Page 188 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)

AUDREY

“It’s Sterling,” I yelled at Bishop as he tore a snake monster in two with his claws. “He’s controlling the snakes. We have to stop him.”

Without waiting for an answer, I took off, dashing through an opening between two wolves who were each fighting a grimalkin, and past the crumbling building where the swordsmen had made their camp.

With a growl, I concentrated on whatever was pulling on the magic inside me, determined to find its source. It had to be Sterling. How dare he try to fuck with my new life? I was finally happy and content, and that asshole had to keep coming after me.

My footsteps pounded on the uneven ground as I dodge chunks of collapsed buildings, tree roots, and broken flagstones.

Inside me, my dark magic stuttered, strong one minute, weaker the next, and always being dragged from somewhere ahead of me.

Except was I being stupid? What made me think I could possibly stand against Sterling even with my newfound alpha power. He’d become that monster and had to be stronger and?—

A new horrible realization hit me. If my alpha power did come from the dark magic and Sterling had control over it, did that mean he could control my alpha power?

Fuck. This was the worst idea I’d ever come up with. Sterling was going to murder me.

But my wildness howled, burning with that strange fury that threatened to consume me.

He wouldn’t kill me because I wasn’t a weakling anymore. I would kill him and my fury didn’t care that I was eager to commit murder. Sterling had summoned a monster knowing it was going to eat me alive, and if my dream had been true, he’d slaughtered Mila and Porter as well.

He had to be stopped. Permanently.

And I was going to do it.

I rounded a corner and staggered to a stop. Before me lay the grand courtyard in front of Tzanagoth’s towering temple. Dead center, beside the fountain with the horrifying statue of Tzanagoth eating people, stood Sterling.

He was a terrifying, living replica of the statue, twice his usual height with bright red skin, large leathery wings, and ram’s horns twisting from his forehead. The only reason I recognized him was because he wore the same cruel look in his eyes and the sneer he’d always worn.

Beside him, also smirking, was Royce, except compared to Sterling he looked small and weak. I couldn’t believe I’d thought he was powerful. He hadn’t tortured me like Sterling had, but Royce’s betrayal had been so much worse than anything Sterling had done.

He’d made me believe we were fated mates, that he’d love me for who I was and would rescue me from the nightmare I’d been living in since I was a kid.

He’d crushed the sliver of hope I’d been clinging to, cementing the idea that no one could ever want me.

Behind them, by two of the four pillars marking a large square in the middle of the courtyard, stood the tall shimmering rip between realms.

I hadn’t wanted to accept it had actually returned, even though I knew Knox wouldn’t lie to me and Sterling and Royce standing in front of me was undeniable proof. It being there meant my nightmare had been real.

And there, on the ground in front of the rip, lay two mangled bodies. From where I stood, it was impossible to tell who Sterling’s victims were, but I knew it was Mila and Porter.

Mila had been my only friend in my old pack, the only one willing to risk Sterling’s anger, and he’d brutally murdered her.

The wildness and anger within me flared, burning inside me.

“You know who that is, don’t you?” Sterling asked with a dark chuckle. “It’s the stupid little girl you thought you could be friends with. Turns out with this power—” he flexed his hand and a ball of smoke whirled around his fingers, reveling in his new strength. “I don’t need an incomplete mating bond. A complete one will do.”

Royce joined his laughter, and my insides churned with disgust, while fear and adrenaline and dark magic pounded through me.

“If you’re so powerful, why are you here?” I demanded. “You got your power. You could have stayed in our realm and led all the packs.”

He wouldn’t have been able to do much more than that though. There were a lot more supernatural beings in my old realm than there were here and some of them were really powerful.

Aaaaand, I’d just answered my question.

I didn’t know how he’d guessed that the supers here weren’t nearly as powerful as those in my realm, but he must have figured it out or decided it was worth the risk. There, he could only go so far. Here, he could rule the world.

“I’m a god, and this realm is mine.” Sterling threw his head back and released a bellowing laugh, the sound cruel and dark, making my skin crawl. “ You’re mine. My sacrifice and I’m here to finish the job.”

Sterling stretched his arms and wings out and a tidal wave of skin-crawling alpha power, just like the power I felt from the grimalkins, slammed into me.

It stole my breath and wrenched me down to my knees, forcing me to submit to Sterling like I’d always done.

No. Get up. Get up, now.

But I couldn’t make myself move. His power crushed me, stronger than anything I’d ever felt before, because I was weak and pathetic and helpless. I wasn’t important. No one wanted me. Being with Bishop and Knox was a foolish fantasy because no one wanted to spend the rest of their life tied to a powerless shifter who couldn’t shift.

“No!” I screamed, mentally shoving at the thoughts racing through my head, thoughts that weren’t mine. They couldn’t be mine.

Bishop and Knox loved me.

I. Could. Feel. It.

Our bonds assured me their love was real, and I was not going to give in to this asshole and let him destroy everything I’d worked for since I’d gotten here.

I heaved against his alpha power and strained to connect with my wildness and dark magic, but they, too, were crushed under Sterling’s power.

“You can’t do it,” Sterling laughed. “I’m going to slaughter everyone you love, those new alphas of yours, and their whole pack. I’ll feed on your despair.”