This was far from over.
How could Orionn use fire?
And why was the masked man using water magic?
Water belonged to the mermaid kingdoms, while fire belonged to the long-lost vampire kingdom.
Melody looked between Orionn and the masked man, confusion twisting inside her.
The masked man chuckled softly.
"So the rumors are true," he said. "The great Alpha of Thehneros can actually perform more than one magic. Interesting. To think I got to witness it firsthand. Must be an honor."
"I will not repeat myself," Orionn said coldly. "What the hell do you want?"
Anger seeped into his voice, and the environment seemed to respond to it. The air grew heavier. Trees shook violently around them.
"Well," the masked man said casually, as though they were not standing in the middle of a dangerous confrontation, "you are very different from what I expected."
He tilted his head slightly.
"I don't think I can beat you," he admitted. "Especially now that I know you can perform more than one magic. And I have no idea what else you're hiding up your sleeve."
His eyes glittered behind the mask.
"But I know you cannot catch all of us."
"As I said earlier, I'll be leaving now because my information was incorrect. Cost me a perfectly good plan too. Nobody does anything right unless I step in myself."
"Not so fast," Orionn said.
The masked man sighed dramatically.
"You really don't want to do this right now, my king."
The playful tone in his voice only irritated Orionn further.
"Watch me," Orionn replied.
Instantly, the ground beneath them trembled violently.
Massive pillars of earth burst upward and shot toward the masked men at terrifying speed.
But before they could hit—
BOOM!
A loud explosion echoed from somewhere far away.
Everyone froze.
The masked man laughed softly.
"Well," he said, "I think you have something more important to attend to."
The earth pillars stopped midair.
"We'll continue this another day."
Then he turned toward Melody.
"Nice meeting you, Queen Melody," he said smoothly. "Really nice meeting you. I like you."
A chill crawled down her spine.
She didn't want him to like her.
And just like that, he and his men disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
Silence settled over the clearing.
Orionn turned toward Melody.
"What the hell was that?" she demanded.
His jaw tightened.
"I should be asking you that question. You were almost kidnapped."
"Well, maybe because you left me alone!" she snapped back.
"I told you to stay where you were."
"And I heard someone screaming for help! What was I supposed to do?"
"You think you can save everybody now?"
"Don't look down on me," she shot back.
"Oh, I shouldn't?" Orionn said sharply. "You were seconds away from being taken."
"There were too many of them!" Melody argued. "And they were stronger than me. If it had only been a few people, I would've handled it."
Orionn stared at her for a moment before turning away.
"We need to leave," he said. "Something happened in the city."
Melody hurried after him as they returned to the cottage.
Orionn quickly gathered a few things while Melody stood there trying to process everything that had happened.
"What about the carriage?" she asked.
"There's no time."
Golden light surrounded him almost instantly.
Within seconds, Orionn shifted back into his wolf form.
Melody blinked.
He somehow looked even larger now.
Get on.
His voice echoed through her mind.
She stared at him for a second.
"So we're really doing this," she muttered before climbing onto his back.
The moment she grabbed hold of him, he took off into the forest at terrifying speed, heading straight toward the city.
The moment they arrived, chaos greeted them.
People ran through the streets in panic. Wolves of different sizes and colors moved through the city, some growling, some howling, while others guided frightened citizens away from danger.
The second the wolves saw Orionn in his wolf form, many immediately stopped what they were doing.
Then another wolf came charging toward them.
Brown fur. Dark eyes. Thick coat.
Beautiful.
Though noticeably smaller than Orionn.
In fact, every wolf Melody had seen tonight was smaller than him.
And none of them had white fur streaked with gold.
The brown wolf approached and shifted back into human form.
Nathan.
"Alpha," Nathan said quickly.
Orionn shifted back as well.
"A situation occurred in one of the shifting grounds," Nathan said immediately.
"An explosion?" Orionn asked.
"Yes. And I don't know what caused it. We were careful."
Nathan looked exhausted.
Overwhelmed.
"It was a distraction," Orionn said. "Right now, we need to calm the wolves before they go completely rogue. It's turning into a frenzy."
Orionn nodded once.
"Let's go to the tower."
"What about the queen?" Nathan asked carefully.
Melody waved awkwardly.
"Hi, Nathan."
He smiled back at her.
"She's coming with us," Orionn answered before Nathan could say anything else.
Nathan looked like he wanted to protest, but stopped himself.
The three of them headed deeper into the city until they reached a tall structure overlooking the streets. It resembled some kind of control tower.
Once they reached the top, Orionn walked toward the edge of the rooftop.
Then his voice echoed across the entire city.
"This is your Alpha."
Immediately, every moving wolf froze.
"All wolves are to return to your designated shifting grounds immediately," Orionn commanded. "There is no danger. Everything is under control."
His voice carried authority so naturally it was terrifying.
"The explosion was caused by poor coordination, which falls on me. But if I find any of you roaming the city instead of returning to your assigned grounds, you will answer to me personally."
Silence spread through the streets.
"And you all know I can find you."
That alone was enough.
Almost immediately, the wolves began retreating toward their designated grounds.
Melody watched in awe.
As Alpha, Orionn held unbelievable power.
But seeing him exercise that power so effortlessly felt entirely different.
"Can he actually track every wolf in the pack?" she asked Nathan quietly.
Nathan let out a dry laugh.
"Yes. And trust me, it's not something you want to experience."
Melody slowly turned to look at Orionn.
Right now, he looked terrifying.
So she wisely kept quiet.
Then Orionn spoke again.
"To the humans, fairies, and lone wolves in the city, return to your homes. Stay inside and remain calm. No harm will come to you."
Then he finished simply.
"Your Alpha, Orionn."
And just like that, it was over.
"Let's go," Orionn said as he stepped down.
"Where are we going?" Melody asked.
"We're returning to the castle."
"But what about everything happening here?"
"Leave the rest to Nathan."
Nathan nodded once, already turning back toward the city.