The alpha's bride

Chapter 12

The vision clung to me like smoke I couldn’t breathe out. My lungs felt tight, and every nerve in my body buzzed with something sharp, electric, wrong. I had seen blood. I had seen fire. And worse—I had seen myself standing at the center of it all, hands red, eyes glowing like something unrecognizable.

I blinked and the world swam back into focus. The common room of St. Ailbe’s tilted under my feet, voices buzzing all around me. Someone was shaking my shoulder.

“Tessa!” Dastien’s voice cut through the fog, deep, rough with fear. His hands gripped my arms, steadying me, but it felt like I was falling through him, through the floor, through everything.

“I—I saw…” My throat closed around the words. If I told them, if I admitted what the vision had shown, they’d look at me like I was the monster in their midst. Maybe they’d be right.

“She looks pale,” someone muttered. Rosalyn. Of course. Her syrupy-sweet tone carried a cruel edge. “Maybe her human side can’t handle being one of us. Poor thing. Such a fragile mistake.”

That snapped me back. I jerked my arm from Dastien’s grip and straightened, even though my knees trembled. Fragile? I wanted to laugh in her face. If only she knew the weight of what I’d seen. Fragile wasn’t the word. Dangerous was.

“I’m fine,” I lied. My voice was steadier than I felt. “Just a little dizzy.”

Dastien’s eyes narrowed, sharp with worry, but he didn’t call me out. Not here. Not in front of Rosalyn, who stood like a viper waiting for me to stumble again.

“Maybe she needs rest,” Rosalyn said, tilting her head so her glossy hair spilled over her shoulder. “Or maybe she needs to go back to her normal little human life. This world clearly doesn’t suit her.”

Heat rushed through me, hot and fast, and for a moment I swore my claws itched beneath my skin. I curled my hands into fists, forcing the change back. “This is my world now,” I said softly, but the steel in my tone left no room for argument.

Her smile faltered. Just a fraction. Good.

Before anyone could add another jab, a sharp howl split the air outside the academy walls. Every head turned. My heart lurched. That sound wasn’t just communication—it was alarm.

The room burst into motion. Students shifted half-forms—fangs flashing, claws sliding out. Dastien’s hand brushed mine, warm and grounding, before he shifted too. His golden eyes glowed in the dim light, more wolf than man in that instant.

“Stay with me,” he ordered, voice edged with Alpha command.

For once, I didn’t argue.

We poured out into the night. The air smelled wrong, acrid and metallic. My skin prickled, and I realized with a chill that the night mirrored pieces of my vision. The fire wasn’t here yet, but the blood scent… it was close.

In the courtyard, Alpha Luciana barked orders, her presence commanding. “Form perimeter! Protect the boundaries!” Her eyes flicked to me once, unreadable, before snapping back to the pack.

Rosalyn sidled close, smirking. “Careful, new girl. Wouldn’t want to get in over your head.”

I ignored her, because in that moment, my body went rigid. Another vision struck, not as overwhelming as before but sharp enough to make me gasp.

I saw shadows slithering at the edge of the woods. Not wolves. Not even vampires, not exactly. Something older. Darker. And in the middle of it all, a face. My face.

“Dastien,” I whispered. My voice shook. “They’re coming. From the east side.”

His eyes snapped to mine, no hesitation, no doubt. He turned to the others. “East side. Now!”

We ran.

The world blurred—pounding paws, snapping branches, the burn of cold air in my lungs. My heart thundered, not just from the run but from the terrifying certainty that every step brought me closer to what I had already seen.

The east boundary loomed ahead, and then I smelled it. Rot. Decay. Wrong.

Figures emerged from the trees, cloaked in shadows that seemed to writhe around them. Vampires, yes, but not like the ones we had faced before. These moved differently, eyes gleaming with something more feral, more ancient. My stomach dropped.

The pack fanned out, growls rolling through the night. Rosalyn leapt forward with a snarl, claws slashing. She was fast, vicious, every strike meant to show off. For a moment I wanted her to win, to tear something apart so I didn’t have to—but then one of the creatures slammed her to the ground, fangs sinking into her shoulder.

Her scream pierced the night.

I froze. Part of me wanted to laugh at the irony, but another part—the bigger part—knew this wasn’t a game. If Rosalyn fell, if the pack fell, the vision would come true.

“Focus!” Dastien barked. His voice cracked through my hesitation like a whip. “You’re stronger than this, Tessa. Fight!”

And something inside me snapped.

The wolf surged, ripping through me with fire and fury. My body shifted before I could think—bones bending, skin splitting, fur erupting. The world sharpened into teeth and claws and bloodlust.

I lunged.

The first creature met my jaws, and I tore it down with a snarl that wasn’t entirely mine. Hot blood spilled across my tongue, metallic and foul, but victory surged with it. Another came, and I was ready—ducking, slashing, feeling the strength in my muscles as the wolf claimed me fully.

For the first time, I wasn’t afraid of the change.

Dastien fought beside me, a whirlwind of fur and gold eyes, his presence steady at my flank. Every movement was in sync, like we had fought together forever. The bond between us pulsed, fierce and undeniable, and in the middle of chaos I realized we were more dangerous together than apart.

But the battle wasn’t ending. The creatures kept coming, shadows spilling through the trees like a tide. The pack fought hard, but it was clear this wasn’t a normal raid.

A scream ripped through the night again—not Rosalyn this time. Someone else. I couldn’t see who. My vision blurred as something cold brushed the edge of my mind.

And then it hit me.

The world fell away. I stood in fire again, but this time I saw more. Wolves lay broken around me. The academy walls burned. And at the center stood a figure cloaked in black, their eyes glowing red.

When they pulled back their hood, my heart stopped.

It was me.

Not human, not wolf. Something worse. Something twisted by darkness. My smile—her smile—was cruel, dripping with power that felt ancient and merciless.

I jerked back into my body with a cry, stumbling on the battlefield. My claws dripped with blood, my chest heaving, but the vision clung to me like tar.

“Tessa!” Dastien’s voice reached me, frantic. He fought his way to me, eyes wild. “What did you see?”

I couldn’t answer. Not yet.

Because the truth was too terrifying.

The enemy wasn’t just outside the gates.

The enemy might be me.