Chapter 6 Teeth and Thrones.

LEVI~

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I haven't slept in days.

Not because I'm tired. Because I'm awake. Wide-eyed and bloodthirsty. The kind of wakefulness only obsession brings.

Zaria is the match.

And Jasper? He's the fuel.

But me?

I'm the explosion waiting to happen.

I knew this would come to a head eventually. I knew the moment she rose from exile wearing a grin made of war and a scent soaked in sovereignty, it would only be a matter of when, not if, the King and I would meet.

But gods... I craved it.

Not just to fight him.

To ruin him.

To carve Zaria's name into the inside of his skull so that no matter how many crowns he wore, no matter how many thrones he built

He'd never forget who made him bleed.

I stood at the edge of the southern bluff, eyes on the citadel where his wolves trained. Watched them march. Watched them grunt. Watched them pretend they were ready.

They weren't.

Because they'd never faced me.

Not Levi the Beta. Not the quiet one. Not the shadow.

No.

They were about to face the monster she made.

JASPER

The smell of Levi's kills was still fresh when I arrived.

Three guards dead.

One gutted and staked to a tree like a d*mn warning flag. Another strangled with his own entrails. The last? Left alive just long enough to piss himself and die whispering her name.

Zaria.

Her scent lingered, but she hadn't touched these bodies. He had.

Levi.

F*ck*ng snake.

I used to trust him. Used to keep him close. Used to believe that Betas were loyal by nature, that their instincts would never allow them to rival an Alpha let alone challenge one.

But Levi wasn't just a Beta.

He was a problem.

And I was going to solve him.

With steel. Or fire. Or both.

LEVI

I found Jasper before his wolves did.

Because I wanted to.

He was on the eastern ridge, overlooking the ruins of the Moonspire Watch an old territory I burned for Zaria two years ago. Funny how ghosts circle back when you least expect them.

"You're getting sloppy," I said, stepping from the trees.

Jasper turned. Slow. Controlled.

His eyes were gold-glowing slits.

"Still hiding behind your Beta rank like a coward?"

"I'm not hiding," I replied, tossing a blade to the dirt between us. "I'm waiting."

He stared at the weapon. Then at me.

"So this is it? You want to fight me over her?"

I laughed. Low. Cruel.

"You're not worth fighting over, Jasper. You're worth ending."

Lightning cracked above us. Rain hadn't started yet, but it wanted to.

Just like us.

Jasper moved first predictably. Arrogant. Alpha.

He swung wide, heavy. Like he thought I'd cower.

I ducked. Slammed an elbow into his ribs. He grunted.

"You forget," I snarled, "I trained with you. I know where your rage lives."

He caught my next punch. Twisted my arm. I felt the bone pop.

"I also know where yours breaks."

We clashed like beasts.

Fists. Fangs. Fire in our blood.

He tackled me into a tree, and I kicked him off with both legs, launching him backward into the dirt.

Blood in my mouth. Bone in my shoulder grinding like gears.

Still wasn't enough.

Because I saw it in his face.

He still thought he had the right to her.

And that?

That was unforgivable.

ZARIA

I smelled them before I heard them.

The blood.

The madness.

The history.

It was thick in the air masculine, primal, stupid.

I dropped down from the ridge, landing silently between trees slick with dew. My cloak tangled around my legs, but I didn't stop.

Didn't pause.

Because I could already see it:

Levi and Jasper fighting like gods in the dirt, ripping through each other like the throne was made of my bones.

Idiots.

"Are you two done measuring your dicks," I called, "or do I have to break them for you?"

They froze.

It was Levi who turned first.

His face was bloodied, one eye swelling, lip split but he still grinned like I was a miracle.

Jasper didn't grin.

He growled.

"Tell your lapdog to back off, Zaria," he said, wiping blood from his mouth. "Before I bury him."

"Funny," I replied, stepping between them, "because from where I'm standing, it looks like he buried you."

That set Jasper off.

He lunged but I moved faster.

Faster than both of them.

My claws caught his throat not to slice. Just to warn.

His golden eyes met mine.

I could feel his pulse hammering under my fingers.

"Touch him again," I whispered, "and I'll end you before your wolves even find the body."

Jasper held my gaze. "He's poisoning you."

"No," I said, letting go. "He's protecting me from you."

Then I turned to Levi.

His hands were clenched at his sides, eyes burning with questions he'd never ask out loud.

"I told you not to come," I said softly.

"I never left," he replied.

And gods... I hated him for that.

Because it made it so much harder to hate him at all.

JASPER

She sided with him.

Publicly.

I could've burned the forest down.

Instead, I straightened. Wiped the blood from my face. And did the one thing neither of them expected.

I smiled.

Because if Zaria thought siding with a Beta made her strong...

She hadn't seen what an Alpha King becomes when he's finally pushed to war.

"You want to challenge me, Zaria?" I said. "Fine. But I won't fight you in the shadows."

I pointed to the moon full, glowing, cruel.

"Tomorrow night. Red Hollow. The old arena."

"Trial by bond?" she asked, eyes narrow.

"No," I said, voice like smoke. "Trial by submission."

She tilted her head. "You still think I'll kneel?"

"You don't have to kneel to break."

She didn't flinch.

Didn't blink.

Just smiled.

"You better pray I don't, Jasper," she said. "Because if I ever do... you'll be under me."

LEVI

The moon rose higher as we descended from the bluff.

Zaria walked ahead, shoulders straight, cloak fluttering like wings.

Jasper vanished into the trees licking wounds and planning vengeance.

And me?

I followed her.

Not because I was behind her.

But because I chose to be.

Because while Jasper played at war...

I was building a revolution.

One carved in the blood of kings.

And crowned by the only Omega who ever dared to bite back.