Chapter 5 Chapter 5
AMINA
My lungs burned as I watched Rian fight for equilibrium. The air was still thick with the residue of my power, a sickly metallic odor that spoke of suppressed transformation and the volatile, primal force I had unleashed. He was leaning heavily against the wall, his chest heaving, his powerful hands still trembling from the forced retreat of his wolf.
God, I’m a monster, I thought, the realization settling like cold ash in my stomach. I hadn't just fought him; I’d brutally attacked the core of his very being—the source of his control and his authority.
Slowly, Rian pushed off the wall. His expression was a study in pure, contained fury, but the animalistic glint was gone, replaced by the calculating ice of the Alpha.
He smoothed the crumpled fabric of his henley, a gesture so ordinary, so human, it felt terrifyingly out of place after the violence.
“Well,” he drawled, his voice a low, rough rasp, laced with scathing sarcasm, "I suppose I should send you flowers. Nobody gets that close to paralyzing my wolf without losing a limb. Thank you for the demonstration, Mate."
The use of the title was a fresh, infuriating slap. “Don’t call me that,” I spat, clutching my arms across my chest, trying to hide the uncontrollable tremor in my fingers. “And you deserved it. What the hell did you expect? You cage me and talk about neutralizing me, you sadistic piece of shit!”
“I expected discipline, not uncontrolled chaos,” he shot back, crossing the space between us in two controlled steps, stopping just outside arm's reach. His primal scent—clean ozone and dominating heat—was suddenly overwhelming, pulling the traitorous heat back into my cheeks. “Which only proves my point: you are a runaway weapon, and you have no idea how to aim your artillery. That little trick could have killed us both if you’d held it for another minute.”
"Better than waiting for one of your loyal subjects to do it!" I countered, the memory of Kira’s icy threat lending me reckless courage. "I just want my life back! I want my tiny, quiet apartment, and my job at the bookstore, and I want to go grab shitty coffee with Ethan without having to worry that my existence is going to get my best friend killed!"
The mention of Ethan stopped him dead. The Mate Bond pulsed with a brief, sharp, possessive curiosity.
“Ethan,” Rian repeated, the name tasting foreign on his tongue. He dismissed the man, focusing only on the political liability. “Your human attachment. An unnecessary liability.”
“He’s my friend! And I had a life! I had eighteen hours a day where I didn't have to worry about Alphas or prophecies or ancient curses! And now I’m here, trapped with the man who is supposed to kill me, who is also my only chance of not getting killed by the rest of the world! So tell me, Alpha Vale, what exactly is the end game?” I demanded, throwing my arms wide.
“The end game is not your death, currently,” Rian stated, his gaze boring into mine. “It’s stability. The Council gave me seventy-two hours before they decide whether I’m treasonous. Seventy-two hours to make a case that you are not the cataclysm they fear. I can't do that if you're throwing uncontrolled black magic at my wolf every time I get near you. And I can’t do that if you stay ignorant.”
I scoffed. “You want to make a case? To Seraphina Thorne and Marcus Alarie? The people who founded their empire on wiping out my kind? You think they'll listen to a PowerPoint presentation about my genetic viability?”
“They will listen to evidence that the Hybrid power can be controlled, contained, and possibly used to benefit the packs,” Rian said, his voice dropping to a persuasive, dangerous register. The Mate Bond amplified the absolute conviction in his tone. "Your power is the key to the Sundering War, Amina. Your power is chaos now, but mastered, it could be a resource. The only way to survive the Council is to become more valuable alive than dead."
He took another step, the primal pressure of his Alpha presence becoming overwhelming. My breath hitched.
“And you think you can teach me to control a power I’ve spent my entire life trying to suppress?” I challenged, my voice laced with disbelief, even as my body swayed toward his heat.
“I have perfect control, Amina. It's the only reason I’m an Alpha at thirty-five, and it’s the only reason I’m alive. The Mate Bond ties your chaos to my control. We will use that link. I will teach you how to master the Earth Pulse and how to use it with surgical precision—not just to fight me, but to fight the rest of the world.”
He wants me to become his weapon. His perfectly controlled, prophetic weapon. It was the most calculating, self-serving offer I had ever heard, yet the Mate Bond was screaming through my veins: Accept it! This is safety! This is power! This is him!
I ran a frustrated hand through my hair. “And if I become the resource, how does that save you from the Prophecy? You felt the truth. I’m supposed to kill you, Rian.”
His expression didn't change, but his eyes softened with a terrifying, intimate vulnerability that cut through my rage. “If I can’t stop my Mate from killing me, then I deserve to die. But if you have control, at least I’ll have a damn good idea what I’m dying for. Until then, you are my project. My liability. My responsibility.”
He didn't need my trust; he needed my compliance. And he had me cornered. The cold, constant reminder of Kira and the execution order left me with no choice.
I took a shuddering breath, the demanding, intoxicating smell of his power filling my lungs.
“Fine,” I ground out, hating the word. “The hostile alliance. You teach me your secrets of control, and I learn how to stop being a walking political catastrophe.” I met his amber gaze, fire in my eyes. “But don’t mistake this for obedience, Alpha. I’m doing this to survive, and if your lessons work, you will be the first person I use my mastery on.”
A faint, chilling smirk touched the corner of Rian’s mouth, the expression of a man who had won a dangerous, beautiful hand.
“Deal, Mate.” He pushed himself off the wall, the exhaustion suddenly replaced by sharp, predatory focus. He took one final, dominant step forward, until the heat radiating from his chest was suffocating, and the Mate Bond was an audible shriek between us.
“No more resistance. No more hiding. I am your Alpha, and I am your instructor. Our lives are bound by this threat, and you will learn stability using the most intrusive link available to us. For the next seventy-two hours, I am your control, and the training starts now. Right here, Mate.”
