Gunnar cursed and pulled me back. "Enough grandstanding. You want to fight? Fine. But we do it smart." He whistled sharp. Matthías appeared at the top of the stairs, covered in blood that wasn't all his.
"Pit's open," Matthías said. "Sveinn's screaming for his daddy. Want me to toss him over the wall as a gift?"
Gunnar's grin was wide. "Not yet. Chain him to the gate. Let Jakob see what happens to weak Alphas who reject what's mine."
I followed them down the steps two at a time. My bare feet slapped cold stone. The courtyard was a chaos of men running, horses stamping, the smell of blood and smoke thick enough to choke on. We reached the inner gate just as the outer one gave another groan. Sveinn was already being dragged out of the pit, wrists bound, face purple from the beating he'd taken. He saw me and spat.
"You think this makes you queen, Elva? You're still the same broken bitch who couldn't even shift."
I stepped in close and drove my knee straight into his balls. He folded with a wheeze. "Broken? Watch me."
Gunnar hauled him up by the hair and shoved him toward the gate. "Open the speaking slit again. Let the Beta see his supposed son in law."
The guard cranked it. Jakob's face appeared on the other side, close enough I could see the cut on his cheek still bleeding. His eyes locked on Sveinn and widened.
"Release him!" Jakob yelled. "Or I swear I'll— "
Gunnar slammed Sveinn's face against the bars so hard blood smeared the iron. "You'll what? Cry more? Your supposed son in law rejected my mate. The moon took her back. Now your whole pack pays."
The fire in my chest roared so loud I couldn't hear anything else for a second. The pendant went ice-cold, fighting it, but the power pushed harder. My vision sharpened again. I saw every bead of sweat on Jakob's forehead, every scar on Sveinn's neck. My nails split and lengthened into black claws. Not full shift. Something else. Older.
I stepped past Gunnar, grabbed the bars with my new claws, and looked my father dead in the eye.
"You buried me," I said, voice low and raw. "Now I bury you."
The power surged out of me like a dam breaking. Not a howl. Not a wolf's roar. Something deeper, like the ground itself answering. The black stone pendant cracked right down the middle. Pain and heat exploded up my arm and across my chest. I screamed but it came out as a snarl that shook the gate.
Jakob stumbled back with his eyes wide from seeing unbelievable. "No — im... impossible!"
The ground under the Shadowpine line split open. Not much. Just enough. Roots burst up like spears, wrapping around legs, tripping wolves mid-charge. My old pack mates yelled and slashed at them. One shaman in the back started chanting, hands glowing green, trying to push back whatever the hell I'd just done.
Gunnar stared at me, eyes wide for the first time since I met him. "Elva —"
I didn't answer. I couldn't. The fire was still pouring out. My bitten arm split open wider and something silver and black pushed through the skin... scales? Fur? Both? It hurt like hell but felt right. The claws on my hands grew longer, sharper. I raked them down the iron bars and left deep gouges.
Matthías laughed like a madman. "King, she's doing it. The Old Blood. It's real."
Sunna grabbed my shoulder. "Elva, the stone's cracked. You've got minutes before the elders' spell locks on you again. Pull it back!"
I tried. The power didn't want to listen. It liked being out. Liked the way Jakob's face went gray when another root yanked one of his men screaming into the dirt.
Gunnar wrapped an arm around my waist from behind and pulled me hard against his chest. His voice was right in my ear, low and rough. "Breathe Elva. You're mine, remember? Control it or it controls you."
His scent: pine, smoke, blood, cut through the roar. The bond flared hot and steady, like an anchor. I took in a breath and the fire dialed back. Not gone. Just banked. My claws shrank. The roots stopped growing but stayed where they were, trapping half a dozen Shadowpine wolves.
Jakob backed his horse up, face twisted with fear and hate. "This isn't over, girl. You're a monster. We'll hunt you to the ends of the territory."
He whistled retreat. The surviving wolves began disappearing into the trees, dragging their wounded. The ones caught in the roots whined and thrashed until our men ended their suffering.
Silence fell over the gate. My legs shook. Gunnar kept his arm around me so I didn't drop.
Nina jogged up, breathing hard. "They're running. We lost six. They lost thirty. And that… whatever she did… saved our asses."
Gunnar nodded once. "Get the wounded inside. Double the watch. Sunna, you stay with Elva until I say otherwise." He looked down at me. His silver eyes weren't cold anymore. They were hungry. Proud. "You awake now?"
I swallowed. My throat felt raw. "Yeah. Hurts like a bitch though."
He brushed a thumb across my cheek, smearing blood I hadn't noticed was mine. "Good. Pain means you're alive. And whatever the hell that was, it just told every pack on the continent you're not prey anymore."
Sveinn, still on his knees by the gate, laughed wet and broken. "You're all dead. The elders will come. They'll bring the whole council. She's the end of us."
Gunnar kicked him in the ribs. "Shut up."
I stared at the cracked pendant on my chest. The black stone had split clean in two. Mom's three days just got cut to nothing.
Inside my head the fire settled into a steady burn. Not quiet. Waiting. And for the first time I heard it clear; a voice, low and ancient, like the moon itself whispering.
*They tried to bury us. Now we rise.*
Sunna touched my arm. "Elva… your eyes. They're glowing."
I blinked. The world looked sharper, edged in silver. Gunnar's grip tightened on me.
Matthías wiped his blade on a dead wolf's fur and grinned. "Welcome to the war, little queen."
I looked out past the gate at the trees where Jakob had disappeared. My father. My pack. My old life.
They'd come back. Sooner than three days. And with bigger numbers and older magic.
But this time I wouldn't be the one rotting in a cell.
This time I'd be the one lighting the match.
And the whole damn world was about to burn with me.