Chapter 13
773words
My wound throbbed—silver poisoning still coursing through me. Victor"s ancient blade had missed my heart by millimeters.
Jackson stood over me, concern replacing his usual hostility. "She"s awake."
"Where"s Alexander?" My voice came out raspy. Weak.
"Gone after Victor. We couldn"t stop him."
The tablet showed security footage—Alexander tearing through Victor"s compound, eyes glowing. Not fully wolf, definitely not human. Pure rage.
"Victor"s tech blocks transformation," I said, struggling to stand. "Alexander"s walking into a trap."
"That"s why I stayed for you while he—"
"Went on a suicide mission." Something cold settled in my chest.
Three hundred years running from connection, and now the one person I couldn"t bear to lose was risking everything for me.
"The prophecy," I muttered as we moved through underground tunnels. "Victor twisted it. The Book never spoke of control. It"s about equal choice. Mutual respect."
Jackson snorted. "Wolves don"t mark equally."
"Exactly why the prophecy was revolutionary." I stopped, catching my breath. "Victor couldn"t accept it. Control is all he understands."
Screens everywhere showed markets in freefall—global financial systems crashing simultaneously.
"Victor"s real plan," I explained. "Using the distorted marking to create unequal power. Control both supernatural and financial worlds."
My legs were weak, but determination pushed me forward. For centuries, I"d been calculating risks, building walls. Always running.
Not anymore.
Victor"s command center was a temple to technological power. And there was Alexander—chained with silver, skin burning where it touched him. Still defiant, but unable to shift.
"Isabella." His voice was rough, but his eyes—those amber eyes—softened. "You"re alive."
"Barely," I managed.
Victor turned, smiling like we were at a cocktail party. "Family reunion. How touching."
"Let him go," I said. "Your fight is with me."
"This isn"t a fight. It"s a demonstration." He gestured to the screens. "Look at what we"ve built."
"What you"ve stolen," I corrected. "My algorithms. My code."
"The prophecy fulfilled—but correctly this time."
"You"ve misunderstood it for centuries. It was never about domination."
Victor"s eyes narrowed. "You think three hundred years gives you wisdom? I"ve watched empires rise and fall."
"And learned nothing." I glanced at Alexander, saw him testing his restraints. "The prophecy speaks of balance. Equal marking."
"Equality is weakness," Victor spat. "Look at him—the mighty Alpha, chained and powerless. My technology blocks his transformation. How does it feel, wolf, to be stripped of what defines you?"
The roles had reversed. Alexander—always the protector—now needed protection.
In his eyes, I saw something I"d been running from for centuries—connection. Not control. Just… belonging.
"I"ve been running for three hundred years," I said softly. "I think I"m done."
Victor smiled, thinking I"d chosen him.
"Not what I meant," I clarified, moving toward the main console. "I"m done running from what matters."
My fingers flew across the keyboard, accessing the system core. Victor lunged, but Jackson intercepted him—buying me precious seconds.
"What are you doing?" Victor snarled.
"Creating a new protocol. A new kind of marking."
Alexander"s eyes met mine. Understanding dawned.
"Whatever you"re thinking," he said, voice raw, "I"m in."
Victor grabbed me. "You can"t rewrite the natural order!"
"Watch me." I twisted in his grip. "You never understood the prophecy because you can"t imagine power that isn"t control."
The system beeped—protocol initiated.
"A bilateral API," I explained. "Not a master-slave protocol. Equal access, mutual authorization."
"Impossible," Victor hissed.
"Only if you lack imagination."
The sensation was electric—not the burning submission I"d feared, but a warm current of shared power. I could feel Alexander as if he were part of me, yet I remained entirely myself.
Alexander gasped as the silver chains fell away, the blocking technology overridden by something older, deeper.
"What have you done?" Victor whispered, horror in his voice.
"Created choice where there was none." I stepped back as Alexander rose, his form shifting—not to wolf, but to something new. Balanced.
The screens around us flickered, financial systems stabilizing.
"This isn"t over," Victor backed toward the exit. "Some traditions can"t be broken."
"They already have been." Alexander moved to my side, our energies aligning without merging. "The prophecy wasn"t about control. It was about creating something new."
Victor fled, but I knew we hadn"t seen the last of him.
I turned to Alexander, feeling the new connection between us—strong but not constraining. A bridge, not a chain.
"I have a plan," I said, fingers already back on the keyboard. "But it"s dangerous."
Alexander"s hand covered mine, warm and steady. "Tell me."
For the first time in centuries, I wasn"t calculating my next escape. I was planning to stay. To fight. To connect.
And it felt like freedom.
