The Alpha's Flame

Five

Mira stiffened behind me, her breath catching in her throat.

“What do you—” I started, but Zara’s voice cut through, dripping with sugar and rot.

“Mira,” she said, slow and deliberate. “I won’t ask again.”

Mira trembled, her shoulders shaking, and then, as if her feet betrayed her, she took a few reluctant steps forward. Zara leaned down, lips brushing her ear, whispering something I couldn’t catch. Mira went still, eyes wide, and then Zara shoved her hard.

The sound of Mira hitting the stone floor echoed, sharp and cruel, her cry tearing through me as her knee slammed against the edge with a sickening thud. I lunged forward before thought could stop me.

Rowan caught me mid-step, his arm locked tight around my waist. “Don’t,” he whispered, voice steady but low. “Not like this. Not here.”

“Let. Me. Go.”

“They want you to snap.”

Zara stood watching us, that wicked gleam in her eyes glowing like firelight, her smile sharpened by the satisfaction of control. “Aw,” she mocked, tilting her head. “So protective. You two look cute together.”

I stared her down, my voice raw with fury. “Do that again, and I swear—”

“What?” She laughed, a sound like glass breaking. “You’ll snarl at me? You’re barely even wolf.”

“Touch her again and I’ll show you how human rage feels,” I snapped, heat climbing through my chest.

Her eyes flickered, a crack in her amusement, though she hid it with a mocking pout. “You’re lucky we’re in public.” Then she leaned closer, her voice dropping hard as steel. “Meet us behind the training arena before moonrise. Or your little friend gets more than a bruise.”

She turned away, her laughter sharp and triumphant, her pack of shadows trailing behind her. Arnou’s stare lingered, a look full of promises I didn’t want fulfilled, and then he too vanished into the crowd.

When they were gone, I dropped to Mira’s side, helping her up gently. Her face was pale, her body shaking.

“She’s fine,” Rowan said quietly. “Just bruised.”

But I kept staring after Zara, fury boiling low and steady in my chest like embers waiting for air.

“I’ll go,” I said.

Rowan’s eyes widened. “Ren—”

“I said I’ll go.” My voice left no room for argument. And when I did, I wouldn’t be cleaning floors.

✦ ✦ ✦

The night was thick with silence as I walked the dirt path behind the training arena, my boots pressing soft against the earth. My pulse thundered in my ears, but my face stayed calm; I was good at that, good at wearing calm like armor even when everything inside me rattled. Maybe this wasn’t brave. Maybe it was stupid. But stupid feels less stupid when your best friend is crying into her pillow because someone hurt her for no reason—and will hurt her again if I don’t show up.

Zara had said moonrise, so I came. Alone. Rowan tried to stop me, but the second he looked away I slipped past him. The clearing came into view, framed by the rusted metal fence and crates stacked like forgotten relics. No pack lights reached this far. The only glow was the moon, round and pale, hanging high above like it was watching everything and judging us all.

And then Zara stepped out.

She wore that stupid tunic that glimmered even at night, her braid pulled tight, its silver ends gleaming like a blade. She looked relaxed, too relaxed, as if the whole thing was a game she’d already won. The others filed in behind her—Arnou, Derek, Leena, Sylah. Arnou stood closest at her right, bigger than all of them, his presence heavy, his shoulders squared like a wall. Son of Beta Magnus, bred for power, and his eyes glinted the way predators’ do when they smell weakness.

“Well, well,” Zara said, her voice lilting with mischief. “You do have a spine. No Rowan this time?” My jaw tightened, but I didn’t rise to it… not yet.

Arnou folded his arms, the threat in his silence louder than any words. “You came alone,” he rumbled. “Brave or just stupid?”

“Funny,” I said, keeping my tone steady. “I could ask the same.”

His eyes narrowed, sharp with the kind of anger that didn’t need shouting. “Keep talking.”

“I will,” I said. “Once your mouth catches up to your brain.”

Zara’s laughter cracked through the night like ice shattering. “Cute. But sass doesn’t earn you points when you’re the one who bleeds easiest.”

“I don’t bleed easy,” I said flatly.

“Then let’s test that.”

She moved fast, claws flashing as her hand struck toward me. I ducked, just barely, though pain stung across my cheek as her nails grazed skin, drawing a hot line of blood. My face burned, but I didn’t flinch. I looked her dead in the eye, and I could see she hated that.

Leena came at me from the side, quick and sure, but I sidestepped, already bracing for the next. Derek charged in with his fist raised; I lifted my arms to block but his strike slammed into my ribs, the breath bursting out of me. I stumbled, nearly falling to my knees as laughter erupted around me.

Zara shook her head, her smile sharp and cruel. “This is what you brought? No wolf. No backup. Just bones and bad attitude?”

Then Sylah stepped forward, her eyes glowing bright under the moon. She snarled, and before I could process it, her body began to shift. Bones cracked, fur burst from her skin, and in seconds she stood before me as a wolf, massive and wild.

I froze.

That wasn’t allowed. Not against someone unshifted. But rules meant nothing here. Tonight wasn’t about training. Tonight, they wanted blood. And the wolf lunged.