Knotted By The Devilish Alpha Brothers

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: classic weather

”Stop with the stupid lines,” Amelia snapped, her voice tight with fear and frustration.

She could only watch as the three masked women advanced, moving in such a predatory way, closing in like wolves circling prey. Instinctively she glanced back. The brothers stood exactly where they had been, arms crossed, as if they were simply waiting for some kind of miracle to happen.

They’re not going to help. They’re just going to watch.

Her heart hammered harder.

A sudden rush of wind tore past her ear. In the same instant something yanked her backward by the fabric of her gown, pulling her off balance. A fist slammed into the empty air where her chest had been a fraction of a second earlier, the force of the missed punch cracking the air like a whip.

Amelia’s back collided with something solid and warm. She twisted her head and found herself against Dean’s chest. His arm was still locked around her midsection, his grip like iron. For a split second even he looked stunned—as if his body had moved before his mind had given permission.

He recovered fast.

”Can’t you even see how fast they are?” he muttered near her ear. ”You managed to track my movements that night. What’s wrong with you now?”

Amelia stared at him in confusion and rising fear. What is he talking about? I don’t remember any of that.

The three women launched themselves forward at the same time, only fists and flying kicks. Dean didn’t waste another word. He hauled Amelia with him, weaving through the assault with lethal precision.

His free arm snapped up again and again, blocking strikes that would have shattered bone. Every sharp turn sent Amelia’s body swinging after him, her feet barely touching the ground.

Her head spun. Being dragged through the rapid, violent motion felt like being a rag doll caught in a storm—flung and jerked with no control over where she would land next. Her vision blurred.

Behind them, Enzo and Reid watched in absolute, frozen shock.

Reid asked with curiosity. ”I definitely need to know what she did to him.”

Enzo’s eyes never left the fight, fixed on the blur of motion. ”So do I.”

Amelia’s stomach lurched violently. The constant spinning made her feel like she was going to vomit, her vision swimming. All that rang in her head was a single, desperate loop.

I’m going to die. I can’t die. I don’t have powers. They’re just trying to break me—

And it was working.

Something inside her snapped.

Fear surged so violently that she started dragging in huge, ragged gasps of air even as Dean continued to fling her from side to side. Her purple eyes flared with sudden light, bright and unnatural. Claire’s head jerked toward her at once, somehow tracking the glow despite the speed.

”It’s working,” Claire said urgently.

They all watched as the white streaks in Amelia’s hair brightened, casting a faint, unnatural radiance around her head like a halo.

Reid squinted, clearly not impressed by what he is seeing. ”Nothing’s happening. Is she just some kind of defective torchlight now? Glowing for the fun of it?”

Then thunder cracked across the sky—deep, rolling, and impossibly close.

Reid frowned up at the canopy. ”Since when does the weather—”

The forest darkened in seconds. Heavy clouds swallowed every remaining ray of light until it felt like night had fallen in the middle of the day. Rain began to fall, light at first, then harder. The drops struck skin with increasing force... and increasing pain.

Skye hissed, recoiling. ”Ow—what the—”

She wiped her arm and stared. The droplets weren’t water. They were tiny, razor-sharp shards of ice, pointed and vicious.

The masked women felt it too. Their seamless assault faltered as they raised their arms to shield themselves from the piercing rain, their formation breaking apart.

Enzo’s voice rang out. ”Fall back. Now.”

No one argued. Dean spun on his heel, flipped Amelia up and over his shoulder in one smooth motion, and sprinted after the others toward the mansion. Amelia lifted her head just enough to look back.

The three masked women were already retreating into the trees, their figures blurring through the curtain of ice.

Is it over?

The sharp ice shards kept striking her back, each one a tiny, stinging cut. She used her hand to protect her head, wincing.

Then she noticed the soft glow reflecting off her downward flowing hair.

She lifted strands of her hair, bringing them close to her eyes. Amelia stared at it, pulse stuttering.

How is this happening?

Is what Dr. Claire said true? Do I actually have powers?

But she hadn’t done anything. She hadn’t focused, hadn’t even known what to try. It was just this strange, impossible weather that had saved her. How did this unusual weather just happen right when she was in danger.

Her thoughts slowed as the pieces began to click together.

The ice rain was already lessening. The heavy darkness was lifting. Sunlight started to push back through the thinning clouds, and the forest slowly returned to its normal colors.

Do I have the power to change the weather?

The idea was absurd. Impossible. She had been wolfless her entire life. She had never shown a single spark of ability, not even as a child. Things like this simply didn’t happen to people like her.

And yet...

Claire had said her past-life memories were still inside her. She had also said the powers from those lives had likely followed her as well.

So... was it true?

By the time the last ice shard melted against the ground, the forest looked ordinary again. Enzo raised a hand, signaling them to stop.

”We can stop here.”

Everyone slowed. Skye let out a low whistle, glancing up at the now-clear sky, her hands on her hips. ”Well. That was dramatic.”

Claire’s gaze settled on Amelia. ”That was all her doing.”

Dean immediately swung Amelia down and set her on her feet. The sudden change in position made her sway, her legs unsteady beneath her. Only then did it fully register that he had been carrying her the entire way back.