"Cover the elders!" Julian shouted from the floor, still clutching his bleeding arm.
A deafening crack split the air above us. The massive stained-glass skylight spanning the vaulted ceiling bowed inward, groaning under the sheer atmospheric pressure radiating from my changing body.
"Get down!" a guard yelled, throwing his arms over his head.
The glass blew apart. Thousands of jagged shards rained down on the marble floor like a glittering, lethal thunderstorm. Pieces bounced off the wooden pews and shattered against the stone tiles.
"What is happening to the windows?" Serena screamed, covering her face.
"Protect the Alpha!" another enforcer ordered, drawing his weapon.
"Forget me, shield the perimeter!" Julian barked, pressing his back against the choir stalls.
My jaw pushed forward. Bones reshaped with a violent crunch that easily drowned out the falling debris. The torn silk of my dress ripped completely away, leaving me on all fours.
"Look at her!" an elder gasped from the front row, his eyes wide with religious awe.
I was not a standard gray wolf. I towered over the center aisle, my massive frame easily doubling the size of any male in the entire territory. Silver fur rippled along my thick, dense muscles, glowing like a field of trapped stars under the flickering cathedral lights.
"That is no ordinary wolf," Julian choked out, his arrogance entirely replaced by dread.
"Kill it!" Serena shrieked, pointing a shaking finger at me from the altar steps.
"Are you blind?" the tall guard yelled over the chaos, refusing to raise his spear. "Look at her size! We cannot fight that!"
"You are the Alpha!" Serena demanded, glaring down at Julian. "Defend your Luna!"
"Shut up, Serena," Julian hissed through his teeth. "If I attack, she will tear me in half."
"Shoot her!" she cried.
"We do not carry guns in the sanctuary," a guard replied, backing away slowly toward the exit.
"Then use your claws!" Serena ordered, her voice hitting a hysterical pitch. "Tear her throat out!"
"I cannot move my legs," the guard stammered, his knees visibly shaking. "The aura is crushing me."
"He is right," the elder interrupted, gripping the edge of a pew to stay upright. "Look at the silver coat. The sheer mass. The golden eyes. She is a Mycenaean."
"A what?" Julian asked, his face draining of color.
"The ancient bloodline," the elder explained reverently. "We thought they were extinct centuries ago. They are the apex of our kind."
"I do not care what she is," Serena cried out. "She is going to kill us!"
"Only if you give me a reason," I projected directly into their minds.
My voice boomed through the pack link, dark, resonant, and dripping with raw power. The telepathic projection forced several younger wolves to cover their ears in actual physical pain.
"She can mind-link without a pack?" Julian whispered, horrified.
"I do not need your pathetic pack," I replied through the link, letting a low growl rumble in my chest.
I took a single step forward. My massive paws hit the marble with a heavy thud. The explosive power in my new limbs intoxicated me. I felt indestructible. Every muscle fiber hummed with lethal energy.
"Aria, yield!" Julian roared, pushing himself up to his knees in a desperate bid for authority.
He flared his Alpha aura, sending a wave of dominant energy toward me. The invisible pressure washed over the room, attempting to force my massive frame into submission. It felt like a light breeze against a stone wall.
"Are you trying to command me?" I asked through the link, amused.
"You are still in my territory!" he shouted. "Yield to your Alpha!"
"You are no Alpha of mine," I projected.
I slammed my front paws into the floor. The solid marble cracked outward under the impact. A shockwave of pure, ancient power blasted across the room, completely and instantly shattering Julian's aura. He flew backward, slamming heavily into the wooden choir stalls with a sickening thud.
"Alpha!" the tall guard yelled.
"Do not touch me," Julian groaned, spitting blood onto the floor. "Get the silver nets. Trap her."
"We left the nets in the armory," the guard replied nervously.
"Then go get them!" Julian screamed.
"If he leaves this room, I will hunt him down," I projected, locking my golden eyes on the guard.
The guard froze mid-step, swallowing hard.
"Listen to your Alpha!" Serena yelled from the altar.
"I am listening," the guard said, pressing his back against a stone pillar. "But she is the strongest one here."
"Traitor!" Julian spat.
"Keep your weapons down!" the elder warned the remaining guards. "Do not provoke her!"
"Get out of her way!" Julian ordered his men, realizing the danger.
"We are not in her way, Alpha," the tall enforcer replied, gesturing toward the front. "She is going straight for the altar."
I kept my glowing gold eyes locked entirely on my cousin.
"Do not let her near me!" Serena screamed, stumbling backward.
"Run to the sacristy!" Julian yelled.
"My dress is too heavy!" she cried, frantically tugging at the crimson fabric.
"Then take it off!" he snapped.
Serena spun around to flee. Her heel caught in the heavy tulle of her skirt. She pitched backward, slamming hard against the stone steps of the altar with a sharp cry.
"Julian, help me!" she sobbed, scrambling backward on her elbows like a cornered rat.
Julian stayed frozen by the choir stalls, clutching his bleeding arm. "Do not move a muscle, Serena."
"Aria, please," Serena begged, tears streaming down her perfectly contoured face. "We are family."
"You forgot that ten minutes ago," I projected.
I let out a low snarl. The sound vibrated deep in my chest, a heavy, booming frequency. The noise hit the crowd physically. Guards dropped to their knees, clutching their stomachs. Julian slumped against the wood, his face slick with sweat. The low-frequency rumble forced pure submission from every wolf in the room.
"Make it stop," a woman whimpered from the back.
"Submit," I projected, pushing the heavy weight of my aura outward.
The entire front row of wolves bowed their heads, exposing their necks in total surrender.
"Aria, stop this right now," Julian commanded, his voice trembling. "You have proved your point."
"I have not even started," I replied.
I ascended the steps. Serena pressed her back against the carved wooden podium, trapped.
"Stay away from the holy water," the elder warned softly from below. "It is blessed for the Alpha line."
"I am the Alpha line," I replied.
I reached the top of the altar. The ceremonial ice basin sat on a pedestal, the holy water swirling inside. I raised my massive front paw and slammed it down.
The thick crystal shattered instantly.
"Sacrilege!" someone gasped.
Crushed ice and freezing water exploded outward. Droplets hit my silver coat, sliding harmlessly off the dense fur. My rough paw pads ground the jagged ice shards into fine powder against the stone. The cold felt incredibly refreshing against my overheated muscles.
"The water is freezing," Serena whimpered as the splash soaked her torn dress.
"It matches your loyalty," I projected.
"Julian!" Serena shrieked, her voice reaching a hysterical pitch. "Do something!"
"I said do not move!" Julian yelled. "She will snap your neck!"
Serena froze, her chest heaving wildly.
I lowered my massive head. The sharp scent of her terror filled my nostrils, sweet and metallic. I parted my jaws, exposing rows of deadly, gleaming teeth.
My snout brushed the soft skin of her throat. I pressed my razor-sharp fangs against her pulse point, ready to bite down and end her miserable existence.
Click.
The cold, mechanical sound of a heavy revolver hammer being cocked echoed sharply through the ruined sanctuary.
I froze. I shifted my glowing gold eyes toward the front row.
My own father, Patriarch Marcus, stood tall amidst the cowering pack. He leveled a matte-black gun directly between my eyes.
"Tell your beast to heel, Aria," my father ordered, his finger squeezing the trigger. "Or I blow your brains out right now."
