A stunned silence filled the air.
It pressed down on the grand Alpha hall like a held breath, thick and suffocating. The world itself had forgotten how to move.
For one fragile moment, nothing happened.
Then as if played, whispers exploded.
They didn't rise gently. They tore through the hall in sharp, panicked fragments, bouncing off stone and bone and history.
"What just happened?"
"That wasn't part of the ritual—"
"Did the Moon Goddess—?"
"No—no, that girl—"
"Witch!"
"She's a witch!"
"The cursed traitor is a witch!"
Aire barely heard them.
One second, she had been on her knees inside the chalk circle. One second, her hands were glowing and disappearing, with her scream still echoing in her ears. The next second, she was no longer there.
The ground vanished beneath her. The burning pressure snapped away like a broken chain.
Arms caught her immediately. Strong warm shaking arms.
Nate.
He stood where he was not supposed to be. Aire immediately cradled against his chest, and he held her up like she weighed nothing at all. One arm locked firmly around her back, and the other was raised high.
The council woman dangled in the air, with her feet kicking uselessly above the stone floor.
Her throat was clenched in Nate's fist, and shock rippled through the hall like a physical force.
He let go of her immediately when he felt a strange force surrounding her.
The eleven remaining council elders shot to their feet, stone chairs scraping violently as disbelief tore through their composure. Their wolves surged, roaring into High Danshic all at once.
This had never happened.
Never.
A council elder had never been touched, let alone lifted during a ritual. The woman remained suspended even without Nate's grip.
"What just… happened?" someone whispered, her voice trembling.
"Is this divine interference?"
"No—no divine power would act like this—"
"She did this!"
"She's a witch!"
The accusation rang louder now. People feed on the accusation, and more people called her a witch
Aire's head lolled weakly against Nate's shoulder. Her vision blurred, and the hall tilt in strange angles. But she could feel him.
His heart was pounding fast and wild. His gaze never left her face, not once.
Mabel of Rowanfall shoved forward. Her silk vintage gown rustled violently as she pointed at the suspended council woman. "Someone get her down!" she shrilled. "Get her down now!"
However, no one moved because the woman wasn't just hanging.
She was… struggling.
Her body suddenly went strangely tranquil, limbs loose, eyes unfocused. Something unseen held her aloft. Something wrong.
The chalk circle beneath them had begun to frost. The candles once burning gold now flickered icy blue.
Nate's breath stuttered.
He knew that color. Slowly, he lowered his eyes to Aire
Aire's lashes fluttered.
For the briefest moment, her gaze met his. And there— There was a faint glint of gold threaded through her blue eyes.
His jaw clenched, and heat coiled violently in his chest, sharp and possessive and afraid.
Xanden was moving toward them now, pushing through the chaos with deliberate force. His presence cut through the noise. His wolf snarled, dangerously close to the surface.
Nate felt his brother's approach, and his own wolf rose in response. Provoked and protective.
The whispers grew louder, frantic now, as eyes darted between Aire, the frozen candles, and the council elder suspended in the air like a broken offering.
This wasn't just disruption.
What had just happened shattered the core of werewolf law. The mate test had never been interrupted. It had never failed.
And a council elder had never fallen.
Xanden reached Nate's side and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Let's get her out of here," he said quietly, scanning the hall. "Now."
Nate didn't answer. His attention snapped, finally, away from Aire.
His eyes widened when they landed on the council woman.
The woman who had chanted without mercy, who had watched Aire bleed and beg— Her eyes were bleeding now.
Thin red streams leaked from the corners, just like Aire's had. The icy blue flames flared brighter with each drop on blood from her eyes.
Nate felt something cold crawl down his spine.
At the edge of the hall, Alpha Elijah stood rigid, his expression carved from stone. Beside him, Beta Kole murmured urgently, while Hannah hovered close, her face pale, and lips pressed too tight.
The healers rushed frantically. Their movements were disorganized, and uncertain.
They didn't know what to heal.
Nate leaned down, just enough for Aire to hear him. His voice was low. "Little phoenix," he murmured. "What have you done?"
Aire sucked in a shallow breath.
She shifted weakly in his arms, lifting her head just enough to follow his line of sight.
Her eyes landed on the suspended council woman. Something moved inside her. Something snapped.
This was the woman she had begged. The woman who hadn't stopped.
'She should die.' An almost familiar voice spoke up in Aire.
Aire's fingers twitched.
'She almost killed you.' The voice Aire had fought so hard to bury after killing her aunt this same way continued.
Anger surged in her. Cold anger.
Aire tilted her head slightly. The face of her aunt, her first kill flashed in her eyes for a brief second, and then the council woman dropped.
Her body hit the stone floor with a sickening crack. Blood spilled from her eyes, pooling beneath her twisted limbs.
She fell dead.
At that exact moment, thunder rumbled across the sky. An angry one.
Every wolf in the hall flinched as a violent stillness followed, pressing down harder than before.
Nate stared at Aire.
Horror and awe collided in his eyes.
She looked back at him, dazed, confused, and struggling to breathe.
For one fraction of a second, he hesitated. Then, he moved.
Nate pushed every question, every fear, and every consequence to the back of his mind and gathered Aire fully into his arms.
"We should leave," he said flatly. "Now."
...…..
They were in her room in the blink of an eye.
Nate laid Aire carefully onto the bed. His movements were gentler than he had ever been in his life. Her hands slipped weakly from his grip as he straightened.
If he had been told he'd one day hold a cursed wolfless girl so carefully, he'd had snapped the head of that person.
Xanden moved automatically to her feet, kneeling to remove her sandals. His fingers paused when they brushed her skin.
Nate stepped back, running a hand through his hair, staring at her like she was an unsolved equation burning holes in his skull.
Aire turned onto her side with a faint murmur, curling in on herself.
Xanden froze when he stared at her bad through the thin white dress she wore.
Six red lines crossed her back.
His wolf surged forward, snarling violently in his head.
"Who did that?" His wolf yelled in his head, angrily demanding answers.
Xanden's eyes flashed gold.
"I don't know," he answered silently.
The wolf snapped, furious. "Then find out. That's our mate."
Xanden swallowed. "I will."
He straightened. "Nate, we—"
The door burst open.
Alaric stormed in. His breath was uneven, and his eyes blazed with haste.
His gaze locked onto Aire.
"We were right," he said hoarsely. "She's our mate. All three of us."
Nate and Xanden turned sharply. Nate pushed his words back when he saw Alaric eyes. He raised a brow, waiting for Alaric to spill everything
Alaric swallowed.
"But she isn't just a wolf."
The room went deadly quiet.
"She's a tri-bird," Alaric continued. "And she just killed a council member."