Chapter 20 The Unthinkable
RYAN'S POV
Viktor wanted Lisa as his mate. The words kept replaying in my mind like a nightmare I could not wake from, each repetition driving my wolf closer to madness. Not just to control her power or fulfill some prophecy, but to bond her to him, to force an eternal connection that would enslave her to a monster who had already destroyed so many lives.
My wolf surged against my control, demanding we tear Viktor apart with our bare hands no matter the consequences. Lisa's hand on my chest was the only thing keeping me from shifting right there in the medical wing and running straight to the ruins to rip his throat out.
"Ryan, breathe," she whispered, but her own wolf glowed silver in her eyes, just as furious and protective as mine. "We cannot help Emma if you lose control now."
"He wants to own you." My voice came out broken, shredded. "To bind you to him forever, to use you, to take everything you are and twist it into something that serves him."
"I know." Lisa pulled me from the medical wing, away from my dying father and his devastating revelations, into an empty corridor where we could breathe without an audience. "But Ryan, listen to me. If Viktor can force a mate bond, we need to complete our own bond first. Right now, before we go to the ruins. A completed mate bond cannot be broken or overridden. It would protect me from whatever he has planned."
The logic cut through my rage like a blade through fog. She was right. An incomplete bond was vulnerable, could potentially be severed or manipulated. But a fully consummated bond, with marks exchanged and wolves united, was unbreakable by any force known to our kind.
"You want to bond now? Here?" I looked around the corridor, smelled the pre-battle tension saturating the pack house, heard warriors sharpening weapons in nearby rooms. "This is not how I imagined our bonding ceremony."
"I do not care about ceremonies." Lisa's silver hair caught the dim light, making her look ethereal and fierce all at once. "I care about making sure Viktor cannot take me from you. So that when we face him, our bond is strong enough to withstand whatever he throws at us."
Elder Catherine appeared at the end of the corridor, her expression sharp with disapproval. "Mate bonding requires preparation, witnesses, ritual. You cannot simply rush into it like teenagers sneaking away at a party."
"We do not have time for tradition," Lisa said, her voice carrying new Alpha authority that made even Catherine pause. "Viktor wants to force a bond with me. The only protection is completing my true bond before he gets the chance. Every minute we waste on ceremony is another minute he has to destroy that possibility."
Catherine studied us both, her aged eyes seeing layers of meaning I probably missed. Finally, she nodded once. "Go on, you can bond. Let nothing and no one interrupt you. I will manage the preparations for the ruins."
Lisa took my hand and led me to her private quarters, the room where she had first shifted, where her wolf had emerged in silver glory. Warriors parted in the hallways, sensing what was about to happen, the gravity of it hanging heavy in the air like coming thunder.
Inside, with the door locked and the world temporarily held at bay, we faced each other. This should have been beautiful, romantic, the culmination of years of friendship turned to love. Instead it felt desperate, functional, a shield we needed to forge before battle.
But when Lisa stepped close, when her hands found my face and her eyes met mine without fear or hesitation I understood. This was not just protection. This was her choice. She was choosing me, choosing us, claiming what had always been ours despite every obstacle thrown in our path.
"I love you," I said, needing her to hear it before anything else happened. "Not because of bonds or prophecies or pack politics. I love you, Lisa Marcus, for exactly who you are."
"I love you too." Her smile was soft, real, the girl I had grown up with shining through the Alpha she was becoming. "I have loved you since we were children running through these woods together. I will love you until my last breath and beyond."
Our wolves rose together as we kissed, silver and black energy swirling around us like visible manifestation of the bond forming between our souls. When I marked her, sinking my teeth into the junction of her neck and shoulder, her wolf howled in triumph. When she marked me in return, the pain was beautiful, perfect, sealing us together in a way that transcended physical reality.
The bond snapped into place with force that staggered us both. But it was not just a mate bond. Power flooded through the connection, every wolf in Moonstone territory feeling the surge as their Alpha's bond completed. Lisa's silver wolf emerged fully in her eyes, no longer hidden or suppressed.
My own black wolf twined with hers, our bond was visible as silver and black energy weaving together like cosmic threads. This was an Alpha mate bond, rare and powerful, amplifying both our strengths instead of just connecting them. I felt her courage flowing into me, I felt my stability anchoring her, and I felt us becoming something greater than the sum of our parts.
When we finally separated, covered in each other's marks, the door opened. Elder Catherine stood there, taking in our appearance and the lingering energy still swirling around us, and for the first time since I had known her, she smiled with genuine warmth.
"Now you are truly our Alpha," she said to Lisa. "Both of you. Lead us well."
We dressed quickly in combat gear, preparing for the battle ahead. The mate bond just got strengthened, stronger than anything I had ever felt, a constant presence in the back of my mind that whispered reassurance and strength. Whatever came next, we would face it together, bound in ways Viktor could never break.
But as Lisa buckled her weapons belt, she suddenly froze, her new Alpha senses clearly detecting something that made her face go pale. Her hand flew to her chest, pressing against the mate mark like it physically hurt.
"What is it?" I asked, already moving to her side.
"Emma." Lisa's voice shook with horror and realization. "I can feel her through my Alpha connection to the pack, but her presence feels different now. It feels corrupted. Wrong." Her silver eyes met mine, filled with terrible understanding. "Viktor has already started turning Emma into his weapon."