Chapter 6 CHAPTER 6

DAMIAN

I needed answers.

The encounter in chemistry class had left me rattled in ways I couldn’t articulate. Luna’s words about my father, about her father’s execution, about the impossible gulf between us echoed in my head long after she’d fled the classroom.

I went straight to the one place I knew I’d find information: the Blackwell private archives.

The mansion had a library that put most universities to shame. Three floors of leather-bound books, ancient scrolls, and family records dating back centuries. Most of it was mundane property deeds, business transactions, pack genealogies. But tucked away in a locked section on the third floor were the records my father kept hidden.

Records of executions. Trials. “Threats” eliminated.

I’d never paid much attention before. My father’s ruthlessness was simply a fact of life, like the weather or the phases of the moon. But now, with Luna’s pain fresh in my mind, I needed to understand what had really happened to Ronan Rivers.

I found the file easily enough. My father’s organizational system was meticulous, almost obsessive.

RIVERS, RONAN - TERMINATED

My stomach turned as I read the charges: Suspected rogue sympathies. Questioned pack hierarchy. Possible conspiracy to undermine Alpha authority.

Nothing concrete. Nothing that warranted execution.

The date of death was thirteen years ago. Luna would have been five years old.

The method of execution made my blood run cold: Public burning at Eden Mountain. Silver-laced flames to ensure complete eradication of bloodline threat.

They’d burned him alive. Slowly. Made a spectacle of it.

And Luna had probably watched.

LUNA

I couldn’t go home.

The thought of facing my mother seeing her worry, her questions, the weight of her fading magic trying to protect me from something she didn’t understand was too much.

Instead, I found myself walking to Eden Forest. The same place where everything had changed.

The trees welcomed me like old friends. As soon as I crossed the tree line, some of the tension in my chest eased. Out here, away from the judgmental stares and whispered gossip, I could breathe.

I found the meadow where it had happened. Where I’d met the dark wolf. Where I’d given myself to a stranger without knowing his name.

The grass was still flattened where we’d lain together. The memory hit me with physical force his weight, his warmth, the way our wolves had recognized each other even when our human minds were lost to instinct.

“I was so stupid,” I whispered to the empty clearing.

My wolf stirred restlessly. She didn’t agree. To her, what we’d done was right and natural. Fated.

But fate was cruel. It had given me a mate I could never have, in a family that had destroyed mine.

I sat down in the grass, pulling my knees to my chest. The silver streaks in my hair caught the afternoon sunlight, shimmering like liquid metal. I’d stopped trying to hide them out here. What was the point? The forest didn’t judge.

That’s when I felt it a shift in the air. A presence.

I was on my feet instantly, my wolf surging forward, ready to defend.

Three figures emerged from the tree line. Rogues, by the look of them lean, scarred, moving with the cautious wariness of wolves who’d spent too long on the run.

“Easy,” the lead one said, holding up his hands. He was older, maybe forty, with scars running down one side of his face. “We’re not here to hurt you.”

“Then why are you here?” I demanded, keeping my distance.

“We felt it,” he said simply. “Three days ago. The earth shook. The old magic stirred. We knew the Silver Wolf had awakened.”

My heart stopped. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Your hair tells a different story.” His eyes were kind despite the hardness of his features. “We’ve been watching you, Luna Rivers. Waiting to see if you’d survive the transformation.”

“How do you know my name?”

“We knew your father,” the woman beside him said. She was younger, with dark hair and fierce eyes. “Ronan was one of us before the Blackwells killed him. He believed in the old ways. In balance between the bloodlines.”

Hearing my father’s name from a stranger’s mouth made my chest tighten. “My father wasn’t a rogue. He was murdered for nothing.”

“He was murdered for believing the prophecy,” the older man corrected. “For understanding what you represent. The silver bloodline was nearly destroyed, Luna. You’re the first in three generations to manifest the true power. That makes you dangerous to people like Alpha Maxwell.”

“I’m not dangerous to anyone,” I said, but even as the words left my mouth, I knew they were a lie.

The buzzing under my skin, the silver glow, the way my wolf felt ancient and powerful I was becoming something I didn’t understand. Something the Blackwells had tried to eradicate.

“The prophecy speaks of a union,” the woman said, stepping closer. “When the dark wolf and the silver wolf meet, the old order falls. The packs will either find balance or destroy each other.”

“I’ve heard the prophecy,” I said tightly. “I don’t care about it.”

“You will,” the older man said. “When they come for you and they will come you’ll need allies. We can teach you to control your power. To survive what’s coming.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“You mated with the Blackwell heir,” he said bluntly.

I froze. “How did you—”

“Your scent is tangled with his. The bond is forming. Do you really think Alpha Maxwell will let that stand?” His expression was grim. “He’ll kill you to break the prophecy. Unless you’re strong enough to fight back.”

DAMIAN

I found her in the forest.

I hadn’t meant to follow her, but my wolf had other ideas. The moment I’d caught her scent trail leading out of town, I’d been helpless to resist.

What I didn’t expect was to find her surrounded by rogues.

Every protective instinct I had roared to life. I shifted mid-stride, my wolf exploding forward with a snarl that echoed through the trees.

The rogues scattered immediately they knew better than to fight a Blackwell wolf on his own territory. But the older male stood his ground, placing himself between me and Luna.

“Stand down, pup,” he said calmly. “We’re not the enemy here.”

I growled, my wolf wanting blood for the perceived threat to our mate.

“Damian, stop!” Luna’s voice cut through the red haze. “They weren’t hurting me.”

I shifted back to human form, though every muscle remained tensed for a fight. “What the hell were you doing with rogues?”

“Talking,” she said defiantly. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

The older rogue studied me with unnerving intensity. “So you’re the golden heir. The one who’s going to destroy everything your father built.”

“I’m not destroying anything.”

“Not yet,” he agreed. “But you will. The moment you claimed her, you set events in motion that can’t be stopped. The question is whether you’re strong enough to survive them.”

“Get away from her,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous growl.

“We’re leaving,” he said, raising his hands peacefully. “But hear me, Blackwell your father knows about the bond. He’s known since the first night. And he’s planning to eliminate the threat before it grows stronger.”

He looked at Luna. “Find us when you’re ready to learn. The forest will guide you.”

The rogues melted back into the trees, leaving Luna and me alone in the clearing.

She rounded on me immediately. “You followed me?”

“You’re in danger.”

“I’m always in danger! That’s what it means to be who I am!” Her eyes were blazing, silver light flickering beneath the green. “You don’t get to protect me, Damian. You don’t get to care. Because caring about me will destroy you just as much as it’ll destroy me.”

“I don’t care,” I said, closing the distance between us. “Luna, I’ve spent three days trying to convince myself this isn’t real. That I can ignore the bond and move on with my life. But I can’t. Every time I see you, every time I smell your scent, my wolf demands I claim you properly. Make you mine in front of the whole pack.”

“That can never happen.”

“I know.”

“Your father will kill me.”

“I know that too.”

We stood there, inches apart, the bond pulling us together while reality pushed us apart.

“Then what do we do?” Luna whispered.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But we figure it out together.”