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Lina

The morning light seeped through the curtains, casting a soft glow in the room that felt surreal after the whirlwind of the night before. I lay tangled in the sheets, the scent of spice and musk clinging to the air. It was a scent that brought a rush of memories flooding back—his touch, the heat of his body against mine, the all-consuming need and want: my mate.

As I blinked the fog of sleep away, reality suffused the warmth of last night. I turned over to see him still asleep beside me, his powerful frame relaxed, morning light dancing across his strong features. For a moment, I reveled in the gorgeousness of the man beside me—his tousled ebony hair, the way his lips were slightly parted as they had been when he’d sunk into me, the memory of his low voice, mumming, “so soft, so perfect,” sent goosebumps over my skin. I squeezed my legs together as I remembered the feel of him. I’d never felt such rightness before, and I was almost tempted to climb on top of him again as I had done that the second time we’d done it, oh, and a bit the fourth time, too.

Heat cascaded through me at the thought of how amazing our nocturnal athletics had been, but I needed to face reality. I watched him, a potent blend of hope and dread knotting my stomach. Today was the day I had to face the future. I had to convince him to come back with me to Silvermoon. Presenting him as my fated mate to my father was the only thing that could save me from the arranged mate bond.

I went to open my mouth, wanting to wake him, and realized I didn’t know his name. Instead, I placed a hand on his shoulder, my hand traveling up his throat, cupping his strong jaw and then his cheek. He stirred slightly.

When his eyelids fluttered open, I felt a rush of warmth flood me as his deep green eyes locked with mine, that same impossible connection stirring in my chest.

“You’re even more beautiful in the daylight, mate,” he murmured, his voice raspy and deep, making my insides tighten. A smile tugged at my lips at the promise in his tone, even as my heart clenched with the weight of what loomed ahead.

With any other bed partner in the past, I’d have thought such a line was full of bullshit, but hadn’t I just been thinking the same thing, looking at him in the morning light?

But I had to get a grip. We couldn’t live in this bed as much as I wanted to.

“Last night…we didn’t really talk, but…there’s something I need to tell you,” I confessed, the words trembling, an edge of vulnerability creeping into my voice.

Tension settled over my mate’s face, and he edged up against the headboard. “Is this about why you’re staying here?” he asked, his gaze wandering to our surroundings briefly.

For a moment, I almost got distracted by the sheer amount of muscle on display as the sheet pooled around his waist. But snapping my eyes back to his face, I nodded. “I need you to come back to my pack, the Silvermoon. I need to tell my pack about…us.” My voice trailed off, filled with hope and vulnerability. I wouldn’t usually be pressing to move forward so quickly, but time really was of the essence here.

He reached for me, cupping my cheek as he must have seen that something was weighing on me. “The Silvermoon, that’s your pack?”

I nodded, my heart racing as I felt desperation clawing at my insides. “My father’s the alpha. You’re the only one who can get him to break off the mate bond he’s arranged for me in a week’s time.”

Unmistakable shock flashed across his face, and he drew back, his hand suddenly withdrawing from my cheek. That and the astonishment on his face told me he knew exactly who I was now. Everyone had heard of Lina Silvermoon. I wondered what pack he was from. We had business links with most packs along the East Coast. I wondered if we’d negotiated some deal with his pack that had gone south. We weren’t in the best financial position after all.

Or was he afraid of going against my father, an alpha? But that didn’t pair with the confidence I’d witnessed in him last night. I definitely didn’t get the impression my mate scared easily.

I could see the hesitation flickering in his deep green eyes, a storm of emotions swirling just below the surface. His jaw tightened as he seemed to wrestle with something, perhaps visions of his father’s wishes clashing with the pull he felt toward me.

“I can’t go with you,” he said, his voice steady but laced with an undercurrent of torment.

“What?” My voice came out sharper than intended, disbelief coursing through me. “What do you mean, you can’t?”

“I can’t go to your pack. If I’d known you were Hector Silvermoon’s daughter, I’d never…” he trailed off as my face fell.

I felt like I’d been sucker-punched. If he’d known who I was, he wouldn’t have slept with me, that’s what he’d been about to say.

I scrambled out of bed, searching for my clothes at the foot of the bed on the floor. Likewise, my mate shot out of bed, going for his own clothes as if he couldn’t be out of here fast enough.

Anger soon came to my rescue as I threw out, “What could the Silvermoons have done to your pack that would make you reject your mate?” I accused, turning a withering look as his brow knitted together.

“Your pack hasn’t done anything,” he said, sounding almost pained.

I laughed darkly. “Yeah, right. Then why are you looking like you just got burned?”

“Because I’m Magnus Blackthorn’s son,” he said, his scowl deepening as he did up his jeans.

My heart catapulted.

Stephen Blackthorn.

My fated mate was Stephen Blackthorn, Magnus’s son.

The revelation left me breathless. My heart rattled in my ribcage, and a rush of heat colored my cheeks as I realized I’d slept with the man who was meant to become my stepson in a week’s time. In the last few years, as the business partnerships and friendship between Magnus and my father had grown, I’d been attending Harvard University, and for whatever reason, my path had never crossed with Stephen.

It was something that seemed excruciatingly unfair, yet again, now that I knew Stephen was my fated mate. How different would things be if we’d only discovered our connection sooner? But maybe it wasn’t too late.

“What if,” I said, “we spoke to our fathers? If they knew we were fated mates, we could still join our packs but with a mate ceremony between us.”

For a fleeting second, a flicker of something crossed Stephen’s features—a tightening around his eyes—but then he shook his head, resolve gritting his voice. “I can’t. The alliance between our packs has already been ratified. I have to prioritize my loyalty to my father and my pack’s interests.”

Shock and fury beat through me—“ratified,” “pack’s interests,” “loyalty to my father”—his coolness reminded me of my father telling me about the arranged mate bond he’d made for me with Magnus.

“Then what was last night?” A wave of anger surged through me, hot and fierce, mingling uneasily with the residual warmth of our shared intimacy. “Was it a lie?”

“No!” Stephen’s rugged features grew taut with frustration. “It was real. But I can’t defy my father, Lina. We can’t be together.”

Anger cloaked me. “Get out!”

“Lina,” he started, but anger fuelled my voice.

“Get out! Get the fuck out!”

Stephen dragged down his shirt, picked up his leather jacket, and bundled his shoes in his arms. I slammed the door behind him.

Reality crashed down around me, suffocating and relentless. I had held onto hope, clinging to it like a lifeline, but it had been wrenched away. I thought of how amazing it had felt as Stephen had stepped out of the shadows yesterday, confronting those thugs, but really, this feeling of powerlessness against a future I didn’t want had only been interrupted.

Once again, there was no hope.

As I leaned back against the door, my heart hammering, my breathing coming in angry, painful bursts, and my eyes stinging with tears, I realized I was as alone as ever. Within, my wolf let out a sorrowful howl. Stephen’s rejection cut her to the quick, and she curled in upon herself, feeling like she was burrowing deep down, and it would take an eternity for her to surface.

Time had no mercy, and within a week, I walked down the aisle in the grand hall of Blackthorn Villa. My father’s arm felt like a vice, and my heart felt like a stone lodged in my throat. The sound of a string quartet filled the air—each sharp, shrill note slicing through me.

Crystal chandeliers hung like shimmering ice above. Velvet drapes embraced the tall windows, filtering the sunlight into gentle streams that illuminated the lavish floral arrangements peppered throughout the grand room.

Despite telling myself that I wouldn’t, my gaze wandered to the one man who could have changed my wretched fate: Stephen. He stood in the front row, his gaze cold and distant. My throat tightened, and my chest squeezed. How could Stephen be right here—so close and yet so far from me?

Turning and looking to my left, I found my mother’s bright blue eyes, the same shade as my own. She was the one who had kept me together this week. I reminded myself of what she’d uttered in my ear before kissing me goodnight last night, “Just because your mate bond isn’t what you hoped for, doesn’t mean you can’t be a strong and devoted luna to your pack.” With heart-wrenching clarity, I knew that she was talking from personal experience and knew that in time, at least my fate, would bring me a deeper understanding of my mother.

Up at the front of the room, as my father brought me to a standstill beside Magnus Blackthorn, I reminded myself of my mother’s words. My gaze took in the gray-haired man beside me, his cool brown eyes sweeping me with a covetous look that it took everything in me not to retch at. I told myself to be as strong as my mother.

I caught glimpses of familiar faces—my packmate’s smiles were strained, and beneath their false cheer was a pooling look of pity. It was that, paired with not wanting to glimpse Stephen, that had my gaze firmly glued to the officiate, one of the Blackthorn elders, directing the ceremony.

Beyond the elder and outside the windows lay manicured lawns bordered by blooming flowers—red roses, white lilies, and golden daffodils. I blinked past at the blooms—this villa and its grounds for all their refinement felt like something out of a nightmare.

As the officiant began his speech, the words flowed over me like water over a stone, ungraspable and devoid of meaning. My thoughts spiraled as I tried to grapple with the fact that this was really happening. I was about to be mated to Magnus Blackthorn.

Suddenly, a growl broke through my inattention. I turned around, expecting to see a couple of overzealous packmates, perhaps having shifted to howl their excitement. It was not something you’d expect in our high-society world, but maybe they’d been drinking.

You know how weddings can be.

But then, wolves, their coats etched with strange markings, stormed into the huge hall. Screams erupted, and some guests froze in terror, while others—Silvermoons and Blackthorns alike— started to shift, their gray coats the same as the attacking wolves, except for the totem markings the invaders had. My pulse skyrocketed.

Panic consumed the hall as packmates scrambled back from the aisle where the rogue wolves were surging. I watched as my father transformed—fur erupting from skin and bones shifting as he morphed into his wolf. A powerful growl reverberated from him, blending with the rumbles of the rogue wolves and shouts of guests, who frantically edged back against the walls.

I stumbled as fear grasped at my throat. The luxurious wedding hall had devolved into chaos, and I couldn’t help but feel that the foreboding sense that had been blanketing me had been prophetic.

My shock made my reactions sluggish, and I still hadn’t shifted as the rogue wolves surged toward me.

“Lina!” My mother’s frantic call split the air, urging me from my stupor just as a rogue lunged toward me.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion, the rogue wolf springing at me and Magnus, who I realized hadn’t yet shifted either. But then a silvery wolf leaped in front of us, a blur of sleek, rippling fur and muscle acting as a protective arc. I gasped as he took a vicious hit in his side. My chest squeezed, his overpowering spicy scent telling me exactly who he was: Stephen. His body crashed down in front of me and his father.

“No!” My scream tore through the air, resonating with anguish, but shock kept me rooted to the spot.

The rogue staggered back, dazed, and it then lunged again, teeth bared as Stephen’s wolf shot up and barrelled into the rogue. Magnus’s wolf collided powerfully with another rogue, but there were too many, crashing like waves around us. One of the totem-marked wolves struck Magnus, his teeth clamping onto his shoulder. The next moment, Stephen careened toward his father, mauling the rogue wolf in the side with a furious viciousness, even as his own wound seeped a steady stream of blood.

The room was a sea of screams and growls. Most of the packmates had run out of the room. The rogue wolves were going for the alphas and their immediate families. The thought had my brain finally kicking into gear.

My eyes hurried to my mother. Like me, she hadn’t shifted, and she was on the floor. Just then, a brutal force crashed into my side, sending me sprawling to the floor, too. Heat radiated down my arm, and I gasped in pain as fabric and flesh tore.

Stephen’s silvery wolf crashed into my attacker, forcing the totem-marked wolf away from me. Gratitude mingled with my shock as he defended me. But almost immediately, resentment needled through me. If he’d only stood by my side as any true mate would, I wouldn’t even be here amidst whatever this attack was.

Quickly, I shot over to my mother. Panic punctured through me as I took in her sage green dress, covered in blood. I darted to her, picking her up off the floor and forcing her to her feet.

Suddenly, the only thing that mattered was getting my mother out of there. I hurried her toward the wall, past the rows of chairs, darting toward the main doors as quickly as I could while supporting her weight.

We were going to make it. The other rogue wolves were engaged with Stephen, Magnus, and my father.

I chanced a glance back at them as we’d almost made it to the door. In that split second, I saw four rogue wolves pounce on my father, their vicious jaws sinking into him. Despair flooded me, bringing me to a startled halt. Blood sprayed across the polished floor, splattering the chairs draped in white linen as my father let out a piercing howl and fell to the floor.

My mom startled me as she leaned closer to me. “This is your chance. Go, Lina. Now!” She shoved me toward the door with a force that sent me stumbling. “Go!”

“No!” I cried, clawing at the ground, but she’d already shoved the doors shut behind me. Dread pounded through me as I heard the key in the lock.

I pounded on the door, but her distant scream came through the wood.

“Go!” she shouted.

I stumbled forward, anguish piercing my chest, but I was jolted out of my spiraling despair by a sharp tug at my arm. I blinked at one of my packmates, Mira, her eyes wide with urgency.

“Lina, we have to get out of here. Now!” She glanced back, fear etching her brow.

I could hear the guttural snarl of wolves from behind the door, and my heart battered against my ribcage, the instinct to run battling with the agony of leaving my mother behind. My wolf cried out in frustration at the prospect of abandoning her, but as Mira yanked me onward, panic surged. There was no time to think, only to run.

The urgency in Mira’s voice propelled me to move, and the resolution in her expression drove me on.

I ran faster and faster as if to try to make up for the way the shock had paralyzed me back there. My mother’s voice mingled with each of my hurried footsteps as if I could still hear her, propelling me into a desperate sprint, “This is your chance. Leave, Lina. Now!”

It hit me that the desperation in her voice hadn’t just been about the attack. She meant this was my chance to get away from Magnus. Thankfulness beat through my chest as I thought of her words. My heart squeezed painfully as I realized that even as she’d been bleeding out, she’d been thinking of me.

I crashed down the cavernous hallway, my heart pounding in my ribcage. I glanced over my shoulder, every moment expecting to be pursued by those totem-marked wolves who had brought my father down.

My hands shook, my legs threatening to buckle as the gruesome image of my mother’s dress, stained with blood, flashed in my mind. My parents…My parents were likely now both...But I forced the unfinished thought away, remembering the steel of my mother’s blue eyes. She wanted me to get away. With instincts I didn’t know I possessed, I ran with utter abandon as if those rogue wolves were clawing at my heels.

As I hurtled outside, Mira broke off to the right, running toward other packmates, but I spotted the catering van parked with its engine idling. I rushed inside and put my foot on the gas. The engine roared to life, the sound sparking hope. With trembling hands gripping the wheel, I pressed down on the accelerator, shooting forward and leaving behind everything I’d ever known.