Jessica’s POV
“Close the door.
She’s not going to hear this.”
The words slip under the door like smoke, thin and sharp.
I stop moving.
My breath catches.
My hand freezes in the air, fingers still warm from the latch.
I lean closer, my ear to the wood, my heart thudding so loud I’m sure they can hear it.
“She’s changing too fast,” another voice says.
Old.
Dry.
An elder.
“If we don’t bind her now, we lose control.”
Bind.
The word hits me hard.
My wolf snaps awake inside my chest, teeth bared, a low growl rolling through my bones.
I swallow and force myself to stay still.
I press my palm flat to the wall to keep from shaking.
“We will use the old chains,” a woman says.
Calm.
Cold.
“Moon-iron and oath blood.
Permanent.”
Permanent.
My stomach twists.
My mouth tastes like metal.
I think of the seal.
I think of the years of silence.
I think of my wolf curled small and hurt inside me, made to sleep while others ruled.
My nails dig into the wood.
“Charles and Jude won’t allow it,” someone mutters.
“They won’t know,” the woman snaps.
“We’ll call it a cleansing rite.
A blessing.
The girl is still weak.
Her heat will make her pliable.”
Weak.
I bite my lip hard enough to hurt.
Heat sparks low in my belly, hot and angry, like a warning fire.
My wolf pushes forward, furious, pacing.
I breathe slowly, counting in my head the way Jude taught me.
One.
Two.
Three.
“Tonight,” the first voice says.
“Before the full moon rises higher.
Prepare the circle.”
Tonight.
My chest tightens.
I step back, slow and quiet, every muscle pulled thin.
The hallway feels longer than before, darker.
I turn the corner and almost crash into Jude.
He grabs my shoulders, steadying me.
His eyes scan my face.
“What did you hear?”
“Everything,” I whisper.
My voice shakes.
“They want to bind me.
For good.”
His jaw tightens.
“I told you not to trust them.”
A door opens down the hall. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
I flinch.
Jude pulls me close and turns us, his body a wall.
We walk like nothing is wrong, my steps light, my heart racing.
Inside the training room, Charles is there.
He looks up the moment I enter.
His eyes flare.
He scents the air.
“What happened?”
“They’re planning a ritual,” Jude says.
“Tonight.”
“To bind her,” I add.
The words scrape my throat.
“They called it a blessing.”
Charles swears low and sharp.
His hands curl into fists.
“They won’t touch you.”
“They will try,” I say.
My wolf growls.
Heat licks higher, a restless ache that makes my skin feel too tight.
“They think I’m still easy to bend.”
Charles steps close.
Too close.
His presence presses into me, heavy and sure.
My body reacts before my mind can stop it.
A shiver runs through me.
He smells like iron and fire.
Like safety and danger both.
“They won’t take you,” he says again, softer now, but the edge is there.
“I won’t let them.”
Jude moves between us, one hand out.
“Not like this.
We need proof.
We need the pack.”
“The pack won’t stand for this,” Charles snaps.
“The pack is afraid,” Jude says.
“And fear makes people cruel.”
I look from one to the other.
Two Alphas.
Two paths.
My heat hums, loud and insistent, tugging at the bond that pulls us together.
I clench my hands to keep from reaching out.
“They used my heat,” I say.
“They said it makes me easy.”
Charles’s eyes darken.
His voice drops.
“Your heat makes you powerful.”
“Then why does it feel like a leash?” I whisper.
Silence falls.
Heavy.
I feel it in my bones.
My wolf presses against my ribs, restless, angry, awake.
A knock sounds at the door.
“Alpha,” an elder’s voice calls.
“We request the omega’s presence.”
My heart jumps.
Jude’s hand tightens on my arm.
Charles steps forward, blocking me with his body.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Charles says.
“It’s for her own good,” the elder replies.
“A small rite.
Calm.”
Calming.
My wolf snarls.
Heat flares sharp and sudden, stealing my breath.
I bend forward with a gasp, my knees weak.
Charles catches me before I fall.
“Easy,” he murmurs.
“I’ve got you.”
My face presses to his chest.
His heart beats hard and fast.
My body responds, heat pooling, a deep ache that makes me tremble.
I hate it.
I cling anyway.
“They’re lying,” I say into his shirt.
“All of them.”
“I know,” he says.
Jude watches the door.
“We need time.”
“We don’t have it,” Charles says.
Another knock.
Louder.
“Now,” the elder insists.
I lift my head.
I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.
I straighten, even though my legs shake.
“I’ll go.”
Both Alphas turn to me.
“No,” Charles says at once.
“Yes,” Jude says slowly, eyes on mine.
“But not alone.”
“I heard them,” I say.
“I know what they plan.
Let them think I don’t.
Let them lead me to it.”
Charles’s growl is deep and dangerous.
“I won’t use you as bait.”
“I’m not bait,” I say.
My voice is quiet, but it doesn’t break.
“I’m done being moved where they want.”
The door creaks open.
Elders stand there, faces calm, hands folded.
Smiles that don’t reach their eyes.
“Jessica,” the woman says.
“Come.
The moon waits.”
My wolf rises inside me, tall and fierce.
Heat rolls through me, no longer just need, but strength.
I step forward.
“I’m coming,” I say.
As I pass the elders, I catch Jude’s eye.
He nods once.
Sharp.
Ready.
Charles’s fingers brush mine, quick and burning.
A promise.
The hallway opens into the old chamber.
Stones marked with faded lines.
Chains hidden in shadow.
My heart pounds.
The moonlight spills in, cold and bright.
“This is only a blessing,” the woman says again.
I smile.
The chains slide out of the floor.
Moon-iron gleams.
My wolf roars.
And somewhere behind me, I hear the door slam shut.