The moment Ivy was dragged away, the Great Hall erupted.

"Seal the exits!"

"Summon every elder!"

"Where are the witches?"

Voices crashed into each other, panic and fury twisting the air into something suffocating.

Rowan lay on the shattered marble, his chest rising in shallow, uneven breaths. Gloria Jay knelt beside him, her hands trembling as she cradled his head.

"Rowan," she whispered desperately. "Stay with me. Please."

His vision swam.

The world felt... wrong.

Silent.

Empty.

He reached inward, searching for the familiar blaze of dominance, the living heartbeat of his wolf.

There was nothing.

Only hollow stillness.

Fear sliced through him, sharp and unforgiving.

"I can't feel my power," he rasped.

Gloria froze.

Her fingers tightened against his shoulders.

Around them, the elders exchanged grim looks.

Elder Corvin straightened slowly, his ancient face carved from stone. "Then it is as we feared."

The hall fell deathly quiet.

"She has stripped him," Elder Marrek said darkly. "The omega has stolen the Alpha King's dominance."

A wave of rage surged through the nobles.

"Impossible!"

"No omega can do that!"

"She's a monster!"

"A traitor!"

Rowan struggled to sit up, his limbs shaking with unfamiliar weakness. Guards rushed to support him, but he waved them away.

"Where is she?" he demanded.

"Taken below," Corvin replied. "She is to be held until judgment is passed."

"Judgment?" Rowan snapped. "On what charge?"

"Treason," Elder Marrek said coldly. "Assault on the Alpha King. Endangerment of the realm."

"She didn't do it on purpose," Rowan growled.

Gloria shot him a sharp look. "Rowan, she nearly killed you."

"I know what I felt," he said hoarsely. "She was terrified."

Elder Corvin's eyes hardened. "Fear does not excuse catastrophe. Her existence now threatens every pack under your rule."

Rowan clenched his fists.

His hands shook.

The loss of his dominance left him exposed, vulnerable in a way he had never known.

And the pack could feel it.

He could sense their shifting loyalty, the subtle pull of uncertainty rippling outward like cracks in ice.

"We must act quickly," Marrek continued. "Word will spread. Other packs will challenge your authority."

Gloria rose to her feet, smoothing her gown. Her eyes glittered with cold resolve. "Then she must die."

Rowan's head snapped up. "No."

"She drained the Alpha King," Gloria said sharply. "She humiliated our throne. If she lives, your reign will never recover."

"She is my mate," he whispered.

The words slipped out before he could stop them.

The hall exploded.

Shock.

Outrage.

Disbelief.

Gloria staggered back a step as if struck.

"What?" she breathed.

Rowan closed his eyes briefly.

"I felt the bond," he said quietly. "I rejected it... but it was real."

Silence slammed down.

Elder Corvin stared at him, long and hard. "Then your mistake may doom us all."

Rowan opened his eyes. "What are you saying?"

"If she is your true mate," Corvin said gravely, "and she holds your dominance, then her power rivals the crown itself."

A dangerous murmur spread.

"She could command us..."

"She could rule..."

"An omega queen?"

Laughter sharp and ugly cut through the tension.

"Never," Gloria said. "She will never sit on that throne."

Her gaze burned with fury.

Rowan studied her, something cold twisting in his chest.

"You seem very certain," he said.

"I will protect this pack," Gloria replied smoothly. "From monsters."

Elder Marrek slammed his staff against the floor. "The council will convene immediately. Until then, the girl remains imprisoned."

"And then?" Rowan demanded.

Corvin's voice was merciless. "Execution."

The word struck Rowan like a blade.

"No," he said hoarsely.

"You have lost the right to overrule us," Marrek snapped. "Without your dominance, your authority is weakened."

Rowan froze.

The truth hit him brutally.

They were already testing him.

Already stripping him of power.

He clenched his jaw. "Then I challenge the council."

A collective gasp filled the hall.

"You cannot," Corvin said sharply. "Not in your condition."

"Watch me."

Rowan pushed himself to his feet, swaying slightly before regaining his balance. Every movement felt foreign, clumsy.

But his gaze was steady.

"If you execute her," he said, "you condemn the realm to civil war."

"Explain," Marrek demanded.

"She holds my dominance," Rowan said. "If she dies, it dies with her. The Alpha throne will remain empty."

The elders stiffened.

That changed everything.

No Alpha power.

No command.

No unified packs.

Chaos.

Gloria's eyes widened. "You're lying."

"I wish I were."

A heavy silence fell.

Elder Corvin exhaled slowly. "Then she becomes even more dangerous."

"She becomes essential," Rowan countered.

"Or a weapon to be destroyed before she destroys us," Marrek said.

The debate erupted, voices clashing violently.

"She must be studied!"

"She must be killed!"

"She must be controlled!"

Rowan listened, fury and helplessness knotting inside his chest.

They were talking about her as if she were a thing.

Not a person.

Not the terrified girl who had collapsed in agony on the floor.

Finally, Corvin raised his staff.

"Enough."

The hall stilled.

"We will delay execution," he announced. "For now."

Rowan's chest loosened slightly.

"But she will remain in chains," Corvin continued. "And should she display the slightest threat, the execution order will be carried out without hesitation."

Gloria's lips tightened.

Rowan closed his eyes briefly, relief and dread tangling inside him.

Far below the palace, in the cold depths of the dungeon, Ivy stirred.

Chains cut into her wrists.

Pain pulsed through every inch of her body.

Her head throbbed.

Her skin burned where the runes had flared.

She forced her eyes open, breath hitching as memory crashed down on her.

Rowan.

The power.

The fall.

Tears welled.

She curled inward, shaking.

"I didn't mean to," she whispered to the darkness.

The shadows shifted.

A soft voice answered.

"We know."

Ivy froze.

Her heart hammered.

"Who's there?" she whispered.

The air rippled.

A faint, ghostly silhouette formed before her-an ancient woman with glowing silver eyes.

"The first witch," the figure said gently. "And the last who remembers your kind."

Ivy's breath caught.

"My... kind?"

The witch knelt before her, studying her with something dangerously close to reverence.

"You are no omega, child," she whispered. "And what you have awakened will change the fate of this world."

The execution bell tolled once.

The sound sliced through the chaos of the Great Hall, sharp and merciless, silencing the crowd in an instant.

Ivy lay on the cold marble floor, her chest rising in shallow, ragged breaths. The world still spun violently around her, her veins burning as though molten silver coursed through them. Every nerve screamed. Every heartbeat thundered in her ears.

Above her, warriors dragged Rowan back to his feet. The once-feared Alpha King stood trembling, his face drained of color, his power shattered like broken glass.

Fear rolled across the hall in visible waves.

"She drained him," someone whispered.

"Impossible."

"That omega stole the Alpha's dominance."

"Kill her!"

The shout rose from the back of the hall, raw and venomous. Others joined, voices colliding, growing louder, uglier.

"Execute her!"

"Traitor!"

"Monster!"

Ivy forced her heavy eyelids open.

Dozens of furious eyes locked onto her, burning with hatred and terror. Spears lowered. Claws extended. Wolves growled, barely restrained.

At the head of the hall, Elder Morcant stepped forward, his ancient face twisted in rage. His voice boomed through the chamber.

"Ivy Vale, you stand accused of treason, dark magic, and attempted regicide. By the laws of Blackwood Pack, you are hereby sentenced to death."

A chilling hush followed his words.

Two warriors seized Ivy by the arms, hauling her upright. Pain exploded through her body, but she didn't cry out. Her legs trembled beneath her, barely holding her weight.

Her gaze lifted, searching.

Rowan.

He stood several feet away, restrained by three warriors. Their hands trembled as they held him, fear and uncertainty in their eyes. His once-commanding aura was gone, replaced by raw vulnerability.

Their eyes met.

For a heartbeat, the world vanished.

Confusion. Shock. Regret. And something dangerously close to guilt flickered across his face.

Then Elder Morcant raised his hand.

"Prepare the execution circle."

The warriors dragged Ivy toward the center of the hall, where ancient runes were carved deep into the stone floor. Dark stains centuries of blood marred the grooves.

A familiar scent suddenly cut through the metallic stench of fear and violence.

Lavender. Smoke. Old parchment.

The pack witch stepped forward.

Mireya.

Her long silver hair spilled freely down her back, her violet eyes glowing faintly as she leaned heavily on her twisted wooden staff. The entire hall stilled at her presence.

"Stop."

The single word rang louder than the execution bell.

Elder Morcant frowned. "This matter is decided, Witch."

"No," Mireya replied calmly. "It is only beginning."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

She approached Ivy, her sharp gaze sweeping over the trembling girl. Slowly, deliberately, she pressed two fingers to Ivy's forehead.

The moment she made contact, Ivy gasped.

A surge of power burst through her skull  images, voices, memories that weren't hers. Ancient forests. Golden moons. Wolves so massive they towered over mountains.

Mireya staggered back, her breath hitching.

Her eyes widened in horror.

And awe.

"She is not an omega," the witch whispered.

Silence crashed over the hall.

Elder Morcant stiffened. "Choose your words carefully."

Mireya lifted her staff, slamming it against the stone floor. A shockwave rippled outward, forcing every wolf in the chamber to their knees.

"I have watched bloodlines for three centuries," she said, her voice trembling with restrained fear. "I have traced the origins of our kind. I have studied the magic that predates the first Alpha."

Her gaze locked onto Ivy.

"And never  not once have I felt power like this."

Rowan's breath caught sharply.

Mireya turned slowly, facing the council and the pack.

"Her omega status is false," she declared. "A seal. A suppression spell layered over her blood before she was even born."

Gasps erupted.

"Impossible."

"Such magic hasn't existed in thousands of years!"

"Then explain this," Mireya snapped.

She reached out, gripping Ivy's wrist. Dark symbols flared briefly across Ivy's skin ancient runes, glowing silver before fading back into invisibility.

A collective shudder passed through the hall.

"Her blood is older than the first Alpha," Mireya said quietly.

The words fell like thunder.

Rowan stared at Ivy, his chest constricting.

Older... than the first Alpha?

"What does that mean?" someone whispered.

Mireya's voice dropped, reverent and fearful all at once.

"It means," she said, "that she descends from the Primordial Bloodline. The wolves who existed before kings, before packs, before law."

The crowd recoiled.

"Those are myths."

"Legends meant to scare pups."

"Stories."

Mireya shook her head.

"They were real," she said. "And their power nearly destroyed the world."

She turned back to Ivy, her expression softening with pity.

"Child... do you have any idea who you are?"

Ivy swallowed hard, her throat tight.

"No," she whispered.

Her entire life flashed through her mind in fragments  the isolation, the constant weakness, the mockery, the endless punishments. Always smaller. Always lesser. Always omega.

All lies.

Fear slithered through her chest.

"Then listen carefully," Mireya said. "Because your existence changes everything."

Elder Morcant stepped forward, voice shaking. "If what you say is true, then she is too dangerous to live."

Several council members nodded.

Rowan's head snapped up. "No."

The single word thundered across the hall.

He struggled against his restraints, fury blazing in his eyes. "You will not touch her."

Mireya turned to him slowly.

"Alpha King," she said, "your authority is... compromised."

The words struck harder than any blade.

Rowan went still.

"But," she continued, "you still carry responsibility."

She gestured to Ivy.

"Her awakening cannot be undone. Killing her will not erase what has begun. It will only trigger something far worse."

A deep, ominous silence followed.

"What do you suggest?" Elder Morcant asked grimly.

"Protection," Mireya said. "Containment. And truth."

She faced Ivy once more.

"Your power has been sleeping for nearly two decades. Now that it has tasted freedom, it will grow. Rapidly. Violently. You will lose control."

Ivy's hands trembled.

"I already did," she whispered.

Mireya nodded. "Yes. And next time, the destruction will not stop at one Alpha."

A cold chill swept through the hall.

Rowan's heart hammered in his chest.

"If she is this powerful," he said hoarsely, "then she will become a target."

Mireya met his gaze.

"She already is."

A sudden gust of icy wind slammed through the hall, extinguishing half the torches in a single breath. Shadows stretched unnaturally across the walls, writhing like living things.

Every wolf tensed.

From the far end of the chamber, a low, unfamiliar presence brushed against their senses  dark, predatory, ancient.

Ivy shuddered.

Something out there had felt her awakening.

And it was watching.

Mireya tightened her grip on her staff.

"The Shadow Pack has sensed her," she said grimly. "And they will not stop until she belongs to them... or lies dead."

Rowan's gaze snapped back to Ivy.

In that moment, he understood something terrifying.

Rejecting her hadn't freed him.

It had unleashed her.

And now, the fate of their world rested in the hands of the girl he had cast aside.