Sold To The Rouge Alpha

The darkness in the room was complete, broken only by the sounds of violence - snarling, the clash of claws, and the thud of bodies hitting walls. Isabella felt hands pulling her in different directions, but she couldn't tell which belonged to friend or enemy.

"Stop!" she shouted as loudly as she could.

To her surprise, the fighting paused. Even in the pitch black, she could sense everyone waiting for her next words.

"You want me to come willingly," she said to the pale man, though she couldn't see him. "What exactly does that mean?"

A cold laugh echoed through the room. "It means you walk out of here with us, without fighting, without trying to escape. In return, your precious pack lives."

"And if I fight you?"

"Then we kill everyone here, starting with your dear Alpha, and drag you away anyway."

Isabella's mind raced. In the darkness, she carefully reached for the dagger hidden in her dress. Her fingers closed around the handle, and she felt a strange warmth spread through her palm.

"I need to see Emma first," she said. "I need to know she's really alive."

"You're hardly in a position to make demands," one of the possessed guards said.

But the pale man seemed amused. "Very well. Light."

Suddenly, the room was filled with an eerie blue glow. Isabella gasped when she saw the source - the pale man's hands were glowing like cold fire.

The room was a disaster. Furniture was overturned, curtains were shredded, and there were deep claw marks in the walls. Damien stood a few feet away from her, his clothes torn and blood on his face. Three of his guards were down, though she could see them breathing. Jasper was pressed against the far wall, held there by two of the possessed guards.

And in the corner, tied to a chair with what looked like silver rope, was Emma. She was unconscious but appeared unhurt.

"There," the pale man said. "She lives. Now, your decision."

Isabella looked at Emma's small form, then at Damien's desperate eyes, then at the other guards who had fought to protect her. These people had given her a home when she had nothing. They had treated her with kindness and respect.

But there was something else. The dagger in her hand was growing warmer, and she was starting to feel... different. Stronger.

"Before I decide," she said slowly, "I want to know who you really are. And I want to know what you meant when you said I'm more than human."

The pale man's red eyes gleamed with interest. "Curious, are we? Very well. I am Malachar, servant of the Shadow Court. And you, Isabella Rolf, are the last heir of the Moon Goddess's bloodline."

Isabella felt the world spin around her. "That's impossible."

"Is it? Haven't you always felt different? Haven't you always known there was something sleeping inside you?" Malachar stepped closer. "Your parents knew. That's why they treated you so badly - they were afraid of what you might become."

"You're lying."

"Am I? Tell me, when did your wolf first speak to you?"

Isabella's breath caught. "Recently. But I thought—"

"You thought what? That wolves just appear when convenient?" Malachar laughed. "Your wolf has been there all along, hidden by powerful magic. Suppressed so you wouldn't know your true nature."

Isabella looked at Damien. His face was pale, but there was something in his eyes - not surprise, but recognition.

"You knew," she whispered. "You knew what I was."

Damien's jaw tightened. "I suspected. But I wanted you to discover it naturally, not like this."

"How touching," Malachar sneered. "The rogue Alpha playing protector. But you can't protect her from her destiny."

Isabella felt anger building inside her. "What destiny? What do you want from me?"

"The Shadow Court has waited centuries for the Moon Goddess's bloodline to awaken. Your power could tip the balance between light and darkness in our favor."

"And if I refuse?"

Malachar's smile was cold. "You'll come with us either way. But if you refuse, everyone here dies first."

The dagger in Isabella's hand was now burning hot, but instead of pain, she felt power flowing through her. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, and she could swear she heard another heartbeat matching hers - Seraphine, finally awakening.

'Isabella,' a voice whispered in her mind, stronger than ever before. 'It's time.'

Isabella closed her eyes for a moment, feeling something ancient and powerful stirring in her blood. When she opened them again, they weren't gray anymore - they were silver, bright as moonlight.

"I'll give you my answer," she said quietly.

Everyone in the room waited.

Isabella smiled, and it wasn't the smile of a scared girl anymore. It was the smile of someone who had just discovered they were much more dangerous than anyone imagined.

"My answer is no."

Before anyone could react, Isabella pulled out the dagger. But instead of a simple blade, it now blazed with silver light. The possessed guards screamed and stumbled backward, covering their eyes.

"Impossible!" Malachar snarled. "The binding spell should hold for years yet!"

"Maybe you don't know as much as you think," Isabella said. The power flowing through her was intoxicating. She felt strong, alive, and utterly fearless.

She raised the glowing dagger, and silver light filled the room. The possessed guards writhed in pain, and the ropes holding Emma simply disintegrated.

But Malachar wasn't finished. He raised his own hands, blue fire streaming from his fingers toward Isabella.

The blue fire met the silver light, and the collision sent shockwaves through the room. Windows shattered, walls cracked, and everyone was thrown to the ground.

When the light faded, Isabella was still standing. But the effort had cost her - she was pale and shaking.

Malachar was on his knees, his perfect appearance cracked like a broken mask. "This isn't over," he gasped. "The Shadow Court won't give up. We'll find another way."

"Then I'll be ready," Isabella said firmly.

Malachar and his possessed guards vanished like smoke, leaving only the scent of sulfur behind.

Isabella's legs gave out, and she collapsed. Damien caught her before she hit the ground.

"That was incredibly brave," he said softly. "And incredibly stupid."

"Did it work?" Isabella asked weakly.

Emma's voice answered her. "Isabella? What happened? Why does everything hurt?"

Isabella smiled with relief. "It worked."

But as Damien helped her to her feet, she caught sight of herself in a broken mirror. Her reflection showed silver eyes and hair that seemed to shimmer with its own light.

"What's happening to me?" she whispered.

"You're becoming who you were always meant to be," Damien said. "But Isabella, what you just did - using that much power when you're untrained - it's attracted attention."

"What kind of attention?"

Before he could answer, howls echoed across the territory. Not from Damien's pack - these howls came from the forest, from creatures that hadn't been there before.

"The kind that wants to either worship you or kill you," Jasper said grimly as he joined them. "And sometimes both."

Isabella looked out the shattered window at the forest where glowing eyes now watched the house. Dozens of them, maybe hundreds.

"How long do we have?" she asked.

"Until sunrise," Damien said. "Then they'll come."

Isabella felt the dagger's warmth in her hand and the new power humming in her veins. Whatever was coming, she would face it. She wasn't the same scared girl who had been sold to a rogue Alpha.

She was something much more dangerous.

And tomorrow, everyone would find out exactly what that meant.