The Alpha Triangle

Confrontation

Madisen stepped forward without hesitation, shooting me a look of disgust, as if I were beneath her. She slipped her pink gown off her tiny frame and kicked it aside, followed by a pair of nude stilettos. She stood there nearly naked, clothed only in a lacy red bralette and thong, strutting toward my father as if baring herself before the entire pack didn’t matter.

“Madisen Drake,” Alex intoned. “As you stand here before our pack, ready to be linked as one, a drop of your blood must be placed into our chalice, representing your loyalty and devotion to the pack.”

He lifted a small, dull knife that looked forged centuries ago. Madisen extended her hand, and he pricked her palm. She gave a soft “oh,” her face tightening in pain, before he tilted her hand so a drop of blood fell into the golden chalice.

The pack erupted into chanting. Deep, rhythmic, and ancient, something I’d never heard before. A second later, the first bone in her body snapped. She screamed. Another snap, louder. Her body convulsed, twisting in ways a human body shouldn’t, as the chanting grew.

It lasted nearly forty five minutes. Her cries turned hoarse, then broke off into ragged whimpers until finally a small wolf stood where she had been. Definitely larger than a coyote, but with coarse, coyote-colored fur. Its eyes, sharp and hateful, were undeniably Madisen’s.

She growled low in her throat and stepped toward me.

“Enough,” Alex commanded, his voice cutting the air. “Shift back.”

The shift back seemed painful but quicker. When she stood again, naked this time, she lingered shamelessly, smiling as if daring anyone to look away. Only when a blanket was offered did she finally wrap it around her shoulders.

“You’re up,” Alex said, his eyes locking on me.

My chest tightened. I froze for a heartbeat, then forced myself to move. I slipped off my heels, my emerald dress, even Liam’s bracelet. The fall wind bit into my bare skin, sending shivers down my spine, almost like it was warning me of what was about to come.

“Freya Bounds,” Alex recited, though his voice carried a bitter edge he hadn’t used with Madisen. “As you stand here before our pack, ready to be linked as one, a drop of your blood must be placed into our chalice, representing your loyalty and devotion to the pack.”

The knife gleamed in his hand. I thrust my palm forward, refusing to let him see how terrified I really was. Unlike the tiny prick he’d given Madisen, Alex pressed the blade into the top of my palm and dragged it several inches toward my wrist, leaving a stinging gash behind.

His lips twisted into a grin, waiting for me to cry out. I didn’t. I flipped my palm downward, letting my blood fall into the chalice with no sign of pain.

The pack began chanting again, voices rising like a storm. Alex leaned close, his words meant for me alone.

“As alpha, I shifted in seven minutes. Beat my time, or the title passes to someone else.”

Then the first snap of my bones echoed across the field.

A bone in my left arm was the first to crack. I winced at the pain but made sure no sound left my body. Alex’s sharp warning echoed in my head. Seven minutes or lose the Alpha title.

Another snap rang out, this time in the same arm, and it dropped me to the ground. Sweat pooled on my forehead, and my body trembled with agony. I wanted to run, to escape, but there was nowhere to go.

Then, a voice. Soft yet firm, a female whisper inside my head: Don’t resist the shift. That will only slow you down.

The next bone cracked, sharper than the last, and my body seized in pain. So this is what she meant. I needed to let the shift take over completely.

Balancing on my knees and one arm, sweat dripped from the tip of my nose. I looked up at my father, desperate, but his gaze was somewhere else. He didn’t care.

I inhaled deeply, then let it out. Several bones cracked at once, my body arching like a cat. My spine stretched, bones lengthening with every breath.

When I glanced around again, my eyes landed on Liam. His hands were buried in his hair, a look of pure distress twisting his face. I forced a look of encouragement his way, though I was the one who desperately needed it.

Stop resisting. The voice again, louder now. Stand up.

I tried, pushing myself upward, but pain shot through my ankle as it snapped beneath me. A cry escaped before I could stop it.

I can’t do this. The thought slipped out, raw and defeated.

Stand up! The voice boomed inside me.

I obeyed, dragging myself to my feet. Blood trickled from my nose, sweat dripping into my eyes. I swiped my wrist across my face, smearing the blood away.

Jump.

The command pulsed through me. I rocked back on my good ankle and hurled myself forward with every ounce of strength I had left. Midair, it felt as though magic swallowed me whole.

By the time I landed, I was no longer myself.

I stood tall. Taller than Liam now. Fur bristling, lungs burning, heart pounding. My wolf had arrived. I let out a breath, and the force of it ruffled a pack members hair.

From the stage, Alpha Alex’s voice barely carried over the crowd.

“Three minutes, twenty-seven seconds.”

He stared at me in disbelief. “How is that even possible?”

I leapt back onto the stage, chest heaving, pride surging through me only to be met with pure hatred.

“This pack will never be yours,” Alex spat, the venom in his words cutting deeper than claws ever could.

My heart cracked, and I staggered back a step. For a flicker of a moment, doubt tried to take hold. But then I heard it agan. The voice. Stronger this time. Fierce. Certain.

You are the rightful heir. Better than your father ever was. Do not step down. The words poured power into my veins, steadying my stance. My ears pinned back, lips curling as a guttural growl ripped from my throat.

Through the new bond of the mind link, my voice thundered across the pack: This is my pack. You will not decide its fate.

Alex’s answering snarl split the air as his body contorted, fur exploding along his frame. In a blink, his massive wolf stood before me, every line of him screaming challenge.