Chapter 77 Drop An Alpha - Amelia’s POV
Blackthorn fumbled in his jacket, pulling out what looked like a dart gun. "Stay back," he warned, his voice high and thin with panic. "This contains enough wolfsbane to drop a full-grown alpha. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if necessary."
I took a step forward, feeling the raw power in muscles that had never been used this way before. My massive paws made the concrete floor vibrate with each step. Blackthorn raised the dart gun with shaking hands, trying to aim at my chest.
Too slow. I swung my paw in a casual arc, connecting with the side of his head with just enough force to send him crumpling to the ground unconscious, the dart gun skittering across the floor unfired.
I stared down at his still form, considering my options. I could leave him here, escape alone, race to Aleksandr's side. But some deeper instinct—Kaela's influence, perhaps—knew better. This man was evidence. This man knew every detail of the plot against the Alpha King. This man had orchestrated my kidnapping, my drugging, my imprisonment.
I lowered my massive head, grabbing the back of his tuxedo jacket between my teeth and lifting him as easily as a mother wolf might carry a pup. His weight was nothing to my new form. With careful movements, I positioned him across my shoulders, using my muzzle to balance his limp body.
The cell door—which had seemed so impenetrable for days—now looked like the flimsy barrier it was. One powerful push with my shoulder sent it crashing outward, the metal frame buckling against the wall. I stepped through the ruined doorway, ducking my head to avoid the low ceiling of the corridor beyond.
The basement level of the warehouse was a maze of similar cells and storage rooms, but I followed the scent of fresh air upward, taking stairs that groaned under my weight, passing through empty rooms stacked with crates and forgotten machinery. No guards tried to stop me—perhaps they'd all been dismissed to watch the ball from a distance, to await the news of Aleksandr's final breakdown.
Finally, I burst through a loading dock door into the cool night air, Blackthorn still draped across my back. The sudden freedom after days of confinement was intoxicating. I filled my lungs with clean air, untainted by the damp stone and chemical stench of my prison.
From this vantage point, I could see the entire city spread out below—we were in some kind of industrial district on the eastern edge, far enough from the main areas to avoid casual discovery. And there, rising above everything like a beacon in the darkness, stood the royal castle. Even from this distance, I could see it was ablaze with lights, the Moonlight Ball in full swing while plots of treason unfolded within its walls.
'Mate there,' Kaela's thoughts merged with mine, our concern a shared emotion. 'Danger there. Must go now.'
I didn't need further urging. I leapt from the loading dock to the empty street below, landing with a grace that seemed impossible for a creature of my size. Then I was running, my powerful legs eating up the distance, Blackthorn's unconscious form bouncing against my back with each stride.
The few people still on the streets at this hour pressed themselves against walls or ducked into doorways as I passed, their faces masks of shock and fear. I couldn't blame them—a massive black wolf with mismatched eyes, easily twice the size of any normal werewolf, carrying what appeared to be a human body, sprinting through the city with clear purpose.
I ran faster than I'd ever moved in my human form, the buildings blurring around me as I took the most direct route to the castle. The wind rushed through my fur, carrying scents I'd never been able to detect before—thousands of stories written in the air itself, lives intersecting and separating, fear and joy and ordinary existence. But beneath it all, growing stronger with each bound, was the scent I sought without knowing I was seeking it—Aleksandr. Skoll. Home.
The castle grew larger in my vision, its spires reaching toward the night sky, its windows glowing with the light of a thousand candles. I could hear music now, elegant and refined, drifting from the ballroom where Aleksandr was surrounded by wolves who wanted to be his queen. Where Kane waited for him to break, to show the weakness they would use to destroy him.
But they had miscalculated badly. They hadn't counted on Kaela breaking free. They hadn't counted on me accepting what I'd always known but never fully embraced—that Aleksandr was my mate, my other half, as Skoll was Kaela's.
As I approached the main gates, guards moved to block my path, weapons raised. I didn't slow, didn't hesitate. I had no time for explanations or delays. With a growl that rumbled from deep in my chest, I leapt over their heads, clearing the gate in a single bound that left them staring in stunned silence.
I landed in the courtyard, paws barely touching the ground before I was moving again, heading straight for the grand entrance. Behind me, I could hear shouts of alarm, the sound of guards mobilising, orders being barked. None of it mattered. Nothing would stop me now.
The massive doors to the castle were flung open, servants and guards scattering before me as I entered the grand foyer, my claws clicking against marble floors polished to mirror brightness. I felt rather than heard the ripple of shock that spread through the castle, the word passing from person to person in terrified whispers: Wolf. Massive wolf. In the castle.
I didn't care. I could feel Aleksandr now, a pulse that matched my own, a presence that grew stronger with each step I took toward the ballroom. I could sense his rage, his frustration, his barely contained violence.
And beneath it all, I felt his hope—a tiny, fragile flame he'd kept alive despite everything. Hope that I hadn't left him. Hope that I would return.
'Coming, mate,' Kaela sent through our newfound bond, her voice merging with mine into a single thought. 'We're coming.'
With Blackthorn still unconscious across my back, I headed for the ballroom, following the sound of music and the scent of my mate, ready to reveal the truth and reclaim what was mine.