Alessia POV:
The next morning, I didn't wake up. I was woken up.
My door was kicked open. Giuliana stood there, flanked by two pack warriors.
"Get up," she barked. "Family meeting. Father demands your presence."
I didn't fight. I put on my worn-out jeans and followed them.
They took me to the Alpha's office in the manor. My parents were there. Dante was there, pacing by the fireplace. And Chiara was there, weeping into a silk handkerchief.
"Sit," my father commanded.
I remained standing. "I prefer to stand. The chairs in this house are slippery with lies."
My father slammed his fist on the desk. "Enough of your insolence! We have a crisis."
"Chiara's spiritual core is destabilizing," my mother sobbed. "The doctor says she needs... grounding."
I looked at Dante. He wouldn't meet my eyes.
"And what does that have to do with me?" I asked.
"To stabilize her," Dante said, his voice hollow, "I need to give her a Temporary Mark. An Alpha's bite will share my strength with her and heal the cracks in her core."
A mark. Even a temporary one was intimate. It was a claim.
"Go ahead," I said. "Why tell me?"
"Because," Dante said, finally looking at me. His eyes were tortured. "I cannot mark her while I am betrothed to you. The Pack Law forbids an Alpha from marking another while engaged."
Ah. There it was.
"You want me to break the engagement," I stated.
"It is for her life!" Chiara wailed. "I don't want to steal him, Alessia! I just want to live!"
"We drafted the papers," my father said, sliding a document across the desk. "Sign it. Annul the childhood engagement. You were never fit to be Luna anyway."
I looked at the paper. It was my freedom.
I picked up the pen.
"Wait," Chiara said. Her voice changed. It wasn't weak anymore. It was sharp.
She stood up and walked over to me. She picked up a silver letter opener from the desk.
"She needs to mean it," Chiara said, smiling cruelly. She pressed the silver tip against my throat. "Kneel, Alessia. Kneel and swear you give him to me. Submit to your betters."
The silver burned my skin.
Dante stepped forward. "Chiara, that's not necessary-"
"It is!" she screamed. "She hates me! If she doesn't submit, the annulment is void in the eyes of the Moon Goddess!"
Dante looked at me. He took a deep breath. The air in the room grew heavy.
"Alessia," Dante said. His voice echoed with power. It was the Alpha's Command. It was a sonic weapon that forced wolves to obey or suffer immense pain. *"Kneel."*
The command hit me like a physical wave. My knees should have buckled. My head should have bowed.
But nothing happened.
I stood there, blinking.
The Alpha's Command only works on wolves of lower rank.
I looked at Dante. He looked confused. He tried again, harder. *"I command you to kneel!"*
I smiled. It was a cold, terrifying smile.
"No," I said.
I grabbed the silver letter opener from Chiara's hand. The silver sizzled against my palm, but something snapped inside me. A dormant energy surged from my core, rushing to my fingertips. I felt the bones in my hand crack under the strain, then instantly knit back together, stronger than before.
*Snap.*
The metal blade broke in half.
"You want me to cancel the engagement?" I asked. "Fine."
I signed the paper with a flourish.
"But I don't kneel to liars," I said. I looked at Chiara. "And I certainly don't kneel to thieves."
I felt a surge of power in my chest. For a second, just a split second, my aura leaked out. It wasn't the weak gray aura of an Omega.
It was blinding white.
The pressure in the room reversed. My father gasped, clutching his chest. Dante took a step back, his wolf whimpering in confusion. Chiara fell to the floor, terrified by the sheer weight of my presence.
"What... what are you?" Dante whispered.
I pulled my aura back in. I wasn't ready to reveal the White Wolf yet. Not until I was safe in Dominica.
"I'm the mistake you're glad to get rid of," I said.
I threw the broken silver blade at Dante's feet.
"She's all yours, Alpha. Good luck."
*
