Alpha's STOLEN Mate Chapter 171

Elowen

I launched myself at the nearest vampire warrior, my white wolf form a blur of fangs and claws. His throat tore open before he could raise his weapon. Two more fell before they could coordinate a defense.

*Good. Fast. Stay fast.*

My wolf instincts drove every movement—duck, leap, strike, kill. Blood painted my white fur crimson, but none of it was mine yet. The vampires were skilled, but they'd trained to fight wolves in human form, not a fully transformed Alpha.

But I couldn't focus entirely on the attack. Behind me, Evelyn swayed on her feet, barely conscious from the extraction. Scarlett stood guard over her, bleeding from a dozen wounds but refusing to fall.

*Protect. Must protect.*

That split focus was what Zane needed.

His claws raked across my flank as I twisted to check on Evelyn. Pain blazed, but the wound was shallow—deliberately so. He could have struck deeper, could have aimed for my throat or belly. Instead, he'd calculated the exact depth to hurt without disabling.

*He's playing with me.*

I spun and snapped at him, but he was already dancing back, that infuriating smile on his face.

"You're magnificent like this," he said, circling me slowly. "Pure instinct and fury. But you're distracted, aren't you? Trying to protect your weak friends while fighting me." He gestured at the bodies of his fallen warriors without apparent concern. "I have hundreds more. How long can you keep this up?"

*Ignore him. Focus.*

I charged again, using my superior speed to get inside his guard. My fangs found his shoulder, tearing deep. He grunted with pain but grabbed my scruff, trying to throw me off.

We rolled across the blood-slicked platform in a tangle of fur and fury. I felt his claws score my ribs, shallow again. Always shallow. Always controlled.

*Why won't he finish it?*

"Surrender," he said, his voice strangely intimate despite our violence. "Submit to me, and I'll let them go. Your friends can leave unharmed. You're all I really want anyway."

*Lies. All lies.*

I broke free and put distance between us, panting. More vampire warriors closed in, but I couldn't focus on them while Zane was—

His boot caught my injured shoulder. I yelped—the first sound I'd made in wolf form—and stumbled.

"Look at Arabella," Zane said, gesturing at the witch's corpse. "That's what happens to those who defy me. Her daughter will be next if you continue this futile resistance. Then your warrior friend. Then, finally, you—after I've broken every defiant bone in your body."

*He's trying to break my spirit. Weaken my resolve.*

Rage flooded through me, hot and primal. I attacked with everything I had—claws, teeth, my wolf's raw power. I called on abilities I rarely used, the special gifts the Moon Goddess had granted her White Wolf.

Speed that made me nearly invisible. Strength that let me tear through vampire flesh like paper. Even limited elemental control—wind to knock enemies back, earth to make them stumble.

But Zane met every attack with infuriating ease. My claws that should have disemboweled him barely scratched his skin. My speed, which should have been overwhelming, felt sluggish against his reactions. Even when I called wind to blast him backward, he simply... absorbed it somehow, the energy dissipating harmlessly against his body.

*What the fuck?*

"Confused?" Zane's laugh was dark. "Your friend's bloodline is quite useful. Ancient witch magic, specifically designed to protect against supernatural attacks." He flexed his hands, where I could see faint traces of Evelyn's power flowing beneath his skin like veins of light. "Every bit of power I extracted from her doesn't just grant me sunlight immunity—it grants me resistance to all supernatural abilities. Including yours, White Wolf."

"He absorbed my magic!" Evelyn's weak voice called from behind me. "Elowen, he's right—your special abilities won't work! You're just wasting energy! You need to—"

A vampire warrior's blade cut off her words. Scarlett intercepted it, her own daggers flashing.

*She's right. I'm playing into his hands. Need to think. Need to—*

But Zane didn't give me time to strategize. He pressed his advantage, driving me back with calculated strikes. Each hit was measured—painful but not crippling. Exhausting but not fatal.

*He wants me alive. Wants me broken, not dead.*

The sun climbed higher in the sky as we fought. Morning giving way to mid-day. And I noticed something—Zane's movements became fractionally slower. His pale skin showed the faintest flush of discomfort when direct sunlight hit it.

*The extraction wasn't complete. He's not fully immune yet.*

Hope sparked. If I could just hold out, tire him out, wait for the sun to weaken him enough—

Zane's eyes followed my gaze to the sun. His smile vanished.

"Clever girl," he said quietly. "But not clever enough."

His body convulsed. His hair turned blood-red, standing on end as if electrified. His fangs extended to twice their normal length, curving like scimitars. His elegant cape billowed out, the fabric seeming to drip with fresh blood that hadn't been there before.

And the worst part—the sky itself began to darken.

Gray clouds rolled in from nowhere, thick and unnatural, blocking the sun within seconds. The temperature dropped. The oppressive darkness of true vampire territory descended over the square.

Elowen

*No. No, no, no—*

"Blood Lord form," Scarlett gasped. "He's entered Blood Lord transformation! Elowen, we need to—"

Zane moved. Faster than before. Faster than should be possible.

His fist slammed into my chest, sending me tumbling across the platform. I hit the ground hard, vision swimming.

*Get up. Have to get up. Have to—*

Through the mate bond—still blocked, still silent—I reached desperately for Kaius.

*Please. Please be looking for me. Please come—*

Nothing. Just that same dead emptiness.

A shadow fell over me. Zane loomed above, his transformed state making him look more demon than vampire.

"It's over," he said simply. "Surrender, or watch them die first."

*Scarlett. Evelyn. Can't let them—*

Through the bond, through pack links, I sent a desperate command to Scarlett. Alpha authority that couldn't be refused even through the pain and chaos.

*Take Evelyn. Run. Now.*

I felt her resistance, her refusal, her loyalty screaming against the order.

*NOW!*

Scarlett grabbed Evelyn and bolted. Several vampires moved to intercept.

I threw myself between them and Zane's charging form.

His attack—some kind of blood magic manifestation, a crimson sphere of pure destructive energy—hit me square in the chest.

*This is it. This is how I die.*

But in the split second before impact, I called on the one ability Zane couldn't have absorbed because it wasn't about power—it was about finesse.

Wind. Not to attack, but to deflect.

The sphere's energy scattered around me, dissipating into harmless gusts. I skidded backward from the force but remained standing.

Zane froze, genuine surprise crossing his transformed features.

"Impossible," he breathed. "That should have—"

But Scarlett and Evelyn were gone, disappeared into the crowd. Safe. For now.

Which meant I'd just trapped myself alone with a Blood Lord.

Zane's surprise melted into cold satisfaction. "Well played. You saved them." His smile was terrifying. "Which means I have you all to myself now. Perfect."

We circled each other, predator and predator. I used every ounce of speed I possessed to stay ahead of his attacks, every tactical lesson I'd learned to anticipate his moves.

I even managed to score hits—my claws raking his arm, my fangs finding his calf. But his enhanced healing closed each wound within seconds. My attacks were pinpricks to something in this form.

*Can't keep this up. Too fast. Too strong. Too—*

Time blurred. Minutes? Hours? I couldn't tell anymore. Just endless motion, endless fighting, endless pain accumulating despite his "restraint."

My movements slowed. My lungs burned. My muscles screamed.

*So tired. So tired...*

A kick to my ribs sent me sprawling. I tried to rise, but my legs wouldn't support me. I collapsed back to the blood-slicked stone, panting, everything hurting.

Zane approached slowly, savoring his victory.

"I'll give you credit," he said. "You lasted longer than I expected. But this rebellion ends now." He crouched beside me, his hand stroking my white fur in a mockery of affection. "Don't worry. The cell I've prepared for you is quite comfortable. You'll have plenty of time to reconsider your defiance. Years, perhaps. Decades. I'm very patient."

*No. Can't let him—can't—*

Then something shifted. A sensation I hadn't felt in days, so sudden and violent it was like being struck by lightning.

The mate bond—blazing back to life with explosive force.

Not just open. *Screaming.*

I felt Kaius's emotions crash over me like a tidal wave. His rage. His desperation. His absolute terror at what he was sensing through our reconnected bond.

And something else. Something that made my exhausted heart leap.

*He's close. He's here. He's coming for me.*

Strength flooded back into my limbs—not physical strength, but something else. Hope. Determination. The absolute certainty that I wasn't alone anymore.

Zane frowned, noticing the change. "What—"