Silver boiled beneath my skin suddenly, as if molten metal had been splashed into my veins. I gripped the edge of the oak table, feeling the wood crack beneath my fingers. The air in the chambers grew too thick, too heavy. Liam had spoken of the blood of kings, of a power that sleeps for a time, but I hadn't expected it to wake like this—as if a wild beast inside had decided to break my ribs.
I forced myself to the mirror. A monster stared back at me from the darkness. My pupils, usually barely visible in the dim light, now flooded the iris, leaving only a narrow ring of shimmering, cold silver. It wasn't my gaze. That was how wolves looked when they caught a scent.
"Not now..." a rasp escaped my throat, unrecognizable and low.
I lifted my hands. My fingertips were pulsing. My nails, which I had been biting from nervous tension just this morning, lengthened, turning into claws as sharp as razors. The skin around them turned white. I clenched my fists, and the steel of my own claws dug into my palms. There was no pain. Only an electric charge shooting through my spine.
I am stronger. This knowledge bloomed in my chest like an icy flower. No more submission. No more lowered eyes.
Suddenly the connection in my chest, that very invisible chain linking me to Cale, stretched until it rang. He felt it. My fear, my euphoria, my rebellion.
A blow to the door knocked a splinter from the frame. The doors burst open, hitting the stone walls with the roar of a landslide. There he stood.
Cale's shadow draped over the room, eclipsing the moonlight. He didn't move, but I felt his aura filling the space, heavy as lead, smelling of soot and steel. His nostrils flared.
"What is that stench?" Cale took a step, and the floorboards groaned beneath his boot.
I didn't look away. The silver in my eyes must have been burning brighter than torches now.
"It's stifling in the chambers."
"Lies." He was beside me so fast I didn't have time to raise my hands. "You smell of ancient shit and wet forest. Where did this come from, Alina?"
"You see enemies everywhere."
"I scent your blood. It sings." His fingers dug into my shoulders, pinning me to the cold wall with a jerk. "Who was here? Liam?"
"The castle walls are too high for guests."
"Don't play games with me." Cale leaned in, his breath scalding my skin. "Your bond is vibrating as if you're ready to rip my throat out. Do you think a pair of claws makes you my equal?"
"I think you're afraid."
He froze. His face turned into a motionless mask, but a red flame flickered deep within his wolf's eyes.
"Afraid? Of you?" His hand slid down from my shoulder, his broad palm resting heavily on my stomach, right where the center of my new power pulsed. "An Omega who fancies herself a queen. You wear my mark. You carry..."
He went abruptly silent, tightening his grip. I felt a torrent of his will pour into me through the bond—crushing, black, merciless. It was a command to "submit," amplified by centuries of his bloodline's dominance.
My knees buckled. The silver in my eyes began to dim, suppressed by the searing pain of submission. Every muscle trembled, refusing to obey.
"Let go..." I forced the air from my lungs, trying to hold onto the remnants of my pride.
"So you can try to snarl again?" His voice vibrated deep in my chest. "You smell like a challenge. And I do not tolerate challenges in my own bedroom."
"You can't... suppress this forever." I dug my claws into his wrists, tearing the skin until it bled. "I... I am stronger... than you think."
Cale didn't flinch. He didn't even look at his wounds. His face suddenly contorted into a grimace that could have been mistaken for a smile if it weren't so sinister. A low, raspy laugh filled the room.
"Stronger? Is that the fairy tale your brother told you?"
"Blood doesn't lie, Cale."
"Blood flows the same when the veins are opened." He pressed harder against my stomach, forcing me to arch my back. "Do you feel it, Alina? This tremor in your bones? It is I who owns you. Not your dead kings. Me."
"Kill me then. If you're so afraid."
"Death is too easy." He leaned close to my ear, his whisper burning. "You want to show me your strength? You want to prove you're no longer that girl brought here in chains?"
I remained silent, clenching my teeth so hard they ground together.
"Then show it to me," his voice dropped to the rumble of an approaching storm. "Show me how your great blood will help you stand."
The bond flared with unbearable heat. Cale struck at my consciousness with the full might of an Alpha, incinerating every thought except one. Obedience. My fingers unfurled, the claws retracting with a soft sound, leaving only aching wounds on my palms.
"Down," he commanded.
My body betrayed me. My muscles turned to jelly; my will crumbled into ash. I tried to grab the wall, his armor, the scraps of my own rage, but Cale stood unshakable, looking down at me like a broken thing.
"On your knees, Alina."
I collapsed. The stone floor struck my kneecaps with a dull thud—a pain that was finally my own, not forced through the bond. I breathed heavily, staring at his polished boots.
Cale tangled his fingers in my hair, forcing me to lift my head and look at him.
"Well, where is your silver?" He sneered, looking into my eyes, which now held only tears and the remains of suppressed fury. "Where are your claws, little queen?"
"Deeper... than you can reach..." I rasped.
"We'll see." He released my hair, letting me slouch at his feet again. "The night has only just begun. And as long as you are here, in this room, on this floor... you will remember your place."
He turned and walked toward the door without looking back.
"Tomorrow, you will tell me everything Liam whispered to you," he tossed over his shoulder. "Or I will burn this blood out of you, drop by drop."
The door slammed shut, but I could still smell the smoke. And the warmth of his palm on my stomach, which terrified me more than his rage. I clenched my fists, digging ordinary, human nails into my skin. The power hadn't vanished. It was merely lying low, waiting for the chain to slacken.
"I'll show you..." I whispered into the void, feeling something stir faintly deep inside, right where he had held his hand. "I will show you."