Chapter 5: Your Documentation Can Eat My Entire Ass

Beers hovered. Nobody swallowed.

The crowd had a moment. The moment was "well, fuck."

They’d wanted 7709 to snap. They’d been requesting it for entertainment. Then the cloak coughed up a real girl.

"Please, Elders, let our men help her," Celeste said with her hands clasped together and tears in her eyes.

In the Thunderfang section, Landon’s entire body went rigid.

Every Alpha bloodline had a unique gift. Landon’s was electricity. Piss him off? 100% chance of a Thunderstorm. Metal weapons turned into live wires if he wanted. A snap of his fingers could produce a spark hot enough to light a fire.

Bonus feature: He sensed current the way a shark smells a bleeding tourist. The pile of fabric on the arena floor was not having a breakdown. It was plugged in.

Next to him, Derek had an identical reaction.

"Landon, somebody is—"

Landon had already cleared the railing.

WHUMP.

Sixty-foot drop. Boots hit sand. Alpha physics.

The jumbotron swung to him and the crowd lost its shit.

The bachelor Alpha everybody wanted just superhero-landed on holy sand in a glowing suit like he’d come to unplug the apocalypse. Half the house pointed at Celeste’s waterworks. The other half were looking at tent girl’s nervous breakdown.

"WHICH WAY ARE HIS FEET POINTED? THAT WILL TELL YOU!"

"HE’S WALKING! HE’S WALKING!"

A bookie watched the landing and saw a window. "HE’S IN MOTION! Celeste two-to-one! Slave five-to-one!" Best six seconds of his fiscal year.

Celeste’s face lit up.

She stepped forward, eyes wet, chin trembling and opened her arms so wide she nearly clotheslined an elder. It was the full Celeste Experience. Batteries not included. Soul sold separately. Her big moment. Caught on jumbotron for every pack in Helix to watch. The fairy tale was practically writing itself.

"Landon, I—"

Landon blew past her in a blur.

The wind from his stride moved her hair.

Celeste kept the welcome-home pose for two more seconds. The jumbotron zoomed in on her face. The confused expression that lived there was going to be a hologram meme by sunrise.

Landon dropped to his knees and pulled the cloak back. He could feel the current through the fabric. Nova’s body was locked in a full seizure.

His wolf roared so loud in his skull that his vision went full gold. His already glowing suit turned up the brightness to Level 10. He knew where the current was coming from. The silver bands on her wrists and ankles weren’t humming for ambiance.

He scooped her off the ground, ditching the cloak, and his body immediately started vacuuming the charge, turning him into a thunderstorm with abs. A nearby column split. Two runes died screaming.

Nobody gave a single solitary fuck because the jumbotron had a close-up of an Alpha holding a seizing slave like she was the only person in the arena and every wolf with a pulse forgot how to blink.

WHUMP.

A second glowing superhero made an ass-entrance on the sacred sand. Derek stood up, dusted himself off, and looked at the nearest camera. "I meant to do that."

The crowd started cheering.

"HE’S GOING FOR THE PRINCESS!"

"THE THUNDERFANG BROTHERS FIGHTING OVER STARBORNE’S DAUGHTER!"

Derek walked past Celeste without sparing her a glance, patting her on the shoulder as he passed. "Hang in there, champ."

Celeste’s hand shot out and she grabbed Derek’s arm. "What did you just say?"

The arena gasped, fully transformed into a live studio audience realizing the night hadn’t peaked yet.

Derek was unimpressed. He glanced down at her hand, then at the ceiling. Divine intervention did not arrive.

"You don’t walk away from me," she hissed. "Do you know who I—"

"Sixth," he cut her off. "Sixth-ranked pack. I know exactly who you are. Now let go of me before I light you up like your daddy’s doing to 7709."

She squeezed harder and dropped her voice. The crowd leaned forward. "You wouldn’t dare. I’m an Alpha’s daughter and this is sacred ground. That’s a violation of Alpha protocol and an act of war."

Those were the magic words. Every elder head looked in opposite directions at the same time, a single hive-mind who saw absolutely nothing.

Derek’s grin widened. "Alpha protocols? Love those. Don’t apply to me. Wrong Thunderfang, Sparky."

"My father will hear of this."

"Great news. So will ten thousand other people. Everybody wave to the princess."

The audience waved.

Celeste immediately let go. Her wolf hit the surface hard enough to turn her eyes into gold headlights. Derek didn’t look back, already sliding into place next to Landon.

"REMOVE THE SILVER," Landon demanded, looking at the elders.

The head Elder took a half step back. "Alpha Thunderfang, she is Starborne property. You cannot—"

"I said remove them."

A second Elder found his courage. "Protocol requires—"

"With respect, Elder," Derek cut in. "The Alpha of the largest pack in Helix just gave you a direct order. Protocol says you listen."

The Elders glanced up to Alpha Starborne. The jumbotron and every pair of eyes in the arena followed.

Starborne’s face said ’how adorable’ so loudly it practically had subtitles.

"Alpha Thunderfang," he called down, voice calm. "I understand the concern. She is prone to these fits. My guards are trained for this. Let them handle it."

"Your guards," Landon repeated. "There is current in all four of her bands."

Starborne didn’t blink. "Careful, Thunderfang. That is a very serious accusation. My slave has a documented condition. You are holding stolen property on sacred ground. I suggest—"

"I’m holding a girl who is currently being electrocuted." Landon’s suit pulsed so bright that the front three rows squinted. "Your documentation can eat my entire ass."

The arena didn’t get a chance to react. What happened next took less than a second.

The hum Landon had been absorbing from her silver bands hit him like a lightning freight train that kept accelerating. Like someone was turning up the volume.

POP-POP.

The Thunderfang brothers both recognized that sound. Too late.