Horror floods me as I understand his intention. "Asher, no. Please."
But the eyes that stare down at me aren't Asher's anymore. The amber warmth has been completely overtaken by flat, dead black—Cade's eyes, or something darker still.
"Asher can't help you now," a voice that's no longer even pretending to be my former lover says. "He's buried too deep, screaming where no one can hear him."
I roll away, scrambling toward the fallen vial. Not to drink it—to use as a weapon if I must. My fingers close around the cool glass just as he grabs my injured arm again, sending waves of agony up to my shoulder as the wound reopens completely.
Blood streams down my arm, dripping onto the floor as he drags me back, tearing my dress further in the process. The fabric hangs from my shoulders in tatters. Through the bond, I feel Malakai's rage building.
"Let her go!" Ivy screams, her voice finally penetrating the barrier as cracks in the walls widen. "Asher, stop this!" The windows shatter, glass cascading into the room. I turn my face away as shards scrape against my already battered cheeks. A few lodge into Cade's face, but he pulls them out as if they are annoying flies. He doesn't slow down as he flips me onto my back. His hands work at the fastenings of my underpants, yanking them down brutally. I claw at his face, hoping to deepen the cuts. A slap snaps my head to the left with a force that makes me see stars.
"Please," I beg through my swollen mouth, no longer certain who I'm pleading with—Asher, Cade, or whatever dark entity now controls them both. "Don't do this."
He forces my legs apart, positioning himself between them. Tears stream down my face as I realize what's about to happen—the ultimate betrayal from the man I once loved. The mating bond suddenly flares to life as my terror peaks, and I realize Malakai can feel every moment of my agony. My Alpha knows.
The cottage shakes more violently, dust and debris raining down as Ivy's assault on the barrier intensifies. A scream of agony from my fae friend squeezes my heart. A support beam cracks overhead, but the man who was once Asher doesn't even look up, his focus entirely on the violation he's about to commit. A sob tears from me.
I close my eyes, gathering what little strength remains. I won't surrender without a fight, even if it's hopeless. An angry cry pours from me, calling desperately through the bond for my Alpha.
The door explodes inward with a deafening crash, torn completely from its hinges by a wave of pure shadow. Cold air rushes in, and with it, a darkness so complete it devours the firelight. Frost coats the room within seconds, my breath coming in painful puffs.
Standing in the doorway, shadows writhing around him like living weapons, eyes blazing with murderous fury, is Malakai.
My Alpha. My mate. Come for his Omega.
CHAPTER 26
THE SHADOW'S WRATH
MALAKAI
The cottage trembles as if the world itself recoils in fear. Frost crystallizes across the walls in delicate, deadly patterns, extinguishing the fire in an instant. The temperature plummets so rapidly that breath clouds in the air like frightened spirits.
I stand perfectly still in the doorway, my body rigid with a fury so intense it threatens to consume me from within. My fangs descend fully, aching with the need to tear flesh from bone. My Alpha scent floods the cottage—ozone and winter death and pure predator—so overwhelming that even Emmett takes an instinctive step back. The shadows writhe in violent, frenzied coils around me, scraping the ceiling, lashing at the walls.
This is what happens when someone threatens a mated Alpha's Omega.
My eyes find Seraphina first—my wife, my Omega, mine—with her dress torn open, fear in her golden eyes, blood trickling from her arm. Purple bruises mottle her face, her lip split and swollen. Her left eye is nearly closed from what must have been a vicious blow. And there—on her throat—my mating mark visible even through the bruises and blood.
Her Omega scent is wrong—acrid with terror, sharp with pain, nothing like the sweet vanilla-light it should be. Through our completed bond, I feel her biology screaming for me, her Alpha.
Then I see Cade straddling her, his intentions unmistakable, and something in me snaps. A cold, deadly clarity descends over my mind even as my magic threatens to rip the cottage apart.
"You dare touch my mate?" My Alpha voice makes everyone in the cottage flinch with instinctive submission—Cade, even Seraphina. "I'm going to peel your soul from your body, layer by agonizing layer, until there's nothing left but an echo of your screams."
In the heartbeat that follows, Cade scrambles off Seraphina, backing toward the rear wall. I move toward her immediately, my shadows extending protectively around her even as others form deadly points aimed at Cade.
"Are you hurt beyond what I can see?" I ask, my Alpha voice softening to a gentleness reserved only for her.
Before she can answer, a silver blur streaks through the shattered window—Ivy, her tiny fae form radiating fury. Her usually playful demeanor is gone, replaced by something ancient and terrible. Her hair whips around her in a silver storm as she hurls herself directly at Cade, tiny fists glowing with fairy magic as she pummels his face.
"You absolute monster!" she screams, her wings beating furiously. "I saw everything from outside! I couldn't get in because of the barrier—that wasn't Cade's magic, it was something else entirely!"
Emmett appears in the doorway behind me, taking in the scene. His hand immediately goes to his sword as he moves to block any potential escape route.
"My lord," Emmett begins, his voice tight with controlled rage.
"Secure the perimeter," I command him without turning. "Ensure there are no other threats nearby."
