Chapter 15
1028 Words
The hybrid pup crouched low on the fracturing ice, its glowing eyes fixed on Ryker with predatory hunger. Ryker’s blood dripped from its claws, shimmering with the cursed energy I had tried to bind. My king was on one knee, chest torn open, golden eyes dimming as the rebound from my curse binding hit him hard.
“Ryker!” I shouted, clutching Leo tighter to my chest.
The rogue Alphas reacted instantly. Jax and Kai lunged at the hybrid, driving it back with savage force. Zane and Draco shifted partially, their wolves snarling as they formed a wall between us and the creature.
Ryker coughed, blood flecking his lips. “Don’t… stop for me. Get the boy out.”
I ignored him.
I dropped to my knees beside him on the cracking ice, Leo still in my arms. My surgeon hands moved on instinct, pressing against the deep gashes across his chest. The awakened curse surged inside me, responding to my will. I could feel the threads of the curse that bound us — the same ancient power that had once chained me to his bed.
“Stay with me,” I whispered fiercely, channeling the power through my palms. Red energy flowed from my hands into his wounds, knitting the flesh together even as the hybrid’s poison fought back. “You don’t get to die on me, you possessive bastard.”
Ryker’s hand shot up, gripping my wrist with surprising strength. His golden eyes locked on mine, dark with pain and raw obsession. “If I die… you run. Take the boy. Don’t let them have you.”
Behind us, the rogue Alphas were engaged in brutal combat with the hybrid and Darius’s remaining enforcers. Kai glanced back at me, his voice rough over the chaos. “We’re not losing either of you tonight.”
Jax fought closest, his body brushing mine as he guarded our position.
Darius staggered to his feet, laughing through blood. “Look at you, Rhea. Still trying to save the monster who chained you. The hybrid will finish him. Then it will take your son.”
Elias watched from the edge of the rink, arms crossed, his silver-streaked hair catching the dawn light. “This is your last chance. Walk away with me now. I can neutralize the hybrid and protect the boy. These males will only destroy you with their obsession.”
I felt the power inside me crest. The awakened curse was no longer just a tool — it was part of me. I could sense every Alpha bond in the rink: Darius’s weak and fraying mate bond, Ryker’s deep and possessive curse mark, the rogue Alphas’ newly freed threads of desire, and even Elias’s calculated hunger.
I chose.
I pushed harder with the curse, flooding Ryker’s body with stabilizing energy. The gashes on his chest began to close, the poison burning away in red flames. Ryker gasped, eyes flashing bright gold again as strength returned to him.
He surged to his feet, pulling me up with him, Leo still safe in my arms. “My queen,” he growled, voice rough with relief and possession. His hand cupped my face, thumb brushing my lip. “Never again.”
The hybrid pup howled in frustration and lunged once more.
This time, all five Alphas moved as one — Ryker leading the charge with the rogue Alphas at his sides. The battle on the ice turned savage. Claws slashed. Fists cracked. Blood sprayed across the frost.
I stood back with Leo, using the curse to weaken the hybrid’s stolen power from a distance. The creature screamed as its strength ebbed, the binding I had placed earlier tightening like chains.
Darius realized he was losing. He shifted fully and charged me directly, claws aimed at Leo.
Ryker intercepted him mid-leap, slamming him down onto the ice so hard the surface splintered beneath them. “She is not yours!”
The rogue Alphas closed in, surrounding Darius. Jax delivered a brutal kick. Kai pinned one arm. Zane and Draco held the other. For the first time, the four of them worked with Ryker instead of against him — united by the need to protect me and the boy.
Elias took a step forward, eyes narrowing. “Rhea, this violence is unnecessary. Let me—”
“No,” I cut him off, voice ringing clear across the rink. “I don’t need saving. I need you to understand I am not a prize.”
With Leo safe against my chest, I raised my glowing scalpel and slashed the final thread connecting the hybrid to my blood. The pup collapsed, neutralized, its body going limp as the stolen curse energy dissipated harmlessly into the ice.
The widow screamed in defeat.
Darius, pinned under the combined weight of Ryker and the rogue Alphas, finally stopped struggling. His eyes met mine, filled with bitter realization.
“You… you really have become the monster I created.”
Ryker hauled him up by the throat. “She is the queen you threw away.”
The ice groaned loudly beneath us. The entire rink was fracturing from the power unleashed tonight.
Leo stirred in my arms, whispering, “Mommy… are we safe?”
I pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Yes we safe, baby.”
But as the first rays of true dawn broke over the horizon, Elias spoke again, his voice carrying a final, dangerous edge.
“Congratulations, Rhea. You’ve won this battle. But the war is just beginning. The hybrid may be bound… but the curse you awakened has a price. Every time you use it to control an Alpha, it binds you tighter to all of them.”
He gestured at Ryker and the rogue Alphas.
“Choose carefully who you let close. Or the power will consume you… and them.”
Ryker’s grip on Darius tightened. The rogue Alphas turned their glowing eyes toward me, hunger and loyalty burning brighter than ever.
The queen stood victorious on breaking ice, her son safe, her enemies defeated for now.
But the awakened curse whispered a new truth in my blood:
The real trap… might be me.
- Writer
