Aurelia POV

"Have you lost your mind?" Alpha Silas slammed his fist against the marble pillar. A hairline crack spider-webbed across the white stone.

"Rogues are trash!" Silas roared, pointing a trembling finger at the cage. "We hand them to Omegas as punishment. You are my heir, Aurelia. Step away from that filthy cage. Stop joking!"

I kept my hands wrapped around Ryker's rusted chains. The jagged metal cut into my palms. Warm blood trickled down my wrists. I felt no pain, zero hesitation, only the thrumming anticipation of my wolf.

"I am not joking, Dad," I said, my voice echoing off the high ceiling. "I possess the only white wolf. I carry Alpha-level strength in my blood. I refuse to let another Alpha control my life. I claim this rogue."

Lucius's face turned a violent, mottled red. The elite crowd stared at him. Whispers erupted behind crystal champagne flutes.

The golden boy of the werewolf elite stood rejected. He needed a lifeline for his shattered pride.

He grabbed Chloe's arm. He yanked her out of the crowd and pinned her against his chest.

"Fine! You want to breed with garbage?" Lucius sneered, his lip curling in disgust. "Go ahead. I will take this Omega. Chloe knows how to respect a real Alpha."

Chloe let out a high-pitched gasp. She played the startled, innocent victim perfectly. Her hands slid up his chest, resting flat against his tailored lapels. They settled against each other with practiced ease.

A breeze from the open balcony swept past them. Their scents hit my nose. Sour musk of wolves who shared a bed.

My stomach churned. The puzzle pieces from my past life clicked together.

They had been sleeping together for months right under my roof. They made a fool of me while planning to drain my wolf force.

"Oh, Lucius," Chloe murmured. She projected her voice to ensure the entire hall heard her. She cast a pitying glance my way. "I accept. I will honor our bond. I would never shame you like she did."

Lucius leaned down. He bit the crook of her neck. A faint, anemic silver thread materialized between them.

It signified their weak bond. Chloe winced. A flash of pain crossed her features. Lucius was already draining a fraction of her energy to soothe his bruised ego.

Let her enjoy her prize. She would learn the true cost soon enough.

The iron cage rattled behind me.

Ryker yanked his wrists apart. The heavy chains groaned under the pressure.

Black veins pulsed along his scarred collarbones, tracing the toxic liquid silver in his bloodstream.

His golden eyes burned into mine. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Back off, crazy girl," Ryker rasped. His massive chest heaved against the rusty bars. "I am pumped full of liquid silver and wolfsbane. My blood is toxic waste. You link your wolf soul to mine, the poison will travel through the bond. It will rip your heart apart. You will die."

He bared his fangs. I read the tension in his rigid shoulders.

He worried the mate bond would pass his agony to me.

This terrifying captive, beaten and poisoned, possessed more honor and kindness than the polished Alpha standing in the center of the room.

I stepped closer and grabbed his bare shoulders.

His skin scorched my palms like an open furnace. I shoved my hands into his matted hair. I dragged his face forward until his forehead hit the iron bars.

I crashed my lips against his.

Coarse stubble scraped my chin. He tasted like copper, rain, and raw danger.

He froze. A guttural groan vibrated up his throat, rumbling directly against my mouth.

His massive hands shot through the bars. He gripped my waist.

His thumbs dug into the silk of my dress, pressing into my hip bones.

He branded my skin with his feverish heat and pulled me flush against the iron, eliminating every inch of space between us.

A low growl vibrated in his chest, claiming the bond.

I pulled back a fraction of an inch. Our lips still brushed.

"I dare the poison to try," I whispered.

I tilted my head. I sank my fangs into the thick muscle of his neck.

Ryker roared.

A raw, earth-shattering sound tore from his chest.

I tasted the bitter ash of the wolfsbane rushing through his veins. My white wolf surged forward to meet it. Pure, blinding light erupted from my core. Thick golden threads burst from my chest.

They wrapped around Ryker's massive torso. Our souls fused in a violent collision of magic.

The golden light rushed into his bloodstream.

It struck an invisible wall inside Ryker. A heavy seal locking away his true nature. My white wolf slammed into the barrier.

The seal trembled under the impact. A single, jagged crack split the surface. Only a tiny fragment of the lock broke away.

But a shockwave of suffocating pressure exploded from the cage.

The rusted iron bars warped outward, groaning under the force.

Marble tiles cracked and spider-webbed beneath my feet.

The crystal chandeliers above us swayed, sending glass raining down onto the screaming crowd.

The pressure hit the hall like a physical blow.

Alphas dropped to their knees. They clutched their chests, fighting to breathe.

Betas collapsed onto their stomachs, gasping for air against the floorboards. Gammas and omegas whimpered, covering their ears and curling into balls.

The terrifying aura crushed the room. It forced every single head to bow.

I stood inside the center of the storm, remained perfectly safe, anchored to Ryker's chest.

The air around us hummed with lethal electricity.

Ryker's golden eyes glowed. The black veins on his neck vanished, replaced by the gold of our unbroken bond.

Lucius fell to one knee.

He grabbed his throat, struggling to pull oxygen into his lungs.

His golden aura flickered under the rogue's power. His face turned an ashen gray. He stared at the chained man in the cage.

"That pressure..." Lucius choked out, his whole body trembling. Blood dripped from his nose, spotting the pristine marble floor.

"That is no rogue... What the hell is he?"