MARKED BY THE ALPHA'S HATE

Victor moved like a phantom—part man, part shadow. His body blurred with unnatural speed, one moment across the room, the next lunging at Selene like smoke through flame.

Darius met him head-on.

Steel clashed with claw. The shockwave cracked the obsidian beneath their feet.

Selene spun to the side, instincts razor-sharp. Her sword pulsed in her grip, burning hotter than ever before. The fire wasn't wild—it was alive. It knew who she faced.

Victor's laugh echoed through the chamber. "Look at you both. The bonded pair. How touching."

He struck at Darius again, a blow laced with darkness. Darius blocked it with a grunt, his teeth bared. "You've grown weaker, old man."

"I've grown smarter." Victor lashed out, and this time tendrils of shadow coiled around Selene's ankles.

They burned.

She cried out as they tried to drag her down into the floor—into the Obsidian beneath them.

Darius broke away, slashing through the shadows. "Selene!"

"I'm fine!" she gasped, forcing herself upright. The sword in her hand flared, and the runes along the blade burned white-hot.

The shadows hissed and shrank back.

Victor's smile slipped. "That blade was meant for kings."

Selene raised it. "And I'll use it to end one."

She rushed him.

He blocked her strike with ease—but this time, her flame didn't recoil.

It seared.

Victor cursed as the fire singed his shoulder, sizzling through the edge of his tailored jacket and the warped skin beneath. He stumbled back, growling now, no longer amused.

"You carry her gift," he spat. "But you don't understand it."

"I don't need to understand it," she said, lifting the sword again. "I am it."

The chamber trembled.

Gold light spread from her feet in a perfect circle, igniting the runes on the floor—her mother's seal. The spell wasn't just memory. It was a lock. And now that Selene had awakened it, it answered her call.

Victor's eyes narrowed.

"Oh," he said quietly. "You're further along than I thought."

Behind him, Darius straightened, blood dripping from a cut across his cheek—but his eyes were locked on Selene, unreadable. "What does he mean?"

"She's nearing the point of no return," Victor said smoothly. "The closer you two get, the stronger the bond becomes. And once it completes, she won't be Selene anymore. She'll be what the sword made her for."

Selene's heart slammed against her ribs.

He was lying. Twisting the truth. He had to be.

"She's going to become the Alpha Flame," Victor said, voice like a blade in silk. "A weapon. A prophecy. A curse dressed as salvation."

"Shut up," Darius growled.

"Ask her," Victor said. "Ask her if she's felt it—the voice beneath her thoughts. The fire that isn't hers. The urge to burn everything, even you."

Selene froze.

Because deep down… she had.

The sword was hers—but sometimes, it wanted things. Blood. Fire. Vengeance.

Even now, it whispered:

He must die. He's the root. Burn him. Burn the bloodline.

Darius stepped between them. "Selene, don't listen to him."

Victor's smile widened.

"She will. She always does."

Then he struck again.

This time, the blow sent Darius crashing into the far wall. He hit stone with a grunt and didn't rise.

Selene cried out, lunging forward—but Victor moved faster, closing the distance in a blink.

"You should've stayed in the woods, little heir," he said. "Now you'll become what she couldn't."

His hand closed around her throat.

Power surged through her. Not hers—his. Tainted. Burning like black fire.

He was trying to infect her. Override her bond. Control her like he had the Obsidian.

"No—" she gasped. "I'm not yours—"

"You are what I made," he hissed. "Your mother thought she could rewrite the bloodlines. She failed. You're the product of both worlds. Wolf and witch. Flame and steel. You were always meant to be mine."

Selene's vision blurred. Her feet left the ground.

The sword slipped from her fingers—

—and stopped midair.

Darius's hand caught it.

He rose from the rubble, bloodied, panting—and furious.

Victor turned, too late.

Darius hurled the sword like a spear.

It pierced Victor's shoulder, anchoring him to the floor.

Selene dropped hard, coughing, and rolled away.

Victor screamed.

Not in pain—but in rage.

The sword pulsed, runes lighting in full now. Its fire seared through his shadows, burning away the last fragments of the Obsidian's hold.

Selene crawled toward it. "Darius—"

But Darius was already moving, grabbing her arm, pulling her to her feet.

"We have to go," he said hoarsely. "This place is going to collapse."

And it was. The ceiling cracked above them. The gold runes around the chamber flared and shattered, breaking the seal.

Victor's body twisted on the ground, half-shadow, half-man, snarling in agony.

"You think this ends me?" he roared. "You think she's safe with you?"

"She's safer without you," Darius said.

He grabbed Selene's hand, sword in the other.

They ran.

The chamber fell behind them, stone cracking, flame tearing through the air like wind. The memory, the plinth, everything—buried under the ruin of what Victor had tried to build.

They burst through the tunnel into the night, gasping.

Selene doubled over, shaking, the sword still glowing in her grip.

Darius didn't speak. He just held her.

They stood in silence, under the stars.

She felt the bond between them thrum like a wire stretched to breaking.

And then—

"I have to leave," Selene whispered.

Darius tensed. "What?"

"I saw it," she said. "He's right about one thing. If we stay together right now… it'll consume us both."

"You're not going anywhere."

"You don't get to decide."

She stepped back, heart breaking.

"You gave me a choice once, remember?" she whispered. "Now I'm taking it."

And before he could stop her—before she could stop herself—she turned and vanished into the trees.

Alone.