His nostrils flared as he tested the air more carefully, his enhanced senses picking apart the complex mixture of scents.Not the controlled burn of cooking fires or the pleasant smokiness of the candles—this was wild, uncontrolled, and dangerous.
Where is it coming from?
The acrid scent of smoke wasn't the only warning though—it was the sound that followed. Glass exploded inward as the first Molotov cocktail shattered through the tall windows of the town hall, spraying liquid fire across the polished dance floor where his pack had been celebrating. The screams that erupted weren't just surprise—they were primal terror as burning glass rained down on formal wear and exposed skin.
Ronan.
The name blazed through Dorian's mind with the fury of a thousand suns as more projectiles sailed through the shattered windows—rocks, bottles wrapped in flaming cloth, anything designed to create chaos and destruction. This wasn't random violence. This was calculated, deliberate, and timed with surgical precision to inflict maximum psychological and physical damage.
He chose tonight. He chose the moment we dared to hope.
Dorian's wolf surged so close to the surface that his vision sharpened with predatory clarity, picking out details in the smoke-hazed chaos. Pack members stumbled over each other in panic, their formal wear now obstacles as they fought toward the single exit. Children cried for their parents. The elderly struggled against the crush of bodies.
And through it all, the fire spread with hungry efficiency across the space and the decorations they'd spent days creating—the banners Lila had painted, the centerpieces her friends had helped arrange, the twinkling lights that had made the space magical. Everything beautiful was being consumed.
"Harper!" he barked, his voice cutting through the pandemonium like a blade. She spun toward him, her emeraldgown already smudged with soot, her green eyes wide but focused. Not panicked—never panicked. His mate was built for crisis. "Get to Lila now!"
She didn't waste time with questions or protests. She simply nodded once, sharp and decisive, before plunging into the crowd toward where he'd last seen his sister dancing with Tobias.
Trust her,he commanded his wolf as every instinct screamed to follow, to shield his mate from the chaos.She can handle this.
"Alpha!" Marty's voice reached him from across the burning hall, his Beta already helping elderly pack members navigate around fallen debris. His grandmother appeared beside Marty, her silver hair catching the firelight as she barked orders with the authority of a woman who'd survived worse than this.
"Windows!" Dorian roared, his alpha command cutting through the noise like thunder. "Everyone out through the windows! Now!"
But even as his pack began coordinating their escape, Dorian's enhanced hearing picked up the sound that made his blood freeze—the deliberate thud of heavy boots surrounding the building's perimeter. Through the smoke and flames, he caught glimpses of massive shapes positioning themselves outside the main exit.
Ronan's wolves. They're not just trying to burn us out—they're trying to trap us inside.
This wasn't just an attack—it was an execution. Ronan had waited for the perfect moment when hundreds of his pack would be gathered in one location, dressed in formal wear that would burn easily, with limited exits and maximum emotional impact.
He wants to finish what his family started eighteen years ago.
Fury unlike anything Dorian had ever experienced flooded his system, turning his vision red at the edges. His parents had died protecting this pack. His sister had been traumatized. Hispeople had lived in fear for nearly two decades. And now Ronan thought he could end it all in one devastating blow, destroying not just lives but the hope they'd finally dared to rebuild.
"Marty!" Dorian's voice carried the full weight of alpha authority as he began stripping off his formal jacket with violent efficiency. The expensive fabric tore as he yanked it free, his wolf demanding immediate action. "I'm going out there. Get everyone else out through the windows—whatever it takes."
"Like hell you're going alone." Marty appeared at his side, already loosening his tie with grim determination. Behind him came three more of their strongest enforcers—wolves who'd sworn to stand between their Alpha and death itself.
"The building's compromised," one of them reported, his face streaked with soot. "The support beams near the back wall are already showing damage. We've got maybe ten minutes before this whole place comes down."
Ten minutes to save everyone. Ten minutes to end eighteen years of hell.
Dorian's shirt joined his jacket on the floor as his wolf pressed against his skin, demanding release. Around him, his enforcers were making the same preparations, their human forms already beginning to blur at the edges as their wolves surged forward.
"Evelyn!" he called to his grandmother, catching her sharp blue eyes across the chaos. "Get Harper and Lila out—whatever it takes."
The matriarch's nod was fierce and immediate. She understood what he was asking. His family had to live through this, even if he didn't.
The thought should have terrified him. Instead, it brought crystalline clarity. For eighteen years, he'd carried the weight of protecting everyone, of being strong enough to shield his packfrom Ronan's hatred. Tonight, that burden would either crush him completely—or finally be lifted.
"Ready?" Marty asked, his voice already roughening as his wolf took control.
Dorian's answering smile was all predator, all Alpha, all barely contained violence. "Let's remind Ronan why he should have stayed away from the Holt pack."
The transformation began, his human form dissolving into the massive black wolf with silver threading through his thick fur. Around him, his enforcers made the same shift, their combined presence radiating lethal intent.
Through the bond that connected him to Harper, he felt her determination as she fought through the crowd toward Lila. Through his connection to the pack, he sensed their terror transforming into coordinated action as they worked to escape through windows and any other opening they could create.
