~Annalyn POV~
The world blurred into motion immediately Lucas moved first, his claws slashing across Ezra's chest, tearing through his flesh that smoked under the moon's shadow. Calix followed, his strikes precise and vicious, while Matteo circled wide, his eyes locked on Ezra like a sniper calculating the perfect kill.
But Ezra wasn't just fighting back... he was enjoying it, his mouth curled into a blood-slick grin, and the runes along his arms pulsed brighter with every strike he blocked. The scent of iron thickened in the air, clinging to my tongue.
"Three alphas, one heart," Ezra taunted, ducking under Lucas's swing. "Do you think she will truly choose you when she can have me?"
I could feel his voice deep in my bones, like a vibration meant to unravel me from the inside. My wolf stirred, restless and hungry.
Lucas growled. "You'll die before you touch her again."
"Oh, I've touched her," Ezra said, his gaze snapping to me... dark, devouring, almost worshipful. "And she reacted by vibrating in my hands."
Calix's fist connected with Ezra's jaw so hard the crack echoed across the clearing. Ezra staggered, blood trailing from his lip, but he only laughed, low and unhinged.
Then I saw his hands. He wasn't defending anymore, he was drawing symbols in the air, his fingers tracing burning lines of light. Each rune hovered in the air for a split second before sinking into his skin, branding him from the inside out.
"No," I whispered, my stomach dropping.
Matteo must have sensed it too because his voice was quick and sharp. "Annalyn... he's calling on forbidden magic."
The eclipse deepened, shadows lengthened, the air breathing thickness until every breath was like swallowing hot tar and the ground trembled under my knees.
Ezra's voice cut through it all, cold and certain.
"Blood for blood! Bond for bond! I call the Moon Oath."
The words ripped through me like a blade, I knew the Moon Oath.... it was the most dangerous of all wolf magic. Once invoked, it bound every soul present to the caster's will unless someone else broke it with an equal or greater power and if no one could… The weaker ones died.
"Stop him!" Lucas shouted, lunging forward.
But Ezra was faster now, impossibly so, his body blurred, dodging every strike, every claw, as if the moon itself shielded him. His hand caught Lucas's throat, lifting him effortlessly off the ground.
"Such loyalty," Ezra murmured, almost fondly. "Would you die for her, Lucas?"
Lucas's claws dug into Ezra's wrist, but he didn't answer, he didn't need to! His eyes... those fierce, golden eyes... said everything.
Ezra's grin widened. "Then die."
"No!"
I was moving before I even realized it, my bare feet pounding against the dirt, my body still thrumming with the stolen power from the ritual. My palms burned as I slammed into Ezra with enough force to send us both crashing into the ground.
He rolled, pinning me under him and his breath was ragged, his skin burning against mine. "You can stop this," he said, voice raw. "Let me finish the bond, we'll kill them all, and you'll never have to be weak again."
My nails raked across his chest, opening lines of red. "Strength isn't worth losing myself."
"Then watch them die."
He threw me aside, my shoulder hit the earth with a sickening thud, white-hot pain blooming down my arm.
Calix was down now, clutching his side, blood seeping between his fingers. Matteo was on one knee, breathing hard, his skin ashen under the moonlight, meanwhile Lucas was still standing, but barely... his movements slowed, his claws shaking.
The Moon Oath was working and Ezra's magic wasn't just binding them... it was draining them, feeding off them. I staggered to my feet, my pulse roaring in my ears. My wolf clawed at my insides, desperate to be freed, but letting her out meant opening the door to her... the ancient alpha spirit Ezra wanted.
If I shifted now, I might not come back as me.
"Annalyn…" Lucas's voice was barely a whisper now, his knees buckled. "Don't... let... him..."
And then he collapsed, the scream that ripped from my throat didn't sound human.
Ezra turned to me, his arms spread wide, the eclipse's shadow wrapping around him like a crown. "Choose, Annalyn. Save them... unleash her, or watch your lovers bleed into the dirt."
I could feel it building inside me, a pressure like a storm trapped under my skin, begging to be released. My vision blurred at the edges, and for a moment, I saw it: the power, the dominance, the absolute certainty of what I could become.
Ezra took a step toward me, his voice velvet and venom. "One word, and I'll set you free."
My heart raced and my breath came in shallow gasps, behind him, I saw Lucas's still body, Calix coughing weakly, Matteo struggling to rise. I could save them, but I might never be me again, the choice tasted like blood in my mouth.
And then— From somewhere deep within the forest, a howl split the air, not just any howl.
Hers! The ancient alpha, she was already coming the sound carved straight through my bones. Low at first... almost a whisper—but it swelled, echoing through the forest like a war drum laced with hunger. The trees bent toward it and the wind stilled, even the blood moon seemed to pause.
It wasn't my wolf's voice, it was hers. The ancient alpha, the one Ezra wanted, one, I had fought my whole life to keep buried.
Ezra's head snapped toward the sound, his grin feral. "She answers, she knows you're ready."
"I'm not," I breathed, but my body betrayed me, my pulse quickened and my skin heated. Every inch of me throbbed in time with that howl.
Lucas groaned from where he lay, his voice raw. "Annalyn… fight her…"
Calix coughed blood, struggling to lift his head. "Don't… let… her…"
Matteo's eyes locked on mine—desperate, pleading. "You… are still… you."
But their voices were far away now, the howl filled every corner of my mind.
Ezra moved closer, his presence wrapping around me like smoke. "Let her out, and you'll never be prey again. You'll own the night, you'll own me."
I wanted to spit in his face, I wanted to tell him I'd rather die but my thighs trembled. My breath hitched. The air between us pulling me toward him as if his body was gravity itself.
"Don't fight it," he murmured. "You remember the ritual? The way you burned for me? The way you screamed my name?" His fingers brushed my hip.... light, teasing, possessive.
My back arched involuntarily, heat pooled low in my belly. I hated him for it, hated myself more.
Somewhere behind him, Matteo staggered to his feet, but he was too slow. Ezra's eyes stayed locked on mine as he whispered words I didn't understand. The runes along his chest lit again, brighter this time, searing through the shadows.
And then I felt her, she wasn't a separate voice, she was inside my skin, my blood, my breath.
You can't win without me, she purred in my mind. Let me in, and I will give you the strength to protect them!
I clenched my fists. And then what? You take over?
Her laugh was silk and steel. We are the same, little wolf, I am just… more.
Ezra's hand slid to my throat, not choking, just holding... possessive, claiming. "Say yes," he urged, his voice almost trembling now. "Before it's too late."
A branch snapped somewhere to our left. Ezra's head turned just enough for me to see the newcomer stepping into the clearing.
Tall, broad-shouldered and bare-chested, his skin bronzed like the earth after rain. His eyes… gods, his eyes glowed red... not gold, not silver, but the color of molten lava.
Ezra's grin faltered. "You..."
The stranger's voice was deep, unhurried, carrying the weight of centuries. "You've meddled too long, Ezra." Even my ancient wolf went still.
Ezra released my throat but didn't step away. "This isn't your territory, Armand!"
"I go where her howl leads," the man.... Armand... said, his gaze sliding to me. For a heartbeat, I couldn't breathe. It was like he could see straight through my skin, straight to the place where my wolf waited.
Ezra shifted his stance, his magic pulsing. "She's mine."
Armand chuckled dangerously. "Not yet!"
My wolf surged against my ribs, almost giddy. Him! He is power.
I shook my head, stepping back. "I'm not anyone's."
Armand's eyes softened... barely. "Then claim yourself, Annalyn, before one of us does."
Ezra growled, stepping between us. "She wants me, she's already tasted me."
The words stabbed, sharp and intimate my body still ached from the ritual, still hummed with Ezra's touch but Armand didn't react.
"She hasn't tasted freedom," Armand said.
Lightning forked across the blackened moon, the air thickened again, pressure building until my ears rang. Ezra and Armand's power clashed without a single touch, sending ripples through the clearing.
Lucas coughed weakly. "Annalyn...move..."
But I couldn't, my feet rooted to the earth. Both men... monsters in their own right... were looking at me like I was the prize, the weapon, the destiny they'd been waiting for.
Ezra's hand reached for mine. "Come to me and finish what we started."
Armand extended his palm. "Step away from him, and I'll help you control her."
The ancient alpha inside me purred. Choose, little wolf!
My chest rose and fell rapidly, my nails biting into my own palms, every instinct screamed that whichever man I chose would still affect me.