“Alpha Grimshaw,” Richard Hayes said, his voice echoing through the hall.
He stepped forward, his own Alpha aura flared in a polite but firm challenge.
“Welcome back to Black Ridge.
And welcome home, Ariella.”
Ariella felt Grimshaw’s arm tighten around her waist.
His Void surged, a cold wall of energy that met her father’s aura and neutralized it instantly.
“She isn’t home, Richard,” Grimshaw said, his voice a low, melodic growl that carried to every corner of the room.
“She is a guest in your territory.
Nothing more.”
The insult was subtle but devastating.
Richard’s jaw flexed, but he inclined his head.
“Of course.
The mating has clearly…
agreed with her.
She looks radiant.”
“She looks like a threat,” a new voice hissed.
The crowd parted as Vane stepped forward.
The Siphoner Alpha was dressed in robes of charcoal material, his gaunt face looking like a skull in the dim light.
His milky white eyes fixed on Ariella’s iron collar, a thin, hideous smile stretching his lips.
“The Ironfang Luna,” Vane whispered, his voice like dry leaves.
“The Council has concerns, Grimshaw.
The report of the ‘skirmish’ in the Fracture was…
inconsistent.
There are rumors of a new power.
A silver-eyed ghost.”
“Rumors are for omegas and old men, Vane,” Grimshaw countered, his eyes narrowing.
“My wife suffered a heat-spike due to the stress of her brothers’ incompetence.
The ‘silver light’ was a common atmospheric distortion of the Fracture.
Silas has the sensor logs to prove it.”
Silas offered a sharp, mocking smile and tapped his cane once.
“Is that so?” Vane moved closer, his scent of formaldehyde and decay making Ariella’s stomach turn.
He reached out a withered hand, his fingers hovering inches from Ariella’s neck.
“Then she won’t mind the Purity Test.
A simple neural scan to ensure her wolf isn’t…
fractured.”
“She isn’t a lab rat,” Grimshaw said, his hand going to the hilt of the tactical knife hidden at his waist.
“It is a requirement for Sovereign Matings, Alpha,” a Council Elder said, stepping forward from the shadows.
“If the girl is pure, the test will be over in a minute.
Ariella looked at her father.
He was watching her with a cold, calculating curiosity.
He wanted to see if she would break.
He wanted to know if he’d sold a dud or a goddess.
Even at this very point..they were still hunting her.
What a shame; she thought.
“I’ll take the test,” Ariella said, her voice steady.
Grimshaw looked at her, his grey eyes flashing with a warning.
Don’t.
“I have nothing to hide,” Ariella said, stepping away from him.
She felt the silver spark in her chest begin to throb, reacting to Vane’s proximity.
The Siphoner’s aura was oily, a parasite that wanted to latch onto her heat.
Vane’s smile widened.
He placed his cold, dry hand on her forehead.
Instantly, Ariella’s world vanished.
She was back in the snow.
She was back in the library.
She saw the Ash-Walker’s mask.
She felt the Rogue’s gloved hand on her throat.
‘He is a cage.
I am the key.’
“There it is,” Vane’s voice echoed in her mind.
“The fire in the dark.
Show me, little wolf.
Show me what you’re hiding behind the Alpha’s mark.”
The Siphoner began to pull.
He wasn’t just scanning; he was draining her.
He was trying to force her Primal spark to manifest so the Council could see it.
Ariella gasped, her knees buckling.
The iron collar around her neck began to hum, glowing with a faint, blue light as it tried to ground the energy.
“Ariella!” Arlo shouted, taking a step forward, but Atlas held him back.
Grimshaw lunged, but the Council Enforcers raised their silver-tipped harpoons, blocking his path.
“Let the test finish, Ironfang!”
Ariella’s vision was turning silver.
The fire was roaring now, a tidal wave of heat that threatened to consume her.
She looked at Vane’s milky eyes and saw the greed there.
He didn’t want to test her; he wanted to eat her.
No, she thought, her fingers clawing at the air.
You don’t get to have me.
She reached out and grabbed Grimshaw’s hand—the only anchor in her swirling vision.
The moment their skin touched, the circuit closed.
Ariella didn’t push her strength out; she pulled Grimshaw’s Void in.
She used her body as a channel, funneling the Alpha’s cold, hungry vacuum straight into Vane’s mental probe.
Vane let out a blood-curdling scream.
He was thrown backward, his body hitting the marble floor with a sickening thud.
He convulsed once, his parchment-like skin turning a bruised gray as the Void literally sucked the magical essence out of his veins.
The Lodge went silent.
Ariella stood in the center of the room, her chest heaving, her eyes glowing with a terrifying, steel silver brilliance.
The iron collar was smoking, the scent of burnt ash filling the air.
She looked at her father.
She looked at the Council.
“The test is finished,” she said, her voice resonating with a depth that made the chandeliers rattle.
Grimshaw was at her side in an instant, his arm locking around her waist, his presence a dark, protective shield.
He looked at the fallen Siphoner, then at the Council, a slow, wicked smirk touching his lips.
“It seems the Ironfang Luna is a bit too much for your ‘purity,’ Vane,” Grimshaw said.
“I suggest you take your scan and find a hole to crawl into.”
Atlas was staring at Ariella, his face white as a sheet.
He saw the way she looked at Grimshaw—not with love, but with a terrifying, synchronized power.
He realized then that the “Dilution” hadn’t just been mated off.
She’s now armed.
Asher was shivering, his broken wrist throbbing in time with Ariella’s pulse.
He didn’t look at her again.
He couldn’t.
“We’re leaving,” Grimshaw said, turning Ariella toward the door.
“Alpha Grimshaw, wait!” Richard Hayes called out, but his voice lacked its usual Alpha authority.
“The Equinox dinner—”
“Dinner is over,” Grimshaw said, not looking back.
As they walked out of the Lodge, Silas clicking along behind them, Ariella felt the silver spark in her chest finally go quiet.
She was exhausted, her body feeling like it had been hollowed out.
As the convoy sped away from Black Ridge, Ariella leaned her head against the cool glass.
She looked at Grimshaw, who was watching the tree line with a dark, brooding intensity.
“You knew,” she whispered.
“You knew Vane would try that.”
“I knew he’d try,” Grimshaw said, his voice a low rumble.
He reached out, his thumb tracing the bite on her neck.
“I just didn’t think you’d be so good at biting back.”