Alpha Vaughn's POV
The helicopter rotors thundered overhead as I raced toward the training center. Twenty-three years as Alpha, and I'd never faced anything like this. Rogues were one thing—I could handle rogues. But helicopters meant military planning. Someone with major resources wanted my future daughter-in-law. My radio buzzed. "Alpha, we've got movement on the south ridge. At least fifty more rogues inbound." Fifty. Plus the dozen already inside our land. Plus whatever forces those planes carried.
"Beta Marcus, status report," I barked into the radio. "Main house is safe. Families are in the safe rooms. But Alpha..." His voice paused. "We've lost contact with the training facility." My heart stopped. My kids were in that facility. Along with Arin and my wife. I pushed my legs harder, crashing through the underbrush as the building came into view. The building looked wrong—every window blown out, silver light flickering from inside like caught lightning. Through the shattered entry, I could see figures moving. Too many figures. "This is Alpha Vaughn," I spoke into my radio. "I need backup at the training center. Now." But as I approached the building, a voice stopped me cold. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you." I spun around to find a woman stepping out from behind a huge oak tree.
She wore a pristine white suit despite the chaos around us, and her ageless beauty instantly marked her as someone dangerous. "Queen Althara," I growled. She smiled, showing perfect white teeth. "Hello, Vaughn. It's been what—fifteen years since we last spoke?" "Not long enough." I kept my hand on my weapon. "What do you want?" "What I've always wanted. Power. Control. The future of our kind." Her golden eyes gleamed. "And now I have a way to get it." "Arin." "Smart man. Yes, Luna Seraphina's lost daughter. Do you have any idea what kind of power goes through that girl's veins?" I thought about the silver light coming from the facility, the way every wolf in the pack had felt her awakening this morning. "I'm starting to." "She could reshape the entire werewolf order. Merge packs, create new families, even extend our lifespans." Althara stepped closer. "In the right hands, she could make us gods." "And you think you're the right hands?" "I know I am.
Your kids are children playing with forces they don't understand. But me?" She pointed to the helicopters circling overhead. "I've been preparing for this moment for eighteen years." A terrible realization hit me. "You're the one who killed Luna Seraphina." Althara's smile widened. "I couldn't let her birth a child more powerful than me. But I underestimated her mate—he hid the baby before I could finish the job." Rage built in my chest, hot and dangerous. "You murdered a pregnant woman." "I eliminated a threat. Just like I'm removing the threat your pack poses now." She pulled out a small device and pushed a button. Immediately, the helicopter noise increased. But these weren't military choppers—they were transport trucks. And they were landing. "How many?" I asked. "Enough." Althara checked her watch. "My forces will secure the building in ten minutes. Your sons will be given a choice—surrender Arin freely, or watch their entire pack burn." "They'll never agree to that." "Won't they? Even to save innocent lives?" Through the facility's broken windows, I could see more clearly now.
My sons stood in a protective circle around Arin, who knelt in the middle with Elder Mava. Silver light pulsed around them in waves. "What are they doing?" I whispered. "The blood ritual," Althara said, her confident face flickering for the first time. "That old witch is trying to stabilize the girl's power." "You're afraid of that." "I'm worried. If they succeed, Arin will be much harder to control." Althara's golden eyes toughened. "Which is why we need to stop them." She raised her hand, and I realized she wore a ring covered in dark stones. Ancient magic radiated from it like a physical presence. "Don't," I warned, but she was already saying words in a language older than our pack. The ring flared with black light, and inside the building, Arin screamed.
The silver glow around her turned chaotic, striking out like angry lightning. I watched in horror as my kids staggered under the assault of unstable power. "Stop it!" I lunged forward, but Althara's magic slammed into me like a wall. "The ritual is already failing," she said calmly. "Too much power, too little control. In a few minutes, the girl will either die or go completely crazy." "Unless?" "Unless I act. My ring can contain her power, channel it right. All I need is for your kids to step aside." Inside the facility, Kael was screaming something I couldn't hear over the magical chaos. Jaxon had blood running from his nose, and Rowan had collapsed totally. Arin's screams got louder. "Choose quickly, Vaughn," Althara pressed. "Save your sons and sacrifice the girl, or watch them all die trying to help her." It was an impossible choice. But as I watched my boys struggle against forces beyond their understanding, I realized there might be a third choice.
"You made one mistake," I told Althara. "Oh?" "You told me about the ring." Before she could respond, I shifted into my wolf form and launched myself at her. We hit the ground hard, rolling through fallen leaves and broken glass. But Althara was faster than I expected. Her magic threw me off before I could reach the ring, and I crashed into a nearby tree with bone-jarring force. "Foolish Alpha," she growled, standing and brushing dirt from her white suit. "You cannot fight magic with teeth and claws." She was right. But I didn't need to win this fight—I just needed to buy time. "Beta Marcus," I spoke into my radio. "Execute Protocol Seven." Althara's eyes widened. "You wouldn't dare." Protocol Seven was our last resort—a total territorial lockdown that would trap everyone inside our borders, friend and enemy alike. No one could leave until the threat was eliminated. Including Althara. "You want to play games with my family?" I changed back to human form, wiping blood from my mouth. "Let's play." The radio crackled with Marcus's approval. "Protocol Seven initiated. Magical barriers are rising." I felt it immediately—a subtle shift in the air as old protective spells woven into our territory's foundation came alive.
The barriers wouldn't stop magical strikes, but they would prevent anyone from teleporting or flying away. Althara was stuck here with us. "You've just signed your pack's death warrant," she hissed. "Maybe. But you're stuck here too now." I smiled grimly. "And my sons have something you don't." "What's that?" "Each other." Through the building windows, I could see the boys had linked arms around Arin. Instead of fighting the chaotic magic, they were absorbing it together, sharing the load. The silver light began to stabilize. Althara's arrogant mask finally cracked. "That's impossible. The power should be too much for them." "You keep underestimating the strength of pack bonds," I said. "That's why you'll lose." But even as I spoke, I noticed something that made my blood run cold. The helicopters weren't just landing—they were circling the building in a specific pattern. And the soldiers climbing out weren't holding normal weapons. They brought silver chains and magical restraints. This wasn't just an extraction job. It was a capture operation meant to take all four of them alive. "You see it now," Althara said, following my eyes. "Even if they finish the ritual, it won't matter.
I have enough firepower to level this entire area." "Then why haven't you?" "Because I need the girl aware and cooperative. Dead martyrs incite rebellions. Broken prisoners serve as models." The facility's silver light suddenly intensified, and I felt the finished ritual like a shockwave through the pack bond. My kids had succeeded—Arin's power was stabilized. But Althara's troops were already moving into position. "Last chance, Vaughn," she called. "Surrender them now, and I'll let the rest of your pack live." I looked at the facility where my boys and their mate stood together, powerful and unified. Then I looked at the coming soldiers with their silver weapons. Finally, I looked at Althara, whose ring pulsed with dark power that could probably kill us all. "Counter-offer," I said, pulling out my emergency radio. "Surrender now, and maybe I won't call in the favor the Northern Council owes me." For the first time, Althara looked truly surprised. "The Council doesn't interfere in pack disputes."
"They do when someone threatens a royal bloodline." I held up the radio. "Did you really think Arin's waking went unnoticed? They've been watching this situation since yesterday." It was a bluff. The Northern Council moved too slowly to react to anything in real time. But Althara didn't know that. Her ring flared brighter as she considered her choices. Around us, her troops continued their advance. Inside the facility, my boys and Arin stood together, silver light crackling around them like contained lightning. And overhead, I heard a new sound that made my heart sink. More planes. Bigger ones. Either my bluff was about to be called, or reinforcements were coming. The question was—whose troops were they?