Page 84 of Knocked Up By My Fated Alpha
“I do not give a damn about your lockdown. Step aside. Now!”
The guard didn’t move. “We have strict orders not to let you through.”
A sound floated over the trees, out in the distant, but unmistakable. It was a loud cheer from a crowd—a ring of voices, loud and frenzied, rising and falling in waves.
My stomach dropped as the cold realization hit me. She was there, in that circle, fighting Ivy. And I was wasting time here. I took a step forward, my voice low and lethal. “If you value your lives,” I said, “you’ll get out of my way.”
The guard’s jaw clenched. “We can’t. ” That was all I needed to hear.
My claws tore through my skin in an instant, my canines dropping sharp and savage. Power rushed through my limbs. My wolf surged forward, snapping at the edges of my control, and I let him.
The first guard lunged, but I moved faster. One swipe, and histhroat opened like paper. Blood sprayed across the dirt. The second didn’t have time to scream. The third tried to shift before I gutted him.
Two fell with a single swipe, their chests caved in, ribs shattered. The rest finally realized what they were dealing with. They shifted. Fast. Wolves of varying sizes: brown, black, russet, snarled and leaped at me. Bloody fools, I welcomed them.
My wolf burst free of my skin, massive and furious, my fur bristling as I hit the first wolf mid-air. My teeth sank into his spine and crunched. He dropped limp. Another came from the side. I slammed into him, ripping his leg clean off before turning to bite the throat of the one who tried to circle behind me.
Blood soaked the earth. Claws scraped my ribs, but I barely felt it. They weren’t fighting to kill. They were fighting to hold me back. That made them weak.
But I was fighting for her, and that made me unstoppable. I tore through the last of them, my chest heaving, blood dripping from my muzzle. Their bodies lay scattered behind me, twitching, broken, some still alive and groaning, but I didn’t look back. I took off, still in wolf form, racing past the barricade, paws pounding against the ground like thunder.
The cheering grew louder with every stride. A cold dread gripped my spine.
Please don’t be too late.
Please hold on, Raven.
I’m coming.
The roar of the crowd hit me again before I even broke through the trees. I burst into the clearing at full speed, dirt kicking up behind my paws, blood still slick on my fur. The world was noise, cheers, howls, and shouting, but all of it faded the moment I saw her. It was Raven in her wolf form.
I recognized her instantly. Not because I’d seen her like this before, I hadn’t. But somehow, I just knew.
The dominance I’d sensed from her during training, the one she seemed perplexed about when I pointed it out, was pouring off hernow in powerful waves. It was undeniable, fierce, and commanding. She had told me she couldn’t shift and that after watching her parents be murdered, her wolf had gone silent.
But now she stood at the center of the dueling square, silver fur gleaming in the morning sun, streaked with blood like war paint. She was tense and coiled and radiant with power.
I skidded to a halt, breath ragged, my wolf panting hard as I stared. At her feet lay Ivy, a broken, bloodied mess.
Raven’s wolf leaned forward without a moment’s hesitation and sank her teeth into Ivy’s neck. There was a sickening crack, a spray of blood, and then Ivy’s head rolled across the ground. The crowd exploded into noise again with shouts, cheers, and howls of triumph. But I didn’t move. I couldn’t. My entire being had gone still.
She did it.
She survived.
She won.
A growl rumbled in my chest, not from rage but from awe. My wolf swayed forward on instinct, ears twitching, tail lowered in something close to reverence. Then Raven’s wolf turned and looked at me. And in that exact moment, the moment our eyes locked, it felt like the world tilted.
Something massive snapped into place inside me, like a damn lock finding its key, like a fire being fed oxygen for the first time. It was the bond, the mate bond.
I felt it slam into me, raw and holy and soul deep. It wasn’t just magic, it was her. Her scent, her presence, her fire. It was as if the universe had reached down and stitched her soul into mine.
Her wolf froze and then took a step toward me. In that instant, I knew she felt it too. We both lifted our heads and howled, long and loud, our voices twining together in a sound that sent tremors through the crowd.
Then we moved, slowly, circling each other. Our fur brushed. Sparks flew across my skin at every point of contact. Her body was warm, and her energy felt so familiar. It felt like home.
We pressed our muzzles together, then paced beside each other inperfect sync, as if we’d done this a thousand times before. When I shifted back into my human form, she followed. There she was—my Raven, tired, brave, bloodied, and beautiful. She was breathing hard, her eyes full of emotion.
