped from my nose, staining the white snow beneath me. But I could breathe again.
"You stubborn, impossible—" But her mental voice was thick with tears. "Fine. Stay. But if we die, I'm going to kill you."
Despite the pain still pounding in my skull, I managed what might have been a wolfish grin.
"Together," I sent simply. "Always together."
She stood, and her eyes had changed. From desperation to something wild and calculated all at once.
"There's only one way," she said, fingers trembling as she began stripping off her gear. "Human hands aren't fast enough. Aren't strong enough."
"But a wolf can do it."
"Only as a wolf can I dig her out in forty seconds."
"Only as a wolf can I protect her in the avalanche."
"Nyx, even as a wolf, in an avalanche—" I tried.
"The boulder," she cut me off, pointing at the massive stone. "You said rocks provide protection. If we can dig her out before the avalanche hits and get behind the boulder—we have a chance to survive."
Her voice shook but her eyes blazed. "It's the only chance."
"This is rational—only wolf strength can complete the excavation in time."
"And it's emotional—I can't abandon my sister."
Everything in me—my Gamma training, my battlefield experience, every instinct that had kept soldiers alive under my command—had already made its calculation. She was right. Only wolf strength could dig fast enough. Only wolf form had any hope of surviving what was coming.
"Fine," I sent through the link. "I'm with you."
Damon's deep gray wolf had stayed at the position throughout. Hearing Nyx's words, he began clawing at the snow with fierce determination.
"I won't leave either," he said through the radio, voice clipped and resolute. "Lilith is my fiancée. I won't abandon her."
His wolf dug frantically, and the motion said everything words couldn't.
I watched Nyx stare at Damon, something shifting in her expression. Understanding, maybe. Recognition of the kind of love that required no grand declarations—only action.
He really loves her, I realized through our bond, feeling Nyx's thoughts bleeding through. Willing to die for her after knowing her only days.
That's what real love is.
Like how you love me.
Then through the radio, I called out: "All Moonblade warriors! Return to position! Maintain wolf form! Assist Mrs. Crowley with excavation! Move fast! If we haven't found her when the avalanche arrives—immediately take cover behind the boulder! The stone is our only shelter! Understood?!"
"Yes!" Every Moonblade warrior's voice rang through the link in unison. They came streaming back, Seth, Marcus, Symone—all of them returning to formation.
Nyx took a deep breath.
"Sylva!"
"Finally! Let me out!"
What happened next... I'd seen many transformations in my years as Gamma. Watched warriors shift hundreds of times. But I'd never witnessed anything like this.
Nyx's shift was explosive.
Bone restructured with audible cracks. Silver-gray fur erupted from her skin. Her body twisted, expanded—not just transforming but unleashing something that had been caged too long. Three years of suppression detonating in a single moment.
The Alpha aura hit me like a physical blow.
I was Gamma. The strongest fighter in the pack. I'd faced down enemies twice my size without flinching. But when that silver-gray wolf materialized where Nyx had stood—larger than any warrior wolf, radiating power that made the air itself feel heavy—even I took an instinctive step back.
This wasn't just Nyx. This was Sylva. Complete. Furious. Magnificent.
Every wolf in the vicinity felt it. The crushing weight of an Alpha's presence, amplified by extreme emotion and three years of denial.
Even me. Especially me.
My wolf recognized what stood before us—not just mate, not just Alpha's daughter, but Alpha. The real thing. The genetic superiority that made our instincts bow regardless of training or rank.
But I didn't retreat further. Instead, I moved to her side.
Stood shoulder to shoulder with her.
This was what being Gamma meant. Not just strength in battle, but loyalty to Alpha. Not just following orders, but standing beside them when they needed it most.
Together, I sent through the link.
Her silver head turned toward me, those gray-blue eyes now wolf-bright and wild. For a heartbeat, I saw recognition. Gratitude. Trust.
Then she threw back her head and howled—not words through the mind-link, but the primal sound of an Alpha calling her pack to battle.
Every wolf responded. Even Damon's Shadowcrest warriors.
"Now!" Nyx's mental voice rang out like a command from the Moon Goddess herself.
Fourteen wolves' claws began tearing through snow.
I'd seen many things in my years as Gamma. But I'd never seen anything like the three of us working together.
Nyx's silver wolf—fastest, most frantic, driven by desperate love. Damon's deep gray—powerful, determined, fighting for his future mate. And me—largest, using every ounce of Gamma strength to tear through the packed snow.
Three of the most powerful wolves in the region, fighting together to save one life.
"Thirty seconds!" I called out, even as my claws bled from the ice-laden snow.
One meter... one and a half...
My paws screamed. Damon's claws left bloody streaks in the white. Nyx's movements bordered on savage.
None of us stopped.
Two meters...
"Twenty seconds!"
My claw struck fabric.
"Her! I've got her!"
Damon's wolf lunged in from the other side, clearing snow frantically. Nyx dug from the third angle.
Pale gold hair emerged. Then a face—death-pale, lips purple.
But a face we knew.
"Fifteen seconds!"
"Pull her out! Now!"
I seized Lilith's collar in my jaws, using every bit of Gamma strength. Damon grabbed her other side. Together we wrenched her from the snow's grip.
Her body was terrifyingly light.
"Ten seconds!"
"Behind the boulder! Everyone! Move!"
Damon and I carried Lilith between us, running flat out. Nyx's silver wolf stayed right behind, using her body to shield her sister from above.
"Five seconds!"
The white wall of death roared down the mountain.
We threw ourselves behind the triangular stone just as the avalanche hit.
The three of us—Nyx, Damon, and I—formed a triangle around Lilith's unconscious form. I positioned myself in front, using my massive body to take the brunt of the impact. Nyx and Damon flanked the sides, creating a living fortress.
The force of the avalanche was monstrous. Snow hammered against my back like physical blows. The boulder shook. But we held.
Not one of us moved.
Thirty seconds of hell. Thirty seconds of holding position while the mountain tried to kill us.
But we'd made it. And more importantly—we had Lilith.
When the roar finally died, I cautiously lifted my head. The world had transformed—new snow everywhere, the landscape completely changed.
But we were alive. All of us.