Alina’s pov

A jagged laugh escaped from Ilya’s lips as I screamed, the sound echoing off the walls.

"I warned you," Ilya sneered, looking down at me with absolute disgust. "But you wouldn’t listen. You tried to act smart with me."

The pain was a white-hot explosion, melting through my skin, but beneath the agony, something ancient and violent woke up. A deep, guttural roar tore out of my throat—a sound so raw and immensely powerful that it literally caused the entire house to shake.

Ilya’s smug expression vanished. She took a sharp step back, terror flickering in her eyes at the sheer force of my voice as I grunted, my body trembling on the floor.

"Alina!"

Lucian’s voice shattered the air. He burst into the room, his face pale with horror. He didn’t even hesitate—he lunged to the floor and scooped me into his arms, glaring up at Ilya with a terrifying, murderous rage.

"What the fuck did you do to her?!" he roared, his tone vibrating with pure anger.

He didn’t wait for her to respond. He lifted me effortlessly, rushing down the hallway toward the bedroom. "You’re going to be fine, Alina. Nothing will happen to you," he whispered, though the sheer terror in his voice betrayed him.

"Lucian... it hurts so much," I choked out, clutching his shirt as the liquid fire continued to eat away at my face.

"I know, baby, I know. You’ll be fine," he pleaded, placing me gently onto the mattress. He grabbed his phone, dialing frantically. "Get the pack doctor to the nursery wing right now!"

The blinding pain turned into a suffocating pressure. My bones clicked, and I grunted hard, my body violently fighting the urge to force a shift into my wolf form right there on the bed.

"Alina!" Sammy’s voice panicked from the doorway as he rushed inside. He stopped dead in his tracks, his face twisting into pure terror as he saw the steam rising from my sizzling skin. "What happened to my sister?!"

The burning was getting worse by the second. Sammy’s eyes turned entirely black. "Who the fuck did this to her?!"

Ragnar entered right behind him, his expression grim. "Ilya did this. She threw a substance directly at her face."

"I am going to fucking kill her!" Sammy snarled, turning on his heel to storm out.

"Sammy, stop!" Lucian barked, stepping in his way. "Do not go near that woman right now. You need to stay here with Alina!"

"Get out of my way!" Sammy slammed his hand against the doorframe, thrashing the thought entirely. "I am ending this matter right now!"

The agony was too much for me to speak clearly, but through the haze, I managed to force out a weak whisper. "Sam... Sammy..."

My brother stopped dead in his tracks. The raw fury in his shoulders melted into desperation as he rushed back to my bedside. He grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly. "I’m here, Alina. You’re going to be fine, I swear." He looked down at me, his eyes shiny with tears—the burn was so severe he couldn’t even recognize my face. "Where is the fucking doctor?!"

Right on cue, the pack doctor rushed through the door, his medical kit in hand. He took one look at the room and turned to the men. "All of you need to go out. Now. Give me space to work."

"No way," Sammy snapped. "We’re staying."

"You need to step out!" the doctor insisted.

Ragnar placed a heavy, grounding hand on Sammy’s and Lucian’s shoulders. "Come on. Let the man do his job. We’ll be right outside." Reluctantly, the two of them let go and allowed Ragnar to push them out, clicking the door shut.

The doctor didn’t waste a second. He immediately hooked up an IV line to my arm. "I’m administering heavy painkillers for now to stop the burning," he muttered, his hands shaking slightly as he worked.

A sudden spike of adrenaline shot through me. I grunted, my hand snapping up to grip the doctor’s forearm with supernatural strength. My claws extended, slicing clean through his sleeve, and my wolf stirred inside my chest, baring her fangs with a terrifying, primal anger.

The doctor froze, his eyes widening in pure fear as he looked into my gaze.

"This... fucking... hurts," I hissed through my teeth.

"It will stop hurting," the doctor stammered, raising his hands slightly. "The medication is pumping now. The pain will stop, Alina."

Slowly, the white-hot torment began to recede. The horrific sizzling sensation faded, and the aggressive tingling stopped entirely. I let out a long, shuddering breath as my racing heart finally began to calm down. I felt lighter. Completely weightless. my wolf let out a long, deeply satisfied purr.

The doctor stared at me, his mouth hanging slightly open. "This... this is a miracle," he whispered, his tone thick with utter confusion.

I blinked, taking a deep breath. "It worked. I don’t feel any pain anymore."

"Alina, that’s not just all," the doctor said, his hands trembling as he reached for a small mirror. "Look. There is nothing on your face anymore. The burns... they’re completely gone."

My eyes widened. I sat up quickly on the bed, snatching the mirror from his hand. I touched my cheek, my jaw, my forehead. The skin was completely smooth, perfectly intact. I couldn’t feel a single patch of the blistering, bruising sensation from just moments ago. It was as if the attack had never even happened.

I looked up at the doctor, bewildered. "How is this possible? None of my injuries have ever just disappeared like this."

The doctor shook his head, staring at his medical equipment. "Seeing the way that substance was actively eating through your cells, it wasn’t ordinary acid. It was dark, high-level power meant to permanently disfigure you. Your body didn’t just heal it... it completely neutralized the magic. That’s why I said this is a miracle."

As the doctor turned away to clean up his supplies, completely absorbed in trying to make sense of the medical anomaly, I slowly dropped the mirror.

I touched my flawless face one more time. A slow, chilling smirk played on my lips.

My wolf howled with a dark, triumphant satisfaction inside me. This... this was just the beginning.