The Alpha Unleashed
1226 Words
The explosion echoed through Blackwood Estate, rattling the windows and shaking the marble floor beneath Aria’s feet. The emergency lights flickered to life, bathing the mansion in a dim red glow while the security alarms continued to scream through every hallway.
For a brief moment, no one moved.
Then Damien’s voice cut through the chaos.
“Lucas.”
“I’m already on it.”
Lucas pressed the communicator in his ear.
“All security teams, defensive positions. Lock down the mansion immediately. No one gets inside.”
Static crackled before a guard answered.
“They’ve broken through the front gate. There are too many of them!”
Lucas’s expression hardened.
“Hold your positions. Reinforcements are coming.”
He ended the transmission and looked at Damien.
“They’re heavily armed.”
“They’re not here to negotiate.”
Aria looked between them in confusion.
“Who are these people?”
Neither man answered.
Another explosion erupted outside.
This one was much closer.
The front windows shattered, sending fragments of glass across the entrance hall.
Thomas instinctively shielded Aria from the flying debris.
“Miss Stone, please come with me.”
She remained frozen.
The woman outside had called her a princess.
The old recording from her parents had mentioned a kingdom.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Damien gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Aria.”
She looked up at him.
“I need you to trust me.”
“I do.”
His eyes softened.
“No matter what happens over the next few minutes…”
He hesitated.
“…don’t leave this house.”
Before she could ask what he meant, another security officer rushed inside.
“Sir!”
Damien turned.
“They’re heading toward the east entrance.”
“How many?”
“More than fifty.”
Lucas cursed under his breath.
“This wasn’t an attack.”
Damien nodded.
“It was an invasion.”
Outside, the woman dressed in crimson walked calmly across the estate grounds as though she owned them. Around her, armed mercenaries exchanged gunfire with Damien’s security team.
Bullets flew in every direction.
She ignored them completely.
One of the guards stepped into her path.
“Stop!”
She smiled.
“You should move.”
The guard raised his rifle.
She disappeared.
A second later, she reappeared behind him.
Her hand closed around his throat.
With one effortless movement, she threw the man several meters across the courtyard.
He crashed into a stone fountain and lost consciousness.
The surrounding guards stared in disbelief.
“No human moves that fast.”
She smiled again.
“Exactly.”
Inside the mansion, Aria heard the terrified shouts echoing from outside.
She turned toward Damien.
“Tell me what’s happening.”
He looked into her frightened eyes.
“There isn’t enough time.”
“There has to be.”
“There isn’t.”
She stepped closer.
“You promised you’d tell me the truth.”
“I know.”
“Then stop protecting me from it.”
For several long seconds, Damien said nothing.
Finally, he took a slow breath.
“Everything you’ve believed about the world…”
He paused.
“…is incomplete.”
She frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means humans aren’t alone.”
Her confusion only deepened.
Before he could continue, the front doors exploded inward.
Heavy wooden panels crashed across the marble floor.
Smoke filled the entrance hall.
Several mercenaries rushed inside with assault rifles raised.
“There she is!”
They pointed their weapons directly at Aria.
Without hesitation, Damien stepped between them.
“Leave.”
The leader laughed.
“Move aside, Blackwood.”
“You have one chance.”
“We’re taking the girl.”
“I said…”
Damien’s voice became unnaturally deep.
“…leave.”
Something changed.
The temperature inside the room seemed to drop.
Aria stared at him.
His eyes…
They weren’t gray anymore.
They had turned a brilliant shade of gold.
The mercenaries hesitated.
One of them recovered first.
“Kill him!”
Gunfire erupted.
Everything happened too quickly for Aria to understand.
Damien moved.
He was suddenly standing several feet away.
Then somewhere else.
Bullets struck empty air where he had been standing only an instant earlier.
One mercenary cried out as Damien disarmed him with impossible speed.
Another was thrown across the room before anyone saw what had happened.
Within seconds, every attacker lay unconscious on the floor.
Silence returned.
Aria could only stare.
“What…”
Her voice trembled.
“…how did you do that?”
Damien looked at her.
The golden color slowly faded from his eyes.
Before he could answer, a slow clap echoed through the ruined entrance hall.
The woman in crimson stepped inside.
She smiled at Damien.
“So.”
Her crimson eyes gleamed with amusement.
“The great Alpha King finally shows himself.”
Aria’s breath caught.
Alpha?
The woman shifted her gaze toward Aria.
“And you…”
Her smile widened.
“…look exactly like your mother.”
Aria instinctively stepped backward.
“Who are you?”
The woman bowed slightly.
“My name is Selene.”
“I’ve come to take you home.”
“I don’t know you.”
“You will.”
Selene’s expression became almost sympathetic.
“Because your memories are already beginning to return.”
Aria shook her head.
“I don’t remember you.”
“You don’t remember anything.”
Selene looked toward Damien.
“That’s your fault.”
Damien’s expression darkened.
“My father protected her.”
“He delayed the inevitable.”
Selene slowly walked forward.
“The seal is weakening.”
She looked directly into Aria’s eyes.
“Tell me.”
“Have you started dreaming?”
Aria froze.
Every night for the past week she had experienced the same strange dream.
A silver forest.
A ruined castle.
A woman’s voice calling her name.
She had told no one.
Seeing the answer on Aria’s face, Selene smiled.
“I knew it.”
Damien stepped forward.
“This conversation is over.”
Selene sighed dramatically.
“You always were stubborn.”
Her gaze returned to Aria.
“The next time you dream…”
“…follow the silver wolf.”
Aria felt an intense pain explode inside her head.
She cried out, collapsing to her knees.
Fragments of unfamiliar memories flooded her mind.
A castle.
Fire.
Blood.
A silver wolf standing before a little girl.
Someone shouting—
“Run, Princess!”
The vision disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Aria gasped for breath.
Damien immediately knelt beside her.
“Aria!”
She looked at him with tear-filled eyes.
“I…”
Her voice shook.
“I’ve seen that place before.”
Selene smiled with satisfaction.
“The seal is breaking.”
She turned and walked toward the destroyed entrance.
Before leaving, she glanced over her shoulder.
“I’ll give you seven days.”
Damien stood.
“For what?”
“For her memories to return.”
Her smile disappeared.
“After that…”
“…not even you will be able to stop what’s coming.”
With that, she vanished into the darkness beyond the mansion.
The estate fell silent once more.
Aria slowly looked at Damien.
There was only one question left.
His eyes…
They had changed.
She met his gaze, her voice barely above a whisper.
“What… are you?”
- Writer
