Damon
The air was thick with sweat and pine as I ended my training round, the last punch landing with a dull thud against the padded dummy. My knuckles stung, but the pain grounded me.
About thirty minutes before, I finished my training with my warriors. They were some of the best in the Dark Moon Pack.
“Alpha!” a voice called out, breathless and urgent.
I turned sharply. It was one of the gate guards, wide-eyed and panting. “There’s a fight at the border. A rogue tried to force entry. She’s—” He hesitated, swallowing. “She’s handling herself.”
“She?” I asked.
He nodded quickly. “Not one of ours. But… sir, you need to see this.”
I didn’t waste time. I jogged up the incline, boots kicking gravel as I neared the clearing near the southern wall. The scent of unfamiliar wolves hit me immediately.
But it was the female’s scent that threw me off.
It was strong, the faint smell of copper reaching my nostrils.
Benath the strong smell of pine was the faintest whiff of something sweet—vanilla I think.
Mix ti together, and it was uniquely her.
Fuck.
This woman was my mate.
I walked towards her, captivated by her scent.
Then I heard her.
A low growl, followed by the heavy thud of someone hitting the ground.
“We must make her ours!” my wolf growled.
I clamed down on that feeling, digging my claws into the palm of my hand.
“Calm down,” I ordered.
I stepped into view and froze.
She moved like a weapon—fast, controlled, brutal. A thin black ribbon covered her eyes, but it didn’t seem to matter. Her body knew what it was doing. Every kick, every punch, every twist of her hips was precise. Deadly.
This woman, whoever she was, is not a part of the Dark Moon pack.
One of my men tried to step in—idiot. She dropped him without hesitation.
“What the hell…” I muttered, eyes narrowing.
She fought like no wolf I’d seen before. Not recently. Not ever.
Her dark hair clung to her skin, soaked in sweat and rain, and though I couldn’t see her eyes, there was something in the way she moved—like she’d been through hell and made it her training ground.
A growl slipped from my throat, low and involuntary.
MATE, MATE, MY MATE!
“Should we stop her, Alpha?” one of the nearby wolves asked, his stance tense.
“No,” I said coldly, eyes fixed on her. “She’s not finished.”
The wolf hesitated, but my tone left no room for argument. She moved again—fluid, focused. Not a single wasted step. Only someone who had lost everything could fight like that.
Then a voice rang out. “Kaliah—enough!”
She froze. Her breathing was heavy but measured, her fists still clenched. Her head turned slightly toward the voice—her brother.
The idiot guard behind her didn’t get the memo. He lunged again.
She sidestepped, caught his arm mid-air, and flipped him flat on his back.
My Beta stepped forward and looked at me.
“Shall we expel the intruders?”
I ignored him, too caught up in watching the woman.
“Mate!” I shouted, causing my Beta to freeze.
He followed me as I walked towards them.
Then a voice shouted my name.
“Damon!”
This came from her male companion. The voice was familiar, but right now my entire focus was on the woman—my mate.
One of my guards reached over, ripping the blindfold off her face. Her grey eyes revealed, she punched the guard in the throat, but I was focused on her eyes.
She was blind.
My mate… was blind.
A ripple of disbelief ran through me, but I shut it down. I had waited twenty-five years for this bond, dreamt of what she might be like. I never imagined this.
“How dare she—” one of the guards behind me snapped, voice rising in disgust.
“Stop,” I growled, cutting him off with a glare as I stepped forward. “Not another word.”
I looked back at the woman, at her soaked figure and that fierce defiance clinging to her like a second skin. Her face didn’t flinch. She couldn’t see me, and yet somehow, I felt like she was staring straight through me.
Then I saw the man standing beside her.
“Kiran, right?”
He grinned through the tension. “Damon. Good to see you again.”
I barely remembered his face—time had worn it down in my mind—but I remembered what he’d done. Four years ago, in the northern wilds, he had saved my life when he didn’t have to. Risked everything. Pulled me out of a death trap and walked away without asking for a thing.
And I remembered what I’d promised him then. A debt.
“I said I owed you,” I muttered. “Looks like now’s the time to pay up.”
Kiran nodded once. “My sister and I need help.”
A wolf to my right scoffed. “They’re rogues. Not our problem.”
I turned to him, eyes cold. “You think I give a damn about your opinion?”
The wolf stiffened. “I just meant—”
“I know exactly what you meant,” I snapped. “And I’m telling you to drop it.”
“But Alpha—”
I moved fast, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him aside, away from the others. My voice dropped to a low snarl. “You question my orders again, and you’ll be guarding the border in the dead zone for the next six months. Do I make myself clear?”
His eyes widened. “Crystal.”
I let him go and turned back to the siblings.
“I’ll take you both in,” I said firmly.
Kiran exhaled, some of the tension easing from his shoulders. “Thank you.”
The girl, Kaliah, tilted her head slightly. “You don’t even know us.”
“No,” I said. “But I know what you did to my guards without sight. And I know who your brother is. That’s enough for now.”
“Then why are you helping?” Her voice was sharp, not trusting.
Smart girl.
I paused. “Because I’m not in the habit of turning away debts… or mates.”
She stilled. Just for a second. Then her voice dropped, cool and even. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I plan to,” I said, my gaze steady. “You’re staying. Both of you.”
She didn’t reply. She didn’t have to. The bond had already settled in my chest like a brand—unwelcome, impossible to ignore, and absolutely mine.
And I wasn’t letting her go.
***
My beta kept trying to convince me that I was making a mistake. His voice followed me even as I turned to lead the siblings toward the compound.
“Alpha, she’s dangerous,” he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear. “She’s blind. A rogue. You saw what she did to our men.”
I stopped walking and turned slowly.
He didn’t take the hint. “What if she’s a spy? What if this is some kind of setup? We don’t know anything about her.”
My jaw tensed. “We know enough.”
Damon POVThe first blade came from the left. I deflected it, slammed my shoulder into the attacker, and drove my knife up under his ribs. He dropped without a sound.More came—sprinting through the trees, shouting Axel’s name like it was a war cry. I met them head-on. Steel met flesh. Blood soaked into the dirt.I moved on instinct. Dodge, strike, kill. My breath was ragged, my arms heavy, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t. I carved a path forward through the chaos, eyes scanning the battlefield, listening for anything—anyone—that could tell me where Kalilah was.Then I heard her scream, but it was a battle cry. She was fine. Good.Someone lunged at me with a sword. I caught his wrist, twisted until it snapped, and buried my blade in his chest.I paused only long enough to catch my breath.We keep going.“I know,” I growled. My voice was hoarse. “Not until I know she’s safe.”She will be. But only if Axel dies here.My grip tightened on the hilt of my blade.“Then we finish this.”Axel was
Kalilah POVThe next day we are closing in on Axel after all the information we were able to gain. I was here first with Kiran and some of the other fighters I gathered. We gazed at each other, even if I couldn’t see him. But I knew he was looking at me with that expression on his face that told me that someone was coming.I smelled him.It was Damon. He smelled good. That was my first thought. My wolf was aching, wanting to give him a piece of him.Quickly, I shoved those thoughts to the back of my mind. No, thinking about that right now was not going to help anything. All it was going to do was complicate things and make my life a lot more difficult. I would consider them later when I wasn’t about to kill Axel or looking to kill him.I heard his footsteps before I felt his presence. Slower than I remembered. He was trying not to make noise, but I knew his gait. Every shift of weight, every breath. My pulse stuttered.Then he spoke. Low. Careful.“Kalilah.”Hearing his voice in perso
Kalilah POVI found Kiran pacing near the window—I could hear the soft, uneven thud of his boots against the floorboards. He stopped when he heard me come in.“You talked to him.”I nodded once. “Yeah. Just now.”It had been surreal to talk to him again. I wish I had done it sooner.He didn’t speak right away. Just the sound of his arms folding, the quiet shift of fabric.“And?” he asked finally.“He’s planning to move on, Axel.”His breath caught, just for a second. “Did he say how close he is?”“No. Just that it’s happening. Soon. Same as us.”Kiran exhaled sharply. “Figures. Did you agree to anything?”“We’re trading intel.”“That’s all?”I turned my head slightly toward his voice. “You sound like you have something to say.”He gave a short laugh, not quite amused. “You’re the one who called him. After all that.”“We’re fighting the same enemy. I’m not letting pride get in the way of ending this.”“And you trust him?”“I trust that he wants Axel dead,” I said. “I told him that kill
Damon POVTalking to Kalilah after all this time was surreal, but it also helped me get my head on straight.Just hearing her voice—steady, sharp, a little colder than I remembered—cut through the noise that had been building in my mind for days. Weeks, if I were honest.We didn’t say everything. Not even close. There was too much history, too much pain still sitting between us like a live wire. But the fact that she picked up at all? That meant something.It reminded me of who I was doing this for. What I was fighting to protect.Who I was still trying to become.Right now, I have to focus and talk to Caden. We were causing damage to Axel’s forces, but we also had to ensure that we didn’t face a lot of pushback. It was important to stay on top of things.It was getting to the point where I had to make a decision. Did I want to attack once and for all? Or continue to weaken him, continuing to drag out this fight?This was the frustrating thing. I knew I had to end it eventually. Keepi
Kalilah POVI was helping the kids when Kiran appeared in the doorway. It was obvious because I smelled him.“You’re busy,” he said, like it wasn’t obvious.“I’m teaching three-year-olds to sound out the word cloud,” I replied dryly. “So yes. What’s up?”He hesitated.“What?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.He stepped further in, lowering his voice. “Damon called.”The air left my lungs a little too fast. I kept my expression neutral, but inside, everything flipped upside down. “What did he want?”“To talk to you.”I turned back to the kids, trying to ignore the way my heart was beating very fast. “Did he say why?”“He said he’d talk about Axel later. But you were the reason he called.”I didn’t answer right away. My fingers felt tight around the edge of the sword. “Did you tell him I was busy?”“Yeah. I told him you’d call him back.”“And you think I will?”He shrugged. “You just asked what he wanted. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t have asked.”I hated how well he could read me. Always
Damon POVI had been meaning to talk to Caden about the situation. Everything was crazy, buzzing around my mind. The two of us did need to talk, so I could figure out what was going on with the battle with Axel. We were trying to find his men to make sure that we could end her life.There just hadn’t been a moment to stop and breathe, let alone sit down and go over the shifting pieces. Caden was doing his part—tracking leads, interrogating prisoners, coordinating scouts. We were all stretched thin, but he was the only one who knew the full scope of what we were walking into.And I needed that. I needed to know what he’d seen. What was he thinking? If he believed Axel had more allies hidden in the shadows—or worse, was planning an attack.Caden was leaning against the training wall, chewing through the last of an apple like it had personally offended him. The rest of the warriors had cleared out, the yard empty except for the two of us and the silence hanging between us.I broke it. “K