Elena POV:
Liam's narcissism was a wall I couldn't break through. He actually thought I was here for him.
"Your son?" Seraphina snatched the stone from my hand before I could react. "You mean the bastard child? You think a human brat deserves a magical conduit like this?"
"Give it back!" I lunged, but the guards held me back.
"It's probably stolen," Seraphina announced to the room, holding the glowing stone up. "Humans can't own Moonstones. It's against the laws of the Summit. She's a thief!"
"I didn't steal it!" I screamed. The panic was setting in. Without that stone, Adrian's energy would become unstable.
"Mama!"
A small voice cut through the noise.
My heart stopped.
Running across the polished floor, dodging the legs of surprised wolves, was Adrian. He must have escaped the hotel room where I told him to wait.
"Adrian, no!" I cried out.
He was small for his age, with messy dark hair and big, terrified eyes. He ran straight to me, burying his face in my legs.
"Mama, bad men," he sobbed.
Seraphina looked at the boy. Her eyes narrowed. She reached out to grab his arm. "So this is the little mistake."
"Don't touch him!" I roared.
As Seraphina's hand neared Adrian, something happened.
A shockwave of energy blasted outward from my son. It wasn't magic. It was pure, raw Alpha aura.
It hit Seraphina like a physical blow, knocking her back two steps. She stumbled, her high heels slipping on the marble.
The room went deathly silent.
An Alpha aura coming from a three-year-old? It was unheard of. And not just any Alpha aura-it was heavy, dark, and commanding.
"He... he attacked me!" Seraphina shrieked, pointing a trembling finger at Adrian. "That thing is a monster! He's a demon!"
"He's a child!" I shouted, pulling Adrian into my arms.
"He's dangerous!" The security captain drew his stun baton. "That level of power in an untrained pup? He's a threat to the guests."
"Arrest them both!" Seraphina yelled. "She kidnapped a high-born pup! Look at him! He has Alpha blood. She's a human! She stole him!"
It was a lie, but it was a believable one. How could a "useless" woman like me produce a child this powerful?
"Take the child," the captain ordered. " detain the woman."
"No!" I kicked out as the guards grabbed me. "Let him go!"
They ripped Adrian from my arms. He screamed, kicking and biting. Seeing my son in pain, seeing his fear, something inside me snapped.
The black seal that had bound my soul for five years didn't just crack. It shattered.
A burning heat, like liquid gold, flooded my veins. My vision sharpened. The smells of the room-the fear, the sweat, the cheap perfume-exploded in my nose.
*My pup!* A voice in my head roared. It was her. My wolf. She was back.
At that exact moment, the massive double doors at the entrance of the ballroom burst open. *They didn't just open; they disintegrated under a wave of kinetic force.*
A silence descended that was heavier than gravity.
A man walked in.
He was tall, towering over everyone. He wore a black suit that seemed to absorb the light. His presence was like a black hole, sucking the air out of the room.
Every wolf in the room, including Liam, instinctively bared their necks and lowered their eyes. It wasn't a choice. It was biology.
This was the Apex. The Supreme.
The Alpha King.
Damien.
He didn't look at the dignitaries. He didn't look at Liam.
His eyes, glowing with a terrifying violet light, locked onto me. Or rather, onto the guards holding me.
"Drop her," he said.
His voice wasn't loud, but it shook the foundations of the hotel.
The guards didn't just let go; they collapsed, foaming at the mouth from the sheer weight of his command.
I fell to my knees, gasping. I looked up, and for the first time in five years, my eyes changed. I could feel it. The iris shifting from brown to a piercing, glowing gold.
Damien stopped in front of me. The world narrowed down to just him.
He looked at my gold eyes. Then he looked at Adrian, who was staring up at him with the same intensity.
Then, the King fell to his knees in front of me.
