Chapter 101. He Killed Kira

Chapter 101. He Killed Kira
Lia

I moved through the Eastern wolves like a scythe through wheat. My claws were longer, sharper than any normal wolf's. My strength multiplied tenfold. And my Silvermane abilities, dormant until now, suddenly awakened.
I could feel the bonds between wolves. See them as silver threads connecting mates, pack members, Alpha to subordinate. And I realized with terrifying clarity that I could do more than sense them.
I could break them.
My hand shot out, catching an Eastern wolf mid-lunge. I didn't tear his throat—I grabbed the bond that tied him to his pack and snapped it like a rotten rope.
He collapsed, not dead but broken. Severed from everything that made him whole.
It was the cruelest thing I'd ever done. And it felt like breathing.
"LIA, STOP!" Viktor's voice penetrated my focus. "You're losing control again!"
Was I? I couldn't tell anymore. The line between human and wolf had blurred, and this new hybrid form existed in the space between.
Another wolf came at me. I broke his bond. Then another. And another.
The Eastern Pack began to panic, retreating from this creature that could do worse than kill them, could strip away everything that made them pack.
Even Ronan paused in his fight with Theron, his eyes widening as he saw what I'd become.
"What the fuck is that?" he breathed.
"Your worst nightmare," Theron panted, blood dripping from his muzzle. "She's Silvermane Luna. And you just pissed her off."
I turned toward Ronan, my hybrid form towering over even his massive wolf. For the first time since the battle started, I saw fear in his eyes.
"You wanted to capture me?" My voice was distorted, layered with wolf and human and something else. "Try it."
He shifted fully to wolf and charged.
Mistake.
I caught him mid-leap, my claws sinking into his shoulders, and I reached for his bond, not to his pack, but to his mate. Somewhere far away, I felt her through the connection. Felt her love for him, her hope he'd return safely.
And I started to pull.
"NO!" Ronan's howl was pure anguish. "Not her! Please, not her!"
"Lia!" Theron was beside me suddenly, his hand on my arm. Not restraining, just... anchoring. "That's enough. We've won. You don't need to do this."
"He killed Kira. He was going to take me to the Circle. He deserves…"
"To die, yes. Not to have his bond destroyed." Theron's silver eyes held mine, calm and steady. "This power you have…it's terrifying and necessary. But if you use it like this, in rage and revenge, it will consume you. Trust me. I've seen it before."
His touch, his voice, pulled me back from the edge. The hybrid form receded slightly, my claws withdrawing from Ronan's flesh.
The Alpha collapsed at my feet, gasping, his bond to his mate intact but frayed. Damaged but not destroyed.
"Kill me," he rasped. "Just kill me clean."
Theron's claws found his throat instead. "Gladly."
The killing blow was swift, merciful. More than Ronan had given Kira or the others he'd slaughtered.
The remaining Eastern wolves fled. Without their Alpha, without their advantage, they scattered into the forest like smoke.
And suddenly the battle was over.
I stood in the center of carnage, my hybrid form still active but no longer murderous. Silvercrest warriors lay dead or dying around me. Kira's body was being tended by her pack mates, though everyone knew there was nothing to tend.
Viktor approached cautiously, like I might attack. "Lia? You back with us?"
"I think so." My voice sounded more normal now. "Did I... did I hurt anyone on our side?"
"No. Just scared the shit out of everyone." He managed a weak smile. "Including me."
Theron shifted back to human, his body covered in wounds that would take days to heal properly. But his eyes when he looked at me held something like awe.
"That power," he said quietly. "The bond manipulation. I've heard of it in old Silvermane legends, but I never thought..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "Lia, do you understand what you can do? You could destroy the Circle's entire hierarchy. Break every bond they use to maintain control."
"Or I could destroy everything." I looked at my blood-stained hands, claws receding back to human fingers. "Did you see what I almost did to Ronan? I was going to rip his mate bond apart just because I could. Just because I was angry."
"But you didn't." Theron stepped closer, and I became hyper-aware that we were both half-naked, covered in blood, close enough to touch. "You stopped yourself. That's what matters."
"Because you stopped me."
"No. Because you chose to stop." His hand came up, almost touching my face before he pulled back. "You're stronger than you think, Solnyshko. Stronger than Kai gives you credit for."
"Don't." I stepped back, putting distance between us. "Don't use what just happened to push your agenda."
"My agenda?" His expression was genuinely confused.
"Making me doubt Kai. Positioning yourself as the better option. I see what you're doing, Theron. And I'm asking you to stop."
For a long moment, he just looked at me. Then he nodded slowly. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just..." He gestured helplessly at the carnage around us. "You were magnificent. Terrifying and powerful and exactly what this world needs. And I hate that you're going back to an Alpha who will see that power and want to contain it rather than celebrate it."
"You don't know that."
"Don't I?" But he didn't push further. Just turned to his warriors. "Collect our dead. We move out in ten minutes. The main camp will have heard the fighting…we need to regroup with Kai before they send reinforcements."
As Silvercrest warriors began the grim task of gathering bodies, Viktor pulled me aside.
"That was close," he said quietly. "You almost lost yourself again."
"I know."
"And Theron was the one who pulled you back." His expression was carefully neutral. "Not Kai through the bond. Not your own will. Him."
I wanted to argue, to explain that it was different, that I would have stopped eventually. But the truth was there in Viktor's eyes, in the memory of how close I'd come to destroying Ronan's mate bond just because I was angry.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying maybe you need to figure out who really understands you. Who really accepts what you are." Viktor's hand squeezed my shoulder. "Before you make a choice you can't take back."
Before I could respond, a howl split the night.
Not from the Eastern Pack. From the direction of the main camp where Kai was leading his assault.
It was a howl of rage, of challenge, of Alpha dominance being threatened.
Kai.
Something had gone wrong.
"Move!" Theron barked, and suddenly we were running through the forest, abandoning stealth for speed, racing toward whatever disaster was unfolding.