Fucking chaos hit the Blackthorn pack come morning.
Furniture cracked apart beneath me as shrieks tore through the air. Howling rose like wind through broken glass. Wood splintered under stomping weight while voices twisted into raw noise.
Kai had slipped out before dawn once more, though now my wrists were free. The chains lay coiled like sleeping snakes beside me.
Big mistake.
A loose black shirt slipped over my arms, reaching down past the thighs. Bare feet carried me forward, toward the edge where the balcony leaned out above the wide hall below.
Fury gripped two hundred wolves. Madness took hold among them.
One moved suddenly, ripping through fabric with sharp nails. Another jerked sideways, shredding the sofa in jagged pulls. A third twisted hard, clawing open seams like split skin. Each shift cracked something loose inside the room.
One person sobbed. Not pretending - real liquid on cheeks.
There he was - Damien, Kai's second-in-command - frozen in the chaos, screen glowing in his hand. A clip played, sharp and sudden, cutting through the noise like a blade.
The video of me last night.
Floating above his knees. A quiet pause between breaths. Resting where the light bends around us.
Fingers trembling as he came into view. His presence arrived without warning, marked by the shake of skin under light.
A voice came through the speaker - someone had captured it earlier.
The message at the top of the group chat said:
"Your Alpha's new whore is the rogue who murdered Lukas."
I smiled.
Good.
Hate doesn't change who I am.
A towel hung on his shoulder, dropped there without care. Water dripped down his neck, tracing the spine before vanishing under fabric. His steps left faint marks on the floor - bare feet, no hurry. The air carried a smell of soap, sharp at first, then gone. Eyes stayed low, fixed somewhere past the room's edge. Breath steady, as if silence was easier than speech. Morning light caught one droplet sliding behind an ear. He didn't wipe it away.
Right when he showed up, each wolf fell to the ground. Suddenly standing there, they all knelt without delay. The moment arrived, down went every one of them.
Except Damien.
Footsteps stopped when the phone hit the floor between them.
"You've gone insane," he snarled. "She should be dead!"
Frozen mid-step, Kai gave the phone not a single glance.
Up there on the balcony, his eyes met mine without looking away.
Our eyes locked.
That smile came next - measured, sharp, claiming what it saw.
Quietly, he spoke the name. It hung in the air without force.
"Yes, Alpha?"
"You have three seconds to get on your knees or I rip your spine out and fuck her with it."
Floor met Damien before he knew it, a sharp crack rising as his knees hit the cold stone.
Footsteps quiet, Kai moved among the bowed wolves as if their presence meant little.
Up the stairs I went without stopping.
It held my neck tight.
My lips burned from the force of it, copper sharp on my tongue.
After that, his voice rose toward the group - sharp, sudden. Out came the words like a warning shot across silence
"Anyone who has a problem with my Luna can fight me for the title right now. Who's first?"
Silence.
Complete fucking silence.
He smirked.
"That's what I thought."
Over his shoulder I went once more, a sudden lift. Back toward the bed he moved, steps steady beneath my weight. The room blurred slightly as we returned where we'd been before. My body shifted with each stride, passive but aware. There was no protest, only motion carrying us forward.
Before the door shut, round two had already begun.