WESLEY’S POV
I staggered back, claws scraping the ground, teeth gritted until they ached. The circle burned around me, ritual flames licking at the edges of the ash lines, casting grotesque, twitching shadows over my trembling form. The pack’s eyes were no longer fixed on Ellie, they were on me. Me! The Alpha. Their leader. And yet, for the first time in all my years, fear mingled with something alien—doubt. Confusion. Disbelief.
What… what is this? They cannot… they cannot question me. They cannot. My voice should have been law. My command, absolute. And yet, everywhere I looked, hesitation gleamed in the eyes of wolves who had once followed my every thought. The Omega’s gaze flickered with uncertainty. A veteran warrior who had never doubted me stiffened, shifting back as if the earth
