Chapter 4 Chapter 4

AMINA

The Observation Deck had become my personal hell. After Rian’s return from the Council meeting, where he’d lied to buy me seventy-two more hours of breath, I knew the reprieve was meaningless. Seventy-two hours was just enough time for Kira to decide I wasn't worth the trouble and arrange an 'accident.'

I spent the first twenty-four hours mapping the security flaws, which, thanks to Jasper’s obsessive programming, were almost nonexistent. Rian had found my feeble attempt to open the window shroud and hadn’t even bothered to punish me. That indifference felt worse than a beating. It meant he viewed me as a problem he hadn't yet filed a solution for.

But Kira hadn't been indifferent. She brought my food, and her eyes were frozen with disgust.

“You’re a sickness, Hybrid,” she’d hissed yesterday, tossing the tray onto the table. “And every hour you live, Alpha Rian weakens. If he won't do his duty, one of us will. Get ready for a political execution, not a rescue.”

Her threat was a sharp, cold jab of reality. Rian was a necessary monster for the world, but he was also my mate, a bond I hated but couldn't sever. If the choice was between the packs killing him for treason or me somehow escaping to save him from that impossible choice, I had to choose escape.

The moment the lock on the Observation Deck hissed open, I was already moving.

It was Rian. He looked utterly exhausted, the lines around his eyes deep, and he hadn’t bothered with a suit. He wore a simple black henley that emphasized the powerful, terrifying geometry of his chest and shoulders. He hadn't seen me yet; he was scanning the room with the weary focus of a man expecting chaos.

This was it! This was the moment I'd been waiting for. I'd studied his movements, and I knew he'd be a bit off - balance due to his exhaustion.

I launched myself at the door, but Rian, even when tired, was inhuman. He reacted before my feet hit the threshold. He didn't grab me; he slammed his entire, massive body between me and the exit, blocking the narrow gap with pure muscle and lethal speed.

I collided hard with his chest, the force stealing my breath. The impact was electric, the Mate Bond screaming—a blinding flare of agonizing possessiveness from him and frantic, terrified aversion from me. I gasped, overwhelmed by the immediate, intoxicating scent of his skin and the punishing solidity of his form.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, his voice low and ragged, his hands clamping down on my arms like vices, pinning me against the door frame.

“Getting out before your little killer puppy arranges for my untimely demise!” I struggled, twisting, the fear lending me a frantic, desperate strength. “They’ll kill me, Rian. Or worse, they’ll use me to take you down! Let me go!”

“Never,” he snarled, his jaw tight. His eyes, inches from mine, burned with a furious, possessive amber. “You think running is an option? You think the world is safer for you outside of this tower? You’re a liability, Amina, and I own the liability.”

“You don’t own me!”

His grip tightened, cutting off circulation. “I do! And you’re not leaving until I understand what you are and how to neutralize the prophetic threat you pose!”

The word neutralize snapped something in my control. I saw Kira’s frozen eyes, Alarie’s fury, the cold marble of the Council floor, all determined to erase me. I couldn’t let Rian, my anchor and my captor, control my fate anymore.

A wave of pure, white-hot terror mixed with defiance flooded my senses. I usually held back from using my full power because I was afraid of losing control. But now, with my life on the line, I knew I had to take a risk. I first tried to use a milder form of my Kinetic Echo to break his hold, but it had little effect. In desperation, I reached for the darkest, most terrifying power I had: the Primal Command.

I slammed my hands against his chest, not to push, but to penetrate. I focused on the primal, biological core of his identity… the wolf itself.

Stop! Don't shift! Don't move! Retreat!

The Earth Pulse, which I usually kept chained and buried, surged out of my palms like a focused sonic boom. The air around us crackled violently. Rian let out a strangled cry that was less human, more beast—a sound ripped from his Lycan core.

His body went rigid, not from control, but from absolute rejection of the foreign, dominating force. His immense muscles clenched, and the veins in his neck stood out like cables. His bones began to grind, a sickening, wet sound as his muscles fought a biological civil war.

“A-Amina! Stop it! What the fuck are you doing?” he choked out, his eyes wide and shocked, the Mate Bond connection shrieking with agony.