🐺 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫 🐺

🌕 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎 🌕

The heavy gates slowly creaked open.

Damien Volkov sat tall on his black stallion, his jaw tight, expression carved from stone.

Beside him, Kai's usual easy smile was nowhere to be seen. Rafe brought up the rear, his sharp gaze sweeping across the crowd with unsettling intensity.

They didn't look like young Alpha heirs returning home. They looked like warriors entering enemy territory.

A chill ran through Nymeria.

For a brief moment, Damien's gaze swept over the line of servants.

It never settled on her, yet something about his presence made her heartbeat stumble.

She quickly lowered her eyes before anyone noticed her staring.

"Nymeria!" The head servant's sharp voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Bring the refreshments to the welcome ceremony. Now!"

Her stomach dropped. Of all the servants, why did it have to be her?

Her hands trembled as she lifted the heavy silver tray. The crystal glasses rattled softly against one another, making her stomach twist.

She had never stood this close to the future Alpha heirs before.

The grand hall seemed impossibly large, filled with powerful Alphas, respected Elders, noble families, and warriors. Every face carried authority. Every mistake would be remembered.

Don't drop it, she begged herself. Just make it across the room.

Her heartbeat pounded so loudly she could barely hear the music playing in the background.

Keeping her eyes fixed on the tray, she carefully weaved through the crowded hall, terrified of drawing attention to herself.

She was only a few steps away. Almost there.

Then she heard it.

"Oops."

Daphne's sweet voice dripped with false innocence as she deliberately stepped on the hem of Nymeria's dress.

Everything happened too fast.

Nymeria lost her balance. The tray slipped from her trembling hands. Crystal glasses crashed against the polished floor. Water splashed across Damien Volkov's ceremonial cloak.

The sound echoed through the hall. Silence followed, Complete, suffocating silence.

Nymeria's blood ran cold. Her breathing stopped. This was it. She had embarrassed the future Alpha before the entire pack.

She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the slap... the kick... the order to drag her away.

Instead, a strong arm wrapped around her waist before she could hit the floor.

The instant their skin touched, something impossible happened.

A strange warmth exploded through Nymeria's body, racing beneath her skin like liquid fire.

Her silver pendant pulsed against her chest, glowing with unexpected heat. She gasped, her eyes flying open.

Damien was holding her. His hand remained firmly around her waist as though he had forgotten to let go.

At the same moment, his wolf surged inside him with violent recognition.

The feeling struck him so suddenly that it stole the air from his lungs.

He stared at the trembling servant in his arms, unable to understand what was happening.

His wolf had never reacted to anyone this way. Never.

Nymeria's cheeks burned with humiliation. Every eye in the hall was fixed on them.

The future Alpha wasn't shouting. He wasn't pushing her away. He wasn't ordering her punishment. He was simply... staring.

Confusion twisted inside her chest. Why isn't he angry? Why did he catch me? Why is he looking at me like that?

"I-I'm sorry, Alpha Damien," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I didn't mean to—"

He didn't respond. He just kept staring.

Kai noticed his brother's unusual silence and stepped forward with a forced grin. "Well, that's one way to make an impression."

He winked at Nymeria, but his eyes were calculating, studying her.

Rafe said nothing. He stared at Nymeria with an intensity that made her skin prickle.

His mind raced with ancient words—a prophecy he had studied for years.

The prophecy. No. It couldn't be.

Nymeria fled.

She burst through the kitchen doors, her chest heaving, her body trembling violently.

She pressed her back against the cold stone wall and slid down to the floor. Then the tears came hot, shameful, unstoppable.

She couldn't stop shaking. She kept replaying the moment over and over. The way Damien had caught her.

The way his touch had sent fire through her veins.

The way he had looked at her not with disgust, not with pity, but with something she couldn't understand.

Why didn't he punish me? Why did he catch me? Why was he looking at me like that?

The kitchen door slammed open.

Luna Elara Volkov stood in the doorway, her silver hair gleaming like a blade.

Her eyes were cold, venomous. "Where is the maid who dared stain my son's cloak?"

Nymeria scrambled to her feet, wiping her eyes. "Luna, I—"

"You." Elara's voice cut through the air like a whip.

She strode forward, her presence suffocating. "The wolf-less orphan. Of course."

She grabbed Nymeria's chin, forcing her to meet her eyes. "You embarrassed my son in front of the entire pack. You humiliated him. You humiliated this family."

Nymeria opened her mouth to apologize, but Elara's hand connected with her cheek.

The slap echoed through the kitchen. Nymeria's head snapped to the side, pain blooming across her face.

"Kneel," Elara commanded.

Nymeria dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Elara grabbed the remaining water from the spilled tray and poured it slowly over Nymeria's head.

The cold liquid soaked her hair, dripped down her neck, soaked into her uniform.

The other servants watched in silence, their faces pale.

"Look at you," Elara hissed. "A pathetic, wolf-less creature who doesn't know her place."

She gestured to the watching servants. "This is what happens when you forget who you are. When you reach above your station. When you embarrass this family."

Nymeria's face burned with shame. Her entire body trembled.

"No evening meal for you tonight," Elara continued. "And you will scrub the guards' toilets for a week."

She leaned in close, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. "Perhaps that will teach you to know your place. And if I ever see you near my sons again, I will make your life a living nightmare.

Do you understand?"

Nymeria nodded mutely, unable to speak.

"Get out of my sight," Elara snapped. "And don't ever let me see your face again."

Nymeria fled.

Later that night, in the privacy of his chambers, Damien stood alone, staring at his reflection in the dark window. He couldn't explain what had happened.

The moment he touched that servant girl, the fury inside his wolf had silenced.

The constant rage that had burned in him since his father's illness—the helplessness, the anger—had vanished.

For one brief moment, he felt peace.

Kai entered without knocking, his expression unusually serious. "You felt it too, didn't you?"

Damien didn't turn around. "Felt what?"

"Don't play games with me, brother." Kai closed the door behind him. "I've seen you stare down enemy armies without flinching.

But when you touched that girl, you looked like you'd been struck by lightning."

Damien's jaw tightened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Liar." Kai leaned against the wall. "I felt something strange too. She made me forget—just for a moment.

I wasn't thinking about Father. I wasn't thinking about the poison or the pack. She made me forget."

Damien finally turned. "We don't know who she is. She's just a servant."

"She's not just anything," Rafe said, appearing in the doorway.

His eyes burned with intensity. "I've been studying the prophecies for five years. The wolf-less girl. The one who..."

He paused, shaking his head. "No. It couldn't be."

"What couldn't be?" Damien demanded.

Rafe didn't answer. His expression was troubled, uncertain.

Damien ran a hand through his hair, exhaustion pulling at his features. "We need answers. I'm going to speak with the Healer. Something about Father's condition doesn't sit right."

Damien found Healer Cyran in the infirmary, standing over a table filled with small glass vials.

The healer looked calm as he prepared the medicine, but something about the scene made Damien uneasy.

“Alpha Damien,” Cyran greeted, lowering his head slightly. “I didn’t expect you here. How can I help you?”

Damien ignored the greeting and stepped closer.

“My father.”

Cyran’s hands paused for a moment.

“Why is he getting worse?” Damien asked. “He has been receiving treatment for weeks, yet his condition keeps declining.”

Cyran placed the vial down carefully.

“I am doing everything I can,” he replied. “Your father’s illness is unlike anything I have treated before. It is progressing faster than expected.”

“Unlike anything you’ve treated before?” Damien repeated.

His eyes narrowed.

“Or is there something you’re not telling me?”

For a moment, Cyran hesitated before answering.

“I serve the Volkov Pack faithfully. I would never betray Alpha Viktor.”

Damien studied him carefully.

“If I discover you’re keeping secrets, you will answer for it.”