Chapter 9
1166 Words
The escape from the shattered rink was a blur of roaring bikes, flashing claws, and the cold sting of wind against wet skin. I clutched Leo tight against my chest as Ryker's motorcycle tore down the back roads, my red dress plastered to my body like a second skin, the open surgeon's coat flapping wildly. Leo's small arms wrapped around my neck, his breathing finally steady after the suppressants and counter runes did their work. The boy was safe for now, but the DNA revelation burned in my mind like acid.
We reached the Blood Howlers secondary safe house - an isolated warehouse on the outskirts converted into a fortified bunker - just as the sun dipped low, painting the sky blood red. Ryker killed the engine and lifted me off the bike with one arm, Leo still in my hold. His golden eyes scanned me head to toe, obsession and lingering rage simmering beneath the surface.
"Inside. Now," he ordered, voice gravel rough. The rogue Alphas dismounted behind us their leather cuts dripping, bodies still vibrating with unrestrained energy. Their eyes tracked every move I made, touches lingering as they guided us through the reinforced doors.
The moment the heavy steel door sealed shut, the tension exploded.
Ryker set me down but kept one hand possessively on my lower back, guiding me into the central room, a dimly lit space with reinforced walls, medical supplies, and a large bed in the corner that screamed temporary command center. Leo stirred, exhausted but safe. I handed him to a trusted human nanny who had been pre-positioned here, whispering promises before she carried him to a secured side room.
The second she disappeared, Ryker spun me around and pinned me against the nearest wall. His massive frame caged me in, thigh pressing between my legs, wet leather and hard muscles overwhelming my senses. "You almost chose them on that ice," he growled, mouth hovering inches from mine. His hand slid up my thigh, pushing the soaked red dress higher, fingers digging into bare skin. "Never again, Rhea. You're mine. The cursed. The queen. The obsession. Say it."
Before I could answer, Jax stepped in close from the left, his hand replacing Ryker's on my waist, bold and unapologetic. "She doesn't have to say anything to you alone anymore." His lips brushed my neck, teeth grazing the sensitive skin. "We all felt it out there. The pact is gone. We've waited years. Let us show you what real claiming feels like."
Kai moved in from the right, his palm flattening over my stomach, sliding upward until his thumb brushed the underside of my breast through the wet fabric. " You're trembling, Rhea. Not from cold but from need. We can smell it. Let the four of us take the pain away. Right here. We'll ruin every memory of Darius and make you forget the curse exists."
Zane and Draco closed the circle, their hands joining the assault - Zane's fingers tangling in my wet hair, titling my head back, Draco's palm cupping my ass, pulling me harder against Ryker's thigh. Four sets of hands roamed my body, touches turning heated and insistent. Mouths hovered near my skin. The air thickened with raw male hunger. My pulse raced, heat polling despite the danger. After years of being discarded, being wanted this violently was intoxicating and terrifying.
Ryker snarled and shoved Jax back a step, but the rogue Alpha only grinned darkly, eyes glowing. "She felt it when I kisse6her. When we all touched her. Don't pretend you're the only one who can make her burn, King."
The standoff crackled. Ryker's hand fisted in my hair, pulling me into a bruising kiss, possessive, punishing, tongue invading as if to erase every other touch. I moaned into his mouth, body arching, hands fisting his cut. For a moment, the world narrowed to his scorching dominance.
Suddenly Zane's voice cut through, low and serious. He held up the data drive again. "Before this turns into a full claim war... you need to see this, Rhea."
He plugged it into a laptop on the central table. Grainy security footage and DNA reports filled the screen. My stolen blood from the night I was chained to Ryker's bed. Engineered samples. The widow's pregnancy wasn't natural - it was a hybrid, designed using my genetic material mixed with Darius's to create a pup that could wield both the curse and the Silver Moon power. The plan had been in motion since the betrayal three years ago: discarded me, used me as a vessel for their perfect heir, then eliminate Leo as the "cursed mistake."
My knees nearly buckled. Ryker caught me, but his body vibrated with lethal rage. "They used you like a lab rat."
Leo's sleepy voice came faintly from the other room. "Mommy?"
The sound grounded me. I straightened, pushing the Alphas back with surprising strength, the awakened curse power still humming in my veins. "They think they can steal my bloodline and my son. They're wrong."
I turned to face all five of them. Their eyes tracked me hungrily. "I won't submit to any of you. Not until I end this. The widow wants midnight for the ritual? We hit them before then. I'll use my position as surgeon to get close. Counter the hybrid in real time. But I need all of you focused. Not fighting over who gets to claim me first."
Jax stepped closer, hand brushing my arm. "And after? When the widow is bleeding and Darius is on his knees?"
Kai's gaze darkened. "Then you choose. Or we make the choice for you in the best possible way."
Draco growled low. "We've been patient. No more."
Ryker pulled me back against his chest, one arm banding around my waist like iron. "She already chose. Me. The rest of you can ride as enforcers or walk."
The tension spiked again, five powerful males vibrating with dominance and desire. Hands reached for me once more, but before anyone could push further, the secure line on the table buzzed. An incoming call from an unknown encrypted source.
I answered on speaker.
The widow's voice slithered through, weak but triumphant. "Clever moves on the ice, Surgeon Frost. But the hybrid is accelerating. Midnight is too late. The ritual begins in one hour at the old pack house. Bring the boy or the hybrid pup will be born with your stolen power and used to hunt your son down like prey."
The line clicked dead. Silence crashed over the room.
Ryker's grip tightened painfully. The rogue Alphas exchanged dark look, their hunger momentarily overshadowed by the new threat.
One hour.
My carefully built revenge was collapsing into a race against time.
Leo's safety, the hybrid threat, and five Alphas ready to claim me in the middle of war- all converging at the old pack house.
The queen had to strike now or watch her empire, her child and her body be taken by force.
- Writer
