Ilya’s POV

"Are you completely crazy?!" Emily’s voice suddenly hissed through the darkness. She broke through the brush, wrapping her coat tightly around herself. "This is the absolute middle of the night. Why the hell did you call me out here into the woods? What do you want?"

I rolled my eyes, completely unbothered by her dramatic entrance. "If it wasn’t incredibly important, Emily, I wouldn’t have called you here."

"Well, what is the matter then?" Emily asked, her voice dripping with pure annoyance.

"It’s about Alina."

Emily let out a heavy sigh, crossing her arms. "What about her now?"

"We are going to have a massive problem," I said, my voice dropping into a dead, serious register.

"What do you mean, have a problem?"

I leaned in closer, the gravity of my discovery weighing heavily on my tongue. "I think Alina might be an Alpha."

For a second, the forest went dead silent. Then, Emily broke out into a loud, jagged laugh. The sound echoed mockingly off the trees. "Are you insane, Ilya? How on earth could Alina be an Alpha? She is a pathetic Omega who just got lucky enough to finally get her wolf. She can never be an Alpha."

"I never make mistakes in things like this!" I snapped, my temper flaring. I took a step toward her, my eyes narrowing. "Listen to me. I tried to ruin her face today. I threw a dark magic substance directly at her, but the burns completely disappeared. And that’s not all. Her growl... it was as loud and crushing as an Alpha’s. It shook the entire house. This is incredibly rare."

The mocking smile on Emily’s face finally began to wither away. Confusion and a flicker of deep unease took over her features. "A woman... an Alpha? Is that even biologically possible?"

"It is," I muttered coldly. "But it almost never happens."

Now looking genuinely worried, Emily shook her head frantically, trying to rationalize it. "No. Maybe you’re just confused. She probably just got lucky with some lingering rogue healing. Alina can never be an Alpha, no matter what. You’re making a mistake."

Emily shifted her weight, frustration returning to her tone. "Anyway, what the hell is taking you so long? This whole charade should have ended a long time ago."

"Do you honestly think I want this to continue?!" I hissed, my voice dripping with annoyance. "I want to get married to Lucian and end this just as much as you do! I want to take over this entire clan. But Alina isn’t making it easy for me. And Lucian... Lucian is practically kissing the ground that she walks on. He can’t even pretend to be in love with me for a single minute!"

Emily let out a sudden, involuntary laugh.

I frowned deeply, glaring at her. "What?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Oh, sorry," Emily said, though her voice lacked any real apology. "That just sounded incredibly funny to me." Her expression hardened back into pure irritation. "What is your actual usefulness anyway? Don’t you have some kind of spell, or a curse, or something to make Lucian fall for you? Have you entirely lost your touch?"

"No, I haven’t!" I snapped defensively.

"Well, that’s good then," Emily said, stepping back toward the path. "You go to Lucian, give him a potion, or whatever the hell you need to do to make him fall completely for you, and get rid of Alina for good. This needs to happen now." She turned her back to me. "I’m leaving."

I watched her figure disappear into the dark foliage. I let out a sharp breath, but as her words echoed in my mind, a slow realization hit me. Emily was right. I already had exactly what I needed. Deep in my belongings, I possessed the specific, ancient spell meant to turn Lucian’s head completely over heels for me.

Satisfied with the plan, I turned and made my way back to the territory, slipping through the back entrance of the mansion.

But the moment I stepped into the dim, quiet corridor, a heavy hand violently shot out of the shadows.

Before I could even register the movement, a grip of absolute steel slammed into my throat, pinning me ruthlessly against the wall. I choked, my eyes flying wide as I looked up into the furious, dark gaze of Boca.

He squeezed my neck so incredibly tight that my airway instantly blocked. I tried to raise my hands to channel my magic, to summon a hex, to do anything—but for some terrifying reason, my body felt entirely weak and powerless under his grip.

"Let this be your only warning," Boca growled, his voice a low, terrifying vibration against my chest. He leaned in so close I could feel the heat of his rage. "I don’t give a rat’s ass who you think you are, or what kind of supreme power you think you possess. If you ever try to harm my sister again... you will have only yourself to blame."

"Let... me... go..." I gasped out, the words barely a whisper as my vision began to blur at the edges.

Boca didn’t flinch. He squeezed his fingers even tighter around my throat, intentionally draining the remaining oxygen from my lungs. My knees buckled, and I could feel myself actively losing consciousness.

Just as the darkness was about to claim me, he violently released his grip, letting me drop in a heap onto the floor.

I collapsed against the floorboards, coughing violently and clutching my bruised throat as air rushed back into my lungs.

"This is your warning," Boca repeated coldly, staring down at me for one final, disgusted moment before turning on his heel and walking away into the darkness.

Left alone on the floor, a jagged, manic laugh slowly escaped my lips. The sheer, unbelievable audacity of it. Boca... a pathetic Alpha, actually trying to harm me.

I dragged myself up to my feet, my expression twisting into something entirely insane. "This is enough," I whispered into the empty hallway, my teeth baring. "I am not continuing like this."

I marched straight up the stairs to my bedroom, locking the door behind me. I walked over to my hidden lockbox, pulling out the small, shimmering vial of the love potion.

I stared at the liquid glinting under the moonlight. I was going to force-feed this to Lucian, and once he was entirely under my control... it would be game over for everyone.