Chapter 5

Damon’s POV

I was in the middle of training when Beta Theo stepped in front of me. "Sorry to interrupt. It's urgent."

"Then take care of it." I didn't slow my strikes.

"I found a girl." He said it slowly, the way he did when he already knew I wouldn't like it. "In the woods below the cliff. She's in the hospital now."

That stopped me. "You know the rules better than anyone, Theo." We did not take in strangers. We never had. “So why the hell is there a stranger in my hospital and why am I only hearing about it now?”

"She's half dead, Alpha. Several broken ribs, barely breathing when I found her." He spread his hands. "And she’s no rogue. High-ranking, by the scent of her. This could be good for us. This could be our chance to get to know another pack."

“Madfang doesn't need to know other packs. If she's so high-ranking, let her own pack take care of her. I want her off my land. If you don't throw her out, I will.”

Go and see who she is, my wolf pushed at me, restless and urgent in a way he usually wasn’t. See her first then if you still want to, you can throw her out. 

I pulled my shirt off the post, dragged it over my head and strode out without waiting for Theo to follow.

The smell hit me the moment I stepped into the hospital wing. Jasmine, warm and dark, drifted down the corridor and into my lungs. It pulled at something low in my chest, intoxicating in a way that I hated. I followed it into the room.

The girl was sitting up against the pillows. Long dark hair fell past her shoulders, still tangled with bits of the forest she'd been dragged out of. Her nose was thin, her cheekbones high, her mouth full and pale. Even half broken, she was the kind of beautiful that made a room go quiet.

Then her eyes lifted to mine. Brown, deep as turned earth and the breath went out of me like I'd been struck.

Mate. 

My wolf was pacing, whining, pressing at the inside of my skin in a way he never had for anyone. She's ours. She's our mate.

A clatter snapped me back. A cup lay on its side on the floor, water spreading across the tiles. Her hand was still half open where she'd dropped it, her lips parted, her eyes blown wide. 

“Mate.” It left me before I could stop it, low like the word had been pulled out of my chest.

“Mate,” she breathed at the same moment, staring at me like she couldn't believe it anymore than I could.

She felt it too. There was no mistaking that.

Theo, in the doorway behind me, looked from her to me and barked a laugh. "The whole pack gave up on you ever finding a mate. And here she is, the girl I hauled off the cliffside. You owe me for life!”

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I didn't turn around.

He went, laughing the whole way out. The door clicked shut and left me alone with her.

She gathered herself faster than I expected. Straightened against the pillows, lifted her chin, and met my eyes as if she hadn't just dropped a cup at the sight of me.

“Thank you… Alpha Damon, I guess,” she said. “For pulling me off that cliff. For letting me heal here. I know you didn’t have to.”

“I didn't do either.” The words came out flat. “My Beta Theo brought you in. He didn't ask me first. If it had been my call, you'd still be on those rocks.”

Something flickered across her face, hurt or anger but she swallowed it.

“So tell me why you’re here,” I said. “Nobody crosses my border by accident. You were running from something, or to it. Which is it? Are you a spy?”

“No.” It came out fast and sharp. “I’m no spy. I swear it on the moon.”

“Then your name. Now.”

"My name is Halley Lambert." Her voice was rougher than I expected. "Daughter of Alpha Edmond of Whitemane. I've come to ask for your help."

Edmond of Whitemane. The name went through me like a blade. 

The man who had let my father die. Not with a blade but with silence, when Madfang bled and called for allies, he never came. I buried my father because of it. I have hated that name ever since.

And now… his daughter sat in my hospital, asking me for help. Of every wolf alive, the moon had chained me to the daughter of the one I wanted dead. 

The urge to drag her back to that cliff came so fast it startled me. My hands were fists at my sides. I forced them open and pushed the rage down until my voice would not betray me. 

"Why do you need my help?" I turned to the window. I couldn't look at her and think clearly. Mate or not.

"My father is dead. Murdered." The words came steady but I heard how hard that was. "Alpha Kyle of Darkmoon took Whitemane for himself. It's my pack, my birthright and he's stolen all of it. He won’t stop until Whitemane is gone and only Darkmoon remains."

I said nothing. What I felt was not pity. It was satisfying. Whitemane was burning and I had waited a long time to watch it. 

"I have no one left," she went on. "No ally who'll cross Kyle. No way back in on my own. Madfang has the strength to take Whitemane from him. I'm asking you to help me take back my pack."

Take back her pack. I nearly laughed.

“You don’t have to claim me.” She leaned forward, words spilling faster now. “But Whitemane will die under Kyle and I can't stop him alone. You're the only Alpha strong enough.” Her voice caught. “Please. Not for me. For my pack.”

She had no idea what she was handing me. Whitemane weak. Leaderless. Mine for the taking. Not for her. For myself. For the boy who buried his father and the Alpha who had never been able to settle the debt. Kyle and the girl both could choke on it.

No. My wolf cut through, low and certain in a way that made my jaw tighten. She is ours. You will not use her like that. Help her.

I let her wait. 

When I finally turned, she lifted her face to mine and what I saw there was hope, raw and unguarded. 

“Alpha Damon, please, can you help me?” Her voice softened as she looked at me.