Chapter 207: The Alpha’s Warpath

The ruins were still ashen, half-buried beneath time and death.

Bella had burned this place to the ground.

And now, the Hollow One had brought her back.

Dante reached the clearing, his breath sharp, his vision lined with red.

The shadows were thick here.

Wrong.

Alive.

His wolf bristled beneath his skin, desperate, feral, enraged.

And then—

He saw her.

Bella stood in the center of the ruins, her back to him, her body unnaturally still.

The darkness around her moved like smoke, twisting, wrapping around her like a cloak.

Her golden eyes were pitch black.

Empty.

Gone.

Dante's stomach dropped.

"No."

His voice was barely a whisper.

Barely a breath.

But Bella turned.

And when she smiled—

It wasn't hers.

It belonged to something else.

"You're too late, Alpha."

Dante snarled.

Because no.

He refused.

He refused to let her disappear into that thing.

"Bella," he growled, stepping forward, his fists clenched, his body locked with fury.

"Fight it."

Bella tilted her head.

"Why would I fight what I was always meant to be?"

Dante's pulse roared.

Because this wasn't just possession.

This wasn't just a curse.

This was Bella breaking.

This was Bella giving up.

And if she gave in completely—

She would never come back.

"You are mine."

Dante's voice was low, raw, unshaken.

"And I will not lose you to this."

Bella laughed.

But it wasn't her laugh.

It was the Hollow One's.

"Then take me back, Alpha."

She stepped closer, darkness curling at her feet, her hands rising, sharp claws forming at her fingertips.

"If you can."

Then—

She lunged.