Blood.
Hot, thick, already staining my glove.
I ignore it.
I’m riding on a high unlike any other.
I made a Prime Alpha abandon his mission. Defy his duty. He justleft.
Good. I don’t need someone ordering me around, usingmypower as his own.
I choose how I use it.
Me.
No one else.
I focus on the remaining citizens of Rheamont. They’re ruled by their fear, darting back and forth without direction or thought.
They need a firm hand.
The Command doesn’t need to rise because it’s already there, coiled beneath my skin, hot and pulsing. Just waiting for a chance. I crack my neck from side to side, as a sense of control and assured confidence settles on my shoulders.
I hesitate for just a heartbeat, just long enough for a flicker of fear to lick at me.
There is a faint recognition that it feels different from even moments ago. Like in the time between using the Command and now, it sharpened its teeth while I wasn’t looking.
"Evacuate. Now."I bellow at the crowd before me.
They respond instantly.
Dozens of heads snap in my direction, eyes dilating, breath catching. And then they move. All of them. In unison. A tidal wave of civilians surging toward the designated route out. They don’t even flinch as some drop dead from the spray of bullets hounding their retreat.
“Faster!”I shout, urging them out of range.
The crowd breaks into a sprint.
It worked on so many minds. Effortlessly.
Such a power is immense.
I don’t control a handful like an Alpha. I control hundreds. Maybe thousands. And they obey without blinking, without pausing to question why their bodies are already moving.
Superiority thrums through me, and I bask in the heady rush of power.
It’s just soeasy.
I could make anyone doanythingI want.
As expected, the payment comes fast and is steep.
The pain hits like a serrated blade, carving something essential out of me, but I don’t flinch. I don’t scream.
I welcome it.
Because if this is the price for never again being vulnerable, weak, defective… then rip me open. Let it hollow me out.
I stand tall.
