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Roran stood there, blade drawn, smiling coldly as he faced upward toward me. Beside him stood Tanya, eyes glittering with cruel triumph, one arm wrapped around Lexa’s weakened, barely conscious form, a dagger pressed cruelly against her pale throat.

My entire world stopped. My vision tunnelled until all I could see was Lexa’s face, bruised, exhausted, barely clinging to consciousness. Her body sagged against Tanya, too weak to stand alone. The final rune flickered faintly against her skin, struggling desperately to hold her wolf inside.

Roran lifted his chin, smug and taunting, his voice rising clearly through the smoke and fire. “You’ve lost, Andros! Surrender—or watch your precious Omega bleed out before your eyes.”

Tanya tightened her grip, the blade pressing harder, drawing a thin line of crimson from Lexa’s skin. She smirked, her voice cold, full of venomous satisfaction. “What’ll it be, Alpha? Her life—or yours?”

I snarled low, teeth clenched, hands trembling with pure, blinding rage. Blood surged through me, hot and violent, but I froze.

The woman I loved was moments from death and every decision I made now would determine the fate of us all.

CHAPTER 26

Lexa

Smoke and ash. I could barely see, barely breathe, consciousness fading in and out as the smoke burned my eyes and throat. Pain pulsed through me in rhythm with my heartbeat slow, weak, desperate. My body sagged against Tanya's grasp, her arm tight around my chest, the dagger cold and sharp against my neck.

The last rune on my back burned like molten iron, flickering, cracking, ready to shatter at any second. And when it did, I didn't know if I'd survive it.

Through the chaos, the pain, the fog, I could hearhisvoice in my head, raw with fury and desperation:

“Hold on, Lexa. I'm coming. I will save you.”

His words pulsed through the bond, faint but fierce, an anchor holding me from falling entirely into darkness.

Tanya pressed the blade harder, leaning closer, her breathhot and hateful against my ear.

“You should never have raised your filthy head from that garbage village,” she whispered viciously. “You were nothing. You'restillnothing. You should've stayed buried in the mud with the rest of those human rats.”

I struggled weakly in her grasp, rage flickering inside me, dulled by exhaustion and agony. But I couldn't fight. I could barely stand. Tanya laughed softly, mockingly, fingers twisting cruelly in my hair.

“Pathetic,” she sneered. “You never should've interfered with me. I will be Luna, and you'll be nothing but a sad memory.”

In front of me stood Roran, tall and broad-shouldered, his arrogant face twisted with cruel satisfaction. Dark hair slicked back, eyes cold as steel, jaw set in a vicious smile. His leather armour gleamed dully beneath streaks of blood, blade drawn confidently, ready to challenge the Alpha he'd betrayed.

He looked over his shoulder at Tanya, eyes narrowing.

“If something goes wrong,” he growled, voice low and hard, “kill her.”

Tanya nodded coldly, her grip tightening brutally, the dagger slicing deeper until a small trickle of blood slipped down my throat. My heart seized.

Dirty cheaters.

Their plan was clear: challenge Andros, fight him for control of the pack. And if Andros won, they would kill me. The moment I died, Andros would feel it through our bond, his mind shattering, his soul breaking. Vulnerable. Destroyed. Ripe for the taking.

They didn't just want Andros's title. They wanted his soul. I closed my eyes, tears burning behind my lids, helplessness choking me.

But Andros's voice surged again, louder now, fierce and unrelenting: “Stay with me, Lexa. I'm coming.”

The heat in my back turned to fire.

It wasn’t pain anymore—it was a warning. A promise. The last rune, carved into me with shaking hands and blood money, was burning alive. I could feel it bubbling beneath my skin like molten iron, my bones trembling under the pressure.

Andshewas there. My wolf.

Not just pacing now but thrashing. Snarling. Scratching and biting at the cage I’d forced her into for thirteen long years.

LET ME OUT.