Chapter 152 Unleashed
Chapter 152 Unleashed
Zara POV
My breath shuddered, the bond thrumming in my veins like a drumbeat.
The ballroom was burning. Fire roared across the velvet curtains and danced over the marble floor in molten rivers, students scattering and screaming. But it wasn’t the flames that hollowed me out—it was the truth behind them.
Smoke coiled thick in the ballroom, choking the air until students dropped to their knees, coughing. Screams rang out, fists banging against the sealed doors Atlas had scorched it shut with the help of the fire i roared out.
“Atlas—” my voice cracked as I stepped forward, trying to pierce through the flames and the madness in his eyes. “Stop this, before it’s too late. People are suffocating—look at them! You’re going to kill them if you don’t end this now.”
His head tilted, a cruel smirk tugging at his lips as though my plea amused him. “Too late? No, Zara. Too late was when you decided not to be mine.”
Behind me, someone coughed so hard they collapsed against the wall. Another voice cried out — Alex’s, panicked, muffled through smoke — “We can’t breathe!” Jace’s silhouette slammed against the barrier of fire near the doors, sparks spitting as he tried to force his way through after helping some students escape. None of it reached Atlas. His attention was a vice locked on me.
The firelight painted his face with shadows, sharp and merciless. “You could’ve listened to me. You could’ve had everything. But since you don’t want to be mine—” his voice dropped into a growl— “I’ve got no choice but to bring you to my father.”
My stomach twisted, fury scorching my throat. “Your father? Is that what this was all about? Using me like some prize for him?”
Atlas only laughed, low and bitter, the sound crackling against the burning walls. A crystal from the chandelier shattered overhead, raining sparks into the crowd. Students screamed louder, clawing at the sealed doors. Teachers tried to bark orders, but the flames roared them down.
“You’ll thank me later,” Atlas said. “Or maybe not. Either way, you’ll be his.”
“No,” I spat, anger curling under my skin. “I’m not yours. I’m not his. And I’ll never let you drag me into your father’s chains.”
The chandelier swayed again, groaning as heat warped the ceiling beams. My fists trembled as I took a step closer, smoke burning my lungs. “Last chance, Atlas. Stop, before I stop you.”
“Try it.” His smile widened, hungry and cruel. “Show them what you really are.”
A faint cry broke behind me — “Zara!” Jace’s voice, hoarse and frantic. Alex was dragging a girl toward the far corner, shielding her from falling embers. Their terror clawed at my chest, but Atlas’s taunt shattered what control I had left.
My body convulsed as the fire erupted, bones breaking, silver fur tearing through skin—the Lycan form I had kept buried for so long igniting into existence. Gasps rang out, a sharp intake of hundreds of breaths at once, even through the smoke.
Atlas’s laughter boomed, rolling through the chaos. His body twisted, reshaping into his massive wolf, black as the fire around him.
The flames swallowed the room.
“I was only trying to save you…but women…they will always try to put up a fight! You put up a fight with me and now you’re facing the consequences” He growled.
I stepped forward, my voice slicing. “Stop pretending you’re some savior. You’ve lied, betrayed, and killed. You murdered Kai. You let everyone think Jace was the problem, but it was you all along. You’re the monster, Atlas. Always have been.”
The crowd rippled with gasps, whispers hissing around us. Atlas only tilted his head, mock-innocent for a heartbeat, before his smirk deepened.
“You really are ungrateful,” he chuckled. “Do you know why you even stand here breathing? Because I spared you. That night, I should have finished you off. I should have carved you open before anyone knew what kind of freak you were becoming. But I didn’t. And now look at you—exactly what everyone fears. A curse. A mistake.”
My hands curled into fists, fire prickling under my skin. “You didn’t spare me out of mercy. You spared me because you’re a coward. You wanted control. You wanted to make me your puppet so you could play hero while painting Jace black. And I—” my throat tightened—“I was so stupid to ever fall for your act. To ever trust you.”
Atlas’s grin widened. “Ah, yes. That was my favorite part. Watching you fawn, watching you choose me over your precious Jace. It was so easy, Zara. You wanted to believe I was good so badly you blinded yourself. You tainted yourself with me. And the best part? I enjoyed every second of it.”
Something inside me cracked. My chest heaved, anger twisting with heartbreak until I thought it would tear me apart. I hated him. Hated that I had let him close enough to ruin me, to taint Jace, to warp everything I thought I knew.
“You disgust me,” I whispered, the words trembling with rage. “Every time I look at you, I wish I’d burned you down before you had the chance to ruin us.”
His eyes glinted, cold and gleeful. “Go ahead then. Show them. Show them what you really are. Not human. Not a wolf. Something unnatural. Show them the beast.”
His claws slashed, teeth snapped, fire sparking where his fur collided with mine. The chandelier rattled above as our bodies crashed into the marble, the ground cracking under the impact. He went for my throat, but I twisted, flames searing across his paw. He yelped, snarled, then shoved harder.