Chapter 3

Nadia's POV

The council chamber feels like a cage. Five ancient wolves sit in a semicircle, their eyes dissecting me. Dylan stands beside me, his hand on my back.

"State your name for the record," the silver-haired elder commands.

"Nadia Thomas."

"Your father's name is Vincent Blackstone, Alpha of Crimson Lake," a younger council member states. "Making you Nadia Blackstone, heir to one of the most powerful packs in the country."

"I don't care who he is. I'm not going anywhere with his wolves."

Dylan growls. "She's my mate. That means she stays with Silver Moon."

"A mate you rejected," the elder woman reminds him. "That rejection, even if incomplete, damaged your bond. It may not be strong enough to override her blood claim."

"Test it then," Dylan challenges. "Test our bond."

The elders exchange glances. "Very well. Guard, bring the Oracle Stone."

A younger wolf enters carrying a black stone. My wolf immediately recoils.

We both place our hands on the stone. Pain shoots through me. Images flash: Dylan rejecting me, the agony of separation, years of loneliness. But underneath that, a golden thread still connects us, damaged but unbroken.

The stone glows faintly gold, then cracks down the middle.

"Impossible," one elder breathes.

"What does that mean?" I demand.

The silver-haired elder stands slowly. "In three hundred years, the Oracle Stone has never cracked. Your bond... it's unlike anything we've seen. Damaged yet unbreakable. Rejected yet eternal."

"So she stays with me," Dylan says firmly.

"It's not that simple. The White Wolf cannot belong to just one pack. The prophecy speaks of unity."

A scream echoes from somewhere in the pack house. Then another.

James bursts through the door, blood running down his face. "Alpha! We're under attack!"

"Crimson Lake?" Dylan demands.

"No. Rogues. Hundreds of them. They're everywhere!"

Dylan shifts instantly, racing from the room. I follow. The scene outside is chaos. Rogues pour through the territory, their eyes completely black, moving in perfect coordination.

"Nadia!" My mother's nurse runs toward me. "Your mother! She's awake and asking for you!"

I race to the medical wing. The room is empty except for Mom, sitting up in bed looking healthier than she has in years.

"Mom? You're okay?"

She smiles, but it's wrong. Cold. "Hello, daughter."

She moves faster than any sick woman should, grabbing my throat and slamming me against the wall. Her eyes are solid black like the rogues.

"Mom!" I choke out.

"Your mother is gone," she says in a voice that isn't hers. "I am the Void Walker. And I've come to claim what was promised to me centuries ago – the power of the White Wolf."

Rage consumes me. Power surges through me, the white light erupting. Not-Mom flies backward. She laughs, completely unharmed.

"Beautiful. You're even stronger than the legends claimed."

"What did you do to my mother?"

"She was dying anyway. Her body makes a useful puppet."

I shift, charging at this thing wearing my mother's face. She avoids my attacks effortlessly.

"You can't hurt me without hurting her body. Are you willing to destroy your mother's form?"

I hesitate, and dark energy slams into me, sending me crashing through the window into the courtyard below.

Dylan appears beside me. "What happened?"

"My mom... something's possessing her."

"Well, well." Not-Mom appears in the broken window. "The Alpha and his rejected mate. How touching."

"What are you?" Dylan demands.

"I am the Void Walker. Your kind made a bargain long ago. Every hundred years, a White Wolf would be born, and every hundred years, that wolf would be sacrificed to keep the darkness at bay. You're overdue."

"That's not happening," Dylan snarls.

The rogues stop fighting and turn toward us. Hundreds of black eyes focus on me.

"Choose, White Wolf," the Void Walker says. "Come with me, or watch everyone you care about die."

"I'll come," I say quietly.

"No!" Dylan grabs me.

"Why take just you when I can have everything?" She raises her hands. Rogues howl in unison. Dark energy pours from them, forming a massive circle around the pack house.

"A binding ritual," one of the council elders gasps. "She's trying to corrupt the entire pack!"

I feel dark tendrils trying to invade my mind. Around me, pack members' eyes start turning black.

"No!" I scream.

I grab Dylan's hand, and our bond flares to life. Golden light mixes with my white, creating something new, something stronger.

"Impossible!" the Void Walker shrieks.

Our combined light spreads through the pack bonds. Every Silver Moon wolf begins glowing, their eyes clearing of darkness. The pack's united strength flows into me.

"This ends now," I declare.

The Void Walker tries to flee, abandoning my mother's body. The shadow creature materializes in its true form – a writhing mass of darkness.

"You cannot destroy me! I am eternal!"

I channel the pack's combined strength, Dylan's love, and my own newfound power into one massive blast of pure light. The Void Walker screams as it's torn apart, dissipating like smoke.

I fall to my knees, exhausted. Dylan pulls me against his chest. "You did it. You saved us all."

"We did it," I correct. "I couldn't have done it without you, without the pack."

The council elders approach. The silver-haired woman bows.

"The prophecy is clear now. The White Wolf brings unity not through power, but through love and sacrifice. You've passed your first test."

"First?" I groan.

"That remains to be seen. But you won't face them alone." She looks at Dylan. "Your bond, damaged as it was, proved stronger than one that was never tested."

"My mother," I remember.

"She's alive," James says, appearing with Mom. "She'll recover."

Dylan helps me to my feet. "So what now?" I ask the council.

"Now, you train. The White Wolf's emergence will attract many threats. Your father will come for you again."

"Let them come," Dylan says.

"You rejected me, Dylan. You broke my heart. Just because we fought together doesn't mean—"

He kisses me desperately. "I'll spend the rest of my life earning your forgiveness. If you'll let me."

"I need time," I tell him. "To process everything."

A howl echoes in the distance. "Crimson Lake," James identifies. "They're at the border."

Dylan starts to move, but I stop him. "No. This is my fight."

"They want me because I'm Vincent Blackstone's daughter? Then let me show them exactly who they're dealing with."

I shift into my white wolf form, power radiating from me. I'm done running. Done hiding.

The White Wolf has risen.