-Alex''s POV-


    Fury gnawed at me, a bitter, acidic knot that tightened with every ragged breath I took. The image of Amaya flinching back from my touch, her eyes wide with fear, was branded into my skull. The air in the cell was thick with the suffocating weight of my mistake. I shouldn''t have touched her.


    I stormed out of the station, the m of the heavy door echoing my own internal turmoil. Grabbing my phone, I punched in Christian''s number, my thumb hovering over the call button. This mess, this whole cha a de- it was all his fault.


    He picked up after two rings, his voice dripping with his usual twisted amusement. "Alex, what a pleasant surprise. Did you miss me already?"


    "Get her out," I growled, the words a low rumble in my chest.


    "Ah, Amaya," he chuckled, a sound that grated on my nerves. "Seems the little mate wasn''t too thrilled to see you."


    I ignored his jibe. "I don''t have time for your games, Christian. Get her out of that cell. Now."


    A beat of silence stretched between us, then Christian sighed, a theatrical disy of exasperation. "Alright, alright. Calm down. It''s happening. She''ll be out in no time."


    "See that it happens," I growled, my voiceced with a dangerous edge.


    "Now, now, Alex," he cooed, but the amusement was gone from his voice, reced by a hint of something... caution? "Don''t get your fur in a twist. It was just a little nudge in the right direction. I was trying to be a good friend. Give you a little nudge in the right direction, Afterall it won''t take a blind men to see that you are still in love with her."


    "This wasn''t a game, Christian," I snarled, each wordced with venom. "You kept me in the dark about her father getting her involved. If I hadn''t found out...


    "Hey," he interrupted, his voice sharp. "Don''t try to pin this on me. You gave the go ahead. I was just following orders."


    "Don''t ever pull a stunt like this again, Christian," I warned, my voice low and dangerous. "If you ever put her in harm''s way again, there will be consequences. And trust me, you won''t like them."


    He scoffed, "Why don''t you save the threats for someone that actually fears you."


    "Consider it a promise," I growled. "This... this changes everything. We''re done, Christian. If you ever..."


    The amusement crept back into his voice, "So you say."


    "Get. Her. Out," I repeated, each word clipped and full of menace. Then, without another word, I mmed the phone shut.


    My body thrummed with a primal energy, a coctil of rage, frustration, and a gnawing fear for Amaya. I needed an escape. Needed to feel the wind whipping through my fur, the earth pounding beneath my paws.


    With a feral snarl, I ripped open the car door andunched myself into the countryside, the roar of the engine a muted echo of the Chapter 36


    storm raging inside me. The city lights blurred into streaks of yellow as I pushed the car to its limits, the speedometer needle climbing steadily.


    Finally, I reached the edge of my property, a sprawling expanse of rolling hills and wild forest. Without a second thought, I threw the car into park and mmed the door shut. Taking a single, deep breath, I shifted.


    The transformation was as familiar as it was brutal. Bones contorted, muscles ripped, and a deafening howl erupted from my throat as I took my wolf form.


    My fur was the color of a moonless night, a deep, inky ck that shimmered with an otherworldly sheen under the pale moonlight. Towering over eight feet at the shoulder, I was a hulking mass of muscle and bone. Razor-sharp ws extended from my massive paws, and my teeth, bared in a silent snarl, were as long and deadly as daggers. My senses, amplified a hundred fold, took in the world around me. But the only thing that mattered was the release. The feeling of the wind whipping through my fur, the exhrating power coursing through my veins as I took off into a sprint. There was no thought, no strategy, just the primal urge to run, to outrun the anger, the fear, the suffocating weight of everything that had happened.


    I ran until my lungs burned and my legs ached, the taste of metallic blood filling my mouth. But still, I couldn''t stop. Finally, exhausted but far from calm, I slowed to a trot, my body finally starting to cool down. Copsing onto a grassy knoll, I panted heavily, the rhythmic sound the only noise in the silent night.


    Raising my head, I let out a long, mournful howl, the sound echoing through the trees, ament for the bond I might have irrevocably broken. The sound hung in the air, unanswered, a stark reminder of the immense loneliness that stretched before me.


    As the night wore on, the initial surge of rage subsided, reced by a deep, gnawing ache. Regret, heavy and bitter, settled in my gut. How could I have let things get so out of control?


    A shiver wracked my massive form, not from the cool night air, but from the chilling realization of my actions. In cell.


    With a heavy sigh, I rose to my feet, the weight of the world seemingly pressing down on me. Shifting back into my human form, 1 winced at the ache in every muscle.


    A voice,ced with cold sarcasm, sent a jolt of surprise through me. "Well, wasn''t that just a delightful disy of uncontrolled power?"


    Natalia stood a few feet behind me, arms folded across her chest. Moonlight glinted off her icy eyes, hardening their usual warmth. She looked like a storm about to break, beautiful and terrifying in equal measure.


    She folded her hands ignoring the fact that I was naked, keeping her gaze on my face, "Maya''s in jail."


    I almost scoffed. Tell me something I don''t know.


    Scowling, I reached behind a nearby tree, grabbing the clothes I always kept stashed there in case of an unexpected shift. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-


    shirt, I met her gaze, my jaw clenched tight.


    you found me was t, devoid of any emotion, a stark contrast to the turmoil raging inside me.


    "Should I My voice


    -k how you


    "Don''t y dumb with me, Alex," she snarled. "I''m not here for idle chit-chat.


    Maya''s in a jail cell."


    My eyes narrowed back at her, "I know."Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org.


    "You know," She growled and I could feel her wolf surfacing. "And what are you doing about it? Running around ying catch with yourself?"


    Anger red. I took a step towards her, and for a fleeting moment, I saw a flicker of fear in her eyes. But it was e


    quickly reced by a steely resolve, "Don''t even think about trying to intimidate me with your alpha b Il shi t," she growled, her voice low and dangerous. "Focus that alpha c a p on getting Maya out of jail. You kno d a n well she had nothing to do with her father''s crimes."


    I clenched my fists, "I''m working on it," I finally managed to grind out.


    Silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. "Why are you evening to me with this?" I asked, breaking it, "Amaya and I are over."


    "You''re the most powerful man in this city, Alex," she spat, her wordsced with venom. "Not just in the O M supernatural world, but in the god a n human world too. Use your connections. Get her out! You know she''s innocent!"


    "I told you, I''m working on it," I repeated, my voice firmer this time.


    Her eyes narrowed, her gaze burning into mine then she turned around to leave but as if she remembered something, her gaze snapped back to mine, "You know you are an asshle O right? After everything she gave up for you, you discarded her like she was nothing, for what? A s p id reason that is still unknown. Sometimes I me myself, I should have never pushed her towards you. should have never told her to give you a chance after the shit you pulled when you first discovered you were mates because you, Alex Thorne, are a bastard and you deserve every single horrible thing that ising to you."


    She paused sucking in a deep breath. I stared at her but didn''t say anything. I discovered the true meaning of rants when I met Natalia and the first time I received one of her was one I would never forget.


    Silence stretched between us so she just shook her head at me with so much disappointment. Then she turned away.


    "Adrian is getting out." I said as she walked. I watched as everything in her froze for a moment then she continued walking.


    Her next words were low but I still heard them, "Good. Then you two cand am n yourselves to hell."


    Then she disappeared from my sight. I let out a breath, walking to my car.


    It was high time I paid him a visit.


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