ZARA'S POV
I stared at Darius Blackthorn's extended hand like it was a poisonous snake.
"Come with you where?" I asked, my voice shaking. "I don't even know you."
"Somewhere safe," he said simply. "Somewhere the Reeds can't find you."
A sharp pain shot through my chest—the broken mate bond reminding me it existed. I gasped and curled forward, wrapping my arms around myself.
"The rejection bond," Darius said, kneeling down to my level. "It's going to hurt for a while. But it also saved your life."
"Saved my life?" I laughed bitterly. "It feels like dying."
"The rejection shattered the suppression spell they put on you when you were five years old," he explained. "The spell that kept you weak. That made you seem like an Omega when you're actually—"
"Don't," I interrupted. "Don't say I'm royalty or a princess or whatever crazy story that old woman was selling. I'm just Zara. Just an Omega who got rejected by her mate and thrown in the trash where I belong."
Darius's eyes flashed with anger. "Is that what they taught you? That you belong in the trash?"
"They didn't have to teach me," I said quietly. "I lived it every day for eighteen years."
Another wave of pain crashed through me. This time it felt different—not just the bond breaking, but something else. Something building inside me like pressure in a bottle about to explode.
My hands started glowing again, brighter than before.
"What's happening to me?" I whispered, terrified.
"Your true nature is waking up," Darius said. "Your wolf has been dormant your entire life, suppressed by dark magic. Now she's finally free, and she's angry."
As if responding to his words, my wolf's voice filled my head. Stronger than before. Powerful.
They hurt us. They broke us. They threw us away like garbage.
"Yes," I agreed silently.
So we will make them pay.
The thought should have scared me. Sweet, broken little Zara thinking about revenge? That wasn't who I was.
Except... maybe it was. Maybe that's who I'd always been underneath, just waiting for permission to be angry.
"I can feel her," I told Darius. "My wolf. She's so... strong."
"That's because you're not an Omega," he said gently. "You never were. The Reeds needed you weak and controllable, so they hired a dark witch to suppress your bloodline. Every beating, every cruel word, every night in that cupboard—it was all to keep you from discovering what you really are."
Tears streamed down my face. "And what am I?"
"The last living heir to the Nightshade Royal Line," Darius said. "Your parents ruled all werewolf territories in North America. Until they were murdered."
The word "murdered" hit me like a punch.
I had vague memories of my parents—warm smiles, gentle hands, feeling safe and loved. Then one night, screaming and blood and being dragged away by strangers.
The Reeds had told me my parents died in an accident. A car crash.
They'd lied about that too.
"Who killed them?" I asked, though part of me already knew the answer.
"Marcus and Helena Reed," Darius confirmed. "Along with several other ambitious Alphas who wanted power. They murdered your parents, your older brother, and everyone loyal to your family. Then they took you—the youngest child, only five years old—and put a spell on you so you'd never be a threat."
"Why not just kill me too?"
"Royal blood has power," Darius explained. "Even dormant, your bloodline gave them certain advantages. Access to Royal territories, magical artifacts, political connections. Dead, you were useless. Alive and under their control? You were an asset."
I thought about all those years. All that pain. It wasn't random cruelty—it was planned. Strategic.
They'd turned me into a slave on purpose.
Rage built inside me, hotter than anything I'd ever felt. Not the small, helpless anger of a beaten child. This was something bigger. Dangerous.
My whole body started to shake.
"Easy," Darius warned. "Your power is waking up too fast. You need to learn control before—"
I screamed.
Not from pain this time, but from raw fury. How dare they? How DARE they kill my family, steal my life, and make me think I was worthless?
Silver fire exploded from my hands.
Actual fire. It shot up into the night sky like a pillar of light, illuminating the entire alley in shimmering silver flames.
Darius jumped back, his eyes wide. "Impossible. You shouldn't be able to do that yet. It takes years of training to summon Royal fire!"
But I wasn't thinking about training or control. I was thinking about Garrett's disgusted face. Clarissa's cruel smile. Marcus's fists. Helena's slaps. The cupboard. The hunger. The scars.
All of it came pouring out of me in waves of silver fire.
"Zara, stop!" Darius shouted. "You're going to draw attention! Every wolf in the city will feel this much power!"
I couldn't stop. Didn't want to stop. For the first time in my life, I wasn't holding anything back.
Let them feel it, my wolf growled. Let them know we're coming for them.
The fire burned brighter, hotter. I felt my body changing—bones shifting, muscles growing. My wolf was trying to emerge, to transform.
But I'd never shifted before. Didn't know how. The sensation was overwhelming, painful, and exhilarating all at once.
Then Darius did something unexpected.
He wrapped his arms around me.
The moment he touched me, his own Alpha power flowed into me like cool water on burning skin. It didn't suppress my power—it guided it. Shaped it. Gave it direction.
The wild flames calmed to a steady glow. My wolf settled, still strong but not trying to tear her way out anymore.
I collapsed against Darius's chest, exhausted.
"How did you do that?" I whispered.
"I'm an Alpha," he said quietly. "A very old, very powerful Alpha. I can help you learn to control your gifts. But first, we need to leave. Now. Your power just sent out a beacon that every supernatural creature within fifty miles felt."
As if on cue, I heard shouting in the distance. Running footsteps. The Reeds were coming.
"They'll kill me," I said, panic rising. "If they catch me now, knowing what I am—"
"They won't catch you," Darius promised. He stood up and pulled me to my feet. "Take my hand, Zara. Trust me. I've been searching for you for ten years. I'm not going to let them hurt you again."
I looked at his offered hand. This stranger who claimed to know my real name. Who said I was royalty. Who made impossible silver fire seem normal.
Every instinct I had screamed that trusting people led to pain.
But staying here meant death.
I grabbed his hand.
"Good choice, princess," Darius said with a small smile. "Hold on tight. This is going to feel weird."
"What's going to feel—"
The world twisted sideways. Colors blurred. My stomach lurched like I was falling, except I wasn't moving at all.
Then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes again, we weren't in the alley anymore.
We were standing in some kind of underground tunnel lit by glowing crystals embedded in the stone walls. The air smelled different—damp and ancient.
"Where are we?" I gasped, looking around in shock.
"Welcome to the Underground," Darius said. "A hidden city beneath the regular world. This is where rogues, outcasts, and rebels live. Where wolves come when they have nowhere else to go."
As my eyes adjusted, I saw them. Dozens—no, hundreds—of wolves emerging from the shadows. All of them were staring at me with wide eyes.
At my silver-white hair. My glowing violet eyes.
One by one, they began to kneel.
"What are they doing?" I asked Darius frantically.
He smiled. "Acknowledging their true queen."
An older woman stepped forward from the crowd. She had scars across her face and arms, clearly a fighter.
"Is it really her?" the woman asked Darius. "After all these years? The lost princess?"
"It's really her," Darius confirmed.
The woman's eyes filled with tears. She dropped to both knees and bowed her head.
"Your Majesty," she said, her voice breaking. "We thought you were dead. We've been waiting so long. We're ready to serve. Ready to fight. Just give the word, and we'll help you take back your throne."
I stared at hundreds of kneeling wolves. At Darius standing protective beside me. At my own glowing hands that had just summoned magical fire.
This morning I'd woken up in a cupboard, believing I was the weakest creature alive.
Tonight, I was standing in a hidden city while people called me "Your Majesty" and pledged to fight for me.
"I don't understand," I whispered to Darius. "Why do they care? I'm nobody to them."
"You're not nobody," a new voice said.
I turned to see a young woman about my age pushing through the crowd. She had bright red hair and fierce green eyes. Multiple piercings decorated her ears and nose.
"You're the daughter of King Aldric and Queen Seraphina Nightshade," the redhead continued. "Your parents didn't just rule—they protected us. Fought for Omega rights, for rogues, for anyone the pack system abused. When they died, everything got worse. Way worse."
She stopped in front of me and held out her hand. "I'm Lyanna. And we've been praying for eighteen years that you'd come back. That you'd finish what your parents started."
I looked at her hand. At the hundreds of hopeful faces surrounding me.
They wanted me to be their savior. Their queen. Their hope.
But I was just Zara. The girl from the cupboard. The rejected Omega who didn't even know how to shift properly.
How could I possibly be what they needed?
You already are, my wolf said fiercely. We are strong. We survived hell. Now we will burn it down.
I took Lyanna's hand.
"I don't know how to be a queen," I admitted.
Lyanna grinned. "Good thing you've got an entire army ready to teach you."
Suddenly, the ground shook. Dust fell from the ceiling. Somewhere above us, I heard howls—angry, hunting howls.
"They've found the entrance," Darius said grimly. "The Reeds. And they brought reinforcements."
"How many?" I asked.
"At least fifty wolves. Maybe more."
Fifty trained warriors versus me—someone who'd never even been in a real fight.
This was impossible.
But then I looked at the faces around me. At people who'd suffered just like I had. Who'd been waiting for someone to stand up and fight back.
They were looking at me like I was already the hero they needed.
Maybe it was time to become her.
"Darius," I said, surprised by how steady my voice sounded. "Teach me how to fight. Right now. We have maybe ten minutes before they break through."
He raised an eyebrow. "Ten minutes to learn combat?"
"You said I'm powerful, right? Prove it. Show me how to use this power to protect these people."
Darius's serious expression cracked into a genuine smile. "Now you sound like a queen."
He was about to respond when a massive explosion rocked the tunnel. The entrance fifty yards away erupted in flames and smoke.
Through the debris, I saw them coming.
Marcus leading the charge, his face twisted with rage.
Helena bes
ide him, eyes blazing with hatred.
And behind them... Garrett.
My rejected mate had come to finish what he started.