*The Alpha’s Step Sister*

Chapter Ten: The Primordial

I didn’t run.

My brain was screaming at me to move, to scramble up those stone stairs and not look back, but my body refused to obey. I was paralyzed, pinned to the dirt floor by the sheer, crushing weight of the entity standing in front of me.

It was Klaus. But it wasn't.

The glowing alabaster skin, the blinding white eyes, the sheer, impossible size of him—it was like looking at a god of destruction wearing the face of the boy I loved. The red light from the shattered Moonstone coiled around his massive shoulders like a living storm. The air around him crackled with heat, smelling of ozone and burnt sage.

"Klaus," I whispered, my voice trembling.

The entity tilted its head. The movement was wrong—too fluid, too predatory. It took a step toward me. The ground literally shook beneath its weight.

"The human weeps," the layered, ancient voice rumbled, vibrating in my very bones. "The blood calls. The vessel is strong."

"No!" Klaus’s voice broke through the terrifying echo. It was faint, muffled, like he was screaming from the bottom of a deep well. The entity’s hands flew up to its head, clutching its temples. The red light flickered, the blinding white eyes dimming for a fraction of a second.

"Get out of here, Chris!" Klaus roared, his human voice ripping through the monstrous vocal cords. "I can’t hold it back! It wants your blood!"

The entity let out a deafening roar that shattered the remaining clay jars in the cellar. The force of it threw me backward. I hit the stone stairs hard, the wind knocked out of my lungs.

I scrambled up, ignoring the white-hot pain in my ribs. I didn't look back. I just ran.

I took the stairs two at a time, bursting through the heavy metal door into the main floor of the hunting lodge. The place was a disaster. Rogue wolves were scrambling in a panic, barking and snarling in confusion. The explosion of the Moonstone had sent shockwaves through the camp, and they could feel the ancient, terrible power rising from the cellar.

I didn't wait for them to notice me. I darted through the chaos, slipping past a massive rogue who was frantically trying to shift. I slammed through the front door of the lodge and burst into the cold night air.

The woods were a pitch-black maze. I ran blindly, branches whipping at my face, the underbrush tearing at my clothes. My lungs burned, my arm was bleeding through its makeshift bandage, but the adrenaline was a wildfire in my veins.

Behind me, a sound echoed through the forest. It wasn't a howl. It was a sonic boom.

I risked a glance over my shoulder.

The roof of the lodge had been completely blown off. And rising from the wreckage was the glowing, massive silhouette of the entity. It was levitating, the red storm swirling violently around it.

Then, it turned its head.

Its blinding white eyes locked onto my exact location, even through the dense, dark trees. It saw me.

"Mine," the ancient voice boomed, carrying on the wind like a thunderclap.

It didn't run. It launched itself into the air, a blur of white light and red energy, moving with a terrifying, impossible speed. It was hunting me.

I pushed my legs harder, crying out as my ankle rolled on a hidden root. I stumbled, crashing into a small clearing by a rocky creek bed. I tried to get up, but my body finally gave out. I collapsed against a boulder, clutching my side, gasping for air.

The air pressure dropped. The forest went dead silent.

I looked up.

The entity landed in the creek bed just ten feet in front of me. The water hissed and evaporated where its glowing feet touched the stones. The red energy coiled around it, snapping like a whip.

I was trapped.

It took a slow, deliberate step toward me. I pressed my back against the cold rock, tears streaming down my face. I was going to die here. Not by a rogue wolf, not by the Alpha’s orders, but by the hands of the boy who was supposed to love me.

The entity stopped inches from me. It leaned down, its face inches from mine. Up close, the alabaster skin was terrifyingly smooth, devoid of the freckles and faint scars I had traced in my mind. But the jawline... the shape of the lips... it was all Klaus.

"The blood," it rumbled, a massive, glowing hand reaching toward my bleeding arm.

"Don't," I sobbed, closing my eyes.

The hand stopped.

For a long, agonizing second, there was only the sound of the wind.

Then, a violent shudder racked the entity’s massive frame. The red light flickered violently.

"No..." Klaus's voice ripped through the silence, strained and agonizing. "I won't... let you... touch her!"

The entity let out a furious, ear-splitting shriek. It grabbed its own head, staggering backward. The blinding white light in its eyes began to fracture, replaced by a desperate, familiar gold.

"Weak!" the ancient voice snarled, fighting for control. "The vessel is weak!"

Klaus fell to his knees in the dirt, the massive entity shrinking, the glowing alabaster skin cracking and bleeding away to reveal his human flesh. The red storm dissipated into the air, leaving only the cold, dark forest.

He was human again, naked, shivering, and covered in blood. He was panting, his hands clutching the dirt, his head bowed.

I didn't move. I couldn't. I was too terrified.

Slowly, he lifted his head. His eyes were gold again. And they were filled with absolute, shattering horror. He looked at his hands, then at me, cowering against the rock.

"I almost killed you," he whispered, his voice cracking. A sob tore from his chest. "I almost killed you, Christabel. I could feel it. I wanted to rip your throat out to get to your blood. I wanted to consume you."

He crawled backward, putting distance between us, his hands raised like he was trying to surrender to a firing squad.

"Stay away from me," he choked out. "I'm a monster. I'm not safe."

My heart broke into a million pieces. The mate bond was gone, but the emotional tether, the raw, human connection we had forged in that cellar, was stronger than ever. I looked at the boy who had been an arrogant king, who had thrown himself into a fight he couldn't win, who had just fought off an ancient god for me.

I pushed myself off the rock.

"No," Klaus begged, panic rising in his eyes. "Chris, please. Don't. I can't control it. The Moonstone... it woke something up inside me. I don't know what I am anymore."

I ignored him. I walked slowly across the creek bed until I was standing right in front of him.

He flinched, trying to cover his head.

I knelt down in the dirt, reaching out with my uninjured hand. I gently placed it on his cheek.

The phantom pain flared, a sharp, stinging shock, but I didn't pull away. I held on.

Klaus looked up at me, his golden eyes wide and glassy with tears.

"Look at me," I whispered, my voice steady despite the fear shaking my core. "You didn't kill me, Klaus. You fought it off. You saved me."

"I don't know how long I can hold it," he whispered. "It's so strong. It wants the blood. It wants the stone."

"Then we find the stone," I said, my voice hardening. "We put it back together. We figure out how to put this genie back in the bottle. But we do it together."

Klaus stared at me, a mixture of awe and desperate love shining in his eyes. "Why? Why aren't you running?"

"Because I'm an i***t," I said, managing a weak, watery smile. "And because you owe me a proper date once we survive this."

A laugh, broken and wet, escaped his lips. He leaned into my touch, closing his eyes.

We stayed there for a moment, a fragile island of peace in the ruined forest.

But the peace was shattered by the sound of a slow, deliberate clap.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

We both froze.

Dorian stepped out of the shadows of the pines. He was holding a long, silver hunting knife, and he was smiling.

"I have to hand it to you, Klaus," Dorian said, his silver eyes gleaming. "I didn't think you had the fortitude to fight off a Primordial possession. Most wolves would have been erased instantly."

Klaus moved faster than I could see. He shoved me behind him, his body coiling defensively, even in his human form.

"You knew," Klaus growled, his voice vibrating with a low, dangerous threat. "You knew what was inside the stone."

"Of course I knew," Dorian said, stepping closer. "Why do you think the Council sent me? The Moonstone is just a key. The real weapon is the Primordial. And now, it's inside you."

Dorian twirled the silver knife.

"The Council doesn't want the stone destroyed," Dorian said, his smile dropping into a chilling, business-like coldness. "They want the weapon controlled. And since you clearly can't control it, I'm here to extract it. Even if I have to carve it out of your chest."

Klaus tensed, preparing to shift, preparing to fight.

But Dorian didn't look at Klaus. He looked past him, directly at me.

"By the way," Dorian said, his voice dropping to a whisper that carried across the clearing. "The rogue Alpha wasn't the only one looking for you, Christabel. The Council has been hunting your bloodline for a hundred years. Your mother didn't tell you the truth about your father, did she?"