Six Months Later

The grand doors of the ball drew open. A hush fell over the ballroom as every eye, some fearful, some lustful, some simply in awe, turned to look at the woman gliding through the doors and down the steps.

Her brown hair fell in curls down her back and she wore a deep red and orange gown befitting of her moniker: The Flame Alpha.

Months prior, the Royal Guards had arrived on the territory of the Lightwood Pack with an order for the arrest of several members, including the acting and former higher-ups, as well as the disbandment of the pack. What they’d found had stupefied them.

Of the members to be arrested, two had been badly injured, one with half of her face disfigured in a mass of burns and charred flesh and the other with multiple wolvesbane-treated burns, cuts and bruises on every part of her body save for her midsection. The recently deposed Beta was found lying unconscious only a few feet from an exploded storage space, missing his fangs and with a gaping wound in his side, as well as bearing scars and burns from the explosion. The Alpha had been left in a state of shock, burned and tailless from a challenge that transpired only hours prior, per the members’ testimonies.

Finally, when they’d gone to look for Clark Lightwood, the former Alpha, mastermind of the convicted crimes and heaviest offender on their arrest sheet, they’d found his charred remains beneath the rubble and ash that had once been his home.

All of this, from an unexpected visit from Alpha Ari, or as they’d come to learn – Alpha Avarielle Lightwood, of the Vengar Sanguine Pack.

Without the severe crimes committed by the Lightwood Pack, her actions would have been grounds for the stripping of her title at best, and an arrest at worst. But the personalities in question didn’t warrant the removal of a promising young Alpha. This dismissal of liability was only supported by the obvious justification that presented itself when some of the members confessed to the horrors they’d witnessed her endure as the former omega and illegitimate child of the now-dead Clark.

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After all, the child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.

In addition, they’d discovered that the Lightwood Pack had been underreporting their income and hiding money to avoid dues. After the Palace had taken what they were owed, the remaining funds had been sent to Alpha Ari as the assumed inheritor who, in turn, had given it to Hailey Sight, now known as Hailey Lightwood to the Werewolf world.

With the incredible brutality of the story, news travelled fast. Soon, every pack in the country had at least heard the whisperings of the Alpha that reduced her enemies to ash.

And now, the bloodthirsty, vengeful Flame Alpha stood among them in the Winter Mate Ball. She mingled with her attending members and engaged with some of her allies but, in stark contrast to the previous year’s ball, none dared to approach her for a dance.

She swirled the champagne flute in her hand with gloved fingers and took a sip. Her skin prickled with the antsy stares darting over her like flies across the wide berth they gave her, but it did little to faze her.

Today, she would ignore the past.

Watching Hailey and Timothy spin around the dance floor, she was content for the moment. She scanned the room for Kirstin, finding her shyly conversing with a man in a corner.

For weeks in the aftermath, after finding out how badly she’d hurt Harry, Kirstin had looked at her with conflicted feelings. Her instincts to care for him made her abrasive, but after a long, quiet conversation over every detail of that fateful, she’d eased into an understanding of the outcome.

A familiar scent crept up on her, sending shivers up her spine. Her eyes found him immediately, walking to her through the crowd that seemed to part for him like the Red Sea. He was wearing the same three-piece suit as last time, with the red tie that serendipitously still matched the red of her dress.

Now standing before her, she looked up at his shaded eyes, her heart fluttering in a strange, foreign skip.

“Why is the most gorgeous woman in this room standing in a corner all by her lonesome?”

Her heart skipped again and she felt a blush creep up her neck.

“Haven’t you heard the rumours?” She said into her glass in a bid to hide her expression, looking up at him through her lashes, “If you come too close, I’ll burn you alive.”

His lips quirked and he offered his hand with a flourish, “I think I’ll take my chances.”