Chapter 8 CHAPTER 8

DAMIAN

School became a special kind of torture.

Every day, I had to watch Luna from a distance, pretending she meant nothing to me. Every instinct screamed to go to her, to stand between her and the world, to announce to everyone that she was mine.

But I couldn’t. Not without signing her death warrant.

My father had been watching me more closely since the forest incident. He hadn’t said anything directly, but I caught him studying me at dinner, his golden eyes calculating and cold. He knew something had changed. He just didn’t know what yet.

I used my mother’s masking potion religiously, but it only hid Luna’s scent on me. It couldn’t hide the way my wolf responded when she walked into a room. The way my entire body tensed with awareness. The way I had to physically restrain myself from following her everywhere.

“You’re distracted,” my father said one morning over breakfast.

I forced myself to take another bite of food I couldn’t taste. “Just tired.”

“Tired,” he repeated, his tone making it clear he didn’t believe me. “From what, exactly? You’ve been doing nothing but attending classes and hiding in your room.”

“Adjusting to New Orleans,” I said carefully. “It’s different from New York.”

“Yes, it is.” He set down his coffee with deliberate precision. “New York made you soft. Reckless. That’s why I brought you here—to remind you what real power looks like. What real responsibility demands.”

I met his eyes, refusing to look away first. “I understand my responsibilities.”

“Do you?” He leaned back, studying me. “Because I’m hearing interesting rumors from the Academy. About you and a certain scholarship student.”

My blood ran cold, but I kept my expression neutral. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The Rivers girl. Luna.” He said her name like it was poison. “You’ve been paired with her for a chemistry project.”

“Mr. Graham assigned the partners. I didn’t choose her.”

“No, but you’ve been spending an unusual amount of time with her. Sitting next to her in class. Walking the same hallways.” His voice dropped to a dangerous rumble. “Tell me, Damian. Is there something I should know about your interest in the rogue’s daughter?”

Every fiber of my being wanted to defend her. To tell him that Luna wasn’t just some rogue’s daughter, that she was brilliant and brave and stronger than anyone gave her credit for.

But that would doom her.

“She’s nobody,” I said, the lie tasting like ash. “Just a poor kid who happens to share my chemistry class. If I’ve been civil to her, it’s because I’m not going to be an asshole for no reason.”

“Civility is fine,” my father said. “Attachment is not. The Rivers bloodline is tainted, Damian. Cursed. Stay away from her.”

“I am staying away from her.”

“Good.” He stood, straightening his suit. “Because if I thought for even a moment that you were compromising your future our family’s future for some outcast girl, I would be extremely disappointed. And you know how I deal with disappointments.”

The threat was crystal clear.

After he left, I sat alone at the massive dining table, staring at my untouched breakfast.

I was trapped. Bound to Luna by fate but separated from her by the very real threat of my father’s violence. And every day the bond grew stronger, making it harder to pretend she meant nothing to me.

LUNA

Lesley Monroe appeared at Saint Remy Academy like a designer-clad storm.

I’d heard the whispers before I saw her excited murmurs about Damian’s girlfriend visiting from New York. The rumors painted her as everything I wasn’t: wealthy, beautiful, sophisticated, perfect.

When I finally saw her in the hallway, I understood why everyone was staring.

She was stunning. Tall and graceful, with honey-blonde hair that caught the light and designer clothes that probably cost more than my house. She moved through the school like she owned it, her expensive heels clicking on the tile floors, leaving a trail of expensive perfume in her wake.

And she was looking for Damian.

I watched from my locker as she found him near the library. The way she touched his arm, possessive and familiar. The way she smiled up at him, confident in her claim. The way she leaned in to kiss him.

I slammed my locker shut and walked away before I could see if he kissed her back.

It shouldn’t hurt. I had no right to be jealous. Damian and I couldn’t be together, so what did it matter if he had a girlfriend? What did it matter that she was everything I could never be?

But it hurt anyway. The bond twisted in my chest, sharp and vicious, making me feel sick.

I made it to the bathroom before the tears came.

DAMIAN

“Surprise!” Lesley’s voice was bright and cheerful, but I heard the edge underneath. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

I carefully removed her hand from my arm. “What are you doing here, Lesley?”

“I missed you, obviously.” She pouted prettily. “You’ve been gone for weeks, and you barely answer my texts. I was starting to think you’d forgotten about me.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Too busy for your girlfriend?” She moved closer, lowering her voice. “Damian, what’s going on? You’ve been different since you left New York. Distant. Is it this place? Your father?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Then uncomplicate it for me.” Her eyes searched my face. “Talk to me. We used to tell each other everything.”

That was true. Lesley and I had been together for almost a year in New York. She’d been fun, uncomplicated, a perfect distraction from my father’s demands. We’d had good times together parties, travel, easy chemistry that didn’t demand anything deeper.

But that was before the bond. Before Luna.

Now, standing this close to Lesley felt wrong. My wolf was restless, agitated, wanting only one person’s scent and touch.

“I need space,” I said quietly. “Lesley, I think we should ”

“Don’t.” She cut me off, her voice sharp. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence. I flew all the way here because I was worried about you, and you’re going to break up with me in a school hallway?”

“This isn’t the place ”

“Then where? When?” Her voice rose. “Damian, what the hell is going on? Is there someone else?”

Yes.

The answer rose up immediately, unbidden. There was someone else. Someone who’d fundamentally changed everything with a single night under the moon.

But I couldn’t tell Lesley that.

“There’s no one else,” I lied. “I just need time to figure things out.”

“Figure what out?”

“Everything.”

We stood there in the hallway, students flowing around us, curious eyes tracking our argument. I could feel their attention, their gossip already forming.

And somewhere in this school, Luna was feeling this through the bond. Feeling my stress, my guilt, my confusion.

“Fine,” Lesley said finally, her voice cold. “Take your time. Figure things out. But Damian?” She leaned in close. “I’m not giving up on us. Whatever you’re dealing with, we’ll deal with it together. That’s what couples do.”

She kissed my cheek and walked away, every step calculated to show everyone watching that she still had claim on me.

I stood there, my wolf howling in frustration, torn between two worlds that couldn’t coexist.

LUNA

I made it through the rest of the day on autopilot.

Classes blurred together. I kept my head down, my hood up, avoiding everyone’s eyes. Especially Damian’s.

When the final bell rang, I practically ran for the exit.

“Luna, wait!”

His voice stopped me at the school doors. I didn’t turn around.

“Please,” he said, closer now. “Just give me two minutes.”

“Your girlfriend is looking for you,” I said, my voice flat. “Shouldn’t you be with her?”

“She’s not it’s complicated.”

“It’s really not.” I finally turned to face him. “You have a life, Damian. A girlfriend, a family, a future. I’m just some girl you met in the forest. The bond doesn’t change reality.”

“It changes everything.”

“For you, maybe. For me?” I laughed bitterly. “My reality is still the same. I’m still poor. Still the rogue’s daughter. Still someone your father would murder without hesitation. Your girlfriend showing up doesn’t change any of that it just reminds me how impossible this is.”

“Luna ”

“I have to go,” I interrupted. “My mom needs me.”

It wasn’t a lie. Elenora had been getting weaker, her magic fading faster. I needed to get home, make sure she’d eaten, help her with the protection wards that were getting harder for her to maintain alone.

“Let me drive you,” Damian said.

“And have your girlfriend see? No thanks.”

“I don’t care if she sees.”

“I do!” The words came out sharper than I intended. “I care, Damian. Because when this all falls apart and it will fall apart I’m the one who’ll pay the price. Not you. Not your perfect girlfriend. Me.”

I walked away before he could respond, my heart pounding, the bond stretching painfully between us.

Behind me, I felt Damian watching, felt his frustration and helplessness through the connection we couldn’t break.

But I didn’t look back.

DAMIAN

I drove home in silence, my hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white.

Luna was right. About all of it.

I had privilege she could never have. Protection. Power. Options. Meanwhile, she lived in a shack, caring for a dying mother, carrying the weight of a bloodline that had been hunted nearly to extinction.

And I’d brought Lesley into her world. Another reminder of everything she couldn’t have, everything that separated us.

My father was in his study when I got home. I knocked once and entered without waiting for permission.

“We need to talk,” I said.

He looked up from his papers, one eyebrow raised. “About?”

“Everything. The prophecy. The silver bloodline. Luna Rivers.”

The temperature in the room dropped. My father’s eyes went cold and dangerous.

“What about Luna Rivers?”

This was it. The moment I either committed fully to protecting my mate or lost her forever.

I took a breath and made my choice.

“I need to know everything you know about her father’s execution. About why you really killed Ronan Rivers. Because the official story doesn’t add up, and if I’m going to be the next Alpha, I need to understand the truth.”

My father studied me for a long moment, then slowly smiled a cold, predatory expression that made my blood run cold.

“Sit down, son,” he said. “It’s time you learned what it really means to be a Blackwell.”