Chapter 5
The guards shoved me through the pack house's back door into the cold midnight air. My hands were bound with silver chains that burned against my skin, but they'd remove them once I crossed the boundary line. One hour—that's all I had before The Hunt would begin.
"Run, Omega," Beta Marcus sneered, his breath forming clouds in the chilly night. "It'll make the chase more interesting."
I didn't waste time with words. The moment the chains fell away, I sprinted into the forest, my feet finding purchase on the familiar terrain. Three years of gathering herbs and mushrooms in these woods had taught me every path, every shortcut.
But I wasn't running blindly. I had a destination.
The cliffs overlooking Silver River.
---
Behind me, howls erupted as the hunting party assembled. Rhett's wolf would be among them—massive, black, and relentless. I pushed myself harder, my lungs burning as I navigated the darkened forest.
"Mackenzie!" Rhett's voice carried through the trees, human but amplified with Alpha power. "Stop now!"
I didn't look back. The wind whipped my hair across my face as I ran faster than I'd ever moved before. Something was changing inside me—a strange warmth spreading through my veins, as if the talisman I'd crafted was activating something dormant within.
The scent of pine gave way to ozone and water. The cliffs were close.
---
I burst through the treeline and stumbled to a halt at the edge of the precipice. Below, Silver River roared over jagged rocks, its surface gleaming silver under the full moon. Behind me, the forest trembled as something large moved through it.
A massive black wolf emerged from the shadows, his amber eyes glowing in the darkness. Rhett. Even in wolf form, I could see the conflict in his gaze—his wolf's reluctance warring with his human determination.
"You're cornered," he growled, his voice distorted by his wolf form. "Surrender now."
I turned to face him fully, my back to the cliff edge. For the first time since I'd known him, I stood tall instead of bowing.
"Like you cornered my brother?" I asked, my voice steady despite the thundering of my heart. "Like you cornered me for three years?"
His wolf whined, pawing at the ground. "Mackenzie, please—"
"Alpha," a Beta called from behind him, "the others are spreading out to surround her."
Rhett's eyes flashed gold with frustration. He took a step toward me, then stopped as a shadow detached itself from the darkness beyond the cliff edge.
A hooded figure stood silently, watching. The pack warriors tensed, their attention diverted from me to this new threat.
"Who's there?" Rhett demanded, his wolf circling back to protect his pack.
The figure didn't answer. Instead, they moved with preternatural grace, drawing the warriors away from the cliff edge.
I looked back at Rhett, who had shifted partially back to human form, his eyes wild with conflicting emotions.
"You killed us both," I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. "The moment you chose her over me."
Before he could respond, I turned and jumped off the cliff, into the darkness below.
---
The fall seemed to last forever. Wind rushed past my ears as I plummeted toward the churning waters. I had calculated this jump carefully—the current would carry me under the cliffs to where Darius waited with transportation.
But nothing could have prepared me for the icy shock of hitting the water. Pain exploded through my body as I plunged beneath the surface, the current immediately seizing me and dragging me downstream.
Above, I heard Rhett's scream—raw and primal—as he reached the cliff edge.
"MACKENZIE!"
Then silence as the pack bond between us snapped shut. To him, it would feel like I had died.
---
On the cliff above, chaos erupted. Rhett shifted back to human form, his body convulsing as he vomited blood onto the rocky ground. The "widower" pain—the severing of a mate bond—tore through him like wildfire.
"Get her!" he choked out, crawling toward the cliff edge. "Find her!"
Beta Marcus and Gamma Tyler held him back, their faces grim.
"Alpha, she couldn't survive that fall," Marcus insisted. "The rocks alone—"
"She's not dead!" Rhett roared, his eyes wild with grief and denial. "I would know if she were dead!"
In the shadows behind the hunting party, Saige watched with undisguised satisfaction curling her perfect lips. The Omega was gone—her biggest threat eliminated.
Or so she thought.
Miles downstream, I dragged myself from the river's edge, coughing and shivering. The Lycan magic in my blood had protected me from the worst of the impact, but I was far from safe.
Darius waited in the shadows, his hood pulled back to reveal a face I didn't recognize—but his eyes held something familiar.
"Princess," he said softly, extending his hand to help me up. "It's time to claim your birthright."
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