The absolute silence that followed Julian’s announcement was thick enough to suffocate every living soul inside the communal hall.
A thousand eyes darted frantically between the pristine, arrogant vampire prince standing at the back of the room and Kristen, who stood frozen at the base of the stage.
The words submissive little bride seemed to bounce off the high wooden rafters, echoing over and over like a physical slap to the face.
Kristen felt a violent surge of heat rush straight to his face, his skin burning with a volatile mixture of blinding rage and crippling humiliation.
The entire pack—every seasoned warrior who looked up to him, every child who would one day call him Pack Alpha, and his three best friends standing right beside him—had just heard it.
The ultimate secret, the most degrading clause of the treaty that he had barely processed himself, had been laid bare in the most public, humiliating way possible.
He could feel the heavy, collective judgment of his people shifting into pity, and it made him want to rip the building down.
Dalton was the first to snap out of the shock.
As a fellow Alpha, his protective instincts for his best friend completely overrode any sense of tactical caution.
A deep, feral roar tore from his chest, his presence exploding into the room with enough force to make the nearest wooden pillars groan and vibrate.
Dalton’s emerald eyes flared a dangerous, blood-tinted crimson, spine coiled ready to shift into his beast.
“You dead piece of shit!” Dalton snarled, stepping past Kristen without a single second of hesitation to march down the center aisle toward Julian.
“You don’t talk to our future Alpha like that!
I’ll rip your fucking tongue out before you take another step on our soil!”
“Dalton, wait—!” Kristen shouted, his stomach dropping as panic replaced his embarrassment.
But Dalton was already a blur of muscle, fur, and pure fury.
He launched himself down the aisle, his claws aimed directly for Julian’s pristine, pale throat.
The sound of his heavy paws shook the floorboards.
Julian didn’t even flinch.
He didn’t drop his hands from his trouser pockets, and his arrogant smirk didn’t waver for a fraction of a second.
He simply waited until Dalton’s claws were less than an inch away from slicing his skin before his body dissolved into a dark, shadowy mist.
Crack.
The thunderous sound of a heavy blow echoed through the high-ceilinged hall.
Julian instantly reappeared right beside the rushing wolf, his foot planted solidly into the side of Dalton’s ribs with sickening force.
The sheer kinetic impact sent Dalton’s massive frame crashing sideways into a row of heavy wooden chairs, splintering them into kindling as he rolled across the floor with a painful, breathless grunt.
“Dalton!” Malachi and Theo screamed in unison, their bodies instantly tensing as they prepared to shift into their wolf forms to join the fray.
“Stand down!
All of you, stand down!” Rachel’s voice boomed from the stage, her Pack Alpha command crashing over the crowd like a heavy wave.
The warriors who had drawn their concealed blades froze instantly, their muscles locking up under her psychological dominance.
She glared down at Julian from her elevated position, her chest heaving with suppressed rage.
“Julian Vance!
You have violated our sanctuary and attacked an Alpha of this pack.
You are a guest here by contract, not a conqueror!”
“Oh, please, Pack Alpha,” Julian drawled, casually stepping over a piece of broken wood as Dalton struggled to push himself up, coughing heavily and clutching his side.
Julian didn’t even grant the fallen wolf a glance.
“I didn’t attack him.
I merely corrected a stray that forgot its manners.
If we are to be a unified family, your pups need to learn that barking at me carries…
painful consequences.”
Kristen’s fists shook so hard his knuckles turned a ghostly white.
He could feel his inner wolf pacing frantically inside his head, scratching at his skull like a caged beast trying to dig its way out.
‘Let me out, Kristen.
Let me out right now.
We will tear his throat open.
We will paint this entire hall in his cold blood.’
No, Kristen thought back fiercely, his teeth grinding together so hard he could taste the metallic tang of blood in his mouth.
If we fight him here, he kills Dalton.
He kills everyone.
Look at his speed.
We can’t hit what we can’t see.
I have to handle this.
Kristen took a slow, deliberate breath, forcing his trembling legs to move forward.
He stepped past Malachi and Theo, walking down the center aisle until he stood just a few feet away from the vampire prince.
He forced his broad shoulders back, his massive, human-tall frame easily towering over the slightly leaner vampire.
He let his brilliant golden eyes flare to life, projecting every ounce of his unique Alpha dominance directly into Julian’s face.
Then, the real transformation began—not the full, clumsy shift into a massive beast that every other werewolf was limited to, but the terrifyingly rare, fluid manifestation of his power.
Kristen half-shifted.
Thick, dark fur rapidly sprouted along his jawline and down his neck, his hands elongating into wicked, razor-sharp claws while he maintained his bipedal, human stance.
Fangs tore past his gums, sharper and longer than any normal wolf’s.
A collective, terrified gasp rippled through the packed hall.
The elders in the front row flinched, their eyes widening in sheer awe and buried fear.
In modern history, a half-shift was a myth, an impossibility that only Kristen could wield.
It was the physical manifestation of his genetic anomaly—the ultimate proof of why he was the true future leader of the Ironbound pack, a predator trapped between two worlds.
Even the angry warriors who had been murmuring seconds ago fell entirely silent, subdued by the raw, suffocating pressure of his half-wolf aura.
“You’re early, Vance,” Kristen said, his voice dropping into a dark, guttural, and heavily wrecked register that made the floorboards beneath them vibrate.
“The contract said evening.
Julian’s smirk widened, his eyes scanning Kristen’s half-shifted face with a smoldering, terrifying intensity.
He didn’t back away; instead, he looked utterly fascinated, his gaze tracking the razor-sharp claws resting near his chest.
He took a slow step forward, stepping completely into Kristen’s personal space until their chests were practically touching.
The scent of expensive cologne, ozone, and old blood washed over Kristen’s sensitive nose, making his heightened senses flare with confusion.
“I got bored, my dear Alpha,” Julian whispered, his voice a low, smooth baritone that only Kristen’s superior wolf hearing could catch over the low growling of the pack.
“And when I get bored, I come to look at my property.
You look magnificent when you’re angry, you know.
This little half-feral form of yours is quite…
exquisite.
I honestly can’t wait to see those golden eyes clouded with tears when you’re begging me to stop in my bedroom.”
Kristen’s breath hitched, a dangerous, unwanted shiver running straight down his spine.
The sheer audacity of the leech was infuriating.
Before he could stop himself, Kristen’s clawed hand shot out, grabbing Julian by the lapels of his expensive suit jacket and slamming him back a step.
He leaned in close, his fangs bared right against Julian’s face.
“If you think I am ever going to beg you for anything, you are completely insane.
I am doing this to save my pack, not because I belong to you.”
“We shall see, little mutt,” Julian whispered back, completely unfazed by the threat of violence or the sharp claws dug into his luxury clothing.
He casually raised his pale, ice-cold hands and patted Kristen’s burning cheeks with mocking gentleness, deliberately letting his fingers brush against the thick fur on his jaw.
“Now, be a good boy, release my jacket, and go pack your bags.
Our car is waiting outside, and my father is eager to meet his new son-in-law.”
Kristen stared into those mockingly amused red eyes for a long, agonizing beat.
He could feel the eyes of his entire pack burning into his back, waiting to see if their golden-eyed savior would fight to the death or submit to save them.
The silence stretched until it felt like the room would snap.
Slowly, deliberately, Kristen let his fangs recede, the fur melting back into his skin as he forced his body back into a fully human form.
He unclasped his hands from Julian’s suit and took a step back, his head held high, refusing to let his people see him break.
“Theo, Malachi,” Kristen called out, his voice strong and clear so the whole hall could hear his authority.
“Help Dalton up.
I’m going back to my cabin to pack my things.”
“Kristen…” Malachi whispered, his blue eyes swimming with tears as he and Theo hurried over to where Dalton was finally standing up, holding his bruised, likely broken ribs.
Kristen didn’t look back at them.
He turned on his heel and marched straight down the aisle, his boots clicking heavily against the wood as he walked out through the shattered, splintered remains of the communal hall doors, leaving the silent, terrified pack behind him.
As he stepped out into the bright morning sunlight, the heavy weight of the sky felt like it was crashing down on him.
Behind him, he could still hear the faint, echoing sound of Julian’s soft, wicked laughter following him into the open air.
The nightmare had officially begun, and Kristen was walking straight into it.
Ohhh, butterflies in my bellies :^) Here comes the funnnn partヘ(￣ω￣ヘ)