Chapter 76 It Will All Be Over Soon - Amelia’s POV
Blackthorn laughed, the sound genuine in its amusement. "And how exactly do you plan to stop us, Miss Lovelace? You're locked in a cell, your wolf suppressed by wolfsbane, your body weakened by days of captivity. By the time the drugs wear off enough for you to even stand properly, it will all be over."
He stood, brushing invisible dust from his immaculate trousers. "I came to inform you that you'll be released soon—perhaps as early as tomorrow. Once Aleksandr has been... dealt with... and Kane installed as the new Alpha King, there will be no reason to keep you confined. You'll be free to go wherever you wish, with a generous stipend to start a new life far from the Royal City."
"You think I'd take your blood money?" The question came out as a snarl, surprising both of us with its ferocity.
'Of course not,' Kaela growled. 'We take their BLOOD instead.'
Blackthorn recovered quickly, his smile returning. "I think you're a pragmatic young woman who understands when a situation is hopeless. Aleksandr is lost to you, one way or another. The curse will claim him tonight, or in the days to come. You can't save him. No one can."
"You're wrong," I said, and for the first time in days, I felt absolute certainty. "I can save him. I will save him."
'Yes!' Kaela's approval surged through our bond. 'Save mate!'
Blackthorn sighed, shaking his head like a disappointed teacher. "This attachment is understandable but misplaced. He's not your mate, Miss Lovelace. A true mate bond requires a wolf on both sides, and you—"
"I have a wolf," I cut him off, the words sharp enough to make him blink in surprise.
'Damn right you do,' Kaela snarled, pushing closer to the surface of our shared consciousness than she'd ever been able to before.
"Ah yes, your imaginary wolf," Blackthorn said, his tone dripping with condescension. "Kaela, wasn't it? A charming delusion, but nothing more."
As he spoke, something shifted inside me—a question forming that I'd never fully articulated before. 'Is he our mate?' I asked Kaela silently. 'Truly our mate? Not just someone I care for, but... ours?'
Kaela's response was immediate and fierce. 'YES, stupid human. Aleksandr, Skoll, OUR MATES. We save them, they save us. Two sides, same coin. Always.'
The certainty in her voice resonated through me, settling into my bones like an undeniable truth. Aleksandr was my mate. Not just the man I'd fallen for against all odds, not just the king who'd shown me kindness when I expected cruelty, but my mate. Mine and Kaela's, bound by something deeper than circumstance or attraction.
The moment I acknowledged this, truly felt it, something cracked inside my mind—a barrier I hadn't even known existed, crumbling like ancient stone finally giving way after centuries of pressure. The sensation was physical, a snap I could almost hear, followed by warmth flooding every cell of my body.
'Amelia...' Kaela's voice was different now, closer somehow, no longer separated from me by that invisible wall. 'I think we can shift.'
Blackthorn was still talking, something about arrangements for my release, but his voice had become distant, unimportant. I closed my eyes, shutting out the cell, the IVs, the man who thought he'd won.
In the darkness behind my eyelids, I saw her—Kaela, massive and black, her heterochromatic eyes blazing with power and purpose. No longer a presence I could see but didn’t feel real. No longer a voice without form. She stood before me in our shared mind, magnificent and real.
I reached out my hand to her, an invitation rather than the desperate grasping of our previous attempts. 'Come,' I thought. 'It's time.'
She bounded forward, covering the distance between us in a single leap. The moment we connected, heat exploded through my body—not the burning agony of wolfsbane but the fierce, cleansing fire of transformation. My bones cracked and reformed, muscles tearing and rebuilding, skin stretching to accommodate a new shape. The physical pain was excruciating, yet it felt right, necessary, like breaking through chains that had bound me for too long.
I heard fabric ripping as my body expanded, felt my spine elongate and curve, my face pushing forward into a muzzle. The sensations were overwhelming but not frightening. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was becoming what I was always meant to be.
"What—what's happening?" Blackthorn's alarmed voice penetrated my focus. I opened eyes that no longer saw the world as a human would, colours muted but depth and movement suddenly vivid in ways I'd never experienced.
Blackthorn had backed against the far wall, his composed facade cracked wide open. Fear scent poured off him, sharp and acrid in my newly enhanced senses. His eyes were fixed on me—on us—with naked terror.
I rose to my feet, paws touching the cold stone floor, my new body so massive in the small cell that my back nearly brushed the low ceiling. My clothes lay in tatters beneath me, destroyed by the transformation. I felt Kaela's consciousness merged with mine, no longer separate entities but two aspects of a single being. Her joy at finally being free burned through us like sunlight.
'We did it,' her voice whispered in our shared mind, no longer distant but part of me. 'We shifted.'