ZARA'S POV
Marcus burst through the smoke, his eyes locked on me like a missile.
"There she is!" he roared. "Don't let her escape!"
Darius stepped in front of me instantly, his body a shield between me and my adoptive father.
"You're not touching her," Darius said. His voice was quiet, but somehow it filled the entire tunnel.
Marcus skidded to a stop, finally noticing the hundreds of wolves surrounding us. His confident expression faltered.
"Who are you?" Marcus demanded.
"Someone who's been waiting a very long time for this moment," Darius replied. Then he glanced back at me. "Zara, do you trust me?"
"I don't even know you," I said honestly.
He smiled. "Fair enough. But in about thirty seconds, your former family is going to try to kill you. So here's what I know that might help you decide: My name is Darius Blackthorn. I was your father's best friend and your family's head of security. I was away on a mission the night they were murdered. I've spent eighteen years searching for you, following rumors and whispers, hoping the youngest Nightshade princess survived."
My heart stopped. "You knew my father?"
"I served him for ten years. And I failed him by not being there when he needed me most." Darius's jaw clenched. "I won't fail you too."
Helena pushed past Marcus, her face twisted with rage. "Don't listen to him, Zara! He's lying! We're your family. We raised you. We—"
"Beat me. Starved me. Locked me in a cupboard," I finished. "Some family."
"You ungrateful little—" Helena lunged forward.
Darius moved so fast I barely saw it. One second Helena was charging, the next she was on the ground, Darius's hand wrapped around her throat.
"That's twice you've tried to hurt her in front of me," Darius said coldly. "There won't be a third time."
"Let her go!" Marcus shifted into his wolf form—a large brown beast with yellow eyes. At least twenty wolves behind him shifted too, ready to attack.
The Underground wolves around me growled in response, protecting me.
We were seconds away from a bloodbath.
"Stop!" I shouted.
Everyone froze.
I stepped forward, past Darius, ignoring his protest. I walked right up to Marcus in his wolf form and looked him in his yellow eyes.
For eighteen years, I'd been terrified of this man. He'd beaten me so many times I'd lost count. Those eyes had always meant pain.
But now, standing here with power humming through my veins, I realized something.
He was afraid of me.
"You killed my parents," I said quietly. "Didn't you?"
Marcus shifted back to human form. "That's a lie. We saved you. Took you in when you had nothing."
"You put a suppression spell on me when I was five years old," I continued. "You kept me weak on purpose. You made me believe I was worthless so I'd never discover what I really am."
"Zara, sweetheart—" Helena tried.
"Don't call me that!" I screamed. The silver fire flickered in my hands again. "You don't get to call me sweetheart after everything you did!"
Helena's eyes widened in fear. "Marcus, her power... it's too strong. The spell should have held longer."
"The rejection bond broke it," Darius said. "When her mate rejected her, the shock shattered your spell. You should've killed her when you had the chance. Now it's too late."
"It's never too late," a new voice said.
The crowd parted and Garrett walked through, still in his ceremony suit. Clarissa clung to his arm, looking terrified.
My chest ached when I saw him. The broken mate bond pulled painfully, like hooks in my heart trying to drag me toward him.
I pressed my hand to my chest, trying to breathe through it.
"Zara," Garrett said, and for a second he almost sounded concerned. "You need to come with the Reeds. They're your legal guardians. This rogue is manipulating you."
"Manipulating me?" I laughed bitterly. "You rejected me in front of everyone, and now you're worried about me being manipulated?"
Garrett had the decency to look uncomfortable. "That was... I made a choice for the good of the pack. But I don't want you to get hurt. Come back with us. We'll take care of you."
"Like you took care of her before?" Lyanna stepped up beside me. "Locked in a cupboard? Beaten? Starved?"
"That's pack business," Clarissa snapped. "Stay out of it, rogue."
"It became my business when you threw a Royal princess in the garbage," Lyanna shot back.
"She's not a princess!" Clarissa shrieked. "She's nobody! Just a weak Omega who—"
Silver fire exploded from my hands, shooting straight up. Everyone stumbled backward.
I didn't mean to do it. But hearing Clarissa call me "nobody" after she stole my mate made something inside me snap.
"I am NOT nobody," I said, my voice echoing with power I didn't know I had. "Not anymore."
Darius put his hand on my shoulder, grounding me again. The fire calmed but didn't disappear completely.
"Last chance, Zara," Marcus said. "Come with us willingly, or we'll take you by force."
I looked at him. At Helena. At Garrett and Clarissa. At the fifty wolves ready to drag me back to that cupboard.
Then I looked at Darius. At Lyanna. At the hundreds of Underground wolves who knelt for me. Who called me "Your Majesty." Who believed I could be something more than a victim.
"Darius," I said clearly. "When you offered to take me to the Underground, was that a real offer?"
"Yes," he said immediately.
"And if I come with you, will you teach me to fight? To use my power? To become strong enough that nobody can ever hurt me again?"
"I'll teach you everything," Darius promised. "Combat, magic, politics, strategy. Everything you need to take back your throne."
Marcus snarled. "She's not going anywhere with you!"
I smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. It was the smile of someone who'd finally stopped being afraid.
"Yes, I am."
I took Darius's hand.
The world exploded into chaos.
Marcus's wolves attacked. The Underground wolves fought back. Silver fire erupted from my hands again, creating a wall between me and my attackers.
"Hold on!" Darius shouted.
That strange twisting sensation hit me again. The world blurred, colors mixed, and my stomach dropped.
When everything cleared, we were deeper in the Underground. The fighting sounds were far away now.
"They'll follow us," I said, breathing hard.
"Let them try," Darius replied. "The Underground is a maze. They'll get lost in minutes." He looked at me seriously. "But Zara, you need to understand something. By choosing to come with me, you've just started a war. The Reeds won't stop hunting you. Neither will any Alpha loyal to them. Your life will never be safe again."
"My life was never safe before," I pointed out. "At least now I can fight back."
Lyanna jogged up to us, grinning. "Did you see Marcus's face when your fire wall went up? Priceless!"
Despite everything, I laughed. Actually laughed.
When was the last time I'd laughed?
"Come on," Darius said. "Let's get you somewhere secure. You need rest, food, and medical attention. Then we'll start your training."
As we walked deeper into the Underground, I noticed wolves stopping to stare at me. Word was spreading fast. The lost princess had returned.
But something Darius said earlier bothered me.
"You said you were my father's head of security," I said. "So why are you down here with rogues instead of ruling a pack?"
Darius's expression darkened. "Because after your family was murdered, I tried to bring the killers to justice. The pack system protected them instead. So I left. Built my own kingdom down here with wolves the system threw away."
"You're their leader?"
"They call me the Rogue King," he admitted. "Though I prefer Darius."
A king. I'd just accepted help from a rogue king who commanded an underground army.
What had I gotten myself into?
We turned a corner and stopped in front of a large metal door.
Darius pulled out a key. "This is my personal quarters. You'll stay here tonight. Tomorrow, we start making you into the weapon they were too afraid to let you become."
He opened the door, revealing a surprisingly nice space with actual furniture, lights, and—
"A real bed," I whispered, staring at the large bed in the corner.
Darius's expression softened. "When was the last time you slept in a real bed?"
"Eighteen years ago."
Something dangerous flashed in his eyes. "They'll pay for that. I promise you."
I believed him.
As I stepped into the room, exhaustion hit me like a wave. My body was crashing after all the adrenaline.
"Get some sleep," Darius said. "I'll post guards outside. You're safe here."
Safe. Such a foreign concept.
As he started to leave, I called out, "Darius? Why are you helping me?"
He turned back, and for the first time, I saw something raw in his expression. Pain. Grief. Determination.
"Because I made a promise to your father," he said quietly. "The night before he died, he asked me to protect his family if anything happened to him. I failed everyone else. But you..." He met my eyes. "I won't fail you. No matter what it costs."
He left, closing the door gently behind him.
I stood alone in this underground room, silver fire still flickering faintly in my palms.
Just this morning, I'd been Zara Reed. Weak Omega. Nobody.
Now I was Zara Nightshade. Lost princess. Someone people would fight for.
Someone people would die for.
My wolf stirred contentedly.
We are home, she said.
I looked around the stone room beneath the earth.
This wasn't home. Home was something I'd lost when I was five.
But maybe... maybe it could be a beginning.
I was about to lie down when I heard shouting outside the door. Running footsteps. Then Darius's voice, sharp with alarm.
The door burst open.
Lyanna stood there, her face pale. "We have a problem. A big one."
"What now?" I asked tiredly.
"Garrett followed us into the Underground," she said. "And he's not here to fight."
My heart stopped. "Then why is he here?"
Lyanna's e
xpression was grim. "He says he made a mistake. That the rejection was wrong. He wants to talk to you. Alone."