Contract Marriage With Alpha Snow - Chapter 511

Chapter 511: The Ritual: Introductions

****************

CHAPTER 511

~Ella’s POV~

Aira continued gently, “I just thought you should know. Not because you need to drop everything, but because you’d want to hear it from me.”

I exhaled slowly as the tension leaked from my shoulders. “And you’re sure she left willingly?”

“No,” Aira said without hesitation. “And that’s the problem.”

I sat down, my fingers drumming restlessly against the wood. “Still. I should come back.”

“She wouldn’t want that,” Aira repeated. “She’d want you to do exactly what you’re doing—help Richard get the Lycans to fully back the alliance. She was counting on that. And also grow your relationship. Just like the rest of us, you deserve that too.”

“And so does Zara, but it seems like she isn’t even catching a single break. Zara needs loving.”

“And she will get it once we find her and bring her back.”

I closed my eyes briefly.

Of course, she was counting on me for so many things. But knowing Zara, she would want me to put myself first.

Everything Zara did… it was never just for herself.

“Alright,” I said softly. “I’ll stay. But the second you need me—”

“I’ll call,” Aira promised. “We’ll find her, Ella. We just have to hold the line until then.”

I nodded, even if she couldn’t see me. “Thank you for telling me.”

And as the call ended, I sat in silence for a long moment, heart heavy.

Then I stood, already pulling out the war brief from my satchel.

If I couldn’t protect her from here, then I’d damn well make sure the support she fought for didn’t fall apart in her absence.

****************

~Zara’s POV~

Pain pulsed in my wrists from the enchanted cuffs locking me down, chaining me to the cold slab at the center of the salt-drawn circle. Black and red candles flickered wildly around me, their flames dancing like shadows from a different world. The air was thick with incense, burnt sage, and something darker—blood magic. My body felt heavy, the magic soaking into my bones like wet sand.

Ten witches stood in a wide ring, their black cloaks brushing the floor, hands raised high as they chanted in a low, guttural tone. The markings on the floor glowed beneath me, ancient symbols drawn in salt and ash—carvings I could barely make out, but my soul recoiled from them all the same.

And just beyond the witches, near the dark altar, stood Luna Slaton.

She wasn’t alone.

Her voice rang low as she spoke with a group of men. I strained my neck to look, and my heart lurched.

Alpha Wayne. His unmistakable sneer still carved into his face.

Kent Wayne beside him, as smug and poisonous as ever.

Melvin Devereaux.

Gods.

My body froze in recognition. I’d hoped never to see his face again. The sick joy in his expression sent bile rising up my throat.

And then… two other men I didn’t know.

No—one of them I did know. My soul knew.

The last one moved forward, closer than the rest. His eyes were hollow, sunken, yet burning with a sick, greedy hunger that chilled me to my bones.

Even without speaking, I felt the revulsion in my spirit before my mind caught up.

Luna Slaton turned, her long fingers motioning to me without a word. The witches silenced instantly.

Alpha Wayne was the first to speak, stepping into the circle with a laugh that curled my stomach.

“Well, well. Isn’t this a sight? After everything… after years of chasing you, look at what you’ve become. A captured heir of Gold… chained and waiting for your powers to be harvested like fruit from a dying tree.”

Melvin Devereaux stepped beside him, his twisted smirk wide. “Don’t worry, darling. When they’re done… I get my turn. For what you and Snow did to my brother. For humiliating our name. For burning what was ours.”

Kent Wayne gave a mock bow. “So lovely to see you again, Alpha Gold’s second heir. Pity Ella isn’t here to watch this—maybe she’d learn that bloodlines don’t make you invincible.”

I groaned and tried to lift my head. My voice failed. My tongue was sealed by spell.

Then the last man—him—stepped in closer, until he was so near I could see the faint scars lining his jaw. His voice was guttural.

“You may have failed to fulfil your role for my family… but you’ll still serve. You’ll serve the grander purpose. The dark alliance will rise through your sacrifice.”

I frowned, heart racing. Who was he?

Luna Slaton’s low chuckle filled the room. She lifted her hand and with a simple flick of her fingers, the pressure on my tongue lifted, like she had been ready.

I gasped and inhaled sharply as though that simple, normal human function was too hard for me to take/make.

“Who… who the hell are you?”

The man tilted his head, smiling with a sickening twist. “You’ve forgotten so easily?”

I searched his face. That sneer… that energy. That name burned on my tongue even before I said it.

“Ivan’s father.”

“Yes,” he thundered.

And then, without warning, his hand shot forward and wrapped around my throat.

My breath caught instantly, and I coughed violently, kicking against the table though my body had barely any strength to fight back. His fingers crushed against my windpipe, his nails digging into my skin.

The others didn’t stop him.

They laughed and watched.

My legs flailed against the stone, my vision blurring. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t—

“Enough,” Luna Slaton said calmly.

She didn’t raise her voice, but the air in the room shifted the moment she spoke.

“I said… let her be.”

“Why? A little fun and torment is never too old… it would give us the satisfaction.”

Ivan’s father growled, his grip tightening just a second longer before jerking his hand away. I gasped for air, my throat raw.

“You don’t get to kill the merchandise,” Luna Slaton said dryly. “You and Melvin can enjoy your revenge after the extraction. Not before.”

“She deserves to die,” he growled. “She and Snow took my only son.”

“And she will,” Luna said coldly. “But not before we get what we came for.”

I whimpered, trying again to pull at the chains, but the moment I fought back, my limbs weakened as if the very spell laced through the metal drank my resistance dry.

I wanted to scream. To curse them all.

But I couldn’t even sit up when another voice, stilled suddenly in the room. A single voice echoed through the dome’s shadowed corners.

“Gentlemen, calm down.”

The sound was smooth, amused, and unmistakable.

All heads turned in the direction of the sound. A flicker of light flared near the high dais, just behind Luna’s darkened throne.

Vera.

Her form materialised slowly from the shadows, the gleam of her blackened crown catching the candlelight.

She stood poised, draped in silky black robes with red accents that pulsed like veins of fire. Her face was pale, her eyes sharp.

She stepped into the light, revealing herself completely.

She didn’t walk down to us. She vanished from the throne—and reappeared right in front of the altar where I lay.

“The main prize,” she said smoothly, “is none other than Zara Gold. The final link. The bearer of the fire we need.”

She looked down at me.

“So…” she said, her voice dripping with sick delight. “Shall we begin the extraction?”

**************

~Snow’s POV~

The early dawn air was crisp, heavy with the scent of dew and engine oil.

Five vehicles lined the estate’s driveway, each one a sleek, reinforced combat-grade SUV—charcoal-black, shielded windows, low hums of energy pulsing beneath the hoods. Beyond them, the treetops rustled faintly, like even the forest held its breath.

We weren’t waiting on anyone. Just the signal.

I stood beside the lead car, pulling on my gloves as the comms channel crackled to life in my ear.

“Comms test. Squad A, check,” came Jupiter’s voice—sharp and efficient.

“Zade, locked and loaded. Weapons checked. All green,” Zade responded from three cars down, leaning against his open vehicle door as he clicked the safety on a matte-black rifle.

“Golden God here. Visuals synced. Tracking equipment online. Drone grid prepped and cloaked,” he added, his usual bravado trimmed to cold, soldierly efficiency.

“Davion,” came a deeper voice. “All clear.”

I exhaled and pressed the comm on my shoulder. “Snow. Systems check complete. Route confirmed. Ready on my mark.”

The comm line crackled once more with affirmations.

Across the driveway, each man did a final sweep—adjusting straps, checking vests, scanning magic detectors and thermal screens mounted inside the vehicles. There were no jokes. No side comments. Not today.

I glanced sideways.

Davion stood a few feet from me, dressed in modern tactical black—no armor, no gaudy cape. Just sleek combat gear that still couldn’t hide the dragon aura clinging to his frame like smoke.

His violet eyes were unreadable as he stared at the GPS tablet in his hand. The soft glow lit his features in a way that reminded me, again, that he wasn’t just a man. He was something older. Something made of fire and sky.

And he was bonded to me.

“Don’t lose your head today,” I muttered, half to myself.

Davion glanced up.

“I could say the same to you.”

We stared at each other for a moment—two beings on a razor’s edge, forced into alliance by the woman who meant everything to me.

The tension never left. It only folded itself neatly behind the mission.

“Zade, status?” I asked, adjusting my weapon sling as I moved to the front of the convoy.

“We’re locked in. Crew’s distributed evenly across Vehicles Two and Three. Tempest and Aira will follow once the second line’s cleared. We’re running stealth unless engaged.”

“Copy that,” I said.