Chapter 14
1033 Words
Dawn painted the old hockey rink blood-red as our convoy skidded to a stop at the edge of the cracked ice. The air was freezing, every breath visible. I slid off Ryker’s bike, my surgeon’s coat flapping open over the crimson dress beneath. The awakened curse thrummed in my veins like a second heartbeat, sharp and ready.
Leo was here. I could feel him through the faint thread connecting him to the bound hybrid.
Ryker stayed glued to my side, one massive arm banded around my waist. His golden eyes scanned the rink with lethal focus. “Stay close. If anything feels wrong, you run.”
The rogue Alphas dismounted behind us, their bodies tense, leather cuts creaking. The broken pact had turned them into walking storms. Kai’s hand brushed my lower back as he moved into position. Jax’s shoulder pressed against mine. Every touch carried heat and unspoken promise.
“Eyes on the boy,” Jax muttered. “He’s our brother’s nephew.”
Darius waited in the center of the ice, Leo held tightly in his arms. My son’s small face was pale, silver chains glowing around his wrists. The hybrid pup — now strangely calm and bound by my curse — sat in a reinforced carrier beside the widow, its glowing eyes tracking me.
“Rhea,” Darius called, voice mocking. “You brought the whole pack. How touching. Submit to the bond. Let the ritual complete. Or watch your son shift under silver and tear himself apart.”
Leo whimpered. “Mommy…”
My heart cracked, but the queen refused to break.
I stepped onto the ice first, Ryker and the rogue Alphas fanning out behind me. The surface groaned under our weight.
“I’m here,” I said clearly. “Release my son.”
Darius smiled. “Not until you kneel and accept the mate bond again. The widow’s hybrid will bind your power to mine. Ryker’s curse becomes ours. The boy lives as my heir.”
The widow smirked from the sidelines, hand resting on the carrier.
Ryker growled low. “Over my dead body.”
Elias appeared from the far end of the rink again, stepping onto the ice with calm authority. “Or you can choose a better path, Rhea. Come with me. I’ll take the boy and end this madness.”
The tension snapped.
Darius lunged forward with Leo. Ryker charged to intercept. The rogue Alphas exploded into motion.
Jax and Kai moved like shadows, cutting off enforcers trying to flank us. Zane shifted partially, his wolf slamming into Darius’s guards. Draco guarded my back, his hand grazing my hip as he passed — a deliberate touch that sent fire racing across my skin.
“Rhea,” Kai rasped as he fought beside me, “we’re not losing him.”
The ice cracked under the weight of shifting bodies and power. I ran toward Leo, scalpel glowing in my hand. Darius tossed my son toward the widow and the hybrid carrier, trying to force the connection.
I caught Leo mid-air, cradling him against my chest. “I’ve got you, baby.”
The hybrid pup howled, lunging against its restraints. The curse threads between us flared. I channeled the awakened power through my scalpel and slashed at the silver chains on Leo’s wrists. The metal melted under the red energy.
Leo gasped, his small body relaxing slightly.
But Darius was on me in seconds. “You’re mine!”
Ryker slammed into him from the side, the two Alphas rolling across the ice in a violent tangle. Fists cracked against bone. Blood sprayed across the frost.
The rogue Alphas closed in around me and Leo, forming a protective circle. Jax’s hand cupped the back of my neck for a brief, grounding moment. “We’ve got you both.”
Kai pressed against my other side, his thigh brushing mine. “When this is over, no more running from us.”
The broken pact made every touch electric. Their hunger was no longer hidden — four dangerous men ready to claim what they had denied themselves for years.
Elias watched from the edge, eyes dark. “Last chance, Rhea. Walk away with me now.”
I ignored him.
With Leo safe in my arms, I turned the full force of the awakened curse toward the hybrid. The pup screamed as I tightened the binding, severing its hunting link to Leo completely. The widow shrieked in agony as the backlash hit her.
“You took my blood,” I said coldly. “I’m taking it back.”
Darius broke free from Ryker, face twisted in rage. He shifted fully, launching himself at me and Leo.
Ryker roared and tackled him again, but this time the rogue Alphas joined without hesitation. Jax, Kai, Zane, and Draco piled on, tearing into Darius and his remaining enforcers with savage fury. The ice groaned and splintered beneath the weight of the brawl.
For one brief moment, I stood in the eye of the storm, holding my son, feeling the power of the curse singing in my blood.
Then the hybrid pup — still alive, still dangerous — broke its physical restraints with a surge of stolen energy. Its eyes locked on Leo with pure malice.
It lunged.
Ryker, bleeding and snarling, threw himself between us.
The hybrid’s claws raked across Ryker’s chest, drawing deep lines of blood that glowed with curse energy.
Ryker staggered, eyes widening as the rebound from my binding hit him.
“Ryker!” I cried.
He dropped to one knee on the cracking ice, golden eyes dimming.
The rogue Alphas froze mid-fight, their heads snapping toward their king — and toward me.
Darius laughed from the ground, bloodied but triumphant. “The curse is breaking him. Submit now, Rhea, or watch your king die while the hybrid finishes your son.”
Leo clung to me tighter.
The queen stood on fracturing ice, power humming in her veins, every Alpha waiting for her final move.
Ryker looked up at me, voice rough. “Don’t… you dare… kneel.”
The hybrid crouched, ready to strike again.
Dawn light broke fully over the rink.
My choice would decide who survived the next breath.
- Writer
