Claimed By The Alpha Heir

Chapter 8: Magic

His chest didn’t rise.

Panic clawed up my throat. I pressed both hands against Darian’s wound, trying to stop the blood. It was useless. It just kept coming, warm and sticky over my fingers.

Stay with me, I whispered. My voice cracked. You promised.

Rourke was still standing behind me, watching. Waiting for me to break.

Let him go, omega, he said again, softer now. Almost bored. The heir is dead. The pack is mine.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

Then something shifted.

A pull low in my chest, like a thread being yanked tight. It wasn’t pain. It was heat. It started in my hands, where I was touching Darian’s blood, and spread up my arms, fast.

My vision blurred.

For a second, the world went quiet. No Rourke. No Victor. No trees. Just me and Darian and this burning line between us.

I felt it. His bond. Frayed, thin, but not gone.

Mine, I whispered back to him.

I didn’t know what I was doing. I just pressed harder, and thought live. Stay. Don’t leave me.

Light spilled from my hands.

Silver-white, like moonlight caught in water. It poured into Darian’s chest, sealing the wound as fast as it opened. His body jerked under me.

Rourke stepped back, eyes wide. What the hell

Darian gasped.

Air rushed into his lungs. His eyes flew open, gold blazing. He grabbed my wrists, shoving me back as he sat up.

The light vanished.

For three seconds, no one moved.

Then Rourke cursed and lunged.

Darian was faster. He caught Rourke’s wrist mid-air, twisted, and slammed him into the dirt.

It’s over, Darian growled, human voice rough and raw. Challenge void. You used silver. The elders heard.

Rourke spat blood. You’re a freak. That wasn’t wolf magic.

Darian didn’t deny it. He looked at me instead.

My hands were shaking. My palms glowed faintly, then faded.

What did I just do? I asked.

Darian’s expression shifted. Shock. Fear. And something else I couldn’t name.

You saved me, he said quietly.

Victor stepped forward, face pale. She’s not just an omega.

Rourke laughed, but it sounded forced now. No. She’s worse.

Darian pulled me to my feet, keeping me behind him. His arm was steady around my waist, but I could feel his heart pounding against my back.

Get out of my territory, Rourke, he said. If you step here again, I’ll kill you myself.

Rourke stared at me one last time, like he was memorizing my face. Then he shifted and ran.

Silence fell.

Darian turned to me. His hands framed my face, careful, like I might break.

How did you do that? he asked.

I shook my head. I don’t know.

I just… didn’t want to lose you.

His thumb brushed over my cheek.

Then we’re both in trouble, he murmured. Because no one knows what you are. And if the wrong people find out…

He didn’t finish.

He didn’t need to.

Behind us, Victor muttered a prayer under his breath.

I looked down at my hands. They were normal again. No glow. No heat. Just shaking.

What happens now? I whispered.

Darian’s jaw tightened. “Now we run.”

[End of Chapter 8]