My Alphas' Dark Desires novel Chapter 396

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~Valerie's POV~

"From within."

Those words struck through me like ice dipped in fire.

Before I could speak, protest, or even inhale properly, King Draco reached into the inner folds of his black jacket and pulled out a small, glowing gem—a deep scarlet stone veined with molten gold, pulsing like it had its own heartbeat.

The air around us twirled.

"Hold on," he commanded, and before I could ask 'to what', he clasped my wrist firmly, lifted the gem, and slammed it against his palm.

WHOOM.

Heat, wind, and pressure folded in on each other. Before me was something like a vortex which swallowed us whole.

For a moment, everything seemed noisy like a large gush of wind and then… Silence.

The ground steadied. The air changed. My senses struggled to catch up as I staggered forward, but King Draco's hand remained firm on my arm, keeping me upright.

When I finally blinked the blur away, my breath caught in my throat.

We stood on a vast plateau of dark stone, surrounded by endless crimson mountains stretching into a horizon of burning gold.

The sky shimmered with heatwaves and floating embers, thick with dragon magic. In the distance, ancient stone arches floated mid-air, glowing with runes older than any kingdom I'd known.

The Dragon Kingdom.

A land so far removed, so heavily protected, no wolf, fae, or human could ever stumble here by accident.

"Why… why did we come here?" I whispered.

King Draco released my arm, but his eyes remained fixed on me with a stern familiarity that made something in my chest twist.

"Because," he said quietly, "this place will not burn if you lose control. And because you needed this years ago."

My pulse skipped. "Years ago?"

He stepped closer, not threatening, but with the authority of someone who had already decided the truth and expected me to accept it.

"You have the bloodline of two ancient powers," Draco said. "Fire and earth. You should have been trained to command them long before they grew strong enough to overwhelm you."

The wind shifted, carrying heat like a dragon's breath.

"Your wolf alone cannot contain what you are."

I swallowed hard. "I don't even know what I am."

His violet eyes softened with something almost… regretful.

"That, Valerie Snow," he murmured, "is what we are about to fix."

He lifted his hand, and a fissure cracked open in the stone at our feet.

I could feel the control pulsing through him, through the earth and fire within.

It wasn't destructive, but intentional. The earth listened to him like a loyal beast responding to its master.

"First," he said, "we ground you."

He motioned for me to step onto the circle of cracked stone. I hesitated, but he held my gaze firmly. King to princess, power to power, fire to fire.

I stepped onto it.

Instantly, warmth rushed up my legs, into my chest—then up my spine like a hot coil.

I gasped. "What…"

King Davion spoke calmly, though the energy around us vibrated.

"Earth is the first element of stability. Let it clamp down on your fire. Feel it beneath your skin… deeper…"

I inhaled and tried channelling my thoughts and focus to the earth and then… to my…

I felt it.

My brows shot up. I never expected it to be this easy.

"You feel it easily because of where you are. The creation of dragons," King Davion explained and I nodded.

The same feeling overwhelmed me again—a heavy, thrumming pull beneath my feet, like roots trying to anchor themselves inside me.

My breathing steadied. My fingertips tingled. It wasn't in warning this time, but in resonance.

"That's it," King Davion murmured. "You are not fighting it. You're aligning."

I closed my eyes and allowed the pulse of the earth to ripple through me.

The burning inside my chest slowly dulled. The sparks didn't vanish, but they settled, as if kneeling.

When I opened my eyes, King Davion was studying me closely.

"Good," he said. "Now comes the second part."

He lifted both his hands, and a ring of swirling flames rising in a perfect arc erupted behind him. It didn't burn the air or scorch the ground.

It moved like it obeyed just the way fire ought to obey a dragon.

"This part," he warned softly, "will hurt."

My breath hitched. "Why?"

"Because fire responds to emotion. And yours…" His jaw tightened. "Yours is overflowing."

The fire surged forward in my direction. Fear gripped me, stealing my breath away. It was probably to test me and not to burn me, but that didn't change the emotions swirling inside me. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

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